Chapter Four: Agenda

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games.

Author's Note: Training's going to be cut into two pieces. For those of you who havent' read the original version of this, I'm just making the chapters a tad shorter because I'm reformatting my writing and taking/editing out some paragraphs. ;) Doesn't detract from the story, though!

As I eagerly stripped out off the tight fitting clothes and fancy costume, I noticed Effie's pink wig by the door. I changed into the complimentary clothes Cinna had given me, and opened the door.

"Oh, hello, Primrose!" Effie, for some reason, had insisted on calling me by "Primrose" and not "Prim".

"Oh, Primrose is such a classy name," Effie protested when I insisted she call me Prim.

Effie guided me out of the room and into the main part of the Training Center, to the glass elevator that had amazed me from the start. She was babbling on about something to do with sponsors and whatnot.

"Some sponsors like your cheerfulness and I've been trying to interest some more. How you bravely prevented your wounded sister from taking your place! Facing your future with bold eyes! If you interview goes well enough, they'll simply love you!"

It's clear that Effie had been exaggerating some parts. I was not bold and brave. But my stunning show, thanks to Cinna's help, had probably made me stand out from the norm.

I wasn't aware of where we were going, but when we stopped in front of the big glass elevator that had amazed me from the start, I asked, "Where are we going?"

"To District Twelve's level of the Training Center of course. Each district has it's own floor in the Training Center." She lead me to a room that she said was where I would stay at until the Games.

"I'm sure you'll find it much more comfortable than the train. I'll call you when it's dinner! Ta-ta!" Effie bobbed her head a bit then hurried back down the hallway.

My first priority was to take a nice warm shower and get the musty smell of the costumes off me.

I stepped into the shower which automatically turned on. I just stood there for a while, before opening my eyes and gazing at the panel of numerous buttons. Experimenting, I pressed a couple of buttons.

Some kind of thick, cleansing oil oozed from some container at the top of the shower, then swirling jets of scalding water traveled up my body, washing off any traces of oil as quickly as it began.

Whoa. I started pressing all the buttons, and then came the real fun. It was like a factory, with all the different machines moving about. First came banana shampoo piling on top of my head, then came soap bubbles spraying out of the side wall, and a pleasant little rainstorm from the ceiling of the shower washed it all off.

I laughed at how quickly my bath was over. I had literally shampooed my hair and taken a bubble bath in less than five minutes. I wish Katniss was here to see this.

By the time I was done with all the buttons my hair was a mixed smell of fruit, my skin smelled strongly of different oils and soaps, and my fingers felt wrinkly from being in water so long.

Squeezing the water out of my hair as I stepped out of the shower, something in the shower mat activated and hot air was blown around me, drying my body in a matter of seconds.

Now that is high-tech. At home, a bath, even just a simple one, would take what seemed like hours to heat up the water and pour it into a basin. Here, I stepped in, pressed a few buttons, and voila, bath done. Step out, and voila, body dry.

A fast air cutting current ran through my hair for me. It was unreal. Just a few swipes of hot air and my hair became shining, dry and straight.

Then I explored the room. The closet was huge, it was actually a room by itself. But instead of going in a manually checking out the clothes, there was a touch screen in the front with the wardrobe right on the screen. I could see every single outfit, where it was, and what accessories went with it.

Yes, I was having the time of my life here. Whereas if Katniss was here, she would simply pick out the simplest outfit there was and be done with it. Not me.

I surveyed each and every outfit I liked to my satisfaction. They were all way above what I expected; most were too crazy and in the Capitol trends for me to even think about.

In the end, after standing at the touch screen for an hour, I chose an unbelievably simple outfit: Long sleeved purple plaid shirt with dark magenta skirt and black leggings, and a purple headband with a small bow.

Benefit of being in the Games, I thought.

The Games. The very thought of the real thing deadened me. I tinkered with the other things the room absently until Effie came and called me down to dinner.

Everyone was at the balcony when we arrived. Haymitch actually looked decent for a change – and I hoped it meant he would be willing to help us.

"I see you took advantage of what the Training Center has to offer," Cinna said. I met Portia, and after we shook hands, we were seated at a table by completely quiet waiters and waitresses.

The food was, as always, just astonishing. I think it's even better than what I've already had at the Capitol, actually. Maybe it's just the mood. Nothing to hold our spirits down. The adults were laughing and getting along well with each other. Effie and Haymitch actually were friendly to one another.

