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★★★
ENOBARIA FLASHES ME A SMILE full of deadly-sharp teeth. "Well, well, well. District Three, isn't it?"
I swallow, eyes darting from side to side. I can't show fear in front of them. "Uh, yes."
Brutus looks at me with an undecipherable expression. He seems like the strong, silent type, but I can see the same venom in his eyes as with all the other Careers. Enobaria crosses her arms and grins, eyes glinting. "Well? Looks like we're sharing a car."
Cato, standing beside Clove, raises his eyebrows. "We are?"
Enobaria gives the tall tribute a playful nudge and he barely reacts, stone-cold stare fixed on me. "Remember your manners, boy. It's just for a short while."
Enobaria practically shoves me into the elevator, and I find myself trapped in the corner with Clove's face only a few inches away from mine. She smirks, in her element. "Are we making you uncomfortable, Three?"
I draw myself up to my full height, delighting in the way her eyes flare. "What makes you think so?"
Enobaria laughs, a high cackling sound that clearly shows she's in control. "I like this one! Kill her in a good way when you get into that arena, alright?"
My breathing pattern changes, and I can tell Enobaria sees it, because she grins even wider. Cato chuckles, and I feel like a mouse trapped with a bunch of lions.
Brutus and Enobaria strike up a loud conversation about their past games and how they killed their fellow tributes, Enobaria taking great relish in describing how she ripped out one boy's throat with her teeth, and Cato and Clove both turn to me. Cato is taller and Clove is much shorter, but their combined presences make me shrink.
"So, Three," says Cato casually, quietly as to not disturb Brutus's retelling of skewering two tributes with one spear. "What's your strategy for that arena?"
I blink. "You... You think I'll just tell you?"
I've never seen Cato smile much, but now his lips curve into a confident grin. "Well, you know ours."
I lift my head loftily, trying to hold on to that confidence. "Mine's a surprise, then."
Cato and Clove laugh together, Enobaria and Brutus joining in. I feel even more boxed in, and breath a barely-perceptible sigh of relief when we finally reach their floor and they file out one by one. Clove is the last to leave, twirling to face me with a smug smirk. "Better watch out for us, District Three."
She blows me a kiss and struts off, her dress sweeping behind her.
What just happened?
I get off on my floor and take a seat for dinner. Beetee notices my shaken expression and frowns, looking worried. "Who did you share a car with, Ivy? Maybe one of us should've waited—"
