35th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter 2 - The Train

     I sit in silence for only a few minutes before I get escorted onto the train. Its interior is elegant and beautiful. Its the nicest thing I've ever stepped into before. There are tons and tons of desserts stacked on trays right in front of me, I'm guessing for us to eat.
     Lena is sitting on one of the neat, luxurious chairs, patting her face with brushes, applying more makeup on.
     When Jace walks inside the train, he gasps at how nice everything is. We've never seen anything like this before. District ten is one of the poorer districts, so this is way beyond our expectations.
     "You guys are welcome to anything here," Lena smiles and talks with a high-pitched, soft voice. "You're here until we get to the capital. This train is moving so fast yet you can barely feel it," she chuckles, and then continues. "I'll show you your rooms in a little while, your mentor should be showing up soon. Make yourselves comfortable."
     I look behind me to see Jace staring wide-eyed at the amount of food set before us. I pick up a chocolate brownie, the only thing I recognize, and I take a bite. "Mmmmm!" I hum. I smile at the amazing taste.
     When I finish eating I tell Jace, "you should have one of these!" I point to the brownies, but he shakes his head and replies with, "I'm going to take some risks."
     He picks up an interesting shaped red dessert with grey stripes circling it. As I study the dessert I notice little blue speckles sprinkled all around it as well. Jace looks at it confusedly, and looks at me with a worried face. He shrugs and puts it in his mouth. I watch carefully at his reaction. His face becomes a sickening look but then turns to an astonishing look. He swallows with his face twisting and turning as it falls down his throat.
     I can't help but laugh. Jace looks at me disturbed but it quickly disappears to pure happiness. He starts laughing too and it takes awhile to die down. Whenever we pause to take a breath from laughing too hard, we just start laughing again.
     When we finally start to calm down he states, "Yeah, that one-" He points to the identical desserts of the one he just tried "-has an interesting taste." He smiles which makes me blush. There is something about his smile that causes me to smile too.
     I can't believe one of us might not make it out of this. Both of us might not even make it.
     The door across the room slides open and our mentor steps in. I'm surprised to see that it's a woman. Most are men.
     "Um... Hi. I'm Colette, your mentor." She sits in the chair across from Lena as I examine her. She doesn't seem like she likes to be dressed up. She's wearing grey, baggy sweatpants and a big t-shirt. Her hair is twisted into two braids, barely touching her shoulders. She has black hair with the tips dyed purple and hazel green eyes that brighten up her face.
     Lena motions for Jace and I to come and sit down, and we don't hesitate. We need to talk to Colette because she may be our only source of survival tips.
     I wonder how she won. Hiding? Combat? She seems to be reading my mind because a second later she tells Jace and I everything on how she won.
     "I was too scared to do anything. I didn't want to kill anyone. I just hid around. I did eventually have to kill people, but by being smart and tricking them. Not just with weapons. I knew plants very well from training in the training center. Anyways, whenever I got sponsored I would get nightlock and put it in the container, letting it fall on someone below me-" she clears her throat. "-I would climb trees, they were my best friends. But the tributes below would think they were safe since they were a sponsor and they would eat them. Then the cannon would boom and I continued. I just hid until I heard the 23rd boom of the cannon." She stares at the floor, lost in the memory of her past.
     After about ten minutes Lena snaps Colette back into reality.
     "So... What are some tips?" Jace asks.
     "Never make a fire at night, draws attention. Trees are your best friends, learn how to climb. Don't team with careers unless you are certain they actually like you. Don't give up if you don't get a weapon. Oh, don't go to the cornucopia. That's where the bloodbath is, everyone goes for weapons. Just run away. Don't be afraid to kill. Know you're going to die but have a mindset that you won't. I know it's confusing but... Oh never mind. One last thing; don't let death take you."
     Some things she says are good to know why other things are confusing.
     When it gets close to dinnertime, Colette, Lena, Jace, and I are all ordered to go to the dining area. It's a huge square table with a seat placed at each side. I sit across from Jace while Lena sits across from Colette. We each get served the same dish, a delicious looking tortilla soup. But that wasn't all. There was then salad, bread, fish with noodles, and much more. Course after course. Dish after dish. I've never been fed this much before. I gobble everything up and when we get served chicken I eat it with my hands.
     Lena looks disgusted at the fact of how I'm eating. "Oh don't eat like a slob!" She exclaims. I wipe my hands on my napkin and lick the chicken grease off my lips. I start to giggle and Jace does too.
     "Oh, don't judge her, Lena. She doesn't have to be ladylike," Jace says. It's then that I notice he is eating the chicken the same way I am; like a slob.
     When dessert is served, I barely touch it before running to the nearest trash can. I lean over it while liquid and chunks of food pours out of my mouth. I feel someone pull my hair out of the way for me, and when I hear Jace's voice ask if I'm okay, my insides go crazy.
     "Yeah, just too much food, I guess." I reply as I gag. Jace pounds my back to help the stuck puke come out. I feel so much better once it's all out, but now my saliva and spit tastes disgusting; a mix of everything I've just eaten.
     I walk back to the table with Jace by my side and with my napkin I wipe off the remaining throw-up left on my lips. With all the food I just had now out of my system, my stomach craves for something to eat. I eat the dessert and I walk to my room Lena showed me after the talk with Colette.
     I strip out of my clothes and walk into the shower. There are so many buttons with many different scents of shampoos, conditioners, and body washes. I click random buttons not knowing what to choose, and when I walk out I smell really good. 
     I go through the clothes placed in the dresser and decide to just wear shorts and a t-shirt. I sit at the edge of my bed, messing with the remote to the TV across from my bed. I slide my finger over the remote and it places pictures of each district. I swipe ten times and there it is. My district. District 10.
     I start thinking of home. Of my brother. My mother. My father. I wonder if they're still crying.
     I hear a soft knock on the door and I immediately turn off the TV. I yell, "Come in," to whoever is on the other side of the door.
     The door slides open and Jace walks in. He sits on the edge of my bed next to me and asks me a question. "Are you scared for the games?" His tone is serious and I can tell he is more scared than me. I don't want to lie and act tough, I'm done with faking.
     I inhale and exhale slowly. I look him in the face and I tell him the truth as a tear slips down my face. "Yes, I am."
     Tears slide down his face as well. With his thumb, he wipes away the tear rolling down my cheek. "Sorry didn't mean for this to be an emotional question," he chuckles. I don't understand how his laugh and his smile are both so contagious.
     I laugh along with him and before you know it my hands are in his.
     The memory of how we met flashes in front of me like a dream.
    
