Don't own HGT.


Sorry for the short chapter a while ago, and maybe now. PLEASE REVIEW! ON WITH THE STORY! (points and hums Batman theme)


I shake hands with her cautiously. The name sounds vaguely familiar.

"I'm Willow Hawthorne." I say. But she doesn't hear. She's saying something already.

"Go ahead and eat, sit with Ian." I obey. The meal consists of bread rolls with lamb stew and goat cheese. There is a vase on the table containing one primrose. I have to try my best to not stuff my face into the stew and just slurp up the whole thing. Ian looks like he could choke, he's eating everything so fast. In a few minutes, we are both done and satisfied. Katniss studies us for a while, then says,

"Don't show them you're good at anything. Pretend you are bad at everything, but during private sessions just practice. Get a high score on the Gamemakers' points. My friend taught me that technique.

"But what if we are good at-" Ian begins, but Katniss cuts him off with a glare.

"Bad. At. Everything! Then towards the end of the games, just surprise them," she checks her watch."Ok, we're here. Training will begin." My fellow tribute and I are shocked.

"Just like that?" He asks. Katniss nods.

"Just like that."


A few minutes later, we all sit in one cluster while Effie goes over the agenda from now to the arena. Training, home, Chariot Rides, home, training, home, training, home, training, home, Gamemakers' test, scoring, home, games. We are all allowed to go home before the games instead of staying at dorms, but it would be like house arrest or something except for Training, Chariot rides, the Gamemakers' Test and scoring. Effie finally lets us train, and I surveyed the other tributes. I was the smallest Career, the others much taller and muscley-er (A/N: LOL! MUSCLEY-ER!) than me. Ian and I stayed together. He was good with a knife, but only pretended to be Intermediate. At the edible plants station, I almost died. At the weapons station, I hit the target almost every time. A few tributes stuck in my mind:a boy who hit targets only about 1% of the time, a Career from District 1 who snapped a thick log in half with his bare hands, and a girl who made no sound as she hopped from foot to foot to each station. After eight hours, Effie announced the day was over, much to everybody's relief. Ian and I boarded the train, where Katniss was sitting there with the same three people from a while ago, sketching on a sketchpad.

"What are you doing?" Ian asks. Katniss flips over the sketchpad.

"Nothing. By the way, this is Flavius, Venia, and Octavia." Each nods in turn.

The journey home was uneventful. Katniss and the trio each were whispering to each other, occasionally looking at me as though they saw something familiar. When the train finally stopped at the edge of District 2, I walked home, managing to catch a groosling and wring it's neck. Daddy and I had a hearty dinner, with delicious cooked groosling and bread that we had traded for some rabbit that dad had caught. He asks many questions, but the one that makes him nearly have a heart attack is who my mentor was.

"So, who's your mentor? Haymitch Abernathy? Peeta Mellark?" He asked between mouthfuls.

"Dad, Haymitch Abernathy is forty-five and drunk. And no, it's not Peeta Mellark, it's his wife, Katniss Everdeen Mellark." I say.

He spits out his groosling, but not before he chokes on it.

"K-K-Katniss, Everdeeeeeeee-AH-n?"

"Mellark. Everdeen Mellark." I say. "Her maiden name was Everdeen. Not Everdeeeeeeee-AH-n."

"Willow," he says. "Go to bed. Now."

"What?" I protest. "It's only 6:00! What's your problem?"

"Bed. NOW." He points to my bedroom. I groan and stomp off. That night I go through the events in my head. I hate being left in the dark. I wonder what was wrong. The same thoughts are running through my head throughout the night:

"What secret is he keeping from me?"


There's Chapter 2! Sorry it's so short... I got lazy... Anyway, thanks so much to Coley13 and AllyLuvs for being the first two reviewers- virtual hug! I will forever be thankful to them, and anybody else who reviews, so please...

FOLLOW SUIT AND REVIEW!