fighting for peace | {lex/leon/riot} blitz

. LEX .
staying in
my play-pretend

It had been almost a week.

I had met people I liked, people that I didn't, people that I planned to continue seeing even in the arena. I had completed my private training session earlier that morning and the next day I would be forced out into a crowd of people and a plastic monkey that tried to make me look good for the people that would soon start placing bets on how long I would survive.

It was scary stuff, but it was all just the stuff I had heard about and learned about throughout eighteen years of life. The only difference between what I was going through and the studies back home was that this was the real thing. This was the actual experienced I had been taught to have skills in.

I sat on the couch in our lounge along with Riot, our escort Basso, stylists Harlem and Jizav, and, yes, Leon. I tried not to keep my focus on him for too long, terrified that the others would find out about what happened in my room at all. What would have happened? Would he have been punished? Would I have been? For now, the secrets my bed held were going to have to remain unknown.

The moment all of us had been waiting for finally arrived, and the gigantic television screen lit up with the Capitol insignia. It was time to reveal Training Scores.

I took notice of Hedvig's and the other careers, slightly bitter that the boy from Two had gotten such a high score. I was glad, of course, a good score meant good sponsors, and even if I wanted to make it out of this, I knew everyone else did too. But still, what if his victory meant my own loss?

Then my face lit up the screen, and my stomach turned in knots.

"From District Four, Lex.. with a 10!" A 10. It was fucking perfect. The other all cheered and patted me on the back and offered me congratulations, and when Riot's face lit up the screen after mine I shushed them. "Riot is up!"