Fiery Payback

Chapter 23

Camille's P.O.V

The whole morning was very entertaining. I taught Matthew quite a few things. I taught him some knots, how to start fires with different things, how to do camouflage (which was really hard, but funny to teach), and what plants are poisonous or not.

I kept him away from the weapon stations. I will bring him to the stations probably tomorrow. I want him to learn the basics of survival.

I also got to learn a bit more about him. I learned more about District 12 and about his family. In return, I told him more about District 4 and my family.

He is extremely sweet. I wish that I could have met him when I wasn't about to go to my doom.

Then, lunch is ready. We walk towards the dining area. Since there are twice as many people this year, President Fire wanted to expand the dining area. Fine by me.

Matthew and I go to the little buffet area and fill up our plates. Then, we find a table with no one at it. We sit down and enjoy each other's company.

"Well, well, well. Camille, I didn't know you know a tribute from a poor district." I hear come from my left. I look in that direction and sigh. Jem.

"Hello, Jem. Still bullying the other districts?" I ask.

"I prefer helping them with their reflexes and weapon use." He counters.

"Funny. I didn't know throwing knives and pulling a couple of punches on people while the officials weren't looking helps anyone." I say.

"Why aren't you sitting with us?" I hear Jem's sister, Sparkle, ask.

"Because I will be with you guys during the games. I want to know the other tributes before hand." I explain.

"I see. Scoping out the competition. See who's weak and who's not. Smart." Sparkle says.

"Where's Justin and Serena?" I ask.

"Telling their parents about our alliance." Jem explains.

"Aren't their parents joining our alliance?" I ask.

"No. They and our parents are going to have their own group. But they won't kill us in the beginning." Sparkle says. "Jem, let's leave Camille and this hunk of beauty to talk. See ya, Camille."

"Bye, guys." I say. I watch them walk away and turn back to Matthew.

"You really do have an alliance with them, don't you?" He asks.

"Yeah. I need as many alliances as I can. Otherwise, I might not last a day in that arena." I say. "But I would never hurt you, your family, or mine. Please keep that in mind."

"I can tell that you won't hurt us. It's part of your personality." He says.

"Not really. After what happened in my games, I don't know who I am anymore. The arena does change you. And you can tell."

"What happened in your games?"

"You don't know? Didn't you watch?"

"My parents didn't allow my sister and me to watch. After watching the bloodbath, my sister and I were already scarred with so much blood."

"It was pretty bloody. But I was the reason why. The way I kill."

"What do you think changed you?"

I hesitate before answering. "When I killed my first love."

"Wow. Was he from a another district?" He asks.

"No. He was from mine. We have always had a crush on each other. But the games ruined everything. We let our love get the best of us. We weren't looking out for danger. We just wanted to keep each other safe and healthy and alive. Then, the final day happened." I say. I can tell in Matthew's eyes that he wanted to know. I take a deep breath and tell my story.

"I wanted to split up. We did so and the two people left, two Careers, split up as well. I was sneaking up on one of them when I heard a scream. The Career I was about to kill turned around. Don't worry. I killed him.

"Then, my love, John, came out of the woods. He told me to run, so I did. I climbed the Cornucopia and saw that John was basically the walking dead. He was cut up all over and was so pale from too much blood loss. He told me to kill him. I hesitated, but I did kill him.

"Finally, the big fight happened. I killed the last Career, I don't want to say what all happened, and won. That was the short version of my story. If you want to watch the games, just look up the 97th Hunger Games."

I stay silent for a while. "How old were you?" He asks me.

I look up at him and give him a sad smile. "I was fifteen."

"So that makes you..."

"Eighteen. That won't be a problem, right?"

"Not at all. You know, you are older than me by two years." He says.

"You're sixteen? You don't seem like it." I say, shocked.

"People say I act mature for my own age. Probably because I live in a poor district." He says, using the word "poor" that the Careers said earlier about the other districts, including his.

I laugh and we continue to eat and talk about other things.