10. Show Strength, Not Weakness
For a change, it wasn’t just Johanna and Jade in our apartment. Also joining them were our stylists, Alden and Harper. It was a nice change, seeing someone else who liked me. I was the first to see them since I was the first to cross the threshold. I saw Jade at the dinner table, Alden and Harper conversing on the couch, Johanna was with Jade. Harper and Alden turned their heads to notice we came in.
“Oh good, you two are back!” Jade chirped, springing from her chair to scurry to us. “I thought you were going to miss din—Bridget, what happened!?”
She finally notices. “Oh, this?” I felt the tender spots on my face.
“Dear lord, Bridget,” Jade gasped. She looked very hesitant in touching my face, as if it’d crumble if she attempted to touch it.
“What are you whining about, Jade?” Johanna hissed. She came and saw my face. Her eyes turned cold. Johanna Mason wasn’t happy. My appearance was attracting everyone over like flies, because Alden and Harper migrated over. Harper put her hands to her mouth in shock; Alden was the second person to actually touch my face.
“You poor thing,” he sympathized. “Harper, get some tissues from the bathroom.”
“On it!” Harper dashed away, nearly tripping herself in the process.
“Why do I get the feeling the story you are about to tell me is a station training gone wrong?” Johanna sighed irritably.
“How bad does it really look?” I whined, ignoring Johanna’s question. “You all make me sound like I look like a monster or something.”
“You don’t have a headache do you, or blurry vision?” Jade panicked. I shook my head.
“Let’s get you on the couch,” Dan suggested.
It seemed we all herded as one on the couch, Daniel and Alden on either side of me. Alden was still examining my face, probably distraught over how this would affect me in the days to come. Harper came back with pretty much the entire box of tissues. Alden started wiping the blood off from my mouth and nose. I hadn’t even felt the blood trickle along my skin in a creepy-crawly way.
“Pinch your nose; it’ll help stop the blood. Does anything feel sore, Bridget?” Alden asked me quietly.
“My jaw kind of hurts,” I said softly, sounding real nasally. I hated that. “I didn’t lose a tooth or anything, did I?”
“Let me see. Open.” I opened my mouth wide. “Nope, you didn’t lose any, thank goodness. I would have punched the person who did this to you.”
“Alden, honey,” Harper sighed, “you are anything but violent.”
“When it comes to messing up my tribute assignment, I take it personally. She’s like my daughter, Harper.” Alden’s green eyes looked to be lit with protectiveness. I didn’t think Alden considered me that way. I never thought of him to be a father figure, just a friend really. I felt appreciated, knowing that Alden considered me like family even though we hadn’t even spent a week together.
“But you can’t protect me, you’re only my fashion designer,” I said carefully. My jaw throbbed.
“Don’t talk so much, sweetheart,” Alden said softly. “Harper, go get a bag of ice.”
“Manners would help,” Harper retorted.
“Fine.” He sighed. “Please go get a bag of ice.”
“There. That’s not so bad, is it?” Harper popped up and scuttled off to the freezer fridge to get a fresh, cold bag of ice. I knew this wasn’t any serious injury, but for now, I felt like Alden was my temporary nurse.
“It’s storytelling time, you two,” Johanna barked. She sat on the end of the long couch we six were perched on. Harper came back with the bag of ice and handed it to me. I gave her a nod of thanks and pressed it to my cheek and nose. I unplugged my nose. I felt like a goof for holding it up there, and I probably looked like one too.
The ice actually felt soothing on my throbbing nose and jaw.
“Well—” I tried to say.
“Ah-ah, no talking for you,” Jade snapped at me. “If you’re jaw hurts, it’s best not to aggravate it.”
Johanna’s eyes shifted to Daniel, who sat on my right. I slumped against the couch.
“What do you want first, the progress of us or the story behind her face?” Dan asked.
“I want the story behind this.” Johanna pointed to my throbbing face.
“Okay. The incident happened after lunch. Everybody was minding their own business when the District One male—”
“Eric,” I mumbled.
“I don’t think she cares about the names, Bri,” Dan said gently. I didn’t bother to retort back at him since I knew he wasn’t annoyed with me. “Anyway, he claimed somebody stole his knife and thought Bridget took it.”
“Did you?” Harper gasped.
“No!” Dan and I chirped. I yipped in pain and pressed the ice bag tighter against my nose and jaw.
