4

The week ended far too quickly for my liking. We were on our last day of training, and before we knew it, the games would have begun. It was lunch time, and they would soon start to call all of us in for our private sessions. I sat alone; Robbie was busy getting some food. I looked down at my plate, which was still full. Suddenly my earlier desire to eat had been withdrawn. I pick up a piece of bread and pull it apart with my hands. I turn round to see what Robbie was doing. I notice that he was talking to Cat, the pair of them smiling, and laughing, just as we had been yesterday.

I look away from them, looking down at my plate full of food. I could feel my jaw tighten slightly, and I couldn't believe I felt jealous of Robbie Shapiro. I look up when he makes his way back over to the table alone. "Did she have anything interesting to say?" I ask. I couldn't believe that I actually cared that much about what she had to say, or about her in fact, she should just be another face in the crowd, but she was so much more than that, and that's the problem.

"Not really" he shrugged. I look over to where she is sat; Beck sits next to her today, whereas yesterday and the days before that he had sat opposite her. He has his arm around her waist. He whispers something in her ear, and starts sniggering. Her eyes flick up to mine she looks away quickly and I can't help but notice that she shifts slightly, making his arm slip from where it was. He looks down hearted by this, and moves on to talk to Tori, she flips her hair flirtatiously, I scoff at her, finding it amusing that she actually uses this technique to get boys.

A voice calls out through the room, and it's time for the private sessions starting with District 1- as usual "Beck Oliver!" I sigh, knowing I will be the last one in this room, with me being from 12 and a girl- they usually start with the boys, but this year, I was hoping they would change that and start with the girls for once. I watch as Beck, walks from the table where his peers sit. They all smile at him and wish him luck, they were being ridiculously rowdy.

It's only about ten or fifteen minutes until we hear the voice again. "Caterina Valentine!" she stands smiling. She waves at the rest of the careers; again they all start cheering and whooping as she walks past them. She walks past mine and Robbie's table, smiles at me and mouths 'Good luck'. She waves with her fingers, and before I can fully register what has happened, she is walking down the corridor. I watch her until the doors close fully blocking off my view.

As the crowd dwindles, I find my heart beating rapidly, in my chest. Soon there is only Robbie and I left in the hall, and we are soon separated by the voice calling out "Robert Shapiro!" he stands slowly.

"Good luck" I say flicking my eyes up to meet his, they are heavy, and I can clearly see the nerves setting into him. He musters up the best smile he can.

"You too, throw straight" he replies, and that's the last sound I hear from him, other than the sound of a puff of air living his lungs as he readies himself. I sit looking around the dining hall; it seems eerie when it's empty. To me in some strange way, it seems like a reminder, that twenty-three of the bodies that have resided in the training centre and that have eaten in this room, will be lost within a couple of weeks. Seeing it like this makes everything seem daunting.

I'm pulled away from my thoughts once again by the same voice that has already chimed twenty-three times. I stand up at the sound of my name. And walk slowly to the door. As soon as I reach the gymnasium, I look at the Game makers; their lack of interest in me is ominous the head game maker Lane, isn't even looking at me. He has dark skin, and dark eyes, he is a middle aged man, and has been the head game maker for three years in a row now.

I take a deep breath to steady my nerves. I walk over to where the knives, are laid out neatly, I grab one in between my fingers, I feel the cool steel of the blade on my skin, I take another deep breath and hurtle the knife towards the dummy. I miss only marginally, but that doesn't stop the game makers from sniggering at me, some even look away, losing any trace of interest they had. I grab another knife, and try again, this time I hit the dummy right where a person's heart would be. I feel impressed with myself. I turn my head over my shoulders slightly; not one of them is looking at me. This angers me, I can hear my heart pounding, and my hands start to tremble slightly.

I reach for another knife, the blade is only small, but it has a serrated edge, and is most likely the sharpest of the lot. I throw it towards the game makers; I just miss Lane's head, his eyes snap to me, they are filled with fear. I bow at him mockingly "Thank you for you appreciation" I say. I leave without being dismissed; I can't stop myself from shaking when I reach the lift. I've blown it I tell myself.

I hit the number 12 making me zip upwards; I stride to my bedroom, ignoring the calls from the others. I lie down on my bed and start sobbing uncontrollably. My breathing ragged. I think of the possible outcomes that could be caused by my temper. My arrest, my death, they may decide to cut out my tongue, turning me into an Avox, meaning I would have to serve on other tributes. Even if they do none of these things, and then there's still the scores, and my chances of getting a high score- not matter how low they were before- have now been decreased to almost zero.

