Chapter 2

"We love you so much, and we know you'll do us proud, no matter what happens." My mom embraced me in a hug, my dad following close behind. I had never been particularly close with my parents, but that didn't mean that I didn't love them.

"Take care of Kit for me, please. And don't let her watch if-" My sobs increased and I couldn't finish my sentence. I didn't want my baby sister watching some psycho Career chop my head off during the Bloodbath. My parents simply nodded, too emotional to respond. I respected them for taking care of us when times were hard. They deserved to live a better life, but they had always put us first.

I pulled them in for one last hug, thanking them for everything they had done. We said our goodbyes before the Peacekeepers pulled them away.

Kit came running in next, throwing her arms around me, her blond curls flying into my face. "This is my entire fault, Juliet. I shouldn't have let you take all that tesserae for me." Her face was red and scrunched up, making me feel guilty for leaving her. Not that it was my fault, but still.

"No, it's not. Please don't blame yourself… I need you to stay strong for me. Do you think you could do that?" Kit nodded in response, wiping away a few stray tears from her cheeks. Reaching behind her neck, she unclasped the locket that she always wore and placed it in my hand.

I gasped, fresh tears forming in my eye. Kit had been saving up money for as long as I could remember and was finally able to buy the necklace earlier this year. Since then, she never took it off. I didn't even both to argue, I just slid the locket around my neck, knowing it would be the perfect token. I pulled her into a hug for the rest of our time, wordlessly communicating what couldn't be said.

I entered the train with Ms. Carrot- I mean Hilda- prodding me along.

"Come along now dearies, there's so much we need to go over before we get to the Capital." She babbled aimlessly about things like the Capital fashions, food, and interests.

I snorted in disbelief. Why in the world should I care about what this season's popular color is? Our time spent at the Capital is basically fattening us up and preparing us to be slaughtered. Sounds fun, right?

Hutch came through the fancy sliding train door (seriously, is everything related to the Capital this high-tech?) with a drink in his hand, sloshing around and ruining the luxurious carpet. Too predictable. Almost all of the older victors had resorted to some type of alcohol or drug to get through the years, and Hutch definitely wasn't an exception.

"Nice of you to finally show up," Hilda sneered at Hutch. My eyebrows rose immediately. Maybe I had judged Hilda too soon; she obviously had some sass in her. "Where's my precious Lukey?"

I take that back.

Luke followed Hutch through the door, looking as if he was ready to throw up.

"Lukey," Hilda's voice was sweet, but suddenly turned sour when she mentioned the older victor's name, "Hutch…Meet this year's tributes from District 7. Juliet Breyer, 17, and Atlas Lennox, 18."

Hutch seemed taken aback by Atlas' bulkiness. He knew as well as I did that he was definitely a real contender. The drunk then moved onto me and looked me up and down, giving me a drunken nod of approval.

"Don't get your hopes up, kids. They won't let District 7 win two years in a row." He took another swig of his drink, earning a scolding from Hilda, but neither our escort nor Luke made any move to contradict that statement.

"I'll leave you dearies alone with your mentors now. Hutch, play nice." Hilda took her leave, adjusting her puffy, pale orange hair on the way out. As soon as she was out of sight and the sliding door between the train cars had shut, Hutch pushed past us, heading to the opposite end of the train.

I looked to Luke for an indication of what we should do next, but he once again avoided my eyes, looking away from me and out the window. After a moment of awkward silence, I huffed and exited the train car, wishing I had a door to slam to express my anger. It took me a few minutes before I was able to find my room on the train, marked by a door that read "D7F" which I assumed stood for District 7 Female. I yanked open the door, taken aback by the intricate decorating. Wow, I was definitely not used to this. I flopped down face first onto the lilac sheets, relieved to have time to myself.

What in Panem is Luke's problem? I knew that he would have a hard time being a mentor, but you'd think he would suck it up long enough to keep his best friend alive. He didn't even acknowledge that he knew me before the reaping, not that I expected him to. When he came back from the Capital, he wouldn't even hang out with me in public any more. We always hung out in the forest, away from the town and prying eyes. I just didn't understand…

The door slowly slid open, and I squeezed my eyes shut tight, conflicted about whether I wished it was Luke or not. I opened my eyes, surprised to see that the person who entered was not Luke, but Atlas.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise, pulling myself off the bed. I stood in front of him, slightly intimidated by his giant frame. I might not be weak, but I was definitely lacking in the height department.

He took a step closer, the same creepy smirk displayed on his face. "I was thinking that we could-"

"If you're going to ask about an alliance, then I don't have an answer for you yet. We haven't discussed strategy with our mentors yet." I cut him off and shuffled backwards, not liking the closeness.

Atlas let out a hollow laugh, taking yet another step closer. "Come on, Julesy. You know our mentor's aren't going to do shit for us. Hutch is a drunk, and Luke is a big joke. And you know I wasn't talking about an alliance."

My eyes almost bugged out of my head. "And how exactly is he a joke?" I questioned, choosing to ignore the stupid nickname he gave me. I crossed my arms and gave him what I hoped was an intimidating glare.

