Stealth, to all those wondering, is not established by carrying around wind chimes while running, but the only way I could get permission to go gallivanting through the forest with my best friend on this of all mornings was under the pretense that I’d hang the wind chimes while I was out. The cold metal bites into my skin, held close against my chest to keep them from being too noisy as I run.

“Joey, come back!”

I run faster, grinning to my left where Kareena runs beside me. Her coppery skin and frizzy curls are nothing but a blur of brown flicking into view through the gaps in the sea of tree trunks. She too holds a few remaining sets of chimes around her neck and smiles wickedly with perfect pearly white teeth as we maneuver around the tangled roots and thick trunks.

Becker has less luck avoiding the roots. “Jo- oof!”

The telltale thud and crunch of fallen leaves indicates his fall. I glance over my shoulder and catch a glimpse of my baby brother picking himself off the ground, swiping dirt and pine needles from his palms. He catches me looking and plants his hands on his hips. “Johanna! Come on! It’s not funny!”

It is, in fact, very funny. Kareena lets out a giddy laugh in agreement. The sound is light and golden like windchimes dancing in the breeze that precursors a warm rain.

Becker has given up making chase and walks after us dejectedly, still calling for me to come back. I don’t. Instead, I jump and catch onto a branch of the nearest tree and pull myself up. Just by looking at me, you wouldn’t anticipate for me to have as much upper body strength as I do. My limbs are slim but sinewy, allowing me to climb quickly and effortlessly.

Kareena is right on my tail, pulling herself into the branches and settling beside me once we’re high enough that the leaves and nettles block us from the view of someone on the ground. Someone like Becker.

Kareena grins and leans back against the trunk with her legs dangling either side of the branch. Her chest heaves as she catches her breath and the chimes around her neck rise and fall in time. Sunlight glints off the polished metal, blindingly bright. She takes one set off and carefully fixates it to the branch. That way, if we’re asked about it, we can truthfully say that we did hang some.

The chimes keep the birds out of the trees. Woodpeckers mostly. The noise frightens them and the reflection distresses them even further, keeping them far from our lumber trees. Pine, spruce, and oak tend to be the birds’ favorites. Lucky for me, the Mason’s specialize in pine so we have woodpecker infestations frequently. Kareena’s family, the Lipinski’s, are actually lucky since their domain is in ash trees and woodpeckers rarely bother them.

“Johanna, I’m serious!” Becker comes into view below us. I put a finger to my lips, signalling to Kareena to stay quiet. “Dad sent me to get you guys. The Reaping’s gonna start soon!”

I shake my head to Kareena, but she frowns. She doesn’t want to risk it. I’d much rather stay in the trees with her forever than comply to the Capitol’s mandates.

“Karee,” I whine as she starts climbing down.

Becker lets out a triumphant, “Ah-hah! I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist me!”

“No, I can’t resist death which is what will happen if I don’t show up at the Reaping,” she retorts. The pine needles crunch beneath her feet as she jumps the rest of the way to the floor.

“You can't resist death? As in you want to die? Kareena, don’t say that, you have so much to live for! You have me!”

"That is not what I meant and you know that.”

“Enlighten me, darling.”

And there it is. The inevitable end to my moment of escape; Becker’s attempts at flirting with my best friend. Begrudgingly, I make my way out of the tree.

“Becker.”

He ignores me, busy proposing to Kareena with a little bouquet of wildflowers.

“Becker, stand up and stop flirting with her,” I order, brushing the dirt and bark residue from my legs.

He continues to ignore me as Kareena takes the posies from his hand and turns to me, extending the flowers out to me. She kneels down and bites the inside of her cheeks to emphasize her cheekbones. I smirk and roll my eyes, knowing exactly where this is going.

“Johanna Mason,” Kareena begins, poorly disguising her grin behind fake tears of joy, “my dearest angel, will you marry me?”

Becker looks between the two of us and pouts, jutting out his plump bottom lip.

I fan my face dramatically and bounce up and down. “Yes! Yes, of course I will! Yes!”

She jumps up and wraps her arms around me, picking me up and spinning me around like the Capitol couples on TV that we constantly make fun of. Still fisting the posies, I lock my hands behind her neck and press my forehead against hers so our noses touch. We laugh giddily like two lovers, but it quickly melts into the cackling of madwomen.

“Are you done yet?” Becker crosses his arm, settling his weight on one leg. His dark eyebrows are sewn together, but he doesn’t look surprised. Just annoyed.

Kareena promptly sets me down with a chipper, “Yep!”

“Great,” he mumbles, “Now let’s go.”

I shove the posies in my pocket and shake my head, gesturing to the wind chimes I’d neglected to put up. “I’ve gotta finish hanging these.”

“Johanna, do it later,” Becker whines.

I stick my tongue out at him. “Just go without me! I’ll be like five minutes. Who cares if I’m late?”

“The Capitol, probably,” Kareena answers even though my question was rhetorical. “Alas, you shall be missed, my love.”

“Your funeral,” my darling brother says, turning on his heel.

“Love you too!” I shout as their figures disappear into the trees.