𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Sitting on the end of her temporary bed, dressed in her training outfit, Rosie held her token in her hands. The pin Jess gave her, in their precious, final moments they shared.

It was lucky, her friend had claimed. Rosie did know how badly Jess was failing every class, and she did know that Jess was now sailing through her classes, and Jess didn't get Reaped, so it couldn't be unlucky. Jess had always been luckier than Rosie, she had two parents and two siblings. She'd only had to take out Tesserae for the first time that year, whereas the first time Rosie took out Tesserae was a few days after her twelfth birthday, when she realised that was the only way she could ensure Orion wouldn't starve.

"We need to leave in five!" Zavir shouted through Rosie's door, the girl jumped and put the pin down.

"Yeah, I'm just about ready," Rosie yelled back, shaking the thoughts of home that had been plaguing her since her chat with Toby the night before, out of her head. "Pull yourself together," The teenager muttered to herself as she began tying her shoes. Her long blonde hair was tied up into two braids, one of which Zavir did and one Rosie did—you could tell which was which, but Rosie didn't care enough to get Zavir to re-do Rosie's. Walking into her bathroom Rosie washed her face once more, for a second, when she shut her eyes she imagined the day of the Reaping, when she washed her face easily a dozen times to try and calm herself down, she'd have needed to wash it a dozen more times if she knew how screwed she was.

Within a few minutes, Rosie and Toby were walking out of the apartment, Zavir showing them the way needlessly; they'd been going to the same place for days. Rosie thought Zavir just liked feeling important.

Once at the elevator that led them to the correct floor Zavir pressed the button with her talon-like fingernail and then didn't follow when the metal doors slid open. "Good luck, you two." She smiled ear-to-ear as Toby and Rosie walked in. Toby smiled back, and Rosie blanked her.

"I haven't used a sword in months," Toby admitted once the metal doors sealed them inside. "I hope I don't fuck it up."

Rosie looked across the large elevator at him, "You won't." She assured him with ample confidence, Rosie had listened to Toby when he talked about how often he and his father used them when Toby was growing up. You don't do something that consistently, for that long, and after a few months lose all your skills. "Just don't freak out and you'll be fine."

Toby's fingers drummed against the muscle on his thigh as they sunk lower and lower into the underbelly of The Capitol. Every metre they dove further beneath the surface Rosie's lungs felt like they got slightly more compressed, and it became a little harder to breathe. Her ears rang as they sat and waited on the cold metal bench, she couldn't keep her knee from bouncing as the time seemed to crawl. As the Districts were called, she was happy when Wren and Jett disappeared, she realised she had a small problem when it came in regards to the deadly duo.

"Rosemary Aldine."

Rosie didn't even hear her voice, it was Toby who tapped her shoulder from where he stood beside her. When she looked at him confused he tipped his chin up slightly and she figured it out. The two didn't share any words, they didn't need to, all that happened was Toby smiled a 'good luck' and Rosie nodded a 'you, too'.

As she walked toward the entryway she felt her lungs constrict a little further, the metal shutter rolled up for her, and down behind her. On her own, the training centre felt a lot bigger, the walls felt further away and the roof felt higher without the people that sparsely filled it. From where she walked in she could clearly see the viewing deck where the judges were going to do all their judging. It popped against the grey concrete and steel palette, it was a rich red. So much luxury contained in the tiny corner.