The Divergent Games - A Crossover

Katniss - The People of Chicago - 7

At around nine forty-five the next morning, Peeta and I meet at the elevator to go down to the training room. He wears the same outfit that I do, thanks to Cinna and Haymitch. They want to stick to this idea that me and Peeta are closer than the other tributes. Maybe this would have worked if the rules had not changed. But they have, and now all the other tributes will be working together. There is no tension between them.

He moves inside the glass-sided elevator and selects the basement button. I step in after him, and the door slides shut. It's always faster than I expect it to be, and my stomach plummets to the pits of my gut. Thirteen floors later, it jolts to a stop, and the doors slide back open. My heart is pounding in my ears as I enter the gym.

Instantly my eyes snap to the Chicago tributes. They stand on the far side of the training room, a distance from the other tributes already here. The girl, Beatrice I think, wears a black t-shirt and pants. In front of her, the boy wears the same thing. Snow introduced him as Four. Obviously that's not his real name, and I can't help but wonder what his real name is, and if Beatrice knows it.

From across the way, I watch as Four reaches out and touches Beatrice's cheek, then leans in and whispers something in her ear. My eyes widen and I make eye contact with Peeta. Clearly the two are much closer than they appeared last night. That's going to be a problem.

"You think they're an item?" Peeta mutters as we approach the others. I shake my head, tearing my focus from them and attempting to place it elsewhere.

"I don't know."

The District Two, Six, and Eleven pairs are already here. They are also separated by a distance, but not as great as one. All six district tributes appear tense, far more tense than Beatrice and Four. Maybe they don't know what they're in for yet, or maybe they're just psychotic.

Peeta walks towards the Chicago people and I have no choice but to follow him.

"Hi," he says smoothly. They look up, Beatrice giving him an awkward wave, smiling sweetly. I have to keep myself from groaning. He has just forced me into this interaction that I want no part in. I don't want to get to know the people I may have to kill.

"I'm Peeta and this is Katniss." I nod at them.

"Four," says Four, his face blank of emotion. Up close, he is much broader and stronger looking. In Chicago, they must have enough food, because he doesn't look thin or malnourished; he even looks better than Cato in that department. Beatrice is small. Smaller than I am, and she's pale. But something about the way she stands, or the intensity in her eyes doesn't give me the impression that she's weak.

"Tris," she smiles. "You're the tributes from District Twelve right?"

"Yeah. My family owns a bakery there," says Peeta, taking control of the conversation. I appreciate how he doesn't expect me to participate; my mother would have tapped me on the shoulder, her signal for me to be polite. Her version of polite is being involved, and I don't agree with it.

"What's a bakery?"

"It's where we sell bread mostly." Tris tilts her head at him, looking so curious that it's actually kind of entertaining. How could you not know what a Bakery is? "We also sold cakes but nobody could afford them." Her eyes light up at the mention of cake, and I feel a twinge of jealousy.

"Our Faction had cakes," she says, looking excitedly at Four. "They were the best."

"They were." Four agrees.

"What sort of cakes?" asks Peeta. He actually looks encapsulated by the conversation, and I find myself becoming more drawn in by the second. As much as I don't want to get to know these two, their demeanor and ample curiosity is captivating. They don't even look nervous.