[Flowers] • The Hunger Games

Eight

"So..."

Asteria was the one to clear the unbearable silence. No one had said a word the whole trip back to the tour. And now they all stood there, staring at one another in the living room.

"...someone wanna...start talking?" She asked.

"An 11." Madge mumbled. "I was happy at first. But then I realized- the careers already hate me. If I went into that arena the way it was, I'd be dead. No chance!" She said.

"So- so what's your plan here, sweetheart? Because I'm not seeing how this helps." Haymitch asked her.

"It's insurance." Asteria sighed, closing her eyes. She brought her left hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "She can't handle the career pack alone. Now, she won't have to. Because Gale is going to have to help her in the arena. At least for the first few days. Otherwise, they can both kiss their sponsors goodbye." She explained.

"Is that true, Madge?" Gale asked.

"I- no...well- I didn't think of it like that- I just thought that if the careers respected him so much, they wouldn't want to hunt me down if they thought that we were..."

"Star-crossed lovers?" Asteria finished, laughing to herself at the absurdity of it all. "The star-crossed lovers from district 12. I can already hear it. It's all the Capitol will be talking about. Of course, until one or both of you die."

"Hang on- this might not be such a bad idea, now." Haymitch cut in. "I wouldn't have chosen it, but we work with what we get. I can sell the star-crossed lovers. But you have to work with me here." He said.

"Didn't we tell you to do exactly as we say?" Asteria asked, running her hands through her hair as she paced the floor. "Because I don't remember telling you to do that!"

"Awe, is it really such a bad thing? I mean it's so beautifully tragic..." Effie trailed off, her face a somber sort of hopeless.

"It wouldn't be, Effie- if the two were actually star crossed lovers!" Asteria shouted at her. She took a second to breathe and calm herself down. "Do you two even know the first thing about one another, really? Gale, what's her favorite color?"

He stared blankly back at her.

"See!"

"Now- they don't really have to be in love." Haymitch came to her defense. "They just have to look like they're in love. Teenage sweethearts doomed to be in the same games as one another- that makes them both even more desirable. I hate to say it, but at least one of you is going to die in that arena. So you just have to keep the act up for the duration of the games. Maybe shed a tear if you see the other one in the sky at night. This...this isn't the end of the world, Terra. Just calm down."

Asteria looked at Madge again, before grumbling. "I was having a nice evening, you know. I just- ugh." She sighed.

"Okay. It happened, it's over with...how to we move forward?" Cinna asked, trying to break up some of the tension. She took a few breaths to compose herself again.

"You enter the games tomorrow." Asteria told them. "Madge, Haymitch will go with you to the gate. I'm with Gale. Last minute pieces of advice, good luck wishes. Maybe any last words you want to get back to your families, just in case. Between then and now, me and Haymitch will come up with a game plan. You don't have to follow it- the games are in your hands from the moment you're in the arena. But I would advise against doing whatever you want."

"I think it's time we all turn in for the night. We all have...a lot to think about." Effie said.

With that, everyone trickled off to bed. Asteria went to her room early. She needed the silence to think.