My visiting hours are over. The peacekeepers come into my room, and escort me to the train. I get one last glance at Tristan and my mother, but can't find my girlfriend. I think to myself that it's good that I don't get to see her, or I won't be focused when it comes to winning the games. I need to be focused so I can see who my competitors are, or who my allies should be.
I take one last look at district 12 and step inside the most expensive place I've been in my life. The train is something I've only dreamed of. The carpets glitter like they're made of pure gold. There are tables covered in black velvet every few feet filled with the richest food I've seen in my life.
"C'mon guys, this won't be too bad," Hector says wiping a tear from his face, voice trembling, "We'll get to live like kings for a few days. Plus, I heard we get our own rooms with our own avoxes. We'll be living better than citizens in the Capitol!"
"Are you serious? We only get to live like this because in about a week, we are going to fight each other and kids from other districts to the death," I snap back at him. I have always been eager to fight. In district twelve I was one of the kids who would pick fights with almost everyone, including the teachers. I've never fought Hector, maybe because he would be too easy to beat. I make a note to kill Hector first in the games. Then he'll see who's living like a king.
Then a warm hand on my shoulder takes me by surprise. I turn to face the person who was touching me, expecting to see Argus. Instead I meet a familiar face, Maysilee. "Haymitch, I think you need to calm down. I know we should focus on the games, but we got reaped only an hour ago. We haven't even met out mentor. We-" She is cut off by Luka stumbling into the room.
"Who was talking about me?" He asks. He immediately locks eyes with me. Everyone stays silent, waiting for him to speak again. "Well, it doesn't matter. Hello, I'm Luka. I'll be the person who keeps you alive in the games. Now, I'm starving, so let's sit down and eat." He sits and stuffs his face with bread, seemingly forgotten how to use a knife and fork.
Once all of us sit down, the avoxes come in with pasta with little balls of spiced meat. As I wait for my food to cool, I inspect the other tributes in the room more closely. I first examine Hector, who doesn't seem like much of a threat, since he's about 13. He has straight brown hair, which falls over his face. His eyes are startling blue, and he has freckles that cover his face. His face is red and splotchy, which shows he's been crying too much. He obviously is weak, which makes him an easy target in the games. I already hate him, and I've only talked to him once.
Next I look at Eris. She has the dark coloring of a girl from the Seam, but her eyes are brown instead of gray. Light brown, with little golden flecks near the center. She still shows no expression on her face. Either she's just really stunned, or part of her strategy is to conceal her emotions. I've seen some tributes do that before, but sometimes it backfires since the people in the Capitol like to feel "connected" to the tributes they sponsor. It's going to take a little while to figure Eris out.
Last I examine Maysilee. She definitely looks like a town girl, with her blond hair and blue eyes. She seems kind of sad, but still calm and collected. She swirls her fork in her food with pursed lips and furrowed brows. Either she will be a valuable ally, or a dangerous enemy.
I take a bite of my food, which is considerably cooled. An overwhelming sense of flavor washes over me and I realize how hungry I really am. I eat the delicious food very quickly until I remember my family, practically starving in district twelve. I lose my appetite and push away my plate. "I'm tired. Where's my room?" I ask Luka. Luka sends a servant to show me to the right train cart, and I walk in and sit on a soft cream-colored bed. Now I finally have some time to myself to sit and think.
I sit there well into the night, watching blurry colors speed across my window until it's too dark to see. It's just all so revolting. The people of the Capitol, with an excess of food and all their other extravagances. They have all this, yet they still need to watch kids kill each other for entertainment. President Snow, the one whose sick and twisted mind came up with all this. And even the tributes, the poor kids who have to kill and die against their will, even they revolt me, because they just go along with it. They do what they're expected to do and play along with Snow's twisted rules. The people of the capitol and Snow made the games, made the rules, and even made this luxurious room.
I take a walk around the room, and notice the remote next to my bed. I click a red button, and the reaping from district one starts to play. A equally revolting announcer steps on the stage, and picks names from the bowl. Every time the announcer picks a name, a volunteer takes their place. This is what's so sick about the games, and about the Career districts. Although against the rules some kids train for years and years, and when the time comes, volunteer to go to the games.
Out of the volunteers, two kids look like threats. One, by the name of Philip Soter, is a muscular boy with broad shoulders and a smile colder than ice. His hands are bigger than my face, and he looks like he knows what he can do with a sword or some knives. The other threat is a girl named Juniper Sillas. Although she must be no taller than 5 feet, she has a cruel gleam in her eye that makes her look excited to kill. As she walks off the stage she seems to be muttering to herself. This is truly terrifying because if she's already cruel and a little crazy who knows what the arena will do to her.
I hear a knock at the door. Probably Argus. I yell that I don't want to finish dinner and when the door opens a little, I throw one of my pillows at it. The door closes, and I am left alone. I watch the screen as the kids from district two are reaped. The tributes, the second half of the career pack, look just as powerful as the kids from district one, but the only one who stands out is a particularly beautiful girl tribute, named Tabitha. I bet she'll get lots of sponsors. The only other kids I notice particularly are a boy from district four who is small but quick and a girl from district seven who seems very sure of herself. The rest of the tributes look too weak or stupid to pay attention too. I keep watching the broadcast until the exhaustion of the day overtakes me and I fall asleep.
I wake up with the video still going of the reaping. This time it is the reaping of the district 12 kids. Hector's name is called, and he steps on stage, looking confused and very sad. Then my name is called, and I look shocked. My blue eyes make me look vulnerable, since I'm still processing that I was picked, but once I reach the steps my face hardens and I look determined. I brush my hair away from my face, and shake Argus's hand. Then Eris is called, then Maysilee. Out of all of the tributes Maysilee looks like she might have the best chance of winning.
I look at the clock in my bed and realize it's only 10 pm. I feel hungry so I decide to go get more food from the dining hall, since I remember I only ate a couple bites of pasta. I walk through the hall and notice that Maysilee's room is open. She is pacing the floor, hands running through her hair, muttering to herself. She looks up from the floor and notices me. "Where did you go Haymitch? You missed a lot of things. We met Argus, and got some advice from Luka. If you want to last in the games you need to participate more, and become more likeable, because right now you're not doing a lot to get allies."
"Isn't Luka supposed to be my mentor, not you?" I tell her.
"Luka's your mentor, but I'm your friend. Don't you remember from school? I helped you out when you got into fights, and before you met Gwendolen I used to walk you home. We would make a good team, Haymitch. I could help you in the games, but you wouldn't want me as an enemy."
"Is that a threat? Look, Maysilee, I don't want allies. Just more friends you'll have to kill if you last long enough. I want to be by myself. I didn't asked to be reaped, I didn't ask to be part of the games. Just leave me alone ok? I need one mentor, not two. And I don't need any friends!" I begin to yell so loud that I wake up everyone in the train.
Argus comes out of his room, hair a mess, and starts yelling at me. "What are you doing Haymitch? It's 10 at night! You don't need to be yelling at your fellow tributes, you need to be making friends!"
"Argus is right," Maysilee says, eyes filled with tears, "You really do need to learn to make friends. You're going to have a hard time in the games, Haymitch, because you'll have no allies. Everyone will be against you. Have fun trying to survive." She whips her blonde hair as she goes into her room, and slams her door. Argus gives one final sigh and leaves to go to his room too. I am left alone in the hall, but I have been alone for a long time. I return to bed, forgetting about the food I was going to get. It takes me a long time to fall asleep, since I know that when I wake up I will have to meet my fellow tributes and the people of the Capitol.