"Dinner is in like ten minutes," Katniss says as she leaves the room with Gale.
I nod even though she wasn't looking at me and stay sitting on my bed. I can't believe this is really happening to me. I'm not a... fighter. Sure, I'm on the wrestling team at school, but I can't train to be an assassin. What if they assign me an assassination mission? What are they going to do to me during training anyway? What if I actually have to fight other people? I'm sure I could beat the boys, but what if I have to fight a girl?
My head hurts because it's filled with so many questions that I can't even answer. I stand up and open the door to find myself in the dim hallway again. I walk slowly to calm myself down. It doesn't work. Off to my right, I see the cafeteria. When I walk in, I see Katniss and Gale sitting at a table with a few other people even though they're only talking to each other. I consider sitting with them, but then I remember the look that Katniss gave me when Portia said she had to show me around. I guess I've bothered her enough for one day. I get a tray of food and find another table where a scrawny boy is sitting by himself. He has dirty blonde hair and freckles, and he seems like he might be my age. He looks up as soon as I sit down.
"Uh... hi," he says.
"Hey. You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" I ask.
"Nah," he shrugs as he picks at his food.
"I'm Peeta. Peeta Mellark."
"I'm Tayzer," he says. "And that's Basil."
He points behind me and I see a lanky girl with black hair and tan-mocha skin walking toward us. She sits down next to Tayzer and looks from him to me.
"What about me?"
"Nothing, I was just introducing myself to him," Tayzer says.
"I'm Basil," she says again.
"Basil?" I ask. "Like the herb?"
Her lips turn into a straight line and she squints her eyes.
"Yes, like the herb," she snaps. "You got a problem with that?"
"No, I was just asking," I say.
"Geez, calm down, Basil," Tayzer chuckles.
"Where are you guys from?" I ask.
"Four," he replies. "You?"
"Twelve," I say.
"I heard they were having some trouble in twelve," Tayzer snickers.
"Really?" Basil asks. "What happened?"
"They sent some girl," he says, "but she'd never done it before, so she couldn't even find the right guy!"
Basil starts cracking up and saying something unintelligible because her mouth is full.
"In her defense, some people lock their kids up just so they won't disappear," I say. "Maybe that's why she couldn't find him."
I don't know why, but I feel like I can't say nothing while I listen to them make fun of Katniss.
"Yeah, but still," Tayzer shrugs.
Basil rolls her eyes at me and goes back to her food.
"So are you scared, Peeta?" she asks.
"Of what?"
"Training of course," she snorts. "Starts tomorrow. I just wanna know what my mission will be!"
"Me, too," Tayzer sighs.
"I bet my life," Basil says as she puts her hand over her heart. "I'm getting an assassination mission!"
Tayzer starts laughing as she points her index fingers at me as if they were a gun.
"I will settle for nothing less," she whispers before putting her hands back down. "If they don't give me an assassination mission, I'll kill them."
"Then either way you have an assassination mission," Tayzer chuckles.
"Pretty much," Basil smiles. "What about you, Twelve? What mission do you want?"
"Peeta," I tell her.
"It's not like I'll remember," she snorts. "What mission?"
"I don't know," I say.
Truthfully, I really just want my mission to be something like protecting innocent people, but I'm not really in the mood to argue about it with Basil. When we finish eating, we return the trays and start walking back to the dormitory. We have to make a beeline because the hallway is so narrow. Basil leads us and Tayzer stays behind her which leaves me in the back. We must look so funny to other people. Tall, tough girl: Basil. Average boy: Me. Scrawny, short kid: Tayzer. When we get to the dormitory, I see that Tayzer's bed is next to mine while Basil is across the aisle. She tells me that that is because all of the girls sleep on the right and all of the boys sleep on the left.
"What time is it?" I ask.
"I think it's like nine," Tayzer shrugs.
"An hour till curfew," Basil says. "Wanna walk around? See what we can find?"
"Sure," Tayzer says as he gets up and follows her to the door. "You wanna come, Peeta?"
"No, I'll stay here," I say. "I'm kinda tired."
"Suit yourself," Basil mutters.
And then the room is empty besides me. I lay on my back and try not to think. I just want to fall asleep so that I have enough energy for training tomorrow. Sadly, sleep hasn't been on my side lately. I just sit there staring at the beige ceiling above me. I don't know how long it's been when a few more people walk in. They're yelling, cheering, and clapping. When I look up, I see that it's Gale and a few other people. Katniss walks next to him, smiling a little.
"Congratulations, newbies!" one of them yells. "Just eight more hours until your first training session!"
The crowd starts laughing. I guess that they're making fun of us because they're already up to their second stage of training. Tayzer and Basil walk in along with a few other stragglers. Tayzer sits down on his bed and looks at me in an attempt to ignore the crowd in the middle of the room.
"Find anything?" I ask.
"Not really," he sighs. "We got lost."
"How did you get lost?" I chuckle.
"It was weird," he says. "We found this hallway, but it was like it just kept going in a circle, and we couldn't get out!"
"So how did you get out?"
"Gale and Katniss found us," he says.
"They were just randomly walking around back there?"
"No, they heard me screaming," he blushes.
I start cracking up and he glares at me.
"Shut up!" he snaps but I keep laughing.
"You should've heard him!" Basil chuckles. "He sounded like my seven year old sister when she found a spider on her pillow!"
Tayzer mutters something and lays down on his bed so that he's facing away from us. I look around and see that some of the boys around me are changing their shirts. The T-shirts they're changing into seem pretty much the same except they're a couple of shades lighter. We also have sweatpants to change into for sleep. I look across the room and see that the girls are doing the same. I mean, they keep they're underwear on, but still! Basil looks where I'm looking and rolls her eyes.
"Screw that," she mutters. "I'm changing in the bathroom."
Some boys and girls are so comfortable that they even talk to each other while they're changing. Maybe I'll be one of them someday after I've been here for a while. It's probably just something you have to get used to. Then I notice Katniss walking out of the bathroom. Huh, so she's been here for so long, and she's still uncomfortable with changing around other people. Tayzer and I change quickly so that we finish before Basil comes back. People start lying down and the talking slowly quiets.
"Is there a light switch or something?" I ask.
"No, I think the light turns off automatically at ten," he says.
As if on cue, the room turns dark. Almost all of the talking ceases except for a few whispers. I hear the bathroom door open. It must be Basil. I can hear her shuffling around as she tries to find her bed in the darkness. I hear a deep thud and I guess that she must have tripped on something.
"Shit!" she mutters, and I can hear a few people snickering.
When she finally makes it to her bed, the room goes silent. Nobody is talking anymore. All of the stage two students are sleeping while the stage one students stay awake and worry about what tomorrow will hold.
xXx
A.N. - If you want to know what Tayzer and Basil look like, type "District Four Tributes Hunger Games" into Google. Please Review! 3