❛ 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬- 𝘵𝘩𝘨

CHAPTER 2

Arya thrashed in her sleep, as nightmares haunted them, and horrific scenes ran through her head.

"ARYA, PLEASE!"

It was hot. Arya could hear shrieks and screams, yelling her name, over and over again.

And it was her voice. The same voice that Arya had fallen deeply in love with.

"ARYA! PLEASE HELP ME!"

Kinsley Kirth, the seventeen year old girl from district 8. The short, brown haired girl who could fit into the crowd.

She was shy and quiet, but underneath the surface, she was intelligent and ruthless.

"ARYA!"

And as much as Arya told herself that she wasn't in love with her, he could still feel herself feeling deeper and deeper in love.

They had kissed only once. As a farewell, a final good-bye, as the two girls knew that there could not be one winner, so only one person could come out alive.

But that was Arya.

"ARYA!!! HELP ME!"

They weren't in an alliance, but still, Arya went running as she heard her screams.

She was going to try to save her, she really was, but the gamemakers had more power.

Kinsley was dead before Arya could get to her, before she could help her.

Arya woke up, sweating. She curled up in a ball, and was shaking. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Johanna awkwardly standing above her. Johanna looked like she wanted to reach out and comfort her, but wasn't sure how best to.

Johanna reached out a hand and rested it on her shoulder, then sat down next to her and rubbed her back. "It'll be okay." She muttered to her, and pulled the shaking, younger girl into a hug. "It'll be okay, I promise." She whispered into Arya's red, curly hair.

——-*——

The next morning, Arya woke up to find Johanna lying next to her.

Arya sat up with a start, realizing that Johanna had been staring at her.

"Sorry, sorry." Johanna apologized as she climbed out of the bed and helped Arya up.

The events of the previous night flashed back to Arya quickly. The announcement, the drinking, Johanna trying to kiss her, and all of the flashbacks with Kinsley.

They were worse than the other times. Why, Arya didn't know. All she knew was that when the flashbacks were more realistic, they seemed more real and they hurt more.

Johanna watched as tears dripped down Arya's face, and grabbed a tissue from the bedside table and handed it to her.

Next she got up and grabbed a glass from the kitchen and filled it with water and gave it to Arya. She accepted it, and muttered, "Thanks."

The first time Arya had ever met Johanna was after Arya's games.

Arya was walking through the trees, but all of a sudden, she heard a cough. Instinctively, her head snapped upward and she started thinking about what would be good to use as a weapon, but the girl who had coughed spoke first.

"Good job winning." Her voice dripped with false amusement, and she dropped down from the tree. "Johanna Mason."

The girl, Johanna, stuck her hand out in what Arya thought was supposed to be a sort-of handshake, so she shook it.

Ever since then, Arya and Johanna had become fast friends, sharing sorrows and losses and laughs.

Arya would never have guessed that Johanna felt the way she expressed the previous night, but alcohol makes you do strange things.

The only thing that was throwing Arya off was that Johanna looked dead-serious when she poured her heart out to her, and for the first time in almost three years, she was showing emotion, raw emotion.