We wake up to Effie screaming at us. She says that we must get up and get ready to get into the Capitol. We stand up and get out of bed. I head to my room and change into clean clothes. I then walk to the dining room where everyone but Terra is sitting down at the table. When she walks in, we eat breakfast before getting ready to leave the train. "Remember what I told you last night," I tell Terra before we leave the train. She nods and we get ready to exit. The doors open and the deafening crowds hurt my ears. I have to use all of my willpower to stop myself from putting my hands over my ears. We get over to the car and drive to the remake center. I have a terrible case of déjà vu. This feels just like last year. The only difference is that I'm not going into the arena, the girl that I love is, I'm not about to be on a chariot, and I have no reason to worry about my own life. When we get to the Remake Center, Terra and Carson are taken upstairs to get redone. I head over to talk to the other victors.
"Hi Atticus," says Cecelia. I walk over and hug her.
"I'm so sorry about Woof." The other victors are staring at us. My guess is that no one has said anything about Woof to them. Cecelia says "I'm just sorry that no one announced it."
"It's sick the way they think about us. Apparently, Woof just wasn't popular enough to be remembered." She nods and we go back to talk to the others. She introduces me to her fellow District 8 mentor Weaver, victor of the 37th Hunger Games. I talk to Wiress. She still can't finish a sentence. She's really nice, but I don't think that I want to deal with trying to interoperate her. Then there's Finnick. He is with Annie. They got married about 2 months ago. It turns out that Contessa, the female morphling from 6 who won the 31st Hunger Games, and Cornelius, the male morphling from 6 who won the 40th Hunger Games, died recently as well. I guess that the only person that I know is Cecelia and, of course, the others from 12. I don't count the other victors from the victory tour. I still talk to Enobaria, Brutus, Lyme, and Vikus. I decide that they are actually really nice. They aren't at all what I usually think of careers as. We talk about our lives in the districts. District 2 seems to have a great life. They get a lot of money from the Capitol. Their tributes this year have trained with Brutus. "Don't you think that that's unfair?" I ask him. He shrugs and says "We don't really like the Games, but we want to bring our tributes home. If that means being hated, so be it. I know what you're thinking 'how could they be so cruel.' The thing is that tributes need to win or else it's life in the quarries. Also, our tributes don't have to like to kill; they just do what they do to survive. I personally think that you people in District Twelve should think about training tributes. With so many victors, you could bring a lot of tributes home." I'm shocked, but I totally understand what he's saying. His tributes do whatever they can to have a decent life for themselves. Why there aren't people training tributes in every district, I don't know. You don't have to like to kill; you just have to know how to fight. They don't even need to volunteer; they just need to know how to fight.
Myself, Chelsea, and District 2 all head to our seats. I drag Chelsea along to get to know them. We sit down and prepare for the tributes to ride out. I notice that District 2 is dressed in outfits of unpolished gems. The other tributes go by. Then, our tributes are up. I'm amazed, but Cinna has made Terra even more beautiful than before. I didn't even think that that was possible. She is in a dress that makes her look like a canary. Naturally, they choose the bird that we bring down into the mines with us. Then there is Carson. I'd like to say that he looked good in the outfit, but he didn't. It made him look like a girl. I turn and frown at Chelsea. She sees it and nods her head. I guess that Portia didn't think that one through. They were okay, but I think that the crowd was mostly cheering for Terra, not Carson. We get up and walk back with District 2.
I turn to Brutus and Enobaria. "Maybe our tributes could team up. I mean that Carson was training in case he ever went into the Games and Terra is the most loyal person that I know. They would make great allies."
"We'll talk to our tributes and get back to you, but I think that that's a good idea," Enobaria says. We then separate into our different districts to get ready to go to the Training Center. We meet up with the others from 12 and get in the car to go. "Who were you talking to," my mother asks.
"We were with District Two the whole time. I like them. They have some great ideas."
This gets Victoria's interest "Like what?"
"Like training kids to be ready if they have to compete in the Games," Chelsea chimes in.
"Become careers, you mean," Haymich says.
"No, we mean prepare the kids for the Games. They don't have to volunteer. They just need to be ready. With so many victors, if we all taught them some of our knowledge about the Games, we could bring home a lot of tributes," I say.
"Plus, they won't have to go into the mines if they win," Laurent says.
The others think about it. Titus says "We'll set this up when we get home." We all nod and get out of the car when it stops. We go over to the elevator and press 12. We head right up to the 12th floor. When we get there, we all sit at the dining room table waiting for Terra and Carson to arrive. My mother passes the time by asking me about Terra.
"When did you meet her?"
"I met her the day of dad's funeral."
"You were dating girls at your father's funeral?" she exclaims.
"No. I was wandering around Twelve after the funeral. I was at the Hob until Titus came in. I didn't want to talk to him, so I went into town. I went to the sweetshop. Her parents own it. I met Thread there. When he left, we started to talk. I found out that I really liked her. I went back every day since then. We started dating about a week ago." My mother exhaled in relief. She must be glad that her only son didn't try to get a girl at his father's funeral. She might have died of shame. I'm just glad that I have my mom. No matter who the Capitol takes away from me, they won't take her. Then, Terra and Carson walk in.
"I was thinking that you two should try to join up with District Two." Terra looks stunned while Carson shakes his head. "I will not join up with the careers. They are dangerous. We can't trust them."
Chelsea steps in and says "Just get to know them. You don't have to join them. Just stay with them until you think that you have to leave. Then you can kill them if you want to." Carson reluctantly nods. Terra nods enthusiastically.
"Why are you so enthusiastic?" I ask her.
"Because I trust you. If you think that it's a good idea, then so do I." I smile at her.
