[the hunger games series: catching fire]
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        Cameron couldn't get herself to fall asleep for the past week, not that she was ever particularly good at getting herself to fall asleep in the first past. But it was even worse after the announcement of the quarter quell. Mitchell kept telling her there was nothing to worry about, that it was a slim chance that the two of them would be reaped again. She wished he would stop lying about that.

It was a 50/50 chance for both of them, as there were only four victors from district nine: Cameron, Wilbur, Mitchell, and an older woman named Amanda who Cameron had only interacted with once. Cameron thought she was nice, definitely not nice enough to volunteer for Cameron if she got reaped though. So if it was her name that was called, she was definitely going back into the arena.

She wasn't sure what would happen with Mitchell or Wilbur, she was terrified. Either way, one of her family was going to be in the arena, with her or without her.

Cameron abruptly sat up, looking around the darkness that consumed her room. She knew she couldn't fall asleep now, her mind was racing relentlessly. She blinked and lifted herself off of her bed, touching her bare feet to the cold ground. She shivered but kept walking across the wooden floor until she reached her door, swinging it open quickly.

She made her way down the stairs, each step louder than the last one. She didn't bother to look at the time, and she honestly didn't care what time it was.

"You're up late," Wilbur commented as Cameron stumbled into the kitchen.

"Oh really? I didn't notice," she said, sarcasm coating each word that she spoke. Wilbur raised his brows at her response. "Sorry," Cameron said shaking her head. "I couldn't sleep," she admitted.

Wilbur raised his small ceramic mug to his lips, "Me either," he responded.

"When's the reaping?" Cameron asked, she hadn't bothered to keep track of the time or the days at this point. She was too busy wondering if she gonna be alive next month. She gulped, awaiting Wilbur's response.

"Given it is 3 in the morning," Wilbur said gesturing to the clock on the kitchen wall. "It would be this afternoon."

Camron's mouth dropped open, "What?"

Wilbur laughed slightly, "Have you not been paying attention?" he asked her seriously. Cameron looked up at the man, his face was lined with concern.

"Of course, I've been paying attention," she lied, brushing off her mentor's worries. "Obviously I knew it was today. I pay attention." That part wasn't exactly a lie, if she wasn't trying to fall asleep she was training. Not hardcore training or anything. It was mainly shooting the bags of grain down. This time without Mitchell around because she knew he would try and distract her, or tell her not to think about it because that's all he would do at the moment.

"Cam, stop pacing and thinking," Mitchell sounded as she paced up and down the living room, holding a small kitchen knife in her hand. She would twirl it around her fingers when she got nervous, and Mitch knew that. "And worrying for that matter because we're not going in the arena."

Cameron stopped moving to glare at him. "No offense Mitch, but shut the fuck up," she said sharply.

"Full offense taken Cam!" he exclaimed throwing a large pillow at her.

She took the knife in her hand and cut a large hole in the pillow as it came flying towards her face. The small feathers that the pillow was stuffed with fell to the ground. "Why would you do that!" she asked him placing the knife back at her side.

"And why is your first instinct to stab something when it comes flying towards your face?" he retorted.

Cameron blinked, "Okay take a minute to think about the question you just asked because you sound ridiculous"

"I'm the ridiculous one? Me? I don't go around stabbing innocent throw pillows like someone I know. She has blonde hair, her name is Cameron Knight. Ring any bells?"

"Oh shut up, Mitch," Cameron snapped.

Wilbur coughed, looking between the two young adults. "When I invited you two to live with me. I did not mean that you could destroy my stuff."

"It's her fault!" Mitchell said instantly, pointing his finger towards the girl, who just rolled her eyes.

Cameron sighed, dragging herself out of her own thoughts. "This is so stupid. I can't believe Snow's doing this," she said, grabbing herself a small cup of water.

"Snow can do basically do anything," Wilbur responded quietly.

Cameron scoffed, "He shouldn't be able to. We already won and he's deciding to throw his back into the games again. It's shit. It's bullshit."

"Cameron-"

"No! I'm serious, I don't want to go back!" She took a deep breath, trying to steady her increasing heartbeat. "I don't want to go," she repeated, her voice shaking. "I don't, I don't, I-" her voice stopped suddenly as she broke into a small sob. She bit down on her lip as hard as she could to stop herself from crying. But it didn't work, tears fell from her eyes as if someone had just flipped a switch and turned them on.

Wilbur didn't say anything, he just pulled her into a big hug, allowing her to get out all of her emotions before the inevitable.

