PLATINUM • THE HUNGER GAMES ²

| 23. FORGET-ME-KNOT

BOOK TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

( FORGET-ME-KNOT )

     BACK ON THE BEACH, with the shoreline cursing in its rush and the sun scarring in its blush, my hands dug into the sand. Finnick and I tackled a rope, unsuccessfully on my half, but he was whizzing away with his side, tying intricate knots and elegant loops into a single stretch of string. It puzzled me with its complexity, for I had never filled my spare time with skill building like Finnick had. Perhaps it would have benefited me, perhaps it was just a form or escapism — an act of forgetting the harsh realities of our world.

     As the waves lapped at my feet, letting the water seep into the fabric of my wetsuit and stroke against my legs, I eventually stood up to glance at the group behind me. Katniss, Johanna, Peeta and Beetee sat diligently in a line and their eyes were trained on the horizon. Trudging over the sand, I made my way over and left Finnick in peace. He wasn't in the mood to talk. I didn't think anyone was in the mood to talk.

     I sat beside Peeta with a pained smile. Passing me a small coconut-shell like cup, he grimaced back silently. It was then only the blazing light of the oncoming sunset that filled my thoughts.

     "Who's Annie?" I heard Katniss ask from a distance to Johanna, attempting to make her words as secretive as possible so the wounded solider couldn't hear her gossiping.

     "Annie Cresta, the girl Mags volunteered for," Johanna said, "She won like four. . . five years ago."

     ". . . Is she the one who went a little —" Johanna hummed in response, her breaths agreeing with Katniss' rude yet truthful statement. "— And what about Will? Who's he supposed to be?"

     Johanna quieted her voice, maybe aware of my eavesdropping on their conversation, "He was training to be a Peacekeeper. That's when they met — he was supposed to be helping her move into the Victor's Village in Ten, but then he dropped out of the course and cut all his connections with the Capitol."

     "And she loves him?" Katniss wondered, a whisper clinging onto her voice like a safety net.

     "Not exactly," Johanna replied. "She helped him with dropping out the Peacekeeping regime — I don't know how — and he stopped Silver from losing her mind after the Games. They help each other survive."

     "I never knew that," Katniss appeared to reply as I felt the gaze of her sympathy burn on my back.

     "Love is weird."