Luxen Linderman- 15

Glosses knocked politely before he entered, even though he was more family than servant after so long. He opened the door and came in carrying a tray with hot chocolate, which he set beside me as I sat at my father's desk bent over a chessboard.

"Care to play?" I asked. Day after day I salvaged what my father tried to hard to ruin. I should have been chasing after girls, not running a business. Even the games I played were strategic. Glosses sat down and began to set up the board.

"It's nearly time. Are you worried?" Glosses asked. He meant the Reaping, of course. It was that time again. I laughed.

"My only chance to go into the Games is if I get Reaped," I said. I saw an opening in his defense.

"Even if you get Reaped, there will be a Career to volunteer for you," Glosses said as I captured his rook.

"That's what Chantel thought all those years ago," I said. "No one would volunteer for me." My father was a harsh man, and I was his son in nature if not in action. I wasn't as bad as he was, but I reaped where I didn't sow and I ran his business for profit, not affection. Glosses seemed eager to change the subject. He wa probably more worried for me than I was.

"A few of the workers caught the fever going around," he said.

"Send them home, and keep paying them until they're better," I said. "I wish I could do more, but until I own the factory they're stuck with my father's rules."

"You're a good man, Luxen," Glosses said. "I wish they could look past your father and see you the way you are. You aren't cruel. Why don't you hate them after what they did?" For the first time in the conversation, tensed. Glosses rarely brought up my mother. Like so many others, she'd suffered for my father's sins. After years of mistreatment, the workers rose up and broke into our house. Father wasn't there, so they punished his wife instead. I saw unspeakable things that culminated in her death and my sister's before I fled. My father was even harder after that, and Glosses became the only one in our family with a heart.

""A true measure of a man isn't in how many of his enemies he can kill, it is how many times he can brush his reputation and thirst for revenge to get things done and reward the people who have done nothing wrong. People hurt you as a symptom of the pain that they feel," I said. I moved my queen in a final attack.

"Checkmate."

Olivine Martinez- 18

The others seemed so much more determined than I was. Everyone in One wanted to train, of course, at least anyone who wasn't a fraidy-cat. The trainers and the adults were always going on about how brave we were and how we were heroes for going into the Games so little kids didn't have to. People saluted us in the streets and whenever a Capitol message played and we had to watch television, there was always an advertisement for the Academy. It was nice and all, but I never thought of myself as a real front-runner. Most of the kids who lasted more than a few days at the Academy were natural killers. I was more of a follower, and I didn't mind when they picked Future to go to the Games in my last eligible year. Second was good enough for me.

Future was with the instructors getting in some last-minute training as I practiced with my scythe. It was more a formality than anything else, since I definitely wasn't going. It was more fun to watch Future, since we hardly ever got to fight with the instructors. Only the chosen volunteer got to do that. She was holding her own, too. I could see why they picked her. She was fending off two instructors with her sword, and she hadn't gotten hit once. She pivoted to parry another blow, and her leg folded under her. I hadn't ever heard her scream before. Everyone crowded around.

"Are you okay?" someone asked. Two of the other girls, Shine and Extravaganza, smirked at each other. Someone called for a medic, and a man bent over Future. He ran his fingers along her ankle and she cried out.

"It's fractured in three places," he said. Future shoved him away and tried to get up.

"I'm okay. I can still go," she said. She stood off-balance.

"You're going to make it worse," the medic said. He coaxed her into lying down on a stretcher and he and another medic carried her out of the room. The rest of us milled about gossiping.

"She's not going," Shine said.

"Do we have to compete again?" Mary said. Headmaster Briggs shushed us all.

"Quiet, everyone. Obviously, Miss Stallone won't be able to represent us. We will therefore send our reserve pick, Olivine Martinez," he said. Suddenly I felt like the greatest Career in the Academy. For the first time, I was in the spotlight. Surely everyone was about to cheer for me.

"What? Not Olivine!" someone said. Some of the others started to leave.

"She'll die in the Bloodbath," Shine spat.

"Everyone's gonna laugh at us," a boy said. All my pride vanished and I felt like nothing but trash. I thought those were my friends. Was that what they always thought of me?

Stop it, I thought. None of you even got picked. Everyone in my family trained for this, and I was going to be the first one to make it. I watched them walk away in disgust and something started to burn inside me. I was madder than I'd been in years, and I realized they were wrong and I was wrong. I wasn't just a background, beta Career. I was one of the best. I beat dozens of girls who would have killed for this chance, and I never even wanted it. They were about to see what I could do if I set my mind to it. I was going to be in front of Panem, showing them what One was made of. I was going to blow them all away. Everyone was going to know the name of Olivine Martinez.

Since pictures will be on the Games collaboration site, I'll provide descriptions with the Tributes. Luxen was made by one of the collaborators, so his isn't needed. Olivine is Hispanic and tan with jaw-length hair. She has freckles and light brown eyes.

The site is at http:(two slashes)