The Hunger Games of Bengui

Chapter 7

The silence in the room was broken by the rattling of the star wobbling back and forth on the concrete ground. I shot a look of at Jason and he was frozen, eyes still locked on the boy. The boy stood there for a second, staring at the star that had fallen out of Jason's hands. He shook his head and walked away, walking past us to join his partner at the stations in the back. Lily gave me a confused look, probably wondering what I had to do with him. Jason was next to my side in a flash, gripping my wrist and pulling me away from her to talk.

"Holy shit did you see him!!" he exclaimed. Eyes just as bright as they were back on the train.

"Yeah. Yeah I did..." I said, trailing off to catch another glance at the boy. Jason pulled out the portrait from his back pocket. Damn, he carries that with him everywhere doesn't he...

"He.. he looks just like Greg!" He said, quickly unfolding the paper, lifting it up to try and compare the two, and sure enough it was a match. The boy had the same eyes, nose, and mouth shape. His hair was slightly different on the boy though, for instead of shaggy hair he had a short buzzcut. His round face was exactly the same though, and his irregularly thin lips were also a good hint.

"Are you looking at that boy from District 1?" a small voice asked from behind us. I turned around. It was just Lily.

"Yes.." Jason flushed pink while he folded back the paper and tucked it into his pocket.

"Well his name is Jimmy by the way," Lily said. "Don't waste your time on him, he looks weird." Lily and I looked at each other and cracked up laughing. Jason fell to the ground, his hands clenched together.

"It. It all makes sense. How could I not have known!" He started saying to himself.

"Known what?" I asked.

"The name Jimmy. It's been popping up everywhere in my head since I've had that dream a few weeks ago. Different boys in different dreams all with the name Jimmy..J all of a sudden being my favorite letter.. My friends and I planted a marigold the other day and the first name that popped in my head was Jimmy--"

"Oh my fuck..you're so obsessed with him," Lily cut him off. I put my hand over my mouth to try and stop the outbursts of laughter. "I told you not to waste any time on him, Jason. He's not even worth it." She walked away, her pony tail flapping around with each step. I gave Jason a pat on the back and ran over to follow her, his eyes still locked on the no more named Greg boy.

"Hey, mind if we join the archery station?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, sure." I said. I had a feeling I'd want this girl to be one of my allies. Funny, spirted, perfect.

"I don't believe I've caught your name?" she asked in a small voice.

"It's Cara," I replied back. She nodded her head and kept walking.

The archery station was a large one. The table was filled with different types of arrows and to the side was a rack where all the bows hung from. She grabbed one and handed it to me while I threw her back a set 5 arrows.

"Thanks," she gleamed.

I walked over to the first target and raised up my bow. I had used one once back at home when I went hunting with Fret, an older from school. I grabbed and arrow and loaded it in the holder and then let go of my finger, the string hitting my wrist.

"Gosh, ouch," I mumbled to myself, rubbing my wrist.

"Oops, I forgot to tell you, you have to let go of the string as fast as you can," she said, helping me get another arrow. This time the string didn't whiplash into my arm again, but my arrow terribly missed the target. I looked over at Lily, she released the arrow flawlessly, the arrow landing directly in the center. She smiled and congratulated herself. She saw me staring at her.

"Have I told you I've been practicing?"

"Haha I can tell, a bow isn't the easiest weapon to use." I told her I'd be walking around the other stations, and she said she'd meet up with me in a few minutes. I walked through the camouflage station, admiring the paint. There was a girl there, testing the colors on her bare arm, admiring her work. I spotted a friendly looking girl over near the axes, so I decided I should make some more friends. As I approached, she turned around and I let out a gasp.

"...Lily? How did you get here so fast?" She looked exactly like her, except her outfit. Her hair was out of the pony tail and instead of her with that grey shirt and capris I had seen on her before, she had on a blue shirt with shorts.

"Oh, you've met Lily huh?" she chuckled. "Hey Lily!" she yelled across the room. Lily was still over there by the station, she lowered her bow and waved back and flashed me a grin. I was puzzled.

"Haha you just met Lily over there. Hi I'm Kristen," she said.

"Cara..." I was still lost.

"We're twins in case you haven't noticed. Yeah, yeah, what are the odds of us two getting picked for the games in the same year right... Well the Capitol actually doesn't allow twins to be living in the same district... so when we were born in District 6, I was forced to get shipped out to District 7 to live with my dad. I think the Capitol is worried about some interference with Reaping Day or some shit," she said, swinging her ax violently around. I took a step back, worried it would fly into my face. I stood there for a sec, reflecting on my new knowledge about my two friends.

"Wanna be allies?" she said, raising up her hand.

I took it and we agreed, "Allies."

"Hey, I really wanna team up on Captain Eats-A-Lot over there," she said, nodding her head in Jason's direction. He was recovered now, chucking more stars at more ropes, gradually increasing distance. I looked over at him and then back at Kristen and we both started laughing.

"I saw his plate this morning, I think the diabetes will get to him before my ax," she smirked. I smiled back at her. "This one is spunky too," I said to myself. I sat back as I watched her launch her massive throwing ax into a dummy's head, square in the center. She skipped over to it and yanked it out, taking a bow. I applauded with an impressive nod. The bell eventually rang, and a booming voice over the intercom told us we had to go to dinner. Lily dashed to my side, and we three walked out to the cafeteria together.

We had gotten split after we grabbed all our food, since we were only allowed to sit in our district tables. Kristen couldn't stop laughing when she spotted Jason carry a heaping mountain of food back to our table. I had chosen to eat small again, picking out some chow mein noodles and complementary veggies. Before I walked back to my table, Lily plopped a slice of cheesecake onto my tray and walked away with her sis.

"You left me," Jason scowled as I slumped into my seat.

"You're the one that told me to make friends, so I did."

"Yeah, but I had a massive plan to go up to talk to Jimmy that needed two people. TWO! But no, I had no one to help me."

"Jeez, did you not hear Lily anyways? Don't waste your time on him. And how hard is it to talk to him. 'Hey you cute. Wanna get in the corner--' ow! Why'd you kick me!" I kicked him back, harder.

He remained silent the whole night. I finished dinner early and threw my tray away without a word to Jason. As I walked through the doors, I waved at the two twins and ran up to my room, taking the stairs once more. Once I got up to my room, I shoved the key into the lock and threw the door open. I flung off my cardigan and kicked my shoes off, hopping into bed, preparing for the grueling day tomorrow.