Hello. Sorry I didn't have anything before my other stories. I just forgot to add anything. I don't own the Hunger Games or any characters from the Hunger Games. This is my first fanfiction, so I'm not positive how disclaimers work.

Thank you to those of you who alerted my story, and thank you to SoldierOfHalla18 for the review. I, like any writer, love reviews. Is my tense awkward? Do I portray Katniss realistically? Do I have too much detail? Too little? Reviews are appreciated very much.

I find myself at a loss for words when Anthony tells us he wants an alliance. With my mouth open like a guppy, I look at Helena, but she, with a straight face, has already began to question Anthony. Her quick thinking could win us the Games.

"How fast are you?" She asks.

"I'm the best runner out of all my friends." Anthony says.

"Race Ceth right now."

I've snapped out of my daze by now, so I stand up, ready to run. Anthony gives a confused look to Penelope, but then he gets up. Helena counts us down, and we race about 50 yards. I win, but only by a split second. Afterwards, he is much more tired than I am though.

Helena walks over to us with Penelope behind her. Helena gives a sly smile to Anthony and says, "Welcome aboard."

Helena and I agree not to tell Katniss about our new alliance. The last training days go by uneventfully. Neither of us have any hidden talents, so we continue to focus on archery. The man teaches us how to make a bow in case there is only one supplied in the arena. We have memorized two human traps, so getting our hands on some rope would be helpful. At lunch, we sit with Anthony and Penelope. Anthony is quite a talker, and he keeps up his Southern drawl, even though we know it's fake. I suppose he is preparing for the interviews. We explain to Anthony the plan. I will go directly into the Cornucopia and I will grab a sword or knife for Anthony. He will protect me until Helena gets there. Then he should grab as much as he can and go find Penelope who will be hiding. Helena and I will get more stuff and follow him.

During training, Anthony focuses on knife throwing and swords, as well as hand-to-hand combat. He is very strong, which makes him a perfect addition to our team. Penelope focuses on survival skills, especially finding edible plants.

I find out that the District 5 male is deaf. His skills in knife throwing are amazing, but he's deaf. The District 5 female is a fit girl who seems cold. I bet she doesn't want to be partners with him, but her choices are slim. Almost everyone already has a partner. Getting a partner now, right before the interviews, will be very difficult.

Preparing for the interviews includes reporting who our partner will be. Helena and I tell our escort, Franetta, that we want to be partners. She is ecstatic about our partnership. Why wouldn't she be? She could be the second ever escort to bring home two winners of the Games. After Franetta explains to us how great this opportunity is for her and how important it is for us to win, she begins to train us for the interview with Katniss.

We agree on my angle to be charming. Confident, but not cocky. Funny if I can. I was like that before I was reaped for the Hunger Games, so I should be able to portray myself in this light easily. Helena's angle is to be goofy. She was always very goofy, especially her laugh. This angle hasn't been tried before, according to Franetta, so I am a little concerned with how the Capitol will react, but Franetta says there are many citizens who will love Helena.

The interviews this year will be done in partners, and we will be given double the time. The host this year is Yolanda Geary. Her dark blue skin contrasts her bright pink eyes and hair. She seems intimidating with her bold colors, but Franetta assures us that she is very pleasant.

The interviews start with the boys from Districts 1 and 2. Flicker from District 1 and Venom from District 2. Venom acts cold and sullen, but Flicker tries a different approach. Flicker tries to lighten the mood and persuade Venom to lighten up. When Yolanda asks Venom what he likes most about the Capitol, Venom answered her without looking. "I just want to get in the Games. I hate the Capitol."

"Aw, babe, don't be like that." Flicker said. He put his hand on Venom's shoulder. "What he really likes is the hot showers. I practically have to pull him out when it's time to go to bed." I look at Helena with a surprised look on my face. I never would have expected these two buff guys who seem so cold blooded to try to pull off the "lovers" angle.

Yolanda asks Flicker what his favorite part of the Capitol is, and Flicker says, "My favorite part of coming to the Capitol is that I met Venom." I look in the audience and most of them have their hands over their hearts. A collective "aw" comes from the crowd.

The Capitol is going to eat up this relationship. Not only are they strong and tough, but they are in love, too. Their relationship is so modern, and the Capitol loves everything modern. I assume that they're not really in love, or even gay. The girls from Districts 1 and 2 fall short when they get interviewed. They're both pretty weak, and they each try to portray a different angle. Their whole interview is just awkward. There's no way they will get many sponsors.

The males from Districts 4 and 5 are partners. The District 4 male isn't a career, so the District 4 girl doesn't want anything to do with him, even though he is a fairly strong 17 year old boy. The District 5 male is the deaf one, who is 14 years old. When Yolanda asks a question to District 5, District 4 signs it to him. When asked how he knows sign language, he replies, "My younger brother is deaf. When Gordon and I met, we instantly clicked because of this bond. Gordon reminds me so much of my brother. I have to protect him." The audience ate this story up like cake. While the District 4 boy, Parker, does seem to know sign language, I bet he could be faking it. He probably learned the signs for the most common interview questions and memorized Gordon's responses to them. If there was a more personal question, he could fake it and make up Gordon's answer when he repeated it to Yolanda. No one in the Capitol has need for sign language anyway. If they're deaf, doctors can fix it. And people in the Capitol are not interested in learning just for the sake of learning.

The District 4 girl is up next. This career is partners with the girl from District 5. The District 5 girl does seem intense, but I doubt she is even close to the standards of the careers. They pull off a big sister/little sister relationship well. I realize then that Helena and I did not play our cards right. With this partnership, everyone is going to be portraying new angles that fit for two people. Lovers, siblings, I don't know what else. All I know is that Helena and I need to think of something quickly before our turn. Only the girls from Districts 1 and 2 haven't done an angle for both partners, and they bombed the interview.