The New Games: A Hunger Games Story

Chapter 16: It's Gonna be Fine

Chapter 16:

I wake up and he's still here. Still by my side. I turn over and I look at him. He looks back at me.

"How long have you been awake?" I ask.

"Not very long." He says, playing with my hair. "Maybe only five minutes."

"Oh, okay." I say.

He sits up. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"What do you mean?" I answer.

"You know what I mean." He looks down then back up again. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shake my head. "I don't," I hesitate. "But I do."

"Tell me." he says.

"I'm terrified." I say.

"You shouldn't be. You will be fine."

"But what if I--"

He cuts me off. "If you get picked, you will win. You can fight, you can hunt, you can survive."

"But what about you--"

He cuts me off again. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Talon," I say. "The Games are different this time, they said so. They're probably harder, made it more difficult to survive. To win."

"Well someone's gotta win." He says. "And if you get chosen, it's gonna be you."

"But what if--"

He cuts me off another time. "No more 'ifs'. Let's just relax. We still have a whole week before the reaping."

"Only 6 days." I say.

He frowns. "Try not to worry, okay?"

I nod.

I look around my room. "Are you hungry?"

"A little." He replies.

"Do you want some breakfast?" I ask.

"Sure." he says standing up and stretching.

I get up and stretch too. I walk towards the door and get a glance of myself in the mirror.

I'm wearing the same clothes as yesterday. I must have fallen asleep in them. My hair is all messed up, so I take it out of the tangled ponytail and redo it.

We walk downstairs and I get out some bread, jam, butter and eggs and make us some toast with scrambled eggs.

When the food is done I bring a plate of food over to Talon and then set a plate of food in front of me.

"Can you hand me the salt and pepper?" Talon asks.

"Yeah." I say, handing him the salt and pepper shakers.

We don't talk to much while we're eating. To be honest, there was nothing to say. At least I didn't have anything to say, I don't know about Talon.

"I should probably head home." He says taking his dishes to the sink and rinsing them off.

"Yeah, I should probably get changed and take a shower." I say.

He walks to the door, and as he passes me, he gives me a small kiss on my forehead.

"I love you." He says before opening the door.

"I love you too." I say.

And then he's gone. I watch him run down the road to the path.

I go over and rinse my dishes.

After I finish cleaning the kitchen I go upstairs and take a shower. This shower is a lot longer then I normally take. I just sit there under the warm water thinking. About Talon, about the Games, about my family, about district 12, about Panem.

After I finish the shower I go to my room and pick out my clothes. I decide to go with some comfortable, gray pants, with a plain white t-shirt and a black hoodie. I braid my hair in the back.

I make my bed and tidy up my room. Taking a longer time than I would want, trying to keep myself as occupied as possible to try to not think about what's coming in 6 days. Only 6 days......

It's harder than I thought not to think about it. It seems as though everything reminds me of it. Even though it has nothing to do with the Games at all.

All I want is for my friends and family to be safe. There is a big chance that my family and friends won't be chosen. But there is that small chance that I am chosen.