the hunger games: if it happened to me

Chapter 4

The officer takes me to the plane, I look around but I don't see Ferny, I sit. Everything here is so fancy. Leather seats with automatic massages, gold crafted with mine and fernys name.
There's so much food. From Chinese to Italian to sea food to Mexican food to every single dish you can think of is here. The desert table is even bigger. I can see about 500 diffrent kinds of cakes. Only the very best for the tributes that might just die in that area.
"Iri?" I hear fernys voice. I'm relieved to hear him. "Hey ferno" I call back. Ferno is this nick name I used to call Ferny back in 8th grade. He smiles at this. "You don't deserve this" he says as his smile goes away. "You don't either" I manage to say without crying. Then I hear crying and screaming but it's not mine. Ferny. He is breaking down. "We're gonna die, I hate the government, I hate the system" he screams. "Hey! No you can't do this to yourself! You can't afford to think like that! We can do this Ferny." I scream while grabbing his hands. "How? How in the world are we gonna kill 30 people? How? How are we going to get sponsors? Only the rich states get them. How Iri? How?" He yells, more mad than sad now. "People just want a good show. Let's play it out, like katniss and peeta did. It's a good way to get noticed and get sponsors." I say. "You think that'll work? You think they'll believe us?" He asks. "They might." I respond. "Iri grow up, I doubt they'll believe that!" He says in a quiet voice. "Why not? We can play it out and say we had a secret relationship going on, that we've been in love and that us getting reaped is probably the best thing, because the world can see our love" I say. "Iri that's crazy but it's our only chance of winning, let's do it" he says, he even kind of smiled.
I had only seen Ferny as more than a friend when we were 12, when we sorta had a thing going on but that faded and Ferny became like a brother to me. Hopefully our pretend love wouldn't interfere with that.
I hear the automatic door open. Someone comes in. It's a guy, I knew I'd seen his face before until it finally hit me, he was one of last years victors. Ralph Rodriguez. State 16, texas, just like me and Ferny. He won the very first hunger games, last year, him and some girl from state 1. He won with his knife skills, he could throw a knife with his eyes closed and still make the target. "alright guys I'm your mentor, ralph, I'm supposed to help you prepare for the games, but first I need a drink" he said. Great. A drunk mentor. He's no help. Me and Ferny exchange looks, and I bet we were thinking the exact same thing about this so called mentor were stuck with. "Um hey can we train or talk about the games? I mean it is your job" Ferny says, his tone a bit harsh. "Yeah we can use all the help we can get" I say to back up Ferny. "Wow. What eager tributes. Do you guys have a plan or a strategy? Because I'm not gonna think of everything. I'm just here to coach you and help out with YOUR plans" Ralph says in a kind of tone between serious and sarcastic. "We're in love" Ferny says. "Since back when we were 12, been keeping it a secret ever since" I say right after. "The reaping was the best thing that could happen to us, because we get to share our love with the whole world" Ferny goes on. He looks me in the eyes, grabs my hand and locks his fingers between mine. "Nice acting guys! Stick with that and you'll be sure to get sponsors. Everyone loves a sad love story. And this year everyone will love the star cross lovers of state 16!" Ralph says. My plan is genius. I knew it. But how did he know we were acting? Maybe we need to step it up with this love thing and act like if we've actually been in love for 4 years. "great" says ferny with a smirk. "How'd you know it was an act?" I ask. "Well sweetie, the way you look at him isn't exactly a "I'm madly inlove with him" look, and neither is his when he looks at you. Practice it. Practice the story of how you two met and it was love at first sight. Practice the story of how much pain it was keeping it a secret from everyone. Practice the story of how you're gonna try to win for eachother. Practice. Practice. Practice." Ralph explains. He may be a drunk but he sure isn't stupid. He's got a point. We do need to get our stories straight and practice them all. He's right. "Alright well it's getting late and you guys need the rest, may I suggest sleeping in the same room, because remember the Capitol is watching. They demanded cameras in the tributes rooms for security purposes. So your acting starts tonight, lexi will wake you up in the morning. It's gonna be a big day. Goodnight star crossed lovers." says Ralph as he leaves to his room.