We're halfway to the actual games already! Here's Districts 3 and 5 with wrapping up the night and then training!
Harmony Goldman, 14, District 3
We get out of the carriage as the two prep teams, stylists, escort, and mentors come running. They're all smiles and compliments.
"Those costumes were amazing!"
"You looked great!"
"Did you hear those cheers?"
"They loved you!"
"You'll get sponsors for sure!"
I smile and thank them, but I know I can't believe them. Who knows? Maybe the Capitol citizens really did like us. But we went in between all the Careers, making us look even more pitiful by comparison. No matter how impressive we might have been, the fact of the matter is that we're still the two youngest tributes here.
Wiress, my strong, nineteen-year-old mentor who won two years ago, gives me a small smile before leading me to the elevators. My district partner, Pip, is in the elevator too, along with his mentor, Beetee. Beetee's getting a little older, but he's still going strong, and I think he's a great mentor. Not that Wiress isn't good herself.
Before the doors close, the girls from 6 and 10 get in with us. I lower my gaze. We must look ridiculous, with our mentors here to babysit us all the way up to our floor thirty seconds away. And the girl from 6 is by herself, and she can't be more than a few months older than me. She smiles at us. "Great job, guys!" she says. "Your costumes were so cool!"
I smile. "Thanks," I say shyly. "You too."
She smiles. "Thanks! I was worried this costume would be a little too crazy, but the crowd seemed to like it."
I nod. "I like it too," I lie.
"Well, thanks," she says. The girl from 10 stays silent, just eying us. I feel like she can sense all my thoughts, weaknesses, and fears. She is sca-ry. But at the same time, she's probably just as nervous as any of us, the way she feels like she needs to analyze us like that. She's probably searching for the secret motivation behind 6's words. But I don't think there is any; maybe I'm wrong, but she just seems like a genuinely nice girl.
Or, maybe the girl from 10 just doesn't want to draw attention to herself because she's wearing a cow suit.
"Bye, guys!" the girl from 6 says cheerfully as we get off at our floor. I turn to give a quick wave as the doors slide shut. Pip and Beetee disappear into the back rooms, but Wiress sits with me on the couch where we watched the reapings, and we talk strategy. I want to do this with her every second I can. Thank Panem I got a smart mentor. One who's fresh out of the Games, too. And one who's not too scarred by them, either. Wow. I really did luck out.
We talk for what must be two hours, me scheming away, and her explaining what's realistic and what's unrealistic about each of my plans. Finally, we wrap up by confirming what I'll do tomorrow during training—lay low, don't accept or reject any allies yet—and then I'm off to bed. I'm actually kind of looking forward to tomorrow. I'm going to learn survival and fighting skills and all that, but I'm also going to watch my opponents. Maybe I'll learn a thing or two that could help me in the arena.
Fiona Hayden, 15, District 5
I slowly drift out of sleep. Calvin is probably up already, making me breakfast. I wish he wouldn't do that. I'm fifteen years old, for Panem's sake. I can take care of myself. And he really doesn't need to baby me—he's only a year older than me. Maybe I should get up and go help him, just to prove a point.
"Good morning, Miss Hayden! Time to get up! Today's the da-hayyy!" my escort sings. My delusional half-asleep thoughts vanish as it all comes rushing back. I'm not at home. I'm in the Capitol, being fixed up for the 57th Hunger Games.
I roll out of bed and shuffle down the hall. I have some toast; I'm not that hungry. I'm too busy being worried. I'm going into this training room to face all these older, stronger, more experienced kids, and a lot of them have probably already formed alliances. At least I have an alliance, too. I formed one with my District partner, Felix. We figured we're both okay-skilled, but we're still underdogs. We'll be much stronger together.
My stylist brings me my uniform, and I go back to my room and put it on. I look at myself in the mirror. It's a simple, grey, full-body suit. But it's pretty tight. It shows off my fairly small frame. I'm strong and agile enough for someone my size, but I'm nothing compared to some of these other tributes.
Soon we're in the elevator. Thankfully, it's just us and our escort in the elevator this time. Last night, the pair from 1 was in the elevator with us. A.w.k.w.a.r.d.
The doors open to the training center. I gasp. It's huge. So much bigger than I ever could have imagined. Maybe Felix and I can just keep to ourselves. We'll clearly have plenty of space in this massive room. And maybe we'll learn a lot.
The tributes from 2 are there, right in front. A few other pairs are here so far, but we're one of the earliest. We gather around the head trainer and wait as the others arrive. Just as the man is about to get started, the tributes from 1 and 4 burst in, both of the girls laughing loudly. Everyone turns to stare at them. The girls continue to chuckle as they fall into place behind us.
"Attention-grabbers," the girl next to me mutters. Her tag says she's from District 10.
The man in front of us—the head trainer—briefly explains the stations to us, and then releases us to train. Here we go.
Pip Henri, 12, District 3
The six Careers—all the tributes from 1, 2, and 4—join together immediately. That must be nice, easily getting a strong pack of allies just by being from a certain district.
