𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦, 𝐊𝐢𝐭.

Rosie didn't know how Toby would deal with the heavy weight of being responsible for someone's death. But he seemed to take it better than she expected, he was still talking, and she led him to a topic she knew he'd be able to talk seemingly endlessly about. She was more than happy listening to it, he would always go on tangents, if he started talking about fishing he'd end up talking about which wood was the best to make a chair from.

They'd found another area to hide away in, they'd had quite a fright when they saw another one of the green lizards, but it just scampered when it noticed them. Rosie didn't know if there was a time limit on their rage, or if due to it being a different area of the Arena the knowledge didn't travel, either way, she was thankful.

Eventually, they ended up at the top of a hill in a rocky alcove, which provided cover from the top, which came in use when it began to pour. Rain dripped down the hill, thankfully not rolling back to where they stayed. Rosie had tried her best to shake out the water from her shoes, and she wrung her socks out, but they still felt damp. Her stomach was still cramping from lack of food, she knew they needed some for the next time they saw other Tributes.

There was no running water in view, so they had their bottle set out in the rain to catch something for them to drink.

"Tomorrow, if the rain's cleared off, we should focus on finding food. I'd say we should go back for the rope, but I never want to see those stupid lizards again." She looked at Toby, who seemed to agree. He was clearly in and out of sleep, and this hideout felt less secure, while they had done their best to drag things to use as cover, they both still felt like their last hideout ended so poorly this one could have the same fate.

The anthem began to ring and Rosie looked up, the national seal lit up the sky, and then it faded to Ky's face. Rosie didn't directly look at Toby, not wanting to subconsciously add to his guilt, but she saw him stiffen.

"Tell me something," Toby requested quietly, he obviously needed a distraction.

"I once was singing to myself—I think it's genetic or some shit because apparently my Dad never stopped singing." She went off on a small tangent, but it made Toby smile, so it was worth it. She was just as bad as him at staying on topic. "But, as I walked home—I wouldn't have been younger than twelve, my Aunt was still alive—it turned out one of the teachers that worked at the school lived nearby to my route, she was walking a little behind me and heard me singing to myself," Rosie explained, adjusting so she could look at Toby as she told a story she'd give a lot to forget. "Anyway, she pulled me aside the next day. I didn't even know she heard me, but she said she liked my singing. It was around the time a teacher was leaving the school, so she wanted me to sing at the goodbye event. I'm pretty bad at saying no to people, and she looked desperate, so I said yes. The time rolled around for me to do it, I walked up there, with a piece of paper with the words on and immediately began crying and ran off."

The story that often plagued Rosie when she tried sleeping amused Toby, a genuine smile spread across his face.

"I remember that. I didn't realise it was you, you were the talk of the town for a few days. Even my Dad heard, and he didn't ever know what was going on in the town."

Rosie buried her face in her hands and groaned. "It, for a long time, anyway, was the worst thing to ever happen to me. I didn't ever want to go to school again, but my Aunt made me, told me school was important."

As they talked about their school lives, Rosie told him about Jess and Toby talked about how he failed just about every subject. School just wasn't his thing, his father was no help in Toby's studies due to the fact he couldn't read—illiteracy was a massive problem in District 9, a lot of people, especially men, didn't know how to read or write. They often dropped out at the earliest opportunity and worked in the fields, the people who worked in the factories tended to be the ones who stayed in school, the pay was better, but the promise of better pay is no use if you're going to starve.