Chapter 19
1386 Words
Please take note: this chapter contains mention of an eating disorder. Also, Pray has a potty mouth.
Jaime POV
Those Gamemakers didn't know what they were talking about. I was fast as a cat. I just didn't show them everything I could do. If I'd really pushed myself, I'd have blown them away.
Now that training was over, the Tributes could go wherever they pleased. Some of them preferred to stay in their rooms or roam the Games building. I spent most of my time in the common room, where Tributes could go if they wanted to mingle. My plan was to take a look at the others and see who was allying. At the moment, the only others in the room were Willow, who looked at me every now and then, and Mase, who sneered at both of us like we were bugs. Willow tossed her head at him and came over to me.
"I've been thinking about getting an alliance together. Want to be my first member?" she asked.
"I don't know. Allies might slow me down," I said. I glanced at Mase again, and resented that the Careers always banded together to make things harder for us. Maybe it was time to pay them back.
"We won't be together the whole Games," Willow said. "But it's okay if you don't want to."
"Well, maybe it would be all right. Let's see if we can get some of the older Tributes," I said. We'll show those pampered Capitol pets who's boss.
Abigail POV
Maybe I should have stayed home. Some of the Tributes looked like they could eat me for breakfast. Maybe I didn't have a chance at all.
Don't think like that, I told myself. I thought of what Acee told me. Stay positive. Use what you have. Always optimize the situation.
I needed a strategy. I needed a game plan. I was decent with the bow and arrow I'd used in training, but I wouldn't be able to use it as anything but a sniping weapon or a distraction. It was clear I wasn't able to overpower my opponents, and I didn't know what the Arena was yet. The only thing I had any control over was my allies. I hadn't planned on allying at first, but the best way for me to increase my chances was to surround myself with people who augmented my weaknesses.
Earlier, I'd seen the skinny dark-skinned girl and the skinny Twelve boy eating together at lunch and discussing something earnestly. I was as prone to snooping as anyone, and I learned they were forming an alliance group. Honestly, they weren't much, but they might be able to help.
"Hey, I heard you were looking for allies," I said to the girl when I found her and Twelve boy outside her room. "Can I get in?"
"You got any skills?" the boy demanded.
"I'm a volunteer. You think I don't know what I'm doing? Besides, I'm from Three. Threes always know strategy," I said. It wasn't always true, but we had our reputation.
"I think you'd be a great ally," Willow said. She glanced at Jamie, who didn't protest, and shook my hand. For better or for worse, I had allies. I hoped my "Three planning skills" were as good as I said.
Ava POV
I leaned over on the bathroom floor and tried to purge the shame away. When I went to the Careers to plan with them, Mase laughed in my face and brushed me away.
"You? You're nothing but a useless bonebag. See you at the Bloodbath," he'd said. I looked at the others for help, but they all turned away. None of them wanted me. They were everything I trained to be, and they threw me away. If they couldn't love me, who could?
It's because you're not good enough. Weak, stupid girl! You should have worked harder. I felt the poison the Capitol tempted me with heaving in my stomach and jammed my fingers down my throat to exorcise it.
I didn't hear the door open. I didn't know someone was in the room until silver fingernails clamped onto my shoulder and threw me backwards.
"What are you doing?" Pray demanded. I'd never seen such emotion on Silver Claw's face. She looked like I was her daughter, not her student.
"I got sick," I lied. I'd gotten great at it over the years.
"Don't give me that," she said. "There's one like you every year, the one that's at the Academy to punish themselves and not to fight. You think I don't know?"
"What do you care? I'm going to die anyway," I said. To my horror, I started to cry and my nose started to run.
"I know you'll probably die, but I'll still move heaven and hell to make sure you have the best chance. Never stop fighting. Isn't your life worth as much to you as it is to me?" she said.
"They don't want me," I said.
"Who?" she asked.
"The Careers. They wouldn't let me join them," I said.
"I wouldn't either. You look like you're made of glass. Right now, you have to get over it, get yourself up, and fight. I don't know if you have what it takes. Only you do. You sure as hell better start fighting for yourself. No one else is going to. Ava... I hope you do." She stalked out of the bathroom and slammed the door.
Did she really hope I'd make it? Even after I was a disgrace to the Two she tore a man apart to bring honor to? I didn't think anyone cared about me. I couldn't expect them to. Maybe I did have someone rooting for me. The only person in the world who cared about me was Silver Claws Jager. It didn't seem possible that she cared for anyone. She thought I could fight. Maybe I really could.
Cordin POV
I liked Willow and Jaime. I'd always felt a little younger than I was, and they seemed like the kind of people I would have been friends with back home. When they asked me to be part of their alliance, I leaped at the chance. With my score and my skills, I was Bloodbath fodder alone. Together, maybe we could fend off the others. Having Abigail along made it feel just a little more legitimate. We'll stick with each other to the end.
When it came time for dinner, we gathered around a table and ate together. It was hard to discuss strategy when we didn't even know what the Arena was, but we did what we could.
"Any one you guys plan to run into the Bloodbath?" I asked.
"Nu-uh," said Willow.
"Yeah! I can get us some weapons!" Jamie said.
"I think it's a risk I'll have to take. We need food," Abigail said. I saw someone approaching our table and turned to greet him or her. I never would have expected who it was.
The skeleton girl from Two was standing before us, her head low and her hands fluttering at her waist. She looked like she was about to cry.
"The Careers are over there," Abigail said.
"I know," the girl whispered. She bit her lip. "Can I... can I be in your alliance?"
"What?!" Willow said. "You're a Career!"
"They don't want me," she said softly. Her foot traced a circle on the ground.
"We can't trust someone trained to kill," Abigail said.
"Please?" the girl said. "I can use a dagger. I can protect you." I wasn't sure what to think. If she was putting on an act, she was a master. She looked like we were her last hope. I looked around at the others. Jamie looked indifferent, and Willow was squirming to see someone so unhappy. Abigail took a long look at the girl, then nodded.
"Hooray! You're in," Willow said. She scooted over to make room for the girl, who sat next to her with a shy smile.
"I'm Willow, and this is Cordin, Abigail, and Jamie," she said.
"I'm Ava," the girl said.
"We're the wild cards. You're one of us now."
It seems Pray isn't as cold as she seems. She's still pretty dang cold, but not quite as bad as she looks.
- Writer
