The Hunger Games | Rilaya

The Train Ride

It's a short ride to the train station. It's crawling with reporters, with all camera on Riley and me. I'm glad that I hadn't cried, seeing as this feed was being televised all over Panem.

Riley, on the other hand, had obviously been crying and she didn't even seem to be caring enough to try to cover it up. This makes me wonder if this was her strategy for the Games, to put on a façade, pretend to be weak and then surprise everyone with her fighting skills.

I think back to some of the past victors, who all had different strategies. There was Farkle Minkus, practically the golden boy of the Capitol after his games, his specialty being a trident; Darby Walker, who's strategy was what I mentioned before, appearing weak but actually skilled with an axe; Isadora Smackle, who won due to being the best swimmer when the arena flooded, but went crazy after she saw her district partner decapitated; Missy Bradford, who won by using her own teeth to rip out another tribute's throat.

I shudder when thinking about Missy, remembering her sharpened teeth from the television screen.

We enter the train together, thankfully leaving all the reporters behind us. I go to my room, just sitting on the luxury bed in silence for a while, until Effie calls me for supper. I follow her into the dining room, where Riley was already sitting in a chair.

"Where's Shawn?" Effie asks.

"Last time I saw him, he said he was going to take a nap." Riley answers. It occurs to me that this was the first time I had actually heard her talk and can I just say, her voice is amazing.

"Well, it has been an exhausting day." Effie says and with that, the supper comes in lavish courses.

It's more food than I have ever seen before and I couldn't help but stuff myself. I look over at Riley to see her doing the same thing. Effie kept trying to remind us to save room for more but I ignore her. Right now, it was just me and my food.

"At least you two have decent manners." Effie says. "The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion."

I narrow my eyes at her comment and made a show of eating the rest of my meal with my fingers. I see Effie purse her lips tightly together while Riley was grinning at me, making my stomach do backflips.

After dinner, we go to a different compartment to watch all the other reapings. We examine our competition, with a couple faces standing out in my mind. There was a monstrous boy who volunteered in District 2 (I didn't like the looks of his district partner either, who looked like she could kill me with just one flick of her hand), a girl from District 5 that reminded me of a fox, a boy with a crippled foot from District 10, and the worst of all, a twelve-year-old boy from District 11, who seemed to be the exact opposite of his district partner, a boy who was even larger than the boy from District 2.

Finally, we get to District 12. I watch as Prim is called and then me volunteering. Lucas appears on the screen, dragging Prim off while I walk to the stage. I'm struggling to keep a choked sob in at this point.

Then comes the silent salute. The moment was ruined once again by Shawn who proceeds to fall off the stage. Riley's name is called and the camera shifts to her, who silently takes her place on the stage.

I glance back at Riley who was sitting next to me on the couch. She realizes that I was looking at her, making me flush and turn my eyes back to the screen.

I watch as the two of us shake hands and I blink, remembering the spark that ignited when I held her hand. The anthem sounds again and the program ends.

"Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot about televised behavior." Effie grumbles.

Riley unexpectedly laughs, making my heart pound because damn it, her laugh was beautiful. "He was drunk." She chuckles. "He's drunk every year."