aphrodite₂ [treech]

i v

Venus makes her return to our cage later in the evening. A few of the other mentors are already here, finally taking notes from Venus and her two classmates and providing food for their tributes.

Venus sits by the bars, removing my dinner from her bag. When I join her, she passes me the food.

"How were the cookies?" she asks.

I'd almost forgotten about the cookies. I had shared them with Lamina and the youngest tributes. It had left only one for me. But that was plenty.

"Almost as good as my Ma's," I say. It's the truth, Venus is a really great baker. But not as good as Ma.

"I'm glad to hear it," says Venus. "Because I brought more."

I smile at her for a moment. Then I remember I can't show weakness, so I let it slip away.

"I don't understand why you hate me so much," Venus says quietly.

"Because you're here," mutters Treech. I don't hate you, is what I want to say.

"I could leave," snaps Venus. "Then you can go into that arena with absolutely no food and no sponsors. I have a bag of walnuts for you to juggle. You can fend for yourself, try to get sponsors on your own. But you'll fare better with me helping you."

Venus sets the bag on the ground and begins to stand.

"Don't go," I murmur, feeling incredibly weak for begging her to stay. But I can't do this without her. "Please."

Venus sits again. I wait for her to say something, but she just fidgets with her fingers as I eat. Once I'm done, I take three of the walnuts from the bag, testing the weight in my hands.

I stand up and toss up the walnuts. The audience behind Venus watches intently. Once I'm finished, two Capitol citizens toss me a bread roll and a plum.

"Here," I say, handing the food to Lamina.

"Thank you," she says, smiling up at me.

"Sorry, I should have given you some of my dinner," I say.

"It's okay," she says. "You need to eat. Don't worry about me."

My impromptu performance inspires some of the other tributes to put on their own shows. Sheaf from District 9 pulls off some impressive tumbling skills. Ginnee and Otto from Six dance, their mentors clapping out a beat. The air is buzzing with energy and excitement. The crowd of Capitol citizens begin to approach the tributes, talking to the more interesting ones. I decide to join Venus again.

"How peculiar. They don't seem to be afraid anymore," I say, referring to the audience.

"They shouldn't be," says Venus. "You're human too. Now, teach me how to juggle."

"What?" I ask. Just minutes ago, I had to plead with her to stay, and now she wants me to teach her something. This girl is so confusing.

"Are you deaf?" jokes Venus. "Teach me how to juggle."

"Fine," I say with a shrug.

Venus holds out her hand, so I place the three walnuts in it. Her hand flinches a little when my fingers glance over her wrist. My hand feels like it's on fire from the brief brush of contact.

I snap out of my daze so I can remove three more walnuts from the bag. I leave two in one hand and switch the last one to my open hand. Venus copies me, a bit clumsily.

"Alright, so you're just going to pass that one in your left hand to your right hand," I say slowly. "Then, toss the right one and catch the left one."

Venus stares at me, eyes wide with confusion. "You're going to need to rephrase that."