Ratings

TODAY WAS THE DAY AMARA WOULD RECEIVE HER "score" from the game makers. It would determine how good she would do in the games, if she put her full effort into doing it. On one hand, if she received a high score, there would be a target on her back and on the other, if she got a low one, who'd want to sponsor her?

The Reed girl ran all of these possible scenarios through her mind as she walked inside. All the game makers in a room with a glass window above her. Some halted their conversations and others talked along, not giving her any mind.

She was district eleven, after all.

Amara sighed as she approached the climbing section, climbing slowly as possible. While it was her intention to fall into Creed's arms the day before, she was still afraid that she'd fall. Only thing is, this time, nobody would be there to catch her.

"Come on, Mara. Don't mess this up." She mumbled to herself. The girl had decided to get herself an average score. Don't try too hard but get high enough that a sponsor would vouch for her. A seven would be enough, right?

The girl started to pick up the pace as she climbed, it was natural instinct by now, having gone up and down trees her whole life. Once she reached the top, she looked back and all the game makers had lost interest. They didn't care about the fact that she'd be dying soon.

So, instead of climbing back down, the girl sucked in a deep breathe and jumped.

To make things even better, she landed on her feet. Almost like a cat with nine lives, she had gone down about 40 feet without a scratch. Take that you snooty, no good, game makers.

The group of people were finally looking at her, some of them even clapping at her little show. The girl smiled slightly to herself before moving on to the knife throwing station, Mercy had taught her how to quite well so Amara figured this would be a good skill to show off, hopefully.

"You can do this." Amarath took in a deep breath once again. "You are doing so good already."

The Reed girl picked up a sharp knife, narrowing her eyes at the target before her. She put her arm back, matching it up with the line she was supposed to hit and launched her arm forward, hoping for the best. Thankfully, it hit the neck of the target, enough for a kill if she needed it but, not enough to do it right away.

She repeated the same motion once again, letting out a sigh of relief as the knife hit the board again. She got it directly in the middle of the board, silently cheering for herself as she did. Amara held in a smile as she stepped away from the station, walking over to the plant section, her expertise of course.

Eventually, she had identified each and every one of the plants displayed in the room correctly. She glanced up yet again, some of the game makers writing notes and some staring at her while conversing. She figured that was enough, not too much not too little she kept repeating to herself over and over again.

Then, she quietly made her way out of the room, hoping for the best.

AMARA QUIETLY BRUSHED HER HAND AGAINST the table as she waited for Lennox and Twinkle to come in and tell her and Basil their results. She hoped they had done well but she also knew if one did better than the other, they'd help each other out. Then there was the pesky feeling she had in her mind that kept wondering what Creed and gotten... and Mercy, of course.

"Alright, you two. Let's see what we've got." The Blaise man sighed, looking at the papers in his hands.

"We got this." Basil whispered sweetly, a smile on his face. He was probably the nicest boy Amaranth had ever met, and attractive sure but, they were more like a sibling pair than anything.

"I'm so excited." Twinkle beamed, clapping her hands and taking a seat at the table.

"First up is Basil. Mr. Covyn, you received..." Lennox's eyes scanned the paper. "A seven, great job, kid."

Basil let out a sigh of relief, not too high, not too low. It was actually extremely close to average, seeing as the scoring went up to twelve. Now all that was left was for the Reed girl to get a six or seven too.

"...and Amaranth Reed, you've recieved.." Lennox's face dropped as he read the paper. "A nine."

"What—" Amara felt like her body had left her soul, that number was way too high from someone in her district, from someone who was not meant to be a threatening factor in the game. Damn knife throwing, that had to be the reason she got scored higher than Basil in the first place.

While two points didn't seem like much, nobody had ever gotten the score of twelve in the history of the games, meaning a nine was much higher than you'd think.

"That's wonderful! Good job, both of you." Twinkle said happily, her eyes basically staring at both of them with admiration. It was almost as if she was oblivious to the world around her. Boy, would any of the other three love to pay for that kind of naivety.

"This is alright." Lennox nodded and let out a sigh as Basil gripped the girls hand tighter. "Better sponsors this way, for both of you. Along with the other plan we are going through with. I've talked to Haymitch by the way, he is with the idea one hundred percent."

Amara nodded slightly, biting her inner lip. Maybe this was a good thing? Or it wasn't, you never know with these things.

"We've set up a rendez-vous on the roof for you and Creed." Twinkle smiled. "The cameras will be there, watching two young ones in love."

The woman looked off the the side dreamingly, sighing happily.

"How romantic." Amara said sarcastically.

She hated how the capitol thrived off of things like this.

CREED PULLED AT HIS SLEEVES AS HE WAITED FOR Amara to come up to the roof. He was nervous to hear her score, and to talk to her, especially since this is the first time they would meet up after declaring themselves a "couple" in the eyes of the public. He was surprised that anyone had even let them meet but, the capital just loved the tragic romance aspect of the games so much they allowed it.

Thanks for the suggestion, Haymitch.

"Creed?" Amara looked around until she spotted the boys, her eyes finally adjusting to the darkness outside. The roof view was beautiful but, also obstructed by the barbed wire fence that surrounded it.

Just to make sure nobody got any ideas.

The Sparrow boy quickly jumped up to his feet, a slight smile on his face.

"Amara? Are you okay?" The boy furrowed his brows once he noticed her sad expression, the girl making her way over.

"I got a nine." That statement was enough for both two sit down quietly side by side, neither really knowing what else they could possibly do in that moment.

"...and Basil?" Creed finally asked, carefully putting an arm around the girl for both comfort and warmth.

"7." Amara replied, looking down towards her lap. She felt odd being so close in proximity to him for some reason, it was just a weird feeling.

"Mercy too." The Sparrow boy tapped his foot on the ground, just like the Reed girl did at times. "I got an 8."

"What are we going to do, Creed?" Amaranth asked, her voice shaky. Things were becoming real now, the day of the games drawing closer.

"We do the same thing we planned from the beginning...stick together." The blue eyed boy let out a sigh. "Once it gets to the end...we'll figure it out."

"At least one of us is going to die." Amara hated to be the cynic but she felt her feelings and empathy towards Creed, Mecry, and Basil grow by the day. "What then?"

"The one who lives remembers the rest of us by doing the right thing." The Sparrow boy pulled Amara into a hug, lowering his voice as he pushed her hair away from her ear. "We help stop the games."

It wasn't just the right thing to do, it was the only thing.

AUTHORS NOTE—
I'm getting sadder and sadder as the chapters go along because I know that I have to write in someone's death which really really sucks jdkdkdksksks

Amara's favorite bond so far?

Hope you enjoyed!