"Last day of training. Focus you two."Valora said, patting our heads. I nodded and entered the elevator. Everything ached from when Spikelet and I spared yesterday. I had a split lip and a ton of bruises but the trainer had finally pulled her off of me after a minute. But, now, I had one more day of training and I had to face all the Careers for one more day. Just one more day until The Hunger Games.
"You ready?"Titus asked. I nodded.
"As ready as I'm ever gonna be."I replied.
I tried to hit every station today, just to try to get a couple more skills under my belt. I could tell Matthew and Madison were doing the same, while Savannah and Titus were sticking to their guns. I couldn't decide if it was better to have multiple skills or to just have one. I guess it didn't matter if we're all gonna die.
"What if we just didn't fight? What if none of the tributes fought?"Matthew asked. That was the golden questions. We sat in silence for a moment, wondering that ourselves.
"We would die of natural causes. Or the Gamemakers would make it impossible to survive by taking away water sources and animals and stuff."Madison finally replied. I knew that she was probably right.
"Olivia."Grandis said, standing over me. I looked up. He gestured to the snare setting station and I followed him over. I knew Grandis. His family was towards the top of the social ladder and I had danced with him at many parties when we were younger. We pretended to be working at the station.
"I spoke to your father."he said. So, he didn't want to see me but he'll talk to Grandis, my enemy.
"And?"I asked.
"He wants me to protect you from the other Careers."he replied. I stopped and looked at him. He looked a bit sad. I know he's been doing so much training to try to win.
"That's a hard job."I said. He nodded.
"You don't have to do this. I can handle myself."I told him.
"Well, I want you to know that I won't be the one to kill you. I can't control any of them but I'll try to put you and your friends towards the bottom of the list."he said. I laughed, although I knew that it was true. He smiled and stood up.
"Happy Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor."he said, walking away. I sighed. They are never in our favor.
I sat in the room with all of the tributes. It was time to get our training scores. I tapped my foot and held my face in my hands. I was a stressed. Very stressed. Very very very stressed!
"Hey. Calm down."Titus said, rubbing my back. Test always stressed me out. Always. Without fail. That's why the government thought I was stupid. I always scored low on the standardized test I used to take in school.
"Stressed?"John said. I nodded.
"Here. Take a deep breath and just relax."he said, reaching into his bag. Savannah immediately smacked his hand and shook her head.
"You know that'll only make her do worst. You'll be fine Olivia. Just relax."Savannah said, even though I could tell she was stressing too. John shrugged and took whatever he was going to give to me. It looked like...I ignored it as he lit up. To each their own.
"Titus Hayes."a robot said, the doors opening. Titus took my face in his hands and kissed me before going in. I blushed and sat in my chair, trying to focus. I heard sniffing behind me and saw Matthew comforting Madison, who was so stressed that she was crying. I offered an encouraging smile but went back to focusing. What skill was I going to try? Which one was I best at? I decided to ask Savannah.
"Savannah, what skill should I demonstrate?"I asked. She rolled her eyes but I got my answer.
"Olivia Lockhart."the robot said. I gulped and stepped through the door. I walked down the small hallway to come into the training center. I noticed that among the sponsors was my dad and his political team. Of course. He always sponsors District 6. I kept looking at him as I went to the knifes. They were watching nonchalantly, eating little sandwiches and drinking little cocktails.
I took a deep breath and picked up a knife. I balanced it and threw it at the dummy. Right in the stomach. I smiled and felt my confidence growing. It was just me and dad in the back yard. Practicing throwing knifes. Weird situation but it'll work. I kept throwing until the timer ran out. I curtsied and left, feeling really good