The 70th Hunger Games: A Little Love

Chapter Six

Dear Diary,

I'm sorry I didn't really write too much about yesterday. Percy and I had another training, where I was able to talk to Marietta a bit more without her district partner looming over us, and we sat with the mentors and discussed strategies for training and for sponsors and for the games. We ate, I sat with Percy in his room and reminisced about life back home and how we would probably experience it again.

Today is the day of our 'one on one' skill training, and then we have our interviews. You'd think I'd be more nervous about the interviews, that's my one chance to get the capital to like me. But I've talked it over with Velerio at least ten times, I know exactly how I'm going to react to the interviewer, Caesar Flickerman, and his questions. What I don't know is what I'm going to show the judges to prove to them that I am worth sinking money into in these games.

I woke up to a knock on my door: not the same heavy one I heard yesterday, but a much lighter one. I stuff my feet into slippers, saving myself from the shivers and the cold tile floor.

"I'm coming Velerio!" I shout, trying to sound as peppy and loud as possible early in the morning. When I open the door, with a small shawl thrown over my shoulders, I am greeted by Finnick's dirty blonde hair, not the golden skin of Velerio.

"Oh, hello. I'm sorry. Yesterday Velerio woke me up," I explain shyly, my cheeks turning pink. I quickly cross my arms over my chest, realizing that I didn't have a bra on.

"Don't worry about it sweetheart," Finnick winks, and my eyes avert to the ground out of nervousness. "I wanted to grab you for some breakfast before everyone else wakes up."

"Before everyone else wakes up? What time is it?" I question, trying to look out of the windows in my bedroom. To my surprise, they paint a picture of life back home, of waves breaking on the shore, and seagulls flying above the coastline. I've spent so much time writing, I haven't had time to look at what's going on around me. I should pick my head up more.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Finnick asks as he steps forward, putting his hand on the middle of my back, right where my spine fits between my shoulders.

I nod, turning around to look at Finnick. A small gasp escapes my lips as I notice how close he is to me. He was close enough that, like the reaping ceremony, I could smell the faintest sent of sugar on his breath.

"So uh, breakfast, right?" I ask, taking a nervous step back from him, out of his grasp and out of his face. Finnick nods, motioning for me to follow him.

"Yeah. We're going to watch some of the videos of past winners, so you can get an idea of what the hungers games is actually like," Finnick explains.

Although the idea of watching people kill one another for breakfast sickens me, I follow Finnick down the hallway. Noting that Finnick never answered my question, I looked at the clock on the common room wall. 7 am? Training didn't start until 11! Do we really need this much time to watch people kill one another?

Already feeling my appetite leave my body, I grab some sort of orange fruit that was cut into squares, some kind of melon, and a bowl of warm oats and and sit down on the couch in front of the large television set.

"You ready? Finnick asks, an eyebrow raised, and a piece of meat already in his mouth. Man, are men ever hungry.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I sit back into the couch, crossing my legs in front of me and placing my plate on my lap. I watch as Finnick turns on the tv, and start to eat, as quickly as I can. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to stomach once kids start hurting each other.

The answer is: not much.

As soon as the first person was killed, my food went on the ground. A shocked gasp left my lips as my food flipped upside down, spilling all over the floor. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" I apologize to Finnick as I climb down, trying to clean up the hot oats with my hand.