Daniel took over once again with the story: “He called out Bridget, and then I tried to stop him. Then he turned around and thought I had stolen it—which I didn’t,” he added quickly. “He didn’t back off. He grabbed a hold of me, I didn’t like it, and I punched him.”
“And the experts did nothing about it?” Johanna asked, with an eyebrow raised. I wasn’t sure if she was shocked by the fact that either Dan punched the kid or that the experts didn’t bother to intervene.
“Not at first. Eric tried to go for me, but then Bridget stepped in the way, taking the blow for me. I swear he hit her so hard I thought he knocked her head off her body.” He shuddered. “But Bri shot right back up and attacked him. She was getting pummeled and finally the experts had the decency to step in and end the madness. Of course, a few tributes helped dissolve the issue.”
“It seems like the experts ended it a bit too late,” Jade growling, grimacing. “They must like to watch tributes fight and see how far they can go.”
“But I thought that wasn’t allowed in the Training Center?” Harper piped.
“It isn’t,” Alden said coldly. “It’s rare you hear any fights break out in the Training Center. That’s why the experts are there, to make sure nothing like this happens. Clearly they were neglecting their jobs today if they actually let Dan punch him and the boy attack Bridget.”
Alden certainly didn’t like Daniel and me getting into fights.
“So experts pried him off Bri, and his sister threatened her,” Dan rambled on. “I was there by her side, and so was the District Two girl.”
“Really?” Both of Johanna’s eyebrows rose as she asked this. “This girl is a strange one.”
“She thinks she can trust us more than her Career pack.” Dan shrugged.
“Well, before we get into your progress today and your plan for tomorrow, I’ve just got one thing to say. What the HELL were you THINKING?” Her voice rang in the apartment. She leapt up and stared us down. “I thought Jade very well told you to not get into anymore fights, regardless of who it’s with?”
“But, Johanna,” I said, “it wasn’t our fault. Daniel left out a part of the story that you need to hear. The knife—”
“You two have a knack for starting fights. I never expected you two of all tributes to do something like that!” she ranted.
“Johanna!” Alden shouted. Johanna stopped her ranting, and her eyes locked on my stylist’s. Her mouth was wide open in shock; it was obvious not many people talked back to Johanna Mason. If anybody talked back to her, I got the feeling they regretted it immediately. Alden was brave; I had to admit, doing something bold like that. “Bridget had more to the story.”
“Oh, you did?” Johanna settled down a bit. I nodded feverishly. “Then why didn’t you speak up?”
“I’ve got a sore jaw which hurts when I talk a lot,” I growled at her. “I’ll make this short for me and you both. Nobody stole the knife. Eric and his sister faked it just to stir up trouble.”
“And they picked you two of all the tributes to mess with?” Jade asked. Dan and I both nodded. “Careers can be so ignorant sometimes.”
“Well, you said something about a Career girl trusting you,” Harper remembered. “So maybe they wanted to show the girl that you couldn’t be trusted.”
“Maybe,” Dan considered. “But whatever the reason, it was done just for attention.”
“They’re playing dirty,” Johanna growled.
“Very dirty,” Alden hissed. “Is the ice helping any, dear?” His question was obviously directed at me.
“A little,” I confessed.
“You know what?” Jade piped. We all looked at her. “I think we should be commending Bridget for helping Daniel like she did.”
“I reacted on instinct,” I mumbled. “He’s my family; I can’t help it if I don’t want to see family get hurt.”
“You seem willing to take hits for him,” Johanna mused. “You are a family girl.”
“That’s the way I was raised.” I didn’t dare try to laugh; I was pushing my limits with talking.
“Well it looks like we know what’ll happen when there comes a time when one of you is threatened. The other will sacrifice themselves so that the other can live.” Well, what a fabulous way to look at it, I thought bitterly. It was probably true though. Nobody said the truth had to be nice.
“Are you done scolding us?” Dan asked. I yawned as much as I could. “I think Bridget wants to turn in early.”
“You bet,” I squeaked. Daniel was right; I wanted to go to bed. I wasn’t hungry at all. All I wanted was to sleep now. Sleep sounded more important than food right now. Tomorrow was judgment day for me, the day the Gamemakers saw what I was truly capable of.
“Ah-ah, you’re not going anywhere until you tell me the progress you’ve made,” Johanna sang.
“Oh, fine,” I huffed. “Well, I suck at throwing knives. I’m better off with an ax or a hatchet. I know for a fact I’ll be useless if I fight someone hand-to-hand. And I really don’t know how to throw a punch much or anything, but if I remember right, I may know some ways to kill somebody with using my bare hands—if I possess enough strength to do the moves.”
