The Kairos Games

Chapter 2

The crowd lets out a roar, and the television shuts off. Sara is sitting in her borrowed room, staring at the screen. She makes a mental list once more: Aaron -- musical; Amanda -- Nervous, but not very threatening; Andrea -- Wildlife Connoisseur; Avery -- Hunter; Brad -- Pastoral Major; Cody -- Full of Deep Thoughts; Dani -- Balances things on Head; David -- High Self-Esteem; Ethan -- Improvises; Haley --

    There is a knock at the door. Sara sits up and yells, “Come in!”

    Paige enters quietly and takes a seat at the end of the bed. “So… that was interesting. Learn anything new that we might need to know?”

    Sara shrugs. “Nah, not really. They didn’t give much away. At least, not much that I hadn’t figured out already. You’d be surprised by how much people put on their Facebooks.”

    “Hah-ha!” Paige laughs. “You’re such a creep, Sara.”

    “Yeah, well. It might just come in handy during the Games. I at least have a good idea of what I’m up against.”

    Paige nods. “Do you think you’ll have a chance of winning?”

    “Doubt it. I don’t have a lot of fighting skills.” She eyes Paige warily, watching to make sure she doesn’t let anything important slip. Friendly as they are, they are still enemies when it comes to the Games. “What about you?”

    “Eh… Probably not. I feel like… I might have chance, but there are so many other people that could get it, too. And I could always be missing something. Someone might surprise me.”

     “Yeah. That makes sense. I don’t know what’s going to happen… Maybe I’ll surprise myself. That, or my life will be ending in a few days. I guess that sucks.”

    “Ha, yeah.” Paige lets out an exasperated growl and falls back on the bed, then shoves a pillow over her face. “I am so ready for this thing to be OVER! Ugh, and we have to do our interviews tomorrow! Did you see how awkward those things were? I’m so worried that I’m going to get up there and say something stupid.”

    “Then don’t say something stupid. If you don’t have an answer, just stall and change the subject.”

    “Yeah, that’s probably what I’ll end up doing. I don’t know. Are you hungry? I think we’re supposed to go down for dinner pretty soon.”

    “Yeah. Let’s go.” The two girls descend the stairs to the large dining hall and join the rest of the class of tributes for the evening meal. The table is mostly silent; with the Games only two days away, no one is feeling too giddy and chatty. Well, almost no one…

    “Y’all ready to get out there and kill each other?” David asks. His face is hard to read. Odd as everything coming from his mouth seems to be, no one can determine if he is being serious or sarcastic. Naturally, this is a concern for many, so they stay silent, hoping to avoid the awkwardness of conversation.

    However, David persists in his attempts. “Have you thought about how you’re going to die? I was thinking I’d like to die in some really awesome way, like exploding or something. Or maybe getting my head chopped off. That would be cool. Did you know when you get your head chopped off, your mind stays active for a few seconds and you can see what’s going on around you?”

    “Ew,” says Mesa. “That’s disgusting. Can we not talk about this while we’re eating?”

    “Well what do you want to talk about? I’m up for anything. Religion? Politics? Favorite movie? What about you, Madeline? Have a favorite movie?”