Family Ties: The 35th Games

There aren't many other tributes in line for the obstacle course; the boy from Five, the girl from Seven, and both from Twelve are all there. Directly in front of me is the girl I remember from District Eleven.

She has dark skin, and sleek black hair that's been chopped into a bob. Every part of her body is hardened muscle, but she's thin and lithe. Thin scars cover her arms, criss-crossing over the muscle. The way she carries herself, too, is with confidence and power. She seems dangerous. 

District Eleven was on the list of districts Sean told me to keep an eye on-- districts with tributes who may be open to working with us. And though her aura intimidates me, I remind myself that that could be a good thing. Someone powerful and capable would make a good ally. So I stick in line, watching her closely when it's her turn.

Even though it's obviously her first time, it's almost like she's done the course before. It's like she could do it in her sleep. On the bars, she takes them three at a time, swinging gracefully, muscles flexing like a well oiled machine. The gap that is supposed to be traversed by tightrope, she jumps in one go, not even bothering with the test of balance. When she gets to the rope ladder, she scrambles up like a spider, not pausing for a second. I watch in awe as she takes each obstacle head on, and blows through it like it's nothing. She's done the entire course in two minutes-- the girl from Twelve before her had taken fifteen. 

I clumsily go through the obstacle course after her, and though she made it look easy, it really isn't. Especially following after her, I feel like I'm just making a fool of myself. I try to be careful, but still stumble every step of the way, not even bothering to check my time when I'm done. I know it's bad, I don't even need to see.

When I'm done, I desperately scan the facility, trying to spot her again, and see her at the camouflage station. Almost automatically I follow too.

I'm barely paying attention, just following her around the whole morning. Nothing is sinking in, and nothing is being learned. I just watch her in awe. We go to two more stations before she notices, eyes narrowing as the pieces fall in place. I blush, embarrassed at being caught, looking back down at the knot I was supposed to be learning, but I can't help myself. When she gets up to go to the edible plant station, I follow again.

I shouldn't be surprised when she moves to sit down across from me when I arrive, but I still jump, shrinking under her sharp glare. And when she asks, "Why are you following me," voice quiet, but with a dangerous, accusatory edge, I wish I was shrinking for real.

"It's just..... you were so good on the obstacle course," I stutter out, panicked. "You aced it like it was nothing! It was so cool-- I just wanted to see what else you could do." It was the truth, but I wasn't sure how she'd take it. 

She cocks her head to the side, some of the heat leaving her gaze, but expression remaining the same. "You're Zania. District Nine. Twelve years old." It's a statement, not a question.

"I.... Yeah," I answer quietly. "You've done your homework."

"No, but I remember you. I remember everyone," she answers me bluntly, looking back to the plants she'd been identifying. "You in particular, though, are hard to forget." I blush. I forget sometimes that my Reaping was technically history-making, what with Nathan being Reaped too. 

I don't know what to say to that, though, so I look back down at my own plant game too, hands shaking as I try to continue with it. We're both silent for a while, but I jump again when her hand reaches over, swatting my wrist away just as I was about to make another match. "No, that's wrong. The berries on that one are orange, not red. It's poisonous."

I freeze, looking over at her. She's looking at me, still sizing me up, it feels like, but her eyes have changed. They are studying me, like she's not quite sure what to make of me. I have no idea what to make of her, either. I hadn't been expecting her to help me. I hadn't a clue why she had, either, and by the looks of her expression, she wasn't so sure of that herself. 

We keep at it for a few minutes longer, and I keep following her around for the rest of the morning. She seems less tense around me the longer that carries on, though, and here and there, she'll quietly help me with something, correcting my form or keeping me from making a mistake. I'm learning more than I had been this morning, but my thoughts are still a jumbled mess, and her being so helpful was only spurring that on further. She'd seemed so scary and frustrated when she'd noticed me tailing her. It just didn't make sense to me that all that had changed. I really just couldn't understand why. 

But it didn't matter. I keep following her and working beside her in comfortable silence. And so when she speaks again, I jump again, still not used to the silence being broken, "Breah."

"P-pardon?" I ask her, eyes wide.

"My name, it's Breah. District Eleven. Seventeen," she tells me, eyes still looking at me like she's searching into my soul. 

I sit stunned for a moment, but shake it off. It's progress. It's something. It's a connection. And so I say the first thing that comes to mind, "Why don't you come sit with my brother and I for lunch?"