Synopsis: In the 74th Hunger Games, Clove wasn't picked as the tribute for District Two; instead, a local girl named Rylin was selected. Sharp, manipulative and dead set on winning, Rylin believes she has what it takes to beat anybody out-including fellow tribute Cato. But as she grows closer to the careers over their time in and out of the arena, will she be able to turn on them to win in the end?

Rated T for language, CatoxOC.

A/N: This fanfic was inspired one part by the song "Boy Like You" by Ke$ha, one part by the song "Drive By" by Train, one part by the song "I Hate You {Don't Leave Me} by Ke$ha, and one part by the song "Thanks for Nothing" by The Downtown Fiction. Listen to the songs & you'll understand why(: I absolutely am in love with the movie, and am going to read the series soon. This might start off a bit slow, but I have many plans coming up, don't worry(: Any rates and reviews are well appreciated! So let the story begin!

….

"Come on, Rylin! You almost got it!"

Pushed on by my mentor's words, I stuck out my right arm to grasp my trainer's right hand as he went in for a punch. Although I suffered another blow to my ribs as I did so, I spun around and raised my elbow up. As soon as I was positioned for it, I slammed my elbow down into his gut as hard as I could, causing the man to double over. I let go of his fist and reached both my hands for his left fist, using my weight to swing him onto the ground. Quickly, I reached into my boot and pulled out my knife. He was beginning to stand, but I propelled myself towards him and tackled him back to the ground; we landed with a harsh thud and his head smacked off the cement floor below us. I pressed the steel blade of my knife to his throat, and stared into his shocked eyes with my calm ones. "I win," I said simply, and I saw the defeat fall into his eyes.

After a moment, I pushed myself up and replaced my weapon in its sheath once more. I felt a hand clamp onto my shoulder, and without looking I knew that it was my mentor. As of late, he had been coaching me more and more in hand to hand combat, stating it was going to be one of my most necessary skills where weapons were not a guarantee. He was the same man who had won the 68th Hunger Games, and trained me from a young age back at home in District Two- he knew I had skill with a few different weapons, bows and knives being the most prominent. But besides a few quick battles with my older brother Deston, I hadn't really practiced any physical fighting.

Once we reached the training room here at the Capitol, however, that had changed. Despite the fact in my past I had rigorous training, he felt he needed to up it once more. So as a result, my first day here so far had been spent with a few strength exercises, as well as the fights. This was my third so far, and I had only lost the first. For my mentor, he thought that was great.

For me, it wasn't good enough.

I absolutely HATED losing. From a young age, I had been taught to never settle for anything less than you believe that you deserve; coming from the family I did, I had learned I deserved to win. While that might sound very prideful of me to say, you have to understand…my District trains everyone from a young age to be ready for these games. While at home I may not have cared as much, now I would not settle for defeat-it simply wasn't an option. In fact, I had been so hard at work so far, I hadn't even really gotten to know my fellow tribute.

At this thought, I turned at observed him working from across the room. There was no doubt Cato was a fierce fighter, and I was nearly positive he would be my biggest enemy in this competition…it was a shame, really. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something really attracted me to him. It wasn't just his good looks, but I believed it had been his attitude as well. Call me stupid, but I-unfortunately-had a thing for cocky guys. The more confident, the better.

I hadn't talked to him on the train, because I had been sleeping the entire time-I even managed to skip dinner. But I realized, according to my mentor's words-his name is Kelvin-I should try to strike up an alliance with him. Honestly, I had been thinking about it-sure, in the end we would have to turn on each other. But up until then, it would ensure we were safe. I was thinking of approaching him earlier in the training session, but it seemed the District 1 girl was all over him. Constantly.

Hadn't she ever heard about playing hard to get? If her vagina had a password, it'd be 1-2-3-4.

Luckily, though, I got a few quick words in with him as we went through the introductions to the sponsors. We were dressed up in some ridiculous Greek God/Goddess outfits; and the entire time he never lost that smirk plastered on his face. He just seemed so effortlessly assured of himself. And while that should have really annoyed me, for some reason, it didn't. So my goal after training today was to try and strike the alliance up, and see what I could do with it.

Kelvin followed my gaze, and sighed some. "Ry, there will be plenty of time later to do whatever it is you're planning on doing. Come on, try to concentrate at least. Please?"

I looked up at Kelvin; he was right. We only had a limited amount of time to train every day, and I had to make the best of it. Knowing this, I turned back towards our claimed area and stretched, hearing the satisfying crack in my back. "Yeah, yeah…what's next?"

"You're going for a consecutive winning streak. Three times," he told me, crossing his arms and smirking. Aw, how cute; he thought this was going to be a challenge.

"Yeah? No problem. Where's the trainer?" I questioned, looking around for the old man.

"You aren't going up against him," Kelvin said matter-of-factly, causing me to look up at him in a confused state. "What? Okay, then….who am I going up against?" I questioned, curiosity blazing in my eyes.

"You're going to fight me."

"…shit."

….