“You proved you can fight, though,” Alden chirped, patting my leg. “I mean, you took on Eric. I doubt there are many girls that physically fight boys. You probably surprised him and a lot of the other tributes there.”
“Yeah, but my method is sloppy.” I pouted. “I think the only reason I got a few shots in was because he was caught off guard.”
“As for you, Daniel?” Johanna probed, directing her focus onto him now. Good thing, too, my jaw needed a rest.
“I’ve been working in the areas you told me to,” he reported.
I looked at him questioningly. “Where did she tell you to work at?” I adjusted the ice pack on my face.
“Nowhere that you need to be concerned about.”
“Umm, excuse me, but I feel I deserve to know. We are in the same district, we are best friends who tell each other everything, last time I checked,” I snapped, shifting my eyes to Johanna. The revelation hit me quick. “But apparently our mentor wants to work with the better tribute. I see how it is.”
“Quite frankly, I don’t,” Harper whispered. Jade shushed her.
“You know I won’t last long in the Games,” I snarled at Johanna, staggering to my feet. My jaw faintly throbbed, but I ignored it. “Don’t lie and say that you don’t know what I’m talking about. You’ve probably told Dan some ridiculous story and kept your talks without me because you know that out of the two of us, he’d have a better shot at winning. So typical. I should have expected this from you; I was too idiotic to realize it until now.”
I looked at Dan, and he actually looked confused. Johanna had to have been telling him some story.
“You put your money on me rather than her?” Dan asked Johanna. There was a tense silence, the escort and stylists stayed silent. “You’re kidding, right? How can Bridget not have as good of a shot as I do in this? You heard what she did today, you see the proof!”
“Why do you think I won’t win, Johanna? Enlighten me,” I demanded crossly. Despite my jaw throbbing, I clenched it stiffly.
“You can’t think straight, you never think things through. You’re too indecisive,” she said simply, shrugging. “You have no strong abilities that can give you a good advantage over the other tributes.”
“So you’re saying I’d be one of the first tributes to die.” It wasn’t a question.
I knew Johanna never liked Dan and me from the moment she saw us. But now, I was under the impression if she had to choose one to keep, she’d keep Daniel over me. As odd as it sounded, I was happy she’d choose Dan. At least he could live a life while I watched over him in heaven.
Johanna and I just stared at each other. I waited for her to respond, but I knew she wasn’t going to. Realizing Johanna was just going to be stubborn; I handed the ice pack back to Alden, and then stomped off to my bedroom for the night.
Why was I cursed with the odds against me? First I get picked for the Hunger Games, and now not even my mentor thinks I’m going to win for District 7. To top that off, I made a bigger enemy with Kaya, the District 1 girl, and possibly her brother since I pounced on him for trying to go for Daniel. What else could possibly go wrong?
The only things that could add to the list was me failing in front of the Gamemakers, being given a poor score, and becoming one of the many casualties that would take place on the first day in the arena.
I was dreading tomorrow. I didn’t want to go “strut my stuff” in front of the Gamemakers. I doubt anything would impress them. They had probably seen so many impressive tributes before us in previous Games, so their judging would most likely be harsh. However, I think the Careers would score high. They always did. The rest of the districts had to fight hard to get a score that they’re satisfied with.
That’s it, I thought. I’ll show Johanna I can do something. Then maybe she’ll actually think something of me. I wasn’t going to let Johanna’s opinion of me affect me. In fact, I would let it fuel me for tomorrow. If anything, what she thought of me was the perfect motivation to give it all I got for the Gamemakers. If I got a decent score, maybe she’d take back what she said about me tonight. It was evident showing proof I got into a fight wasn’t enough to convince Johanna Mason.
Of course, I wouldn’t know if she would take back her words until they would announce the scores tomorrow night.
As I lay in bed, Johanna’s thoughts on me kept popping into my head. I tried to shove them away because I didn’t need to think about them right now. The last thing I needed was to freak myself out with some crazy nightmare and give myself another restless night. I couldn’t afford that, not with such a huge day tomorrow.
As I slowly drifted to sleep, I constantly kept pushing for the ultimate dream: for me to get a good score, to prove to Johanna that I wasn’t just a wallflower, that I was a girl who could actually do something, that I was someone who had the right stuff to dive into—and possibly even win—the Hunger Games.