Sharp Objects

chapter fourteen

I step out of the elevator into our main room, just as tallulah walks over to congratulate me. "Well done clove, you were brilliant!" She pipes, giving me a huge, beaming smile.

"Thanks tallulah!" I reply " but I didn't think I was all that good to be honest with you!" She laughs in response

" clove you were excellent, don't put yourself down about it! Now, who's for some cake to celebrate?" She questions the whole room, and almost immediately, brutus, crystalline and cato are seated at the table. I took my eyes, and reluctantly go and join them.

An avox lady brings out a a platter full of fresh fruit dipped in chocolate, along with a massive chocolate cake that could probably feet every single tribute, plus there mentor. Brutus takes a huge slice, and tallulah turns her nose up, but doesn't actually say anything. I look over at cato,and we both forced to stifle a laugh.

Tallulah and crystalline both have relatively small slices,and I take some too, although my piece is much smaller then everybody else's: I really don't want to feel Ill going Into the arena tomorrow because of excess chocolate cake.

Oh no.i almost forgot: the games begin tomorrow. This week has rushed by so quickly that I hardly noticed the fact that my whole point of being here was to be part of a dangerous killing game. My life is no longer guaranteed. I am going to be a hunter, and I won't leg myself become the prey.

The thought of the upcoming games have stopped my appetite almost entirely, and suddenly, the thought of eating another slice of cake makes me feel sick. "I'm done." I say, pushing my plate away from me " anyone want mine? I'm not very hungry anymore."

When nobody takes my offer, I stand up,and walk away from the table. I don't think they even notice me leave. Well, tallulah definitely doesn't anyway.

I walk back to my room slamming the door closed and falling backwards on to my bed. I might as well spend as much time as possible in here: tomorrow, I won't have that luxury.

The arena changes each year, sometimes they're fairly good, sometimes they're awful. One year, they had no proper weapons at all, and the tributes had to bludgeon one another to death with hideous spiked maces that looked as heavy as a car. Well, that would suit cato perfectly, but not for me thank you.

Another year, the tributes were thrown into a frozen wasteland, and they all died from hypothermia, the deaths were quiet,bloodless,and with pretty much no action whatsoever. Everyone hated that year: it was extremely boring. Since then, there has always been weapons, and wood to make flies. That's good,if I have weapons, I might have a better chance at winning.

My allies will be useful : Marvel has his spears, and so does zafira; and cato will be priceless if he manages to get a sword. And then there is Glimmer: mostly useless, unless you want a girl who can't hit a target. Oh well, I'll be able to put with her for a while.when the table turn, and the career pack decide to turn against each other, I'll be the one to kill her.

My drawing pad sits on my nightstand, and I take it and begin to flick through the endless pages of the Capitol,me, cato, more cato, and me again. The amount of times that I've drawn him is crazy, I guess my thoughts really do come through into my art, even if I don't believe them myself.

I open my pad to a new page,and begin to draw myself, in my interview outfit, with caesar next to me, laughing away at something. I'm just beginning to perfect the elegant knots that Cecilia made in my hair, when the door barges open. "Clove!" Says tallulah, obviously flustered, judging by the beads of sweat dripping off her forehead " thank god! We'd thought you'd gone walk about !" She Shouts, waving her arms around "well, we've found you now! I  came to tell you that you must get a good night sleep tonight. Big big day tomorrow! You're going into the arena!"