As I studied myself in the mirror, bruises were already becoming apparent. There was one blossoming on my ribs, partially hidden by my bra; one on my shoulder; and a pretty nasty looking one on my left thigh. I knew Kelvin was going to be a tough fight, but I didn't expect him to go all out on me right away. I hadn't achieved my goals of winning three fights against him yet-I got one, and almost won the second. But I was so drained from all the previous training that day that my kick meant to sweep his legs out from underneath him wasn't nearly fast enough, and he effortlessly caught it and flipped me over. I was pinned, and moments after his lecture on how 'sharp and fast movements are your best friend' began, the training room was closing for the day and we made our way out.

There were numerous tiny cuts on my hands and arms, but I was given some salve to put on it that they said would heal me right up by the morning. I applied it where it was needed before pulling on a pair of oversized black sweatpants and a white tank top, my hair in a messy bun and bangs falling in my face. I felt refreshed after my shower, and as I opened the door to my bathroom I was greeted with a blast of cool air-my shower had rendered the room warm and full of steam.

During that shower, however, I had mulled some things over-namely, this alliance thing. The one time when was pinned, I had an upside down view of everything; but it still shocked me. The other careers in the room were absolutely vicious in their training. That's not to say I wasn't, because I liked to think of myself as a force to be reckoned with. But as I saw the District 1 boy slide his sword easily into one of the dummy's backs, I realized: that could be me out there during the games.

In other words, my plans to join the alliance? Off.

Making my way into the main room, I stifled a yawn and looked over at my fellow tribute. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and eyes fixed on some mysterious point out the window-looking serious as always, of course. I sat cross legged on the overstuffed couch adorning the middle of the room and grabbed a pillow, setting it in my lap and crossing my arms over it. "Hey," I greeted, and he looked towards me quickly-I guess I took him a bit by surprise.

He gave me a quick nod as a greeting, before turning his gaze back to the sparkling city situated just outside the glass. I looked back over my shoulder, noticing just how empty out floor was at this moment. "Where is everyone?" I asked, meaning the mentors.

He straightened up from his slouched position and made his way towards me, sinking into a chair to my right. "I don't know, they just left after dinner," he said simply; I nodded a bit in response. When I looked up at him, I noticed he was staring at me with a puzzled look on his face.

"What?" I asked, voice coming out a bit sharper than I intended. He raised an eyebrow, seeming slightly amused.

"Did you get in a fight with a cat and lose?" he questioned. As a puzzled look befell my face, I followed his gaze to the many scratches covering my arm.

"No!" I started defensively, but seeing the curiosity in his eyes I went on. "I was fighting my mentor and…he pushed me back into a rack of weapons," I admitted with a bit of a defeated look.

"What, can't take him on? How do you expect to last in the games?" Cato questioned, his look a bit harsh. I felt a bit of indignation flare up-not only was he dissing me like that; he was dissing Kelvin as well.

"He's tougher than you think-he won the Games six years ago, remember?" I shot back at him, causing him to shake his head as if I was missing the obvious.

"You're going to need more than good skills and some luck to win, I hope you know that," he said, causing me to raise an eyebrow to urge him to go on. When he didn't I piped up. "Yeah? What are you suggesting, then?"

Crossing his arms, Cato looked at me and inclined his head. "Join an alliance, why don't you. If you're surrounded with more people with the same skill level as you-"

"No thanks," I cut him off quickly, causing him to look astonished. Clearly, Cato wasn't used to anybody turning him down for any sort of reason. Seeing the questioning look in his eyes, I answered as simply as I could.

"An alliance might be nice for the time being. But you have to turn on those people-and that's not the thing I have a problem with. What I'm worried about it the fact that I could be the first person turned on. If I'm alone, I don't have to worry as much."

I had thought about this all before, put some severe thought into it. Still, Keaton said my best chance was to join the careers for the time being, and turn on them before they could turn on me. I think I knew the main reason he said that-he was worried they would go after me first since I was a threat if I said no to them. While I saw the logic in his words, I still wasn't so sure.

"That's why you turn on them early," he said matter-of-factly. "You don't let them get the jump on you; youget the jump on them."

"And how does that work out if everyone in the group is thinking that way?"

"You're impossible," he said sharply, shaking his head and averting his eyes. "Fine, don't join the careers. We're probably better off without you."

"Reverse psychology? Really, Cato?"

He had a slightly disgruntled look on his face, and I could tell I had bit in deep. Because really, who had we ever heard of that said no to Cato? Nobody.

Especially when the person in question saying no was a girl. It was unheard of.

Still, I wasn't about to change my mind. Having to watch my back 24/7 sounded horrible-not that I wouldn't have to anyway. Still, though, this made the fact I had to watch out for myself even more prominent on my list of things to do, which is why I opted out.

"If you really think you can survive on your own, go for it. But if you want to be in the alliance, let me know. The offers open until Friday," he said, before getting up and walking off, presumably to go to sleep.

Left alone in the room, I had to pause for a moment and really think it over. I knew that Kelvin wouldn't be happy with me, and I'd have to listen to his yapping tomorrow. But as for if I thought I could survive on my own?

I didn't think I could, I knew I could. And by the end of training tomorrow, I would be sure he knew that-and there would be no doubt Cato's mind that I'd fit in perfectly well with the other careers.