"Alright, let's get down to training. If you two are going to pair up with the careers, you need to get to know them before you enter the arena. Talk to them during training. Show them your worth," Titus says. They nod.
"Remember, you need to give the careers something or they won't let you join them. You've got to be good at something," Katniss warns.
"I was wondering why do you want us to join the careers?" Carson asked.
"Atticus and Chelsea think that you can trust them," replies Laurent. Carson scoffs. I can't blame him. After years of being told that the careers are dangerous, to think that they can be trusted is hard to believe. Terra gets up and heads off to her room. Carson follows soon after. Then, I get up and head to Terra's room. I see her in her bed and go to join her. I sit down, but before I can say anything, she is kissing me. After a while, I give up on speaking.
Last night was amazing. I get out of bed and put on my pants and walk to my room. I know that it would be bad for anyone to know that I was sleeping with a tribute. I would be in so much trouble. I put on new clothes and walk to breakfast. I sit down and take a sip of hot chocolate. Then, Laurent comes in.
"Hello Atticus."
"Hi Laurent."
"What do you think of the tributes? Do they have a chance at winning?"
"Maybe. I want Terra to win. I don't care what happens as long as I get her back." He nods. Then, Chelsea and Carson walk in, followed by Terra. I stare at her. She looks beautiful. When she sits down next to me, she slips me a note.
Where were you? I woke up and you were gone.
I reply,
I had to get dressed and I didn't want anything to happen to you in the arena. What I told you about Snow might get you in trouble.
Then, Victoria, Titus, Haymich, Katniss, Peeta, and my mother walk in. We all sit down for breakfast. Then, at a quarter to 10:00, Effie comes in and tells Terra and Carson that they need to go. I walk her to the elevator and kiss her before she leaves. Then, I go back to the dining room. I tell them that I'm going to visit other mentors. Haymich tells me that other mentors will be at the barbeque on the roof all day. They set it up so that the victors could get to know each other. I head up to the roof and see that only Morgana and Diaspro are there. I walk over to them and say "Hello." Morgana nods at me, but Diaspro turns in my direction and says "Hey! How are you? I haven't seen you since the victory tour."
"I've been good. You know. Except for my father being killed." After I say the words, I wish that I could take them back. Diaspro's mouth hangs open and Morgana gasps.
"What happened," Morgana asks.
"Do you know what happened to some victors like Finnick?" they nod so I continue "Well, Snow tried to force me to do that, but I wouldn't, so he killed my father."
Diaspro throws her arms around me and says "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. That's terrible." She lets go of me and I see that Brutus and Enobaria have joined us. I say goodbye to Diaspro and Morgana and walk over to Brutus and Enobaria.
"Hello," I say.
"Hi Atticus," Brutus says.
"Hello, Atticus," says Enobaria.
"What do your tributes think about the alliance?"
"They're open to it, but they want to see what your tributes can do first. They did say that if one of them can do something useful, they will take them both. However, I would suggest that they both have something useful that they can do." I nod we walk over to the edge and stare at the city. It's amazing from up here.
"What do you think that the other careers will do to them?"
"District Two is usually head of the Career pack. They will except them if our tributes say to." Enobaria says. I know that they're right. District 2 is almost always in charge of the careers. If they say to, I'm sure that the others will follow their example. As the other victors begin to arrive, I notice that even as victors, you always have a pack of sorts. There are some tributes that stick to their district and a few others. There are others that talk to everyone. Then, there are the ones that for the big groups. I notice that it's getting late, so I head back down to floor 12.
"Come on!" Terra says. The individual training has just happened and they are showing the scores. The careers, as usual, get from 8 to 10. The others are either bad of mediocre. Finally, District 12 is up. Carson gets an 8. That's pretty good. Then, Terra comes up with a 7. I hug her and say "You did really well!" The others congratulate them as well. Then, mother says "It's time for bed. You'll need some rest. I walk her to her room. Like every night since we got to the Capitol, we sleep together. However, she passes out in about an hour. I can't blame her. She must have done something special to get a 7. I let her sleep the entire night.
We wake up in the morning. I tell her "Time for interview coaching." She smiles at me and says "Does that include any kissing?"
"Maybe, but you'll have to earn a kiss." We get out of bed and put clothes on. Then, we walk to the dining room for breakfast before the interview training. We eat and then I take Terra up to the roof for some practice. We're the only ones up there. We start to talk about the interview. We find her angle in all of 5 minutes. She will be herself. That's the person that made me fall in love with her. And believe me, that isn't an easy thing to do. So, we spend most of the time talking about us. We talk about life back home. I can't wait for these stupid Games to be over. However, by dinner, we're both tired enough to fall asleep. We head downstairs and have dinner. Then, we go to sleep like we do every night.
The interviews are almost over, there is only Terra and Carson left. I see Caesar Flickerman in his usual suit and with white skin, but orange hair, lips, and eyelids, call Terra. She walks up.
"So Terra, what do think will happen in the Games?"
"Well Caesar, I hope I win, but everybody hopes that. Mostly, I hope that I don't die in the bloodbath at the cornucopia."
"Why did you volunteer?"
"She's the sister of someone that I really care about. I couldn't let her die."
"Alright, well, who is it that you care about?"
"Atticus Avalor. I'm kind of in love with him." There are gasps from the crowd. The camera is on me. I know that Caesar wants to ask some more questions, but then, the bell signaling the end of her interview. Then, Carson steps up. He talks with Caesar easily.
However, I don't hear any of his interview because I'm staring at Terra. I've never known anyone more amazing. Then, the bell signaling the end of all of the interviews sounds. The tributes all stand up and walk off of the stage.
I see Terra and I kiss her. We head into her room without dinner.