After dinner everyone crossed over to another room to watch the replay of the opening ceremonies. When our turn came and everyone saw me jumping and waving like an idiot, they all started to laugh.

"The Games can't dampen your spirit, that's for sure," Haymitch says.

A compliment. I'm pleasantly surprised.

"So what's our agenda for tomorrow?" Domick asked.

"Training begins tomorrow, pronto. Now that I know I don't have to deal with a couple of sullen tributes, I might actually make an effort."

The way Haymitch looked at me, I knew I wasn't going to survive the first day, but in any case I would have to use that to give an advantage to Domick…somehow.

"Hey, Prim," Domick whispered as we left the room to head to bed. "Want to see the rooftop? It's amazing."

I nodded and followed curiously.

We walked onto the roof of the Training Center. The view was breathtaking and I held out my arms, imagining I was a bird that was about to take flight. Bird. Mockingjay. My thoughts traveled back to the pin Madge had given me as my District token.

Something whipped the air out of me as I was lifted high above.

"H-hey!" I shouted.

Domick grinned from beneath me. "It's dangerous to fly without wings."

I laughed and wriggled until he finally let me down.

"Speaking of dangerous…what happens if we fall?" I wondered.

"Try it. Haymitch told me about it. It's actually pretty neat."

I snuck a suspicious glance and reached out my hand but pulled it away quickly.

"Did you feel it?" said Domick.

"No, I'm afraid what's going to happen."

"Silly, it's not going to maim you." Domick grabbed my hand and pushed it towards the edge of the railing.

Something jolted up my hand, and I realized the feeling of electricity.

"Electricity? But, does electricity travel through wires?" I said.

"It's some kind of force field. Isn't it cool?"

I nodded. "Brr, come on. Let's go back inside," I said. "I can feel wind picking up."

After getting back into my room, I went to change for bed. It had been an exhausting day.

Changing into light clothes for sleeping, I slipped under the soft blankets and sunk right into the mattress. Tomorrow the next step to the Hunger Games would begin. This was important.

I knew I was good at telling plants apart, and dealing with wounds. How would that help me? I fell asleep thinking about different scenarios in the arena.

When I woke up, I found an already prearranged outfit sitting on the bench by the bed. The clothes were light and easy to move around in. Made sense.

After lounging around in the shower for a while, I came back out and changed into the shirt, pants and shoes, and tied my hair up. I looked in the mirror. It was me, of course, but I looked different. Was it the Capitol's style rubbing off me? I hoped not.

Maybe, it was, as Cinna had put it, 'the new Prim'.

I walked myself down to the breakfast room, where I guessed it was self serve. The silent waiter gestured silently to the rows of breakfast food and went over to stand by the door.

I wondered why the servers never seemed to talk.

After setting a bowl of fruit down and some light pastries, Domick and Haymitch entered through the door. They both grinned at the rows of appealing food, and quickly get to work piling up on their plate.

"I'm starving," Domick states, before plunging in to a sweet pastry.

"Stop," I said. "You're going to make yourself sick from all those sweets before our training starts. We're used to bland food from our district, not this super sweet stuff."

Domick remembered this at the last second and spit his pastry back out, choking repulsively on the extra sugary food.

"Told you."

Haymitch rolled his eyes as he sat down. "Okay, we need to get to work now. Tell me your strengths and weaknesses."

"Didn't you already ask us that? On the train?" I said.

"Oh, yeah. But that was just an overall view. We're going to go in detail."

"Well, I can't do much except tell plants apart, and healing wounds," I shrugged in a matter-of-factly way.

"Are you sure? No knots, knives, slingshots, mallets, anything?" Haymitch said.

"Katniss never really let me near those. She did try to take me hunting one time…but I just don't have the nerve to kill something."

Haymitch rubbed his chin. "That could be a problem."

Yes, it already was.

"Well, you can test your skills when the real training begins. There will be different stations, and you should try and brush up on some areas. It could come in handy," Haymitch added. He turned to Domick.

"From what I've already seen, you claim to be good with knives."

"Knots, too," Domick answered. "And I'm not just knife throwing, it's something else I made up. But I sort of want to keep it secret."

"Show-off," I muttered.

"Anything else?" Haymitch promptly continued.

"Plants. I'm good with plants too, having grown up with the florists…"

Ugh. So much for my 'talent', which I thought could've actually been unique.

Author's Note: Pay attention to the last part, it comes back later in the story. I've got a new motto too:

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