the ruler [THE HUNGER GAMES]¹

Fourteen.

THE rest of the party is a blur. Katniss, Peeta and I are so afraid of what Snow knows that we can hardly enjoy ourselves and we spend the time apart. I eventually find Jacinth and silently stick to his side as he talks to anyone and everyone, his effortless charm allowing me to sit by and pretend I'm the shy young victor that he mentored.

By the time we are trailing back to the tributes centre there are no more cars to drive us home. We wander along the cold corso and into the lobby of the tributes centre, ending up waiting for an elevator with Katniss and Peeta. The way they look at me makes my heart do a funny flip. They've lost all hope. Snow definitely knows about our rooftop kiss and Katniss' affairs at home. We've all disobeyed his Games, and even worse, him.

We don't talk as we shoot up the two flights to our floor. Jacinth strolls off, not a worry in the world on his mind. I shoot a quick glance at Peeta as if to say 'meet me on the roof' and follow my mentor out into our apartment. The brunette man flops down on the sofa and kicks his shoes off, one almost hitting me as it flies past my arm and hits the wall behind me.

"Jacinth!" I hiss, already annoyed by how the night has gone.

"Oops," he smirks and closes his eyes, leaning back on the plush velvet couch.

"You're so drunk," I scoff and hook an arm under his strong one, heaving him up into a standing position, "time for bed."

"I can sleep here," he states, leering forwards a few steps and dragging me with him.

I would usually give up and leave him to get a neck ache on the oddly shaped sofa, but I'm planning on sneaking out and really could do with no distractions. He'd be sure to question me if he saw me sneaking off, and something tells me Capitol-loving Jacinth Bond should not know that I'm sneaking around with someone from Distirct Twelve.

"Nope, get to bed. You always complain when you sleep here," I move towards the hallway where our bedrooms are. It's true, I had to deal with him crying about a knot in his shoulder for a whole day during my Games last year. Missed out on precious mentoring time because he couldn't stand straight without pain.

"I suppose," he sighs dramatically and I bump my hip against his door to open it. We cross the space to his bed and I deposit him on top of the sheets. I've gotten him this far, I'm not tucking him in too.

"Goodnight J," Spinning on my heels, I turn and make for the door. Before he can complain I'm slamming it behind me and locking myself in my own room.

I wait agonisingly for a few hours to go by so I can be sure all eyes in the tributes centre will be shut. In the time I change into warmer nightclothes and admire the view of the parade street from my window. What will Mace think when I get home? Will he think I'm stupid for even trying to start something with Peeta? In my heart I know he'll be happy that I've finally found someone so I can stop getting in the way of his romantic advances on our classmates.