"Please, he's pathetic. Me, on the other hand, well I'm different." He inched forward, the smirk growing on his face. I took a final step backwards, only to be met by the wall. Atlas pressed me fully against the wall, his hands on either side of my shoulders. I turned my head to the side, avoiding his eyes. Normally I'd knee him in the balls, but he was really creeping me out and I wasn't sure if that would be a good idea. "We're gunna die soon. Let's have some fun while we can." His eyes blazed with something I couldn't quite catch.

A noise came from the doorway, and I looked past Atlas to find Luke, his body looking big and awkward in comparison to the smaller size of the door frame.

"What's going on here?" His eyes narrowed and his voice came out harsher than usual. Atlas stepped away from me with his hands up, the sadistic smile never leaving his face. "Get out of here, Lennox. Hilda is looking for you."

"Right. You're the boss, bro." Atlas passed Luke on the way out, purposefully knocking shoulders with him a bit harder than necessary. I could sense a rivalry between Atlas and Luke, probably having to do with the fact that Luke had won the last Hunger Games at the age of seventeen, making them the same age.

A moment of silent passed before I finally moved from my position against the wall to the more comfortable bed, causing a wrinkle in the silky sheets.

"I can handle myself, you know. I didn't need your help." But I do need it if I'm going to get through these Games.

Luke let out a humorless laugh, knowing as well as I do that my words were indeed true. I had quite a reputation for roughing up some of the tougher boys my age. He stayed at his place in the doorway, shuffling his body so he leaned against the side of the doorframe. The blue-eyed boy made no move to speak, which only added fuel to my fire.

"What do you have to say for yourself, huh?" I stood up suddenly, my body tense. "You ignored me on the train and at the Reaping- which, by the way, would have been nice if you came to see me after, considering it was the one time I needed you the most." Luke opened his mouth to speak, but I held up my hand.

"I'm not done. You come waltzing in here, acting like you're some sort of hero, and then just stand there as if you're waiting for me to bow down to you. Well sorry victor, but it's not happening." I crossed my arms, slightly out of breath from my mini-rant.

Luke glared back at me, his eyes blazing. "You think this is easy for me? I went through hell in that arena, and there is absolutely no one I can talk to about it. My parents have become obsessed with the fame, my younger brother seems scared of me, and you just…wouldn't understand." He ran his hand through his dark hair, and I noticed that he was wearing it longer than he used to.

"And now, now that you're a tribute, I feel useless. I couldn't stop you from being reaped, and there's nothing I can say or do that will make much difference in the arena."

I stood as still as a statue for a moment, my jaw set and hands curled into fists at my side.

"You don't think I can win." I said in a quiet voice, directing all of my anger at the boy in front of me. Luke stayed quiet, holding my gaze.

"You don't think I can win, do you?" I stressed, stepping close to him and planting a finger on his chest. He tensed for a moment, and although he had almost a foot on my height wise, he seemed scared of me.

He let out a loud sigh and finally entered the room, running his hand through his hair again. "No Jules, that's not what I meant." His voice changed from angry to tired, almost broken.

"Then what did you mean?" I wasn't about to let him off the hook that easy. "Look, you know just as well as everyone else on this train that I have very little chance of coming out of this alive. The least you can do is act like my mentor, let alone my best friend, and support me."

Luke's heavy footsteps seemed magnified in the small room- he never was very graceful- as he trudged over to me and placed both hands on the sides of my shoulders. "Listen to me."

"No, you listen to me!" I stomped my foot.

"Juliet. Listen to me."

I finally quieted down. Luke rarely used my full name unless he had something really important to say.

"I know I've been ignoring you, but it's for your own good." Luke glanced from left to right and lowered his voice an octave, as if someone was eavesdropping. "If they, the Capital, find out that I have any attachments to you what so ever, they'll use you against me."

"For what?" I questioned loudly, earning a 'shh' from Luke. My curiosity got the best of me, and I waited patiently for him to continue.

"I don't know, for anything they want me to do. I don't want you to be in danger…the arena is dangerous enough, but you're also at the mercy of the Game makers, and they would sick some mutt on you in a heartbeat if I refused to comply to their demands."

"They already threatened my parents and my brother, when I refused to, um, sell my body to the Capitalites." He looked away, embarrassed.

"Did you?" I asked quietly, no longer mad. After all, he was just looking out for me.

His eyes turned cold again and he stepped away from me, putting on an indifferent facial expression to hide the broken one I saw a minute ago. "What would you do, Juliet, if they threatened to torture your family?" The question hung in the air, creating a silence between us that was neither awkward nor comfortable.

Luke headed for door, pausing once to turn back around. "Look, I'm sorry okay? Stay away from Atlas, also. I have a bad feeling about him." His voice softened a bit and he exited the room, but not before I saw a mix of worry, fear, and desperation in his eyes.

Maybe this whole situation would be better if I hadn't ever met Luke before. Going in the arena, I could almost handle that. But I knew it would kill him on the inside to watch me on television and be unable to do anything to help me. And knowing that by putting myself in danger I would be hurting him, well, that hurt me too.