---

Cameron never really thought of herself as a hateful person, but she hated when she cried. Or showing any sort of emotion at all. If Mitchell knew she cried this morning, he would definitely keep badgering her about it until she told him why. But with Wilbur, she knew that neither of them would talk about it. They were both very closed off, so it worked in her favor.

There was a large swish of fabric and Cameron opened her eyes. She gulped as she fiddled with the hem of her long sleeve shirt. The Capitol had given all of the victors matching clothing so that they would all look presentable on stage. Cameron hated it, she felt incredibly uncomfortable in the lumpy green robes.

"Green is not my color," Mitchell whispered to Cameron as they stood behind the curtains, waiting for Malini, their escort, to bring them out onto the stage.

"For the last time Mitch, shut up," Cameron whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Sorry for trying to make this whole reaping thing more fun," he said defensively.

Cameron hit him in the side of his chest, "Yeah the words reaping and fun do not belong in the same sentence together."

Wilbur looked at them both with a set of disapproving eyes. "Stop it the both of you," he warned them, as the woman next to his side, Amanda, stayed motionless. "It's almost time."

Cameron nodded, biting her lip carefully as she watched the curtain in front of them, studying its every fold, trying to keep her mind off of the impending doom. Malini poked her head out from behind the curtain. She was dressed up in some of her best clothing. A bright red dress with gold buttons on the left side of her body. It had thin straps that draped over her shoulders, it was warm out so Cameron assumed that she wasn't cold. Her dark brown hair was tied in a half-up, half-down twist that was held in place with a golden clip that matched the gold buttons on her dress.

As long as Cameron knew her, Malini was always cheerful. Every time Cameron saw her, she always had a bright smile plastered across her face. Cameron never knew if it was real or fake, and she was honestly too afraid to ask. But Malini wasn't smiling today, a small frown appeared on her face as she looked at the previous victors with pity.

"They're ready for you," she said in a small voice.

Cameron could hear her heart beating in her ears, she tried to drown it out, but nothing was working. She took a shaky breath, as she began to move forward, Mitchell by her side. "Hey, it's gonna be okay," he whispered in her ear.

"I wish you would stop lying like that Mitch," she responded as they took a few more steps forward.

"I'm not lying," he said, squeezing her hand gently. "We're in this together. Family, remember?"

She nodded, "Family," she added quietly as the pair stepped out into the bright sunlight. Cameron blinked, allowing her eyes to adjust to the light that was beating down on her. The heat made her head hurt, a pounding headache that wouldn't go away, matching the sound in her eardrums. Cameron could barely make out the ending of the crowd, let alone the faces of the individual people. She could only see blobs of green contrasted again the stark white uniforms of the peacemakers. Cameron knew that Jasmine was watching and that was the only thing that was giving her any sense of comfort at the moment.

Malini stepped up to the microphone and tapped on it lightly. "Hello and welcome to the reaping of the 75th Hunger Games," her voice had an airy tone to it, trying to hide any emotion that she had associated with the words she was speaking. "As you all know, these years' tributes will be reaped from the existing victors," she continued, looking back at the four people standing behind them.

With that, she placed her hand on the small container on the left where they kept the names of the female tributes. Cameron watched as the two names swirled around the container, and secretly hoped that she wouldn't hear her own name. The contain stopped moving suddenly, as a small slip of paper fell out. Malini took it in her hands and took a deep breath. "Our female tribute this year will be." Cameron closed her eyes, praying that she would say, Amanda. But she didn't.

"Cameron Knight."

Cameron felt her knees begin to shake, but she remained standing, looking straight forward at the crowd. Accepting her fate as a tribute, again.

Malini continued, moving over to the other container, continuing the same movement from before until the container stopped once more. "Our male tribute this year will be, Mitchell Carnett." Cameron looked over at Mitchell as his smile faltered, his breathing became irregular, and she could feel it through the pulse of her hand.

They were going back.

---

Cameron never got to say goodbye to Jasmine, or even her parents for that matter. Not because they would've cared that she was going back. If anything, Cameron thought they would be thrilled at the idea of her death once more. The peacekeepers dragged them off of the stage before they could do anything and shipped them off to the Capitol without another word to anyone in the district. The peacekeepers allowed their escort and mentor with them, which were Malini and Wilbur.

The train ride to the Capitol was boring, both Cameron and Mitchell found it hard to say anything to each other, which was new for them. Cameron thought it was because Mitchell was in shock about the whole situation. She, on the other hand, was pissed. Pissed that she had to go back, pissed that it was her name called and not Amanda's. Pissed that she would have to possibly kill her friends. Pissed that Snow would make this decision. Pissed that the so-called Golden Girl was back.

