The train is beautiful. From the moment we leave, I keep my nose pressed to the glass, watching. When we chug out of the gates of our District, I watch the Peacekeepers swing the iron gates shut, the latch snapping. From then on, it's an electric fence- but that soon fades into the forest.

"So," Cato says walking beside me. "Why did you volunteer?"

"Did you want Granite to? Too bad, I'm here," I quip.

For a moment he just blinks, then rolls his eyes. "I guess you are just like all the other Volunteers."

I turn and look at him accusingly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugs, flashing a smile as he walks away. "Your like me."

3 Hours Later

We watch the Reapings on the Re-run, sitting on the squishy couches in the living compartment.

There's the pair from one, and four. We agree to ally with them, but I don't trust the girl from One very much. Well, I trust her more than the girl from Five. Five looks like a theif. Sneaky.

The people from the rest are simple, but the boy from Eleven is as big Cato.

I look over at my District partner. "You have serious cometition?"

I almost smile, watching him squirm. He sets his jaw, and doesn't glance in my direction. "Not likely."

Finally, it wraps up with Twelve having a volunteer. I didn't catch the girls name, Kaptiss or something. She looks pretty poor, just her face. However her dress is a really pretty velvet.

I stroke my own gown as we walk to dinner.

"So," I say to Enobaria, my mentor. "When exactly are we getting to the Capitol?"

Enobaria shrugs, but Bruce answers. "Usually early morning. Normally we and District Nine are the first to arrive."

I nod slowly, chewing the soft greens on my plate.

Enobaria clears her throat, placing her knife and fork down. "I think I have waited long enough. What are your strategies to win? What weapons are you good with?"

"Knives," I say quickly.

Bruce raises his eyebrows. "Really? Show me?"

"Where?" I ask.

He thinks for a minute, and walks over about fifteen feet, and uses some sticky thing he was chewing to glue a green-bean to the wall. "This."

I nod again. "Simple enough."

Picking up the knife on the plate, I raise it back, and then my mind calculates eveything. The spins, juding from the distance will be 30. The trajectory will need to be about 5 inches high, so it can drop some. Finally, I swing it forward, and snap my wrist.

The knife flies through the air in a blur, and then sticks straight in the green-bean.

Bruce laughs. "Woah, I'd be scared to get on your bad side."

I smirk. "Well, it could happen."

Cato cracks his knuckles, holding his hands on the table. "I'm good with spears and swords."

Enobaria grins, flashing her gold-platd teeth. "Are you now?"

He nods. "Mh-Hm. I'm a pretty good knife-thrower too. What other skills do you have, Clove?"

I purse my lips. That last sentence was to make fun of me. I've concentrated so much on knife throwing my whole life, I haven't studied anything else.

I clear my throat, smiling bitterly-sweet. "Welcome to my bad side, Cato."

The Next Morning

A loud knock on my room door makes me groan, turning over in the silk sheets. "Go away."

"We're in the Capitol!" It's Sunni Markson. "We're here, Clove, get up!"

My eyes fly open, and I tear the covers off, running to the door. I jump out, shoving past Sunni.

When I reach the first window, I press my nose against it. Colors. Beautiful silver and pink buildings glitter. Blue, green, white... The skyscrapers are so blinding and beautiful at the same time. My breath fogs up a patch of the glass, and suddenly I can feel Cato behind me.

Don't turn around, don't do it Clove...

But I can't resist. I turn, and cross my arms. "What do you want?"

He watches the city of the window instead. "Oh, well I saw you and wanted to apologize for waht I said at dinner and then I thoght-"

"Well I don't accept," I snap as if I'm arguing with Pepper or Thyme back home.

He smiles sarcastically again. "You didn't let me finish. Then I though, why Cato? She's a little brat, 3 year younger than you. She isn't worth it. She'll be dead before the final twelve." He pauses for a moment, looking at me. "And I'm right."

Tears sudenly choke my throat. Why am I crying? I didn't let it faze me when Onyx insulted me, and I've known her my whole life, so why am I letting some stranger try to attack me?

His eyes glint, watching me stare at him. "And you know that I'm right. I mean, Clove? More like clam. Your all shut up inside, holding your feelings in. Your just empty inside and rough on the outisde. A hard shell."

Tears prick my eyes. "Your wrong... Your wrong... Your wrong. I'm going to win. No, I'm going to win and I'm to kill you. When I'm in the Arena, your the first person I get rid of. Understand?"

"I understand fine, Clam," he says, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

My hands start to shake. I see a knife laying on the table, but I calm myself down. Don't kill him yet...

He turns to walk away and I swipe my tears away, and suddenly I'm not intersted in the Capitol people as we arrive in the station. I hate them all. And I hate Cato. He's arrogant and a snob. I imagine a target on him, a large red circle. I will kill him.

See how he likes my bad side.

There will be 10 chapters to this:

1. REAPING

2. TRAIN

3. CHARIOTS

4. TRAINING

5. INTERVEIWS and CORNCOPIA

6. ARENA STUFF

7. TRACKER JACKERS

8. EXPLOSION

9. AFTER THAT

10. FEAST

I hope that you liked these two chapters! Please reveiw! Tell me what you want to hear! Thanks!

~Meghan