     My brother walked into the house with another boy behind him. The boy had flowing brown hair with dreamy, pale-blue eyes.
     "This is Jace," my brother announced.
     That day, Jace stayed for dinner and we learned all about him. He was 15 that year. My brother was 19. Four years is quite an age distance, but my brother liked Jace because he was the little brother of his girlfriend. Spending so much time at her house, I guess my brother became friends with Jace. I didn't mind.
     Everyday I would hope my brother would bring Jace over. Sometimes Jace would come over when my brother wasn't home and we got to know each other. We became best friends.
    
     Now I think we are a little more than just "friends." I think we've been that way for awhile.
     "Will you be my ally in the games?" I ask Jace. I know it's a silly question and I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but I want to make sure I know.
     That when his hands leave mine and instead wrap around my face. The next thing happens so quickly and I hope it lasts forever. The touch of his lips against mine. This is what I've been wanting since I was 12, the day Jace first walked into my house.
     Jace pulls away just to answer, "Of course, love. But I'm pretty sure we're more than just "allies."" He smiles and its not just the contagiousness of it that makes me smile back. I blush so much that I'm afraid I'm as red as a tomato. When I see Jace is blushing too, my smile becomes even wider. I pull him in for another kiss and the thought of The Hunger Games breaks my heart.
     There is only allowed one victor.

...

     The door shakes by the pressure of someone pounding on it. "Hello!?! Can I come in?!" Lena screams.
     I lift my head from Jace's arm and I wake him up by kissing him. His eyes open and a smile appears on his face. He reaches up and pushes some of my hair behind my ear. "Good morning beautiful."
     Before I can reply Lena knocks on the door again. "Oh, come in!" Jace and I yell in unison. Lena slides open the door and looks surprised.
     "Oh, that's why there was no answer on your door, Jace. Anyways, breakfast time!" Lena walks out of the room and the door slides closed automatically.
     She had to interrupt my beauty sleep for breakfast?
     I fall back onto the bed and place my head on Jace's arm. I close my eyes and doze off as Jace goes through my hair with his fingers. It's so naughty that when he pulls his fingers through I scream-even though it doesn't hurt that much-"Ow!"
     "Sorry! Your hair's naughty!" Jace apologizes as he starts laughing. I start laughing too and he kisses the top of my head.
     "What did I say! Breakfast!!" Lena screams through the door.
     Jace slides his arm from under my head and slips out of bed. He tries to get me to get up but I refuse. That was a mistake.
     Jace tickles me under my chin and even  my armpits; the spots he knows are my weakness' from when I was 13. Laughing out of control takes my breath away and I try to gasp for more air. I finally get out of bed and I tag along behind Jace, and when he walks out the door, I jump back onto the bed. Jace comes back in and picks me up like a baby, carrying me to the table.
     We both giggle at how silly this is. I look into his pale-blue eyes and find that there is a hint of brown around the edge of the blue. His eyes are gorgeous.
     He sets me down at my chair and sits in his across from me. We get served pancakes, waffles, biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, and even blueberry muffins.
     "Your not going to through everything up again are you?" Colette asks harshly yet with a hint of sarcasm.

...

     "Woah!" I yell as I stare out the windows of the train. The capital is coming into view. The architecture surpasses my expectations. It's enormous.
     The train pulls to a stop in a tunnel brightly lit. Capital people stand outside it, yelling and screaming for us. Capital people screaming for us is not going to make anything better. They're technically screaming for us to die in the arena.