The 73rd annual Hunger Games

Chapter 15

Athena POV:

I walk onto the stage and the bright lights blind me. I hear Caesar's voice introducing me to the crowd. When I reach the centre of the stage I sit down on one of the white chairs next to Caesar. The crowd settles down and Caesar shakes my hand aggressively.

"Welcome, welcome Athena! How have you been?" He asks.

"Fine, fine. Great actually. Your training centre knives are quite exquisite," I reply. The crowd laughs a bit at that.

"Ah, you're a knife thrower?" Caesar continues.

"Yep. You could say I'm the best knife thrower," I reply with a smug smirk.

"Oh I can see that, with your training score and all. A 10! Quite impressive," He smiles.

"Yeah. I wasn't even trying that hard. The GameMakers just loved me that much," I give a flirtatious wink at the GameMakers. A few wave back.

"Well, I hear you're in the career pack. Are you looking forward to this year's careers? Did you get to help decide who was in the careers?" Caesar asks, pressing the subject.

"Yeah I am and yes I think the careers this year will be pretty awesome. Wade, Lillian, and Felix didn't really care who was in the careers so you could say I kinda took over," I say smuggly.

"I see. And what about the other girl? What was her name?" Caesar looks at me quizzically.

"Oakley? Well she showed some promise at training and got a 9 so we decided she would be a good fit," I answer straightly.

"She's a lucky gal then," He smiles. "Everybody, Athena Ruckle!" He grabs my hand and lifts it into the air. I smirk at the Capitol people below me, feeling a new excitement for the Games to begin. I walk off stage with my head held high. As I walk off I pass Wade. He smiles at me and I smile back. A genuine smile. When I get backstage, I'm greeted by Lillian who runs up to me and hugs me tightly.

"Ahg," I mumble, having my head shoved in her shoulder. I push her off of me and brush myself off.

"Your interview was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!" She squills.

"Umm, thanks?" I say as her and Felix turn to head for the elevators. My attention is caught by the TV. I see Caesar and Wade seated in the same couches. They are talking about something and Caesar is laughing. I move closer to the TV to try and hear what they are saying.

"Your District partner. She seems like a fiery one!"

"Ah yeah, that she is."

"Did you know each other before the Games?"

"Um, I saw her at school a few times. I always admired her. But no, we did not know each other before the Games."

"Ah, I see. What do you mean by 'admirer'?"

"Well, I've noticed her before."

"Elaborate."

"There isn't more to say."

I have only known Wade for a while but in that time, I'd never once seen him blush. Until now.

"Alright, alright. What are your thoughts on the career pack this year?"

After that, I tune out the TV and turn to find Oakley.

"You looked great out there!" She smiles. I look into her deep blue eyes for any signs of sarcasm. I didn't find any.

"Thanks..." I say warraly. She smiles then turns to walk away. My eyes follow her and her grass green dress. Wade finally comes off the stage and I walk over to him.

"Good job," I mutter.

"What was that?" He smirks.

"Don't push it," I chuckle. Together we walk to the elevators. Once we get to our floor, we step out of the elevator and head for the living room. The second I walk into the living room I smell alcohol.

"Heyyy! There they are! How's our favourite tributes?" Brutus says, louder than usual.

"Um. We're good.." I chuckle. It's funny to see our mentors in such a state. Enobaria walks up to me and hands me a red cup with some bark liquid inside. I've drunken before. Except I've only ever had four cups at the most. I take the cup and sip the liquid. It's strong and fizzy. Probably some Capitol drink. Wade takes a cup as well and sips it. Half an hour later it's 10pm, we're all quite wasted. I've had 6 cups and my head feels a little funny. Wade and Brutus and wrestling and Enobaria and Masill laugh over something. Enobaria gets a message.

"Cashmere and Gloss want us to come down for drinks!" She laughs.

"Can you do that?" Asks Masill.

"I don't know!" Enobaria yells as her and Masill go into a fit of laughter. They get up from the cough and grab Brutus by the arm.

"Well be back by 3! Don't wait up for us!" Enobaria calls as she walks into the elevator.

"Ok," I laugh. Wade sits down next to me and hands me another cup.

"I really shouldn't," I laugh.

"Oh come on! This may be the last time you will ever have alcohol!" He jokes. Usually I would be mad but I'm too drunk to care. I take the cup and chug half the contents.

"Woo!" Wade cheers as I wipe my mouth on my arm. We're still in our interview clothes but I really don't care. We spend another hour laughing and drinking. I've had at least 16 cups and I'm totally out of it but I don't care. Wade is also wasted. We throw pillows at each other and laugh. It's 11:30pm now and It's pitch black outside the windows. I chuck a pillow at Wade and it hits him in the face.

"Haha! You loser-" My words are lost as he throws me over his shoulder and pins me down on the couch. He straddles over my waist and pins my shoulders down.

"Hey! Get off of me!" I yell-laugh.

"No! I've got you right where I want you," He smirks and leans down. I hesitate not knowing what to do. He presses his lips against mine. At first I stay stiff with my lips locked but as he continues I begin to move my lips with his. I feel one of his hands snake underneath me and lift me off the couch. He pushes me up against the nearest wall and pins my arms above my head. He trails gentle kisses down my neck to my chest then back up. My hands wrap around the back of his neck and hold him against my lips. When we finally break the kiss I feel a blush spread across my face.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that for," he smirks.

"Oh yeah?" I grin a stupid grin.

"Mhm," he mummers against my lips as he kisses me again. When we break apart for the second time I realise how tired I am.

"We should really get to bed. We've got a big day ahead of us," I look at the clock behind Wade and see it's 1:00am.

"Yeah. Goodnight, Athena," he says in a seductive tone. With that, he walks down the hall to his room. I blink a couple of times before taking a last shot of alcohol, then returning to my room to go to bed.