I walk over to the nearest open station—fire building—and sit down. The instructor is about to begin when that small girl from 11 sits down next to me. She might even be shorter than me. I'm tempted to ask her her height, but that would be weird. The instructor teaches both of us about building fires with wood, flint, and lots of other materials. I'm feeling pretty good about it by the end. I thank the instructor and go to the tree-climbing station, which will end up being extremely helpful if there are any trees at all in the arena. The pair from 5 is there. After that, I learn about edible plants at the same time as the boy from 6. I'm at the shelter-building station when the girl from 11 joins me again. I don't get it. If she wants an alliance, why doesn't she just say so?
I glance up from sharpening a stick to see the girl from 10 watching us. She doesn't look away when I see her. I look back down. When I look up a minute later, she's still there. Then she comes over and sits down next to us. She picks up a stick and starts sharpening it. She has it down to a fine point after about 30 seconds. A lot faster than me, I'll tell you that much.
"You two allies?" she asks, pointing at me and the girl from 11.
I'm taken aback by her talking to us. "Uh..."
"No." the girl from 11 cuts in.
"Well you should think about it. I bet you have different talents and stuff. You could help each other out."
"Um... yeah, maybe," she says.
"Here. Introduce yourselves. I'll start. I'm Roxy, from District Ten."
"Um... I'm May, from Eleven."
They look at me. "I'm Pip from Three."
Roxy smirks. "Okay. Now—" she cuts off, looking at something behind me. I turn. It's that blond girl from 4. She's staring right at us. She beckons to Roxy, who stands and goes over to her.
"Hey," the girl from 4 says. "Roxy, right? I'm Jasmine, from District Four. So the others and I were thinking of having a big pack this year. Get rid of everyone that much quicker, you know? We were thinking you, your district partner, and that guy from Eight. What do you think?"
Roxy smirks. "I don't think you actually want me in there."
"Come on, Ten! We all saw you with those spears and knives earlier. You'd fit right in. Promise."
Roxy shakes her head, smiling. "Sorry. I work alone."
Jasmine sighs. "Okay. But if you say no, you're just any other target."
Roxy gives a little laugh. "Sweetie, I'd be just another target even if I was in the alliance with you."
Jasmine frowns. "Fine."
Roxy rolls her eyes and returns to the two of us. "How about the three of us be allies?" she says.
What? I happened to see her with the spears and knives earlier too. She's a real fighter. Why in the world would she need the two of us? "Um... I though you said you work alone," I say.
She laughs. "That was just to get rid of the blond," she says. "So what do you guys think?"
"I'm in," May says quickly.
"Um... Okay, me too," I say. I somehow don't really feel like I have a choice.
Felix Hendrix, 15, District 5
The arrow flies out of my bow once again. This time, it actually hits the target. It's not even close to a bull's-eye, but the target is a good twenty feet away from me. I'm pretty proud of myself. Fiona's been having even more luck. She even hit the bull's-eye a few minutes ago.
I turn to see the redhead from 1 talking to that serious guy from 10. The conversation is very short. The redhead stomps away. "What do you think she wanted?" I ask.
"Probably an alliance," Fiona says.
"With him? I mean... he's strong and all, but they already have six people, and he's definitely a step below them."
She shrugs. "Yeah, I don't know. Maybe they just wanted more people."
"Talking about us?" I jump and turn to see the tall orange-haired girl from 2 fitting an arrow into a bow. She fires. It's a perfect bull's-eye. She turns to me.
"Uh... we didn't mean..." I stammer.
She laughs. "Don't worry about it, Five. Yeah, some other people in the alliance wanted more members. We asked three people. They all said no." She fires another arrow at a dummy. It hits it right in the heart. "Can't say I blame them, personally. The alliance can get a little annoying. For example, I didn't want more than six members in the first place, but I never got a chance to say anything about it." Another arrow. It severs the rope holding up the dummy. "I'm over here right now in case Tison has a little temper tantrum when he finds out all three said no." I turn to see the redhead from 1 hesitantly breaking the news to Tison, her district partner. He growls, shoving her away. A trainer immediately rushes over, pulling him away. The girl from 2 shakes her head. "See?"
I nod.
"Um... nice talking to you," Fiona says, pulling me away.
When we're safe at a knot-tying station, Fiona sighs. "That was weird," she says.
I nod. "Yeah. And the whole time she was firing those arrows... creepy."
Fiona nods. "Funny, she seems nice enough, but not here. Here she's just... I don't know. The enemy, basically."
I give an uncomfortable little laugh. "Yeah. I'm happy if we just keep to ourselves."
"So do you know what you might do for your private session yet?" she asks.
I shake my head. "No idea. Maybe attack a dummy with an ax or something. You?"
"I think I'm gonna get more practice in with the arrows and fool around with those."
"Ugh."
She frowns. "What?"
"It's just annoying that even if we get the best score we possibly can, it will still be lower than those Careers."
"But you don't know that for sure."
"Yeah, I kinda do, though."
She sighs. "I guess you're right. Well, we just have to try as hard as we can."
Yay another awkward ending but tune in tomorrow for chapter 5! And have a good Thanksgiving if you live in the US!