The 70th Hunger Games: A Little Love

Chapter Three

Dear Diary,

I apologize for my abrupt ending of that entry. I felt more emotions come on, and wished not to damage the pages of my book with my tears. I'll continue now:

I had five visitors over that hour.

The first was my family. They came in to me on the floor, curled up, and trying to calm myself down. My brother ran up to me, holding me as I cried. It felt like forever, waiting for my anxiety to pass and for the world to come back to me. My mom and dad gave me advice about staying safe and hidden in the arena.

My brother, with a smile on his face, in an attempt to cheer me up, as always, jokes "you might have to eat some meat in these games!"

I nodded solemnly, and no one laughed. We embraced as a family—one last embrace—before I would never return home again. I held them so tightly, I felt my brothers muscles tighten up. I held them so closely, I felt my mother's chest rise and fall.

Before they left, my father turned to me, with his hand on my shoulder. He spoke softly, looking me in the eyes as he spoke: "you are a good person Annie. Don't let the games ruin that"

I gave him one last hug before he left the room. And this time, I leaned in to his jacket, and could almost smell the faint smell of the cigarettes his father used to smoke.

The next was my school teacher, Ms. Laramie. She came in to assure me that I am a very smart and compassionate student, and I should use these wits and charisma in the game. We embraced before she left the room, and I think she was crying a little.

The third was Watter, and his parents. Watter looked completely devastated. Their face was already red from crying. We embraced immediately, their arms going tightly around me. Through their parents pleas to protect Percy, Watter whispers in my ear:

"Protect yourself too, Annie"

High on emotions, I waved goodbye to my lifelong friend Watter and their family, promising that I will protect Percy. At least, as best as I can.

The fourth were my friends from school, Immah Ali, Paislee Intellot and Seeah Roset. Seeah came in first, signing away anxiously.

"I can't believe this happened! It was our final year! Annie we're going to work with the school to get money to you! Annie I'm so sorry!"

She rushes up to me, hugging me tightly as my other friends Immah and Paislee file into the room. Immah, extremely intelligent and in my biology class, smells like cocoa, like always. It makes me feel at home, like they're all in my room, sleeping over on the last day of school like we do every year. Like I'm not being shipped into a brutal games where I most likely will not return home.

Seeah is still trying to sign as we all hug, but none of us can tell what she's saying, eliciting a few nervous laughs from the group of us. After Seeah's father was killed brutally by a peacekeeper in an act of racial based hate, she went mute. We have all learned sign language, and never miss a moment in talking to one another. We talk and gossip just the same, as if nothing even changed. Her blue hair, dyed the color of the ocean, tickles my nose as we hug.

Paislee is the first one to let go of the hug, her long blonde hair in two braids down her back. Paislee's family came from a bit of money, and we're all surprised they haven't moved to a richer district yet, but she's not the one to flaunt it. She had a light pink lipstick on her lips, and she never went anywhere without it, so I was glad to see it on her. It made me somehow calmer, as if this was any other day. Albeit rather shy in class, Paislee is relatively outgoing around us:

"I'm so sorry Annie, how else can we help? What can we do?" she asks, her light blonde eyebrows contorting sadly as she speaks to me.

"I...I'm not really sure. I don't know if it even matters, if I'll even survive" I cry, rushing back into their arms for another hug "Oh, I'm just going to miss you so much!"