"Evelyn Brinley, better known as Lady Red, victor of the 72nd Hunger Games. Won her games at 15."
"Why Lady Red?"
"Because she always wears red. Oh, and she won her games by burning the remaining tributes alive."
✮
"𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆? 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
THE MECHANICAL VOICE RANG IN ALL OF THE TRIBUTES' EARS AS THEY SAT OUTSIDE THE TRAINING CENTER. Evelyn could hear them tapping their feet and whispering with each other. Evan was staring at his hands while she observed everybody.
Johanna was staring straight ahead, her hair back in a short ponytail, Finnick was telling Mags something, and the star-crossed lovers weren't looking at each other or acting like lovers at all. Evelyn knew they shared some sort of bond, but it became more and more obvious that they weren't in love. She didn't want to be mad about that; she knew they'd done it to survive, but as they got closer and closer to going into the arena she couldn't hide her resentment.
It was their fault she was going back there in the first place, and now her job was to get Katniss out of there alive.
Evelyn was starting to understand Evan's point of view.
Evan's name was called, and he was finished within 5 minutes. He shot her a glance but didn't say anything, then her name was called.
"Evelyn Brinley, District 8," She told the gamemakers as she stared up at them.
Evelyn wasn't nervous about her skills evaluation. She had nothing to prove to them. The gamemakers' eyes were on her, but Plutarch gave her an encouraging nod. Evan hadn't told her what he was planning to do, but she gathered that the tributes were trying to piss off the sponsors as much as they could. At least the tributes who were working with the alliance were trying to.
"You have 15 minutes to present your chosen skills, Miss Brinley," Plutarch told her.
She smiled and put her hands behind her back. "I don't need 15 minutes. I just have a question."
The people standing above Evelyn eyed each other and then looked back at her as Plutarch nodded. She stood there, a sweet smile on her face and her hands behind her back. Everyone was paying attention to her and she felt relieved when the men who needed to pay attention were staring right at her.
Evelyn recognized and could name every single one of them.
It was easy to remember since she spent a night in bed with them.
"Who will entertain you when all your toys are dead?"
No one knew what to say to that. They all stared at her, and she stared back with an emotionless gaze. Her fake smile was gone, and any amusement that was in her eyes was long gone as well.
Eventually, Plutarch cleared his throat and nodded, "Very well, you're dismissed. Thank you, District 8."
✮
Unbelievable. Most of the scores were average. Evan and Evelyn got 10s, but the star-crossed lovers from 12 both got 12s. The two siblings stared at the screen in shock when they saw the score, but Sasha burst out laughing.
"Oh, they want them dead."
Evan raised his eyebrow, "You think so?"
"Obviously, they gave them a 12. No one's ever gotten a 12. They obviously pissed them off. They gave them a high score so everyone will go after them," Sasha pointed out.
