𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐋𝐘 - Coriolanus Snow

three.

AMENA STARED unflinchingly at Coriolanus, who finished the last sentence of her paper with a swipe of his ballpoint pen. Of course, she appreciated the help, but she felt she was good enough to figure out the assignment on her own.

Except, she wasn't. Not with this assignment, not when it came to the games.

They were coming up again, it was that time of year. Another year for Amena to choose a side. Her brother, to her father's disappointment, always chose the wrong one. Aligning himself with the Districts and destroying any semblance of credibility he may have held.

The very credibility Strabo Plinth nearly ruined his family for.

Amena prided herself on not choosing sides, she forever walked the line between two parts of herself. District or Capitol. Good or evil. Innocent or guilty. She never wanted to fall to one side, so she'd balance until her knees gave out.

In some way, it was the games that destroyed everything for her. It was the games that made her brother a sympathizer. A traitor.

She knew from the second Marcus was reaped it was only a matter of time Sejanus would be reaped too. Not physically, but emotionally as he watched the fruit of his own be slaughtered simply because of where they were from. Sejanus could do nothing more than picture himself or his little sister in the face of those tributes. He was angry, no matter how many times his father tried to shut down his words of defiance. Not in front of Amena, Strabo pleaded to his son before slamming the door of his office shut.

Amena watched as her brother struggled with the games, frustrated that even his sister could not speak ill of the Capitol. That she had waltzed her way into the palms of their hands, unbeknownst to her.

Maybe she should've fought harder. Maybe she should have tried to destroy the games, destroy the Capitol. Went right up to the tributes and broke them out of the zoo. But Amena was not the type to wage a war, especially for a cause she could not bring herself to feel passionate about.

She went once. With Sejanus. The crowd had died down, the children who stared wide eyed with open mouths were dragged away by their parents. The only person she remembered being there was Coriolanus, who's slender figure leaned against the metal bars. It was the only time Amena saw Lucy Gray, who was bright and sweet, like taking a shot of expresso in the early morning. She heard that voice. She heard how Coriolanus was flustered. She saw her brother offer food, asking her if she wanted to help him distribute it. Amena declined and continued to observe them, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in.

They were frail, some had bruises and other ailments that plagued their bodies. They were going to die before they even got into the arena, she thought. Maybe they'd cancel the show. What a waste of time that would be. Maybe they'd have to send kids from the Districts to replace the fallen bodies. Or maybe they wouldn't even have to go as far as the Districts, not when there were two District kids standing on the other side of the bars. All it would take is a suggestion, and soon they would be in a new cage.

Maybe her.

Maybe Sejanus.

But they couldn't do that. Amena was just paranoid, right? She locked eyes with a boy around her age, who sat against a rock, shadows masking his youthful face. His eyes were green, almost unearthly as he stared at her. His lips chapped and cracked, a gash stretching from his ear to his chin. His clothes shredded, hanging loosely off his body. She felt her body involuntarily coil in disgust. He must have noticed too, cause his eyes squinted and jaw clenched, and he turned away from her as if she never existed. She gripped tightly to her school bag and retreated behind her brother, away from any of the tributes eyeline. But she still felt it, the gaze of the boy.