The Hunger Games: Victor

Chapter 19

*The 76th Reaping*

“Kate Lindhill!” Dainty says, and I feel my whole body go rigid. She walks up to the stage, swift and graceful like a bird. Her face is trembling, and I can see even from this distance the tears swelling in her eyes. I can remember Mordecai pointing her out to me once, but I can’t remember what for. I can only remember the urgency in his voice, and then the urgency in Dieter’s when she told me the plan.

And I can see it now; the striking resemblance to Everdeen that Dieter described. Her hair is as dark and thick as Katniss’s, and her eyes have the same hardness and determination that were so evident in the eyes of the mockingjay. But I can see the difference too. I can see the softness in Kate’s features and the compassion. She’s nothing like Katniss.

But I have to convince the world otherwise.

“Lot Harbine!” Dainty calls, and then she looks at me. She smiles, and I know it’s time. Dainty isn’t the same woman that came to us every year; but Dieter’s smoking hot sister America, and she wants me to volunteer now. When Lot gets up on the stage I see Kate look at him with nothing but the purest sympathy in her eyes, and I know it’s time. If I want her to trust me and fall in love with me, this is where it will all start.

 “I volunteer!”