"You ready for this?" Mitchell asked her as the train car came to a halt.

"What do you think Mitch, of course not," Cameron responded. "I would rather be anywhere else but here."

Mitchell shook his head at her response, "Sorry for asking," he said sheepishly.

Cameron felt a little guilty for snapping at him, "No I'm sorry," she said quickly. "It's just been tough," she admitted, her head leaning against the edges of the booth she was sitting on.

"I know, I know," he responded. "But it's not so bad. At least I'm not here with Amanda. God, I can't stand her, she's even less likable than you, if that's even possible."

"Oh ha, ha," Cameron said dryly.

"What, I'm just speaking the truth."

The door to the train car opened up and Wilbur poked his head in, "We're here," he told the two of them. "You two should rest up once we reach the rooms, the march is tomorrow, followed by the training sessions and the interviews which will take place over the next week. Well, you all know the drill," he said sadly.

Cameron looked up at those words, "So, are we going straight to the rooms?" she asked curiously.

Wilbur shook his head, "Not exactly," he said carefully.

Mitchell sat up instantly, "What do you mean, not exactly?" he questioned as Cameron got up from her own seat. She was glad me asked because she wanted to know the answer as well.

"Someone wants to meet with you two," he explained.

Cameron blinked, "What?" It wasn't usual for people to want to meet with the tributes before the march. "Who is it, Snow? Caesar? Possible sponsors? Who?"

"I'll explain on the way," Wilbur said in hushed tones as the three of them stepped off the train car and onto the quiet streets leading to where they were going to be staying for the next week before the games.

Mitchell gave a short laugh, "What, do they want to remain anonymous or something?" he asked. "Beause that's not gonna work if we find out who this person is when we all meet with them."

Wilbur held his finger up, "Not we," he corrected. "You two."

"What you're not gonna be with us?" Cameron questioned. "Yeah, no thank you, that sounds like a terrible idea," she expressed.

Wilbur glanced back at her, "I'm not gonna be there because I already know what he's offering you," he said slowly.

"Aha! So it's a man," Mitchell exclaimed. Cameron couldn't help but smile at his comment.

"Yes, and keep your voice down," Wilbur shushed him. "You don't know who couldn't be listening to us right now, as we are quite literally in the middle of the Capitol."

Cameron rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I can see that," she sassed gesturing to the tall buildings around her.

Wilbur was not pleased with this response, "You guys need to take this seriously," he warned them. "Haymitch won't be happy with you two if you meet him with this attitude," he warned.

"Haymitch?" Cameron said sarcastically. "We're meeting with Haymitch? The mentor for the two fiancées," she finished, referring to the recent announcement of Katniss and Peeta's engagement as it was all the Capitol socialities could talk about besides the quell.

"Yes and I'm hoping that you guys will consider what he has to say," Wilbur said leading them to a room outside of the training facility. "We don't have long before you two are needed back in your rooms and Haymitch knows that. Good luck," he said, standing aside so the two of them could walk into the room.

Cameron looked around the small room and instantly spotted a blonde man sitting down in one of the chairs. She grimaced, "Finnick," she stated through gritted teeth.

"Odair," Mitchell said strolling into the room behind Cameron.

"Mitchell, Cameron," he said looking between the two of them, his eyes lingered on Cameron. "Can I call you Cam?" he asked.

"No."

"Great," he responded, smiling. "So Cam-"

She interrupted him, "Did you not just hear me say no, or are you devoid of hearing in one of your ears?"

He continued, ignoring her objection. "Cam, what are you and he doing here?" he asked calmly.

"Same as you, I assume," Cameron answered. "Haymitch."

Finnick scoffed lightly, rolling his eyes, "And what would Haymitch want with the three of us?" he asked.

"Simple," Haymitch said from behind them, closing the door. "How would the three of you like to leave these games alive?"

Say you'll remember me,
standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset,
babe ☁︎

Grace talks ig: Yay! We got some Finnick and Cameron interactions (finally) AHHHH I literally couldn't wait for this moment because I've been planning this out for like, ever and their dynamic is so fun. Anyways, I love this book so much (it's like my third favorite to update besides stupid for you and golden) and that's mainly because I absolutely love Cameron as a character and an oc. She is so much fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed this update, and vote/ comment if you feel like it! BYEEEE <3