The Hunger Games: Johanna Mason

Chapter 2

She got her father’s strength, and had been helping out with cutting down the trees ever since she was old enough to hold an axe. She was extremely fast when she was running, because of her skinny frame and light feet.

“No one will ever see it coming,” Piper said, a slow smile creeping on his face. “I guess that’ll be our new plan. We try to get you as unnoticeable as possible. We try to keep the act going, and when there’s only a few of you left and the fighting gets intense, start killing them off.”

The thought of even taking someone’s life made Johanna lose her appetite. She didn’t actually think that at the end of the axe, there would be a person. It had always just been wood at the other end: sturdy, pliable wood. People were easier to bring down with the axe. They were a lot more fragile.

“Okay, so can I have breakfast now?” she said, trying to be polite this time.

“Since you overslept, you can’t have anything to eat until lunch. You need lessons for the interview tonight, and I’m sorry to say that you’ll have it with Lynx, kid.”

Johanna groaned. “You really want me to spend my morning with Lynx, when I haven’t had anything to eat?”

Piper grinned and gave a half-shrug. “It’s not really my problem. It’ll be his.”

“You don’t really wish any good for these people, do you?” she said dryly, sitting back on the couch and stretching her arms out.

“Not at all,” he said, standing up and heading out the door. “I’ll tell Lynx you’re ready for him then.”

There really wasn’t a lot to look forward to for that.

Lynx went in with that self-entitled air of his. He went about telling Johanna that she couldn’t get anything to eat if she could walk in a straight line with her heel-less shoes.

It had already been a challenge walking on heels, and now, they were asking her to walk solely on the balls of her feet without anything supporting the rest of the sole. It wasn’t natural at all. Every time she removed the shoes, she had a few seconds before she could adjust to flatten her feet on the ground again.

Lynx also told her to hold saucers and teacups with water in them. Both of the sets were flat on her palms.

After breaking three sets, they had decided to just start using plastic sets instead. After her ninth attempt, that was the only time that she had succeeded on doing it.

She thought that it was over, and Lynx told her that after finally achieving that, she had to do it all with a thick book balanced on her head.

Well, that just didn’t sit well with her, so she ended up throwing the plastic tea sets on the floor and stomping out the door. By then, she had forgotten all about the bloody scene that she had envisioned in her head, and her hunger had intensified.

Lynx was screaming profanities at her and how inadequate she was, but she had already closed the door behind her, so that she wouldn’t hear.

No one bothered her when she finally got to the table so that she could get something to eat. Johanna honestly didn’t know that there was so much work before actually entering the arena. Everything that they were making her do really wasn’t part of her interest.

The training part would be nice, except everyone inside the training center just kept trying to intimidate each other. There was that pesky fact of having a lot of Gamemakers around as well, so she couldn’t roam around in peace. Add the other fact that the other stronger tributes were showing off with their knives and swords. It was really annoying.

That was why she would usually just end up in one of those boring stations, so that she could stay away from the tributes that seemed attracted to the weapons station.

At least the tributes in the boring stations felt even more helpless than she did. Those tributes just stayed quiet and had minimal contact with her. That was fine with her, and she could just do her own thing.

By the time it struck 2PM, someone called her again so that she could get briefed about the interviews. All she wanted to do was go in for a nap, but it was Piper training her, so she knew she couldn’t throw a tantrum to get out of it.

“You don’t really need to do anything much,” Piper said, as he poured himself some water and into an iced glass. He put such a tiny amount and just sipped it. Johanna wondered why he even bothered putting some water in the first place. “Just don’t make anyone angry, or offend anyone in the slightest. Just be as insignificant as possible.”

“Okay.”

“I have a list of questions, and I want you to answer them the way I told you to,” he said, taking out a bunch of cards and putting them in front of him.

“Okay.”

Since she was fed, she was in a slightly better mood, meaning she didn’t want to argue with anyone anymore. Arguing with people really took a lot of energy out of a person.

“How did you feel when you were reaped?” He added, “And please try to act convincing, Johanna. Don’t be automatic, as if we rehearsed it.”

She did as she was told, and she thought that she was surprisingly good at it. “I was really scared, since I don’t know anything about survival. My dad was just a lumberjack, and I just helped out at the house, cleaning and cooking.”

Piper coughed to hide his snigger. That was definitely a lie, if any. She never helped out with cleaning and cooking. If anything, she contributed to every mess that was in their house.

“Do you have anyone special waiting for you back home?”

“No, not really. I have a few friends, but no one really special. Maybe my pet cat counts?”

By then, Piper just burst out laughing. “And what’s this pet cat’s name?”

“Tinkles, because he pees a lot,” she said with a straight face. She hated animals of any kind. The fluffier it was, the more she hated it.

“I think you’re more than ready for this, he said, putting down the cards. I don’t even want to know what lies you’re planning to tell during the interview, but okay.”

“So can I take a nap now?”

“Sorry, kid, but you’re heading straight to your prep team. The way you look now, it’ll take more than just a few hours to fix you up.”

She shot him a look, and he scrambled out of the room