Grain & Blood | A Hunger Games collection

System Overload: Chapter Fourteen

Jonen

"So she's alive. After everything went through to kill her."

Clementine murmurs in agreement next to me. I stare back at the screen as the seal of the Capitol shows and the anthem plays. It fades to black and changes to Lucky Flickerman, standing on the stage in the Capitol, an audience about the size of half the Capitol's population.

"Ladies, gentlemen, I give you the winners of the 36th Hunger Games,"

Winners?

"Kamalyn Hutcherson..."

She walks out with a beaming smile and a bounce in her step. I'm so close to punching the television.

"...and Iris Sheaf!"

What? Iris is dead, very dead, what is she doing alive in the Capitol as a victor?

She walks out with a straight face that turns into a laugh almost immediately.

"Clem? Is that really Iris?"

"Wait, I'm still watching."

The two girls stand together on the front of the stage, hold hands and lift them high in the air. Iris wouldn't do that. She just wouldn't.

And they kiss.

"What?!" Clementine explodes first, "Iris would never. She hates Kamalyn, why would they be together like that?"

"They wouldn't. What's happened to her? I wanted Iris back but not like this."

"Same. She's alive and I just can't believe it. But that doesn't mean she can start canoodling with her enemy."

"If they continue that victory tour together, it'll be another two weeks until we see Iris again. Maybe in that time she'll change. "

"Or maybe she'll just grow closer to Kamalyn." Clementime mutters darkly.

"I mean, if that girl really is Iris, then maybe she could tell me what colour we painted my front door in the summer when we were nine?"

"Only Iris would know that," Clementine jokes.

I turn my attention back to the television. Kamalyn and Iris are seated on revolving chairs and are being asked questions by Flickerman. I want to pay attention but I just don't care about the District 4 girl.

"...ask your questions..."

A number appears on the bottom of the screen and I put the two things together. Call this number to ask your questions.

I smash the digits into the telephone and pick up. It takes about a minute of ringing for someone on the other end to answer, and when they do it's a mechanical voice telling me that I've been added to a queue of eleven.

"What's your question?" Clementine asks me.

"What colour did we paint my front door in the summer when we were nine."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Even you don't know that."

"Hasn't it always been eggshell blue?"

I laugh and tuck my dark hair behind my ear. "No, as you said, only Iris would know."

The two of us sit through ten minutes of stupid questions and answers before the voice tells me to ask my question.

"Iris, just to make sure that it is you, what colour did we paint my front door in the summer when we were nine? From a friend."

On screen, Iris is relayed my message and she laughs.

"Jonen, we painted your door beige- yellow with an orange border. It was disgusting and we repainted it eggshell blue three days later. I miss you and Clem, and please don't take this the wrong way. I'll see you soon."

I miss you too, Iris.