Fiery Payback

Chapter 37

Matthew's P.O.V

I wake up covered in sweat. I had a nightmare. That's not what I want on the night before the Hunger Games. I need as much sleep as I can get. I close my eyes and try to fall back to sleep. I open my eyes again, frustrated. I don't think I can fall asleep.

I get up from my bed and pace my room. Maybe if I move around some, I can go back to sleep. Then, I get bored of walking. I need fresh air. I want to go to the roof.

I quietly open my door and head towards the elevator. It is so quiet right now. When the elevator makes a ding noise, it sounds louder than it should be. I walk in and push the button that takes me to the roof. It doesn't even take twenty seconds to get to the roof.

The doors slide open to a rooftop garden. I walk into the garden and take a deep breath. The air smells like flowers and dirt. Basically, it smells like a garden. I walk around a little. Then, I stop walking. I see someone sitting on a bench.

I quietly move closer, trying to see who it is. Then, I realize that it is Camille. "Couldn't sleep?" She asks me.

I freeze from where I am. She was gonna notice me sooner or later. "Yeah. What about you?"

"The same. Come over here. I won't kill you. Out here." She says. I smile and walk to where she is. I sit next to her on the bench. She is in pajama shorts and tank top. I am only wearing pajama pants and an undershirt. What an outfit.

"The games are tomorrow. Can you believe it?" I ask. She looks at me with a sad smile on her face.

"Yeah. I am so not ready for it." She says. I silently laugh. "What am I going to do?"

"Do about what?" I ask. She sighs and looks ahead.

"The games. I already have to watch my back. Now I got to watch my back for your mother. Does she really hate me because of that stupid nickname?"

I shrug. "I don't know. But that was totally uncalled for. I am so sorry."

"Don't apologize. I guess I deserve it. Somehow." She says. I put an arm around her. She leans against me. "I wish that I lived in your district. That way, your mom would actually like me."

I chuckle at that. "Don't wish that. My district is so poor. If anything, I want to live in your district. It must be amazing living in a Career district."

She looks into my eyes. "Don't wish for that. Living in a Career district is horrible. Everyone is so snobby and they don't know how to take a joke. They think they are all that since we are basically the Capitol's lapdogs. We are pampered and never have to worry about the essentials. The only thing we worry about is honoring the family name. Love your family and where you live. I try to love my home, but it gets to the point of hysteria. I can't do anything that I like to call fun."

I give her a look of surprise. "What do you like to do for fun?" I ask.

"I like to goof around. Pull pranks, graffiti walls, be sarcastic. But since I live in District 4, people expect the Career districts to be well behaved and all that."

"Let's do it." I say. She looks at me with a confused look in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"Let's go have some fun." I say.

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"I can't believe we are doing this!" Camille exclaims while hopping up and down. We are in the elevator going into the weapons training room.

"We're here." I say. The elevator doors open and we walk into the room. It is so dark in here. Only the two windows provide some light. Moonlight, that is. We walk over to the camouflage station and grab some paint. "Take a few colors."

"This is going to be so much fun." She says while taking some tubes of paint. Why doesn't the Capitol have peacekeepers guarding this place. Not that I am complaining. "Okay, let's get going."

We both hold on to our tubes of paint while walking towards the elevator. Camille pushes the button labeled 1. The elevator goes up. I look at Camille and she has an excited smile on her face. That makes me smile.

Then, the elevator makes a ding sound. We quietly walk out of the elevator. We make sure no one is up and get to work. Time to graffiti District 1's walls. Hunger Games style.

I twist open a paint tube cap and squirt some paint on my hand. I smear it around my hand and start to paint the walls. My work is a little messy. Just a smidge.

I continue to do this all throughout the apartment. I haven't seen Camille since we stepped off the elevator. I just got done smearing paint on a hallway when I see a message. I quickly read it and chuckle quietly at what it says.

District 1 can kiss my ass.

I go into the dining room and continue to make this place colorful. I don't know what color is what. Let's just say that it should stick out.

"Hey! Over here!" I hear Camille whisper. I look around and see Camille standing by one of her creations. I walk over and see what she did. It was a drawing.

It said Jem on the wall and underneath that was a little message.

Prepare to die tomorrow.

"Do you think he will know it is me?" She asks me. I look at her and smile.

"I don't think so." I say. "Let's get out of here before someone finds us."

"Agreed." She says. We get our paint and walk back into the elevator. Once the doors close, we start to burst out laughing. Too soon, we are at Camille's floor. We stop laughing immediately. She looks up at me with sad eyes. Then, she wraps an arm around my neck and kisses me on the lips. It is a sweet kiss. Then, she pulls away. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." I say. The doors close shut and I ride up to my floor.

I will always remember tonight.