Seducing the Careers

I Don't Want to Forget

Chastise has the girls begin fitting the dress onto me. One of which starts speaking to me.

"I'm glad you won" she bashfully whispers in my ears.

She adjusts the strap on my shoulder in a manner which seems a bit overly soft to me.

"You know, you really are very beautiful" she whispers in her small voice.

Her hands went near my chest and I pushed her away from me harshly. She landed on the ground in a thud, capturing Chastise's attention.

"What happened? What did you do?" she asks the girl, accusingly, while helping her get back up.

"What? Nothing! I was just complimenting her" says the girl.

I scoff. "No you were not. She came onto me" I defend myself.

"In what way did I come onto you?" the girl asks. The audacity of her to act confused.

"Well for one, you were caressing my shoulder" I say.

"I was fixing the strap. And it's a delicate material" she says.

"Okay, that makes sense, I guess. But you were reaching near my chest" I accuse further.

"Yeah, so that I could adjust how the silk was lying there. And I'm not even into women" she defends.

Now I realized I was the one in the wrong and was extremely embarrassed to say the least.

"Oh, wow. I've obviously misread this, I am so so sorry" I say, feeling bad for pushing her so hard.

"No need to apologize, Anna. Victors are often more paranoid and violent when they first come out of the games. You should know to watch how you act around her, Athena" Chastise scolds the girl, who nods.

"I'm sorry" she apologizes to me.

"It's alright" I say with a smile.

I guess I shouldn't just jump to conclusions. I clearly am a bit paranoid right now.

They finish dressing me, but before I go on stage, Beetee took me out onto the balcony to talk, like he said we would.

Let's hope he's not trying to push me off of that balcony. But of course, that's just me being paranoid.

"They're not so happy with me, are they?" I ask him.

"Because I used their arena against them" I say, remembering my actions.

"Because you showed them up" he corrects.

"I'm sorry it didn't go the way they planned. You know I'm not very happy with them either" I joke in a deadpan.

"Toni, this is serious. Not just for you. They don't take these things lightly" he whispers to me.

I nod, knowing it was true. My family was probably at stake.

"When you go on stage, you say she meant nothing to you" he tells me.

"Excuse me?" I ask, slightly offended.

"Act like you used her for protection. Once she was gone you realized she was gone, you were forced to show your true self. And the audiences will love you more if you're available. You understand?" he said, trying to find a way where I wouldn't be punished.

I looked at him, unsure.

"Do you want your family to live, Toni? Because I have seen it happen" he warns me.

I just nod.

I hope what he says works, and they don't kill my family anyways.

I turn to walk off.

"Wait, Toni" he says, making me stop and turn back to him.

He pulls something out of a bag. A knife. Clove's knife.

"Clove's, right? It was on you when they got you. Don't ask me how I got it" he says, handing it to me.

I grab it and then hug him. "Thank you" I say, tightening the hug.

I pull away and struggle to find a place to keep the knife. I decide to use it as a replacement for the hairpin in my bun.

It felt like I was betraying Clove by going through with Beetee's plan. So I wanted a part of her to walk on that stage with me.

I went back and waited for my cue.

Here I was, once again. On stage with Caesar Flickerman. In a dress I knew I didn't belong in.

"How did you feel? When you found her on the ground?" is the last question he asks me.

I take a second to think.

"Well of course I was upset. And mad. She was my only protection, and when I saw her there on the ground, I knew it was time to show my true self" I say what Beetee told me to say.

"Now here's the question I think everyone needs answered: did you love her?" Flickerman asks.

I sigh. He really knows how to push a girls buttons.

"Well..." I start. My heart wanted to say yes, but my head knew she'd want me to do whatever I could to keep me and my family safe.

"Part of me did, but when you're in the Games, you really can't trust anyone. Maybe if we'd met outside of the Games then things could be different. But she taught me how to open myself and my heart up to others" I say, trying to make myself seem available.

The crowd awws at me.

"Well I hope you'll be able to learn from your experience and find someone" Caesar says.

"So do I, Caesar" I agree.

"Ladies and gentlemen. This year's victor of the 71st Annual Hunger Games!" he concludes, causing the crowd to start cheering.

Time skip:

I was sitting on a throne, getting crowned a victor by snow himself.

He grabs the crown and I stand up.

"Congratulations" he says, while placing it atop my head.

"Thank you" I respond, trying to stay as stoic as possible. With no where else to look, I had to look straight at his face.

He seems to notice something puts his hand in my pocket as I fight the urge to grab his arm back.

"You can't have weapons in here" he says, pulling out the knife.

"It was Clove's" I say, trying not to show emotion.

"Of course" he says, sliding it back in.

I didn't any confusion on my face as I wondered why he let me keep it.

"I'm sure she'd be very proud of you" he says, as if trying to get a reaction out of me.

"Thank you" is all I say.

He smiles.

"Let's have a chat soon. Hmm?" he says.

I just nod, and then he leaves.

When I get off stage, my team praises me.

"Lovely knife, but let's keep it out of your hair, alright? Very damaging" Celene scolds me.

I nod and put the knife into my boot.

Time skip:

"So what happens when I get back?" I ask Beetee.

"You try to forget" he responds.

"I don't think I wanna forget all of it" I say back. "About her".