With the way I acted I would be lucky to get a three, and if I am awarded a low score it makes my chances of getting a sponsor much lower. Who'd want to sponsor me when they could sponsor a career, someone who stands a real chance of winning, someone like Tori, or Cat, or even Tara, any of them have a better chance than I do.

I stop crying when I have no more tears to shed, there is a quiet tap at the door "Go away" I mumble into my pillow.

"Jade" rings Bernadette's voice, it's low like a whisper, "It's dinner time" she says, and then she's gone, I sigh figuring I may as well go to dinner, the scores will be televised any way, and they will want an explanation for my dismal score.

I walk to the bath room and wash my face, removing all the traces of my tears and crying fit. I joined them for dinner finding Harley, Maria, Erwin, Bernadette and Robbie already at the table. "Hello Jadelyn!" called Erwin, I wasn't in the mood.

"Jade!" I all but scream at him, he looks shocked, and I instantly feel bad about shouting at him. I sigh, knowing it wasn't his fault.

"What happened?" Erwin asks, looking at me.

"Well, when I got there, they weren't interested in what I was doing, I missed my first shot, and they laughed, so that got me annoyed" I explained. "And then when I did hit the target, no one cared so" I stop and laughed falsely, trying to lighten the mood "I through a knife at them" I bite my lip waiting for the onslaught of the people surrounding me. Bernadette almost chokes on her wine.

"You did what?!" she screeches slamming her glass down on the table so hard, some of the wine splashes over the top of it "Do you have any idea what you could have done?" her bright blue eyes are piercing into me, making me feel uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry but I got angry" I tried to explain again. I opened my mouth to find the words, but Bernadette cut me off before I could really start speaking.

"That is no excuse, do you realise what The Capitol could do?" she is speaking incredibly fast, and her usually high pitched voice is moving up octaves, soon it will be at a frequency that it only audible to dogs.

"What could they do?" asks Erwin, "Take it out on them" he points to Robbie and I when he says this "They already have" his voice is calm, which makes me feel slightly better about the whole situation. "They can't do anything, public, even if they wanted to. It would mean them showing the training session and they are supposed to be secret" I smile at him vaguely, one side of my mouth just twitching up at the corner.

After we have eaten dinner we go to the living room to watch the scores being revealed on the screen, at first they show a picture of the tribute, and then the score they have received. Beck is the first face that appears on the screen, he scores a steady 10- this is usual for the career tributes; they usually score 8-10 out of 12.

Cat's picture is next. Her score is flashed at the bottom of her picture; the number 11 is flashed on the screen. I feel myself smiling, I'm happy for her, if her District wasn't enough to get her sponsors, or the way she looks, her score has sold her, and if any of the careers are to win, I would want it to be Cat. I notice the others watching me with raised eyebrows and I immediately drop my smile. And I feign disinterest.

We watch the others faces flashing on the screen, the other Careers score lower than both Cat and Beck. Ryder, Tara and Andre all score 9's while Tori, is at the bottom of the pack with and 8, it's still a highly respectable score and will be sure to do her favours within the capitol. All of the other tributes score steady 5's and 6's, it feels like a life time waiting to see what I have scored, Robbie's face appears before mine, he score smile at him and congratulate him, this is an achievement, for someone from District 12.

I take a deep breath, as my face appears on the TV, waiting for the number to flash on the screen, my eyes widen in shock as the number 11 flashes at the bottom of my face. The room fills with cheers and congratulations. I couldn't believe I had received such a high score, especially after what I did

"How is that possible?" Asks Bernadette shocked as the seal of Panem flashes onto the screen, before it turned black.

"I guess they liked her attitude" says Harley, his voice as smooth as coffee. "It all makes for a good show" I smile, feeling slightly optimistic, for the first time since my name was pulled out at the reaping.

"Jade West" says Harley dreamily with a smile "You do amaze people" I smile back at him. "Just wait until the interview"

"Why what do you have in mind?" I ask smiling up at him.

"You'll see" he winks at me friendlily.

Robbie and I congratulated each other again, hugging each other friendlily; I smile at him and give him a kiss on the cheek, before I head off to my room. I strip off to my underwear and climb under the bed covers, letting myself sink into the huge bed, I pull the covers up to my shoulders, feeling warn out due to the day's events and crying.

I close my eyes and see the number 11 once more, crystal clear it's flashing behind my eyelids. That is until; Cat's face comes to my mind, her small face had appeared on the screen in her picture she is looking straight at the camera, no expression is clear on her face, her expression just looks indifferent. She is clear of all make up, but she has a natural beauty that can't be ignored.

A/N: Chapter four done. Thanks for all of the reviews so far, it means a lot to me. Please read and review this chapter I appreciate all comments and opinions (good or bad)