Pyromania | The 60th Hunger Games

SEVEN

Eventually, I managed to drag myself from the room. Dressed in breathable black leggings, a black vest with the matching jacket tied loosely around my neck, I stepped into the kitchen.

The entire second floor was reserved for district two. There was a bedroom for each tribute, mentor, stylist and Lys, each had a bathroom and there was a large communal space with a television, sofa and kitchen suite. Martial was the only one at the table with his back to me, the table laid out for five people and an array of hot and cold food. Lys offered a smile as she sliced into a chunk of meat before looking down to scoop some vegetables onto her fork.

I slid into the seat across from Gia, to the right of Martial, and looked at the food.

Granddad's voice was playing in the back of my mind. If he had anything to say right now it would be about the food, how I should fatten up. He was right, as much as I hated to admit it. If we end up starving in the games I have very little fat to survive off.

With that in mind, I start with the bread. I chew through two rolls stuffed with meat and cheese. Then, three sweet pastries and a slice of a dessert pie. As I was reaching for the fruit, my stomach already full, I caught Gia's eye. She raised an eyebrow, pausing her fork midway to her mouth before placing it down as I bit into an apple.

"Tez?" Martial had also stopped eating, sipping on his water and leaning back in his seat. "You good?"

"Yeah," I mumble around the food in my mouth.

"I know I said you should eat more but you shouldn't make yourself sick," Gia said, clearing her throat and looking at Trix sitting beside me. "You need to be at your peak performance when you meet the tributes."

"But-"

"Terra," Trix rests a hand on mine where it rested on the table. I discarded the apple onto my plate as my stomach grumbled, "the other tributes will be looking for weaknesses to use against you in the arena. You'll need to work on your combat but also prove your worth with your specialties. You won't be able to do that if you're about to throw up on them."

"I know, but," I can barely get a word in edgeways when Gia takes my plate from in front of me.

"There will be time to eat later."

I was regretting eating too much once we were preparing to leave. I'd drained it down with water in the final ten minutes alone in our rooms but I could still feel the food sitting heavily on my stomach as the elevator lurched downwards.

Martial and I were alone for the first time since before the reaping. We stood side by side, staring at our reflections in the mirrored door as it descended.

"Are you scared?" I asked him. His eyes shifted to mine in the mirror and, I think, we were both much braver without having to face each other.

"A bit. Are you?"

"A bit," I shrugged despite feeling the similar panic from earlier settling on my chest, "I can taste lunch still." It was hot and sticky at the back of my throat, bread and cheese and sugar with a tinge of acid. For a moment I worried my breath would stink of bile but the tributes are going to smell much worse in a few days.

"You'll be okay," Martial said with a nod as the doors opened and two peacekeepers met us. He looked as though he was trying to convince himself more than me, "just climb something, light a fire, prove you're not useless. They'll know you didn't-" he trails off, glancing between the peacekeepers, "you know..." I nod as we pass through a doorway to a waiting room where a few tributes were already waiting.

I recognised the tributes from One at the front of the room and Martial approached the space beside them with a display of confidence he often bore around academy students. The boy noticed us as soon as we entered, watching us move with dark eyes. His hair was pulled behind his head in a ridiculously small ponytail and, as comical as it looked, I kept my chin high and an indifferent expression as I sat next to Martial. The boy leaned forward to look me up and down with little indiscretion, and when I turned my head to look at him the girl sat up straighter as if she had also been caught.