The Last Hunger Games

Chapter 24 - 'Tour Buddy'

(A/N: You'll get to know a bit more about Avita and Jack in this chapter, and I hope you enjoy! I think it's a bit longer this time)

"Shut up, both of you! How is this alliance supposed to work if you're constantly threatening to kill each other?" Violet exclaims. Neither me nor Jack says anything. "Exactly! Now shut up and can we go to the Feast already? I'm starving." I roll my eyes, but I know she's right. I have to somehow ignore my deep hatred for Jack and pretend to be 'allies' with him. I'm rather tempted to kill him in his sleep - if our alliance lasts that long, that is. 

Jack Egnatia started to get on my nerves from the moment I met him. Him and his little sister Violet joined the Capitol Academy three years ago, when I was fourteen, and Celestia was nine.  I remember vividly the evening that they joined, when Celestia came up to my bedroom and ranted to me about how, "I don't want to be her 'tour buddy', I don't even know the way round myself!" and, "she never stops talking," or, "why should I be her 'tour buddy?' Just because Grandfather is the President doesn't mean we get a bunchload of responsibility too!" I knew exactly how she felt, because I had been assigned as Jack's 'tour buddy' too. 

I'm sure you can figure out what a 'tour buddy' does. It's just some lame name for the pupil that's assigned to the new kid to show them round the Capitol Academy in their first week. To be fair to Celestia, she was only nine, she hardly knew the way around the school herself, and I liked to keep my head down and work hard, so I hated it too. It's obvious the reason that they chose us though: 'Snow' as a surname can be both brilliant and a pain. When I saw what Grandfather did to those poor Victors in the Tribute Centre basement, I was ashamed to be a Snow. And I hated being so 'important' when I had to show Jack round the Academy. He was constantly asking questions, not just about the school but about me: what was my name, how old was I, what class was I in, etc, etc. I answered politely, just as a Capitol child is brought up to do, but when he started flirting and making it obvious he liked me, I - well, I turned on him.

"Are you seriously trying to get me to like you?" I'd hissed at him in a dark corridor of the school. I didn't need to show him that part as those science labs had been burnt to a crisp in one of Professor Gaul's experiments gone wrong, and he never found the money to fix them, so I decided it was the best place to corner Jack and give him a piece of my mind. "Let me tell you something: it's not going to work. Trust me, it won't. I'm ok with being friends, but we leave it at that, you hear me?" He'd nodded anxiously and a smile spread across my face. "Ha, you look so funny when you're scared. Now come with me, I need to show you the science block, the maths block, and tell you how to nick the caretaker's keys if you need them," and with that I'd walked briskly off down the corridor, and not long after he caught up, tripping over his lanky legs. Back then, he was the laughing stock of the gang of boys, now he's the leader of them. Whilst they were all covered in spots and were tripping over their own feet, he was shooting above them, spots nowhere to be seen, and - well, I'm not going to deny it - extremely handsome. Because of his sudden change in roles, he decided that it was funny to make fun of me: he'd pull my brown so hard it hurt as he walked past, and nick my glasses off my face too. After a month of this, I'd had enough. I went and complained to Grandfather, and I asked him could he please get Jack to stop and tell him that there will be trouble if it carries on - not those exact words, there were a few curses in there too - and so he did.

The next week Jack came into school a totally different person. There was no hair tugging or glasses nicking, but there were some dirty looks instead. But that I can cope with. He'd look at me with hate in his eyes from across the classroom, and I'd smirk in response. 

But what he started doing after that was the most annoying thing of all. Thing is, I can't go and complain to anyone about it because 'he's just being friendly.' AKA speaking to me constantly, wishing me good morning and good afternoon very loudly in the busy corridors, and pointing me out to whoever doesn't acknowledge my existence already. I preferred it when people didn't know I existed. He's still doing this now, in the Arena. One last chance to get on my nerves, I expect. 

I shake my head a little and try to tune back into reality.

"Good plan, Vi. Everyone follow me," Jack announces, but I stop him in his tracks before he can go any further. I won't let him have any kind of power over me anymore. 

"Nu-uh. There's no way I'm letting you lead," I say. I'd rather not argue, but I'm not trusting this coward with my life. 

"Why should you lead? I'm faster than you, and taller," he exclaims, standing up straight so he's a good head taller than me. 

"So you're saying I can't lead because I'm a girl?" I know that's not what he's saying at all, but it's amusing to put him on the spot. 

"No! I never said that, I -"

"Great! Looks like I'm leading then," I say, ignoring Jack's complaints. I wink at Violet and she forces back a smile at her big brother just getting told by a girl.

(Did this give enough backstory or do I need some more in the next chapter? Please tell me and thank you for reading! Ily all)