𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐍 | 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀

THIRTEEN

"What?" I ask. I'm confused. Is Gill genuinely trying to protect me? Is he watching out for me? But what would he benefit from it other than putting himself in more danger in one way or another? As he said, we're all fighting for ourselves here in the games, so why is he looking out for me?

"Oceana," Gill sighs, "you remind me too much of my little sister for me to not look out for you."

Silence falls again as the soft crackle of the fire becomes louder. I'm unsure of what to say. Maybe I should've gotten to know Gill better before the games and I regret not getting to know him better. I should've at least tried to make conversation with him from time to time, to know him as a person and not just as my partner in the games. Maybe I had been too quick to judge his motives and perhaps it was wrong of me to do so. There's no point in having regrets and not doing anything about them so I say something. "Tell me about her," I say, breaking the awfully loud silence.

"She's twelve," Gill says after taking in a deep breath. "Her name is Daria and she loves to snorkel. Her favourite colour is blue and she wants to be a professional diver one day. Her favourite colour is pink– a soft pastel pink, not a bright pink– she loves to go jet skiing with me. She's just like you in many ways, I guess. She's brave and smart and kind."

"Well, she sounds like an amazing girl," I comment. So that's her name, Daria. She's also only one year younger than me. I can't imagine how terrified, or proud, she must've felt seeing her older brother get reaped. I let out a sigh, "I'm guessing you would do everything to see them again?"

"I guess," he shrugs, "how about you? Any siblings?"

"Yeah," I nod, "I have a sister. Her name's Aurelia, she's nineteen. She's studying to become a marine biologist or oceanographer right now. We would go out every weekend to the Centre or wake up early to see the sunrise on the beach. She'd take me out on our boat and then we'd go diving...She's the best older sister I could ask for, despite all the ups and downs." I dare not go to the part where she's everyone's favourite and how I'll always be in her shadow, I decide not to and choose to ignore it, I don't want my last words of hers to be bad ones.

"I'm guessing you miss her?"

"More than anything," I chuckle. "It's hard to imagine that if not for the games we would've spent the day together..." In District 4, the first day of the games is always a big event. Everything is put on hold and it's more or less a celebration as we gather in the square to watch the beginning of it, cheering on our tributes. It's celebrated just as widely as any other holiday. On any other year, Aurelia and I would spend our mornings on the boat, diving into the water and splashing around before having to head to the square. I doubt she is having as much fun though, she's probably too busy getting prepared to look at least presentable to be on stage. The family's of the tributes are always invited to watch the beginning on the stage in front of everyone in a grand manner with everyone congratulating them on the honour although they must be worried sick.

"What would you be doing today if not for, y'know," Gill looks at me as the warm glow of the fire makes him at least visible. His blue eyes reflect the orange flames and his blonde hair is ruffled and messy.

"Probably diving in the morning with Aurelia before heading to the square," I try recounting last year's events. "Then we'd probably meet up with all of our friends and watch the beginning of the games before going to one of the restaurants in the Centre to eat. That's what we did last year, anyways. After, we'd probably spend the day hanging around on the beach."

Gill nods, "sounds fun."

"How about you?" I ask.

"Me? Well, I'd probably sleep in till as late as possible then go watch it with my friends. After that we'd probably be hanging around by the Rocks, jumping into the sea and stuff like that." He's smiling as he talks about it. "I hope they're doing fine and that they've done something extra this year. Hopefully they've found someone to cover my shifts."