The Challenges

First Chapter Preview

I stand in front of the train station bench, too anxious to even think about sitting. Three months. That's how long it's been since I've had to pretend. Three months. It's been absolutely blissful. I love spending time with Mr. and Mrs. Hood, Savannah's parents. They are some of the nicest, most giving people I've ever met. Mrs. Hood was hesitant at first about letting me stay. She had taken a leave of absence from work during The Challenges and was watching the entire time. She saw the way I treated Savannah. She also saw how I risked my life, and Carlos', to save what was left of hers. Over time, she realized that I cared for Savannah as much as she did, and we managed to form a bond that was similar to friendship.

But I need to stop my mind from wandering. I am about to see Marko. He is about to step off that train, and I am supposed to act like a lovesick teenager who has been feeling the worst heartache of her life. How am I supposed to tell him that I... that my heart... I shake my head, trying to clear the water out. I can't even let the words form in my thoughts. I could be killed.

Marko is such a difficult topic to dwell on, but what's even worse is what I'm going to face after I see Marko. Organizing The Challenges is a very difficult job to get. I have to have something really special about me. The wind blows my hair in my face. I grab a strand. Red. I dyed my hair red. I remember standing in front of my bathroom mirror for hours, crying. Dying my hair was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do. Harder than throwing my knife on the ground to save Savannah's life.

Red hair always reminds me of my mother. She has the reddest hair of anyone I've ever known. I'm hoping that the government officials will see my hair, and immediately think of her. She was the best Challenges organizer in decades, and I have to be just like her if I want the job.

The job... plotting the deaths of nine teenage boys. I will be a savior, and try to lessen that number as much as I can, but I don't know the first thing about organizing a Challenges or being a savior, apart from a ten-minute talk I had with my mother- mentally washes out my mouth with soap- Hawk. I had a ten-minute talk with Hawk. Hawk can't be her. I don't know where she's gone, but my mother can't be Hawk.

The train arrives. I clutch the handle of my suitcase with a white-knuckled grip. Marko. Marko. Marko. Fall in love with that name. Marko. Marko. Marko. I try to fight the tears from rising up behind my eyes. Yes, you love him. Rose loves Marko. Don't deny it. I shake my head, trying to clear the water out of my ears.

The door of the train opens, and Marko steps out. Just like that, it's as if all of the water rushes away. I don't love him. Not even a little. But he is my dearest, living friend.

I grin and he smiles back. We stand still for almost a complete second before, at the same moment, we rush toward each other. I jump into his arms and he lifts me up into the air. I squeal with childlike delight as he swings me around with his hands on my waist. When he lets me back down to the ground, I kiss him quickly on the lips before turning my head into his shoulder. Wrapping my arms around his torso, I whisper, "I missed you so much."

He takes a strand of hair and wraps it loosely around his finger, "You dyed your hair."

I nod, step back, and flick my thumb under his chin, "You got taller."

He smirks, "A lot can change in three months."

I smile, "You have no idea. We have a lot to talk about."

The train whistle blows and Marko looks away for a second. I use the distraction to compose myself. I do care about Marko. He is my dearest friend. I can pretend that I love him.