Our Love Could Be Lethal Act I Re-Write

Act I: Escorts & Speeches

It's been almost six months since the victor's party and the snow lightly dusts the victors' row in pretty flakes, as if nature is somehow trying to make up for the atrocities that live within it. The train ride back to 2 was tense to say the least and involved me closing myself off in my room, only opening my door for my grandmother's three-toned wrap on the door. Instead of moving into my new house, I opted to move in with Grandma Sadie, leaving my new house, the one down the road painstakingly empty.

She's been physically stronger than she was before I left, but after living with her full time I've noticed that she's becoming more and more forgetful. It used to be just simple things like names or places, something I brushed off as a normal part of getting older. But she's starting to forget more important things like where she is, or even when she is. But, part of the good thing about leaving the Academy is that I now have an enormous amount of free time to use to take care of her.

Clearing my things out of the Academy may have been the most cathartic experience of my life. The beady eyes of the younger students and the judging eyes of the older students trailed after me as I walked out the door for the last time.

I can see my breath as I walk down the lane towards the house, holding a bag of fresh fruits from the market. Despite the coming curious that would be tonight, I have a bit of a hop in my step as I walk through the door. "Gran I'm home!"

"Oh hi, sweetheart," she calls from the couch.

I hear the television on and the unmistakable sounds of the Caesar Flickerman show. I frown and my demeanour instantly deflates. "Hey Gran, what are you watching?" I ask cautiously, peering into the living room to look at her TV set.

"Watching one of the old Games, they're on rerun," replies Gran. The houses in the Victor's Village get the same stations that ran in the Capitol, and for some reason watching kids getting killed once a year isn't enough so they play old Games in the meantime. Even though she's mentioned my Victory Tour coming up just this morning, it appears she's forgotten once again. She has a habit of watching the Games over and over because she still thinks that I'm in danger of the Games, always looking to find strategies to save me.

I want to grab the remote and shut it off but I know it will only cause a fight that I don't have the energy for right now. "Which one?" I ask.

"It's the one with the really young guy and he's, uh, blond, I think. Yes, blond. Oh, I can't believe I don't remember his name. He's quite the flirt..."

"The 65th?" I question.

"Ah, yes that one!" she exclaims excitedly. "The winner was, um, Floppy Air, no, no, Fin.... Finnick Odair! See this old geezer's still got it!"

I chuckle and sit next to her on the couch. "Yes, you've still got it."

"Oh, look at me. How could I forget? He's the one who follows Mags around like a puppy dog. She raves about him too. 'Oh Finnick is so smart, oh Finnick is so intelligent, did you know Finnick was the youngest to win his games?' It was like he was her own grandchild," scoffs Gran. Her hand grabs onto mine and pats it. "But only one of us has you."

The sound of a door bursting open interrupts the moment as I hear Fallon's sing-songy voice, "Darling, I'm here!" Instead of knocking like a normal person, she simply struts into the room with her team. She catches sight of me and points at me with a flourish. "Oh my. You really have let your eyebrows go wild, haven't you? But no worries, we can fix this." She turns back to her team to instruct them. "With a lot of tweezers."

~~~

"Welcome!" Caesar greets through my television screen. Fallon and her crew are finishing the last-minute touch-ups on my makeup as I stare at the screen, the time until I'm on counting down. I'm inside 'my' house instead of Grandma Sadie's house for appearance's sake. They decorated the front hallway to make the house look lived in while the rest of it sits empty.