The 76 Hunger Games (Watty Awards)

Part 2: The Arena. Tributes

I awoke thinking, "IF I GET DRUGGED ONE MORE TIME..." Then, I took in my surroundings. I was in a glass cylinder with a dismal-looking Ty. "Where are we?"

"We are going to the Capitol," he answered despairingly.

"Why?" I asked, although I knew the answer already.

"You are going to be in the Hunger Games," Ash said, coming almost out of nowhere.

"TRAITOR!" Ty yelled at him.

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not," he said with a shrug, then disappeared through the door.

"Ty!" I whisper, "I have a plan. If none of the tributes want to be in the Games, then we could maybe band together in the arena and all be saved by working together!"

"That just might work," Ty said with renewed hope.

"We are arriving at the Capitol!" Ash called out to us in a singsong voice, and Ty's hope slipped back into whatever hole it had come from. Without thinking, I went and gave him a hug. He hugged me back without hesitation. Then he said something I knew was true, but definitely wasn't expecting. "I love you so much, and definitely more than a sister,"  he whispered.

"I love you too," I said,  and once I said it, I knew it was true. Then, Ty did the most wonderful and completely unexpected thing in my lifetime. He kissed me in the lips, and with only a seconds hesitation, I kissed him back. We both stopped kissing, but did not let go of our embrace until the hovercraft had landed.

As the door of the hovercraft's door opened, Ty and I put on fake smiles while still holding hands and stepped into the bright sunlight and colors of the Capitol. After about five minutes of waving and fake smiles, we were ushered into the building we were to stay in until the start of the Games.

We were shown our rooms but didn't go in them. In the halls, Ty and I ran into an old man in a wheelchair. I had a strange feeling I had seen him before. "Haymitch!" I said the name aloud as it came to me.

"You know him?" Ty asked in bewilderment

"No but my parents do. He was their mentor."

"So I got fighters again and lovebirds too. Well Em, you are definitely going to be more charming than your mom was," Haymitch said without enthusiasm.

"We have a plan." I told him what we wanted to do.

"I can get the mentors in on it so the tributes know what to do."

We had been talking in hushed tones, so when our escort entered the room yelling, "Dinner!" in her silly voice, we all jumped. At dinner, everyone ate in silence. I was able to catch Ty's eye and give him a reassuring look.

After dinner we watched all the reapings except ours. We didn't have one obviously.  All the tributes looked to be anywhere from 14 to 16.

"All of them are older, so if things go wrong you are doomed."

I was leaning against Ty's strong chest when Haymitch said that. All the other tributes looked like they hated the Games as much as we did. Ty was not convinced, but he didn't say anything to give it away.

We all went to bed. The chariot ride is tomorrow and I'm terrified. Somehow, I find sleep in the big bed I was given.