❝ THE FALL ◐ the hunger games.

❝ CHAPTER ONE .

The smell of freshly cooked eggs engulfed the quaint house in district three— a smell Denari Karma hated, and she was confident the downright nasty scent was what had woken her up. Her nose scrunched and her eyes stayed closed, yet she could feel the sunlight beating down on her through the window. She had barely been awake for all of two minutes and she was already annoyed.

Starting your day off in a bad mood, sets you up for a bad day. A saying she heard time and time again from her brother growing up, but she stopped believing it long ago. It didn't stop her from thinking about it damn near every morning she woke up, though.

Denari's eyes fluttered open only to remain squinted as the sun shined directly into them. It didn't stop her from rolling her way out of the uncomfortable bed that was probably older than she was. It creaked every time she moved and the mattress was indented with the print of her frame. She was practically sleeping on springs at this point, but there was no room for complaining; no need for it. This was normal for her, and many members of her district. She just likes to be difficult.

She stepped out of her room and had taken all of six steps before reaching the kitchen, only to be greeted by a familiar stature that took up half the kitchen just by standing there. His head turned barely an inch before he spoke up.

"Didn't think you'd be up this early."

Kade Austin. Housemate, ally, friend, and apparently personal chef, of Denari. Capitol born and bred, but not exactly a fan favorite of any of the circus clowns that resided there; which meant he was Denari's favorite. Originally only residing at the Karma residence as a hideout until he found his younger sister, and wasn't brutally despised by both the capitol and the rebellion, Denari didn't mind having him around. Kade made a house full of painful memories bearable to live in, and helped paint over those memories with new ones.

"Maybe you were just late to the game today. Don't you know anything about punctuality?" The raven haired girl teased as she took a seat at the dining table, which was really just a fancy term for stools she had outgrown and a table she towered over. Kade soon followed with two plates of loose and fluffy scrambled eggs, the amount split evenly between the two. Denari's face scrunched at the sight. Her eyes followed the plate in his left hand; the one he always gave to her, as it was placed in front of her with a slightly rusted metal fork sitting on top.

"I hate eggs." Denari spoke bluntly. Kade already knew.

"Eat." He shot back at her as he sat in the stool across from her, practically hunched over so that there wasn't a foot and a half long worth of distance between himself and the plate.

This was routine for them, and it had been since the week Kade moved in. He cooks eggs in the morning, Denari says she hates them, and Kade doesn't let her leave the table until she's eaten them. Previously there would have been an argument fit into their schedule around this time, but that had been retired by the end of the first month that they lived together.

Despite her distaste toward Kade's breakfast of choice, that didn't stop Denari from devouring it. Usually on Reaping Day, Denari couldn't find it in her to eat the morning of because of the fear and anxiety that bubbled within her. It would consume her, even once relief washed over her that it wasn't her name being pulled out of the clear glass bowl. But today was different. Today, Denari was anticipating it all. If there was any anxiety, it must've been buried below layers and layers of other emotions.. or she was just ignoring it.

"Nadia stopped by already, said to meet at the usual spot." Kade said before shoveling the remainder of the food into his mouth and grabbing their empty plates to take to the sink. Denari nodded, watching intently as Kade found his way back into the kitchen.