One Lucky Winner

Chapter 79 ~ Peeta

Day 8
5:58 PM

I just finished telling Tris about Tony and Steve, and how they tried to betray Katniss and I. I don't know why I did it; I was just in the talking mood. I guess she started it. She's the one who told me how Harry betrayed her and Four. We told our betray stories to each other.

The woods we currently walk through are filled with trees with no leaves or pines on them. It must've been some woods Tony burned at some point. The trunks are huge, though, so not much is missing.

With me and Tris talking about betrayals, I have a random thought. There's two types of tributes in the arena: ones who betray others, such as Tony and Harry, and ones who don't, such as Tris and I. It's mean, but I should be the type of person to betray others. It's probably what other tributes expected me to do, especially since I won last year. If I would've just betrayed Steve and Tony before they betrayed us, I wouldn't be in this mess. The 'mess' as in being away from Katniss, allying with some crazy ring girl, and going after Tony.

"Do you ever regret it?" I ask Tris suddenly.

"Regret what?" she says, looking at me. She's rubbing the ring. I don't know why, but it's aggravating.

"Not betraying Harry before he betrayed you," I say.

"Oh," she says. "Well, now I do, obviously. But back then I wouldn't have. We were good friends. I'm still trying to get over him. We had so much in common. But on the other hand, Four would still be alive if it weren't for Harry."

"Oh," I say.

There's a moment of silence then she speaks up. "Who do you think'll win?"

I look at her. "I have no idea," I say, and it's the truth. I would say Tony, but I left him with no supplies, so he could be starving and weak.

"I think you will."

I look at her in great surprise. "Me?"

"Yeah. Look at you. You have a lot of supplies, you have no injuries, and you got a 12."

"Scores don't mean anything," I tell her. "I learned that last year. I got an eight, and I won."

"Oh," she says. "But still. I think you'll win."

"I don't want to," I say dully.

"I still think you'll win," she says quietly.

I look at her. "If you think I'll win, then what do you think will happen to you?"

She looks up from the ring. "I'll die from injury. You know, my concussion. The pain is getting worse by the days. One of these days I'll just collapse." She looks at me. "Or you'll betray me."

"I won't betray you," I find myself immediately saying. "I've had enough of that word."

She's quiet for a few minutes, then she speaks again. "Or Katniss."

"What?"

"If you won't win, then it'll be Katniss. She got a 12, too."

"Scores don't mean anything, remember," I say, even though I'm glad she thinks Katniss will win.

"I don't care. I've seen her in training. If you won't win, then she will. It'll be one of you two again, I'm sure of it."