Disclaimer: Too tired to think of some witty joke about how I'm not Suzanne Collins. Sorreh.
I stare at Karma, not wanting to believe it. Sure, I had almost no chance of ever having her, but now it's pretty much impossible. She doesn't believe in love!
I get up and leave the room. I hear her yell, "Well, goodnight to you too!" before I close the door. I crawl into my bed and force myself to sleep. Big mistake. I dream of Karma- nothing new- but she's yelling really insulting things at me.
"Ha! Love you? You may be dreaming, but this isn't a dreamland where everything is the way you want it!" She yells. "And why did you volunteer? You are so stupid! This isn't Katniss and Peeta we're talking about. I love you about as much as I love my stupid mother!"
"Why?" I ask, not able to hide the hurt in my voice
"It's obvious: Love doesn't exist. And loving you is some stupid fantasy that will never, not ever, happen." She walks towards me, so close that our noses are touching. "Never." She whispers.
I wake up, panting. Overnight I've broken into a huge sweat. Effie bursts into my room and looks delighted that I'm already awake.
"Oh, goodie! Your awake! Breakfast is in five minutes, so be ready!" She squeaks. I don't get ready, I just simply follow her into the dining room. I sit in a chair and stare at the brown liquid in the cup by my plate.
"It's called hot chocolate." Peeta tells me as he walks in. "Try it."
I take a sip and instantly regret it. It burns my tongue and it's too hot to swallow, but I shut my eyes and swallow anyways, burning my throat.
"Ouch." I say. "That hurt my mouth, Peeta."
"Sorry. But in my defense, it is called hot chocolate." He says. Just then, Karma bursts into the room, arguing with Effie.
"Because I'll look stupid!" Karma yells.
"Oh, you'll look so pretty!" Effie pleads. "Please?" I notice that Effie's holing a lacy purple dress that balloons out at the bottom and has a lot of ruffles.
"No! Sorry, maybe some other girl next year. Gosh." Karma yells. She eyes the cup of hot chocolate. "What's that?" She asks.
"Hot chocolate. Careful, it's hot." I say. Then I realize how stupid I must have sounded. Of course it's hot! Anyway, Karma and I scarf down our breakfast and then meet with our mentors.
"So, Casey," Peeta says, getting right down to business, "What are your specialties?"
"Oh- that's easy- camouflage." I say, remembering all the times I concealed myself in trees or bushes or something, looking at Karma for hours. My face burns and I know I'm blushing. "And I can build traps." I say.
"Great! Just what Karma will need." Peeta says.
"Wait- what?" I say. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Katniss and I planned for you to be allies with Karma through the whole Games. In fact, Katniss is probably telling her this right now." Peeta says with a shrug.
I slap my hand on my forehead. "You did what?" I yell. "I can't- I don't… why?"
"Because, it was either that or you join the Career pack. And coming from somebody who had no other choice- me- that's not the best idea. Now, you want to be the last two standing, right?-" I nod- "And you want her to win, right?-" I nod again. "Okay, then it's settled. You two are allies. Don't worry, it'll be fine." He says with a reassuring smile.
YOU ARE READING
A Strange Sense of Deja Vu: The 76th Hunger Games
Fanfiction'She'll have to die for me to live. The thought dawns on me and suddenly I hate myself.' Once again, the lovestruck 13-year-old boy is forced into the arena with the one he loves. He can't take the Loverboy angle, so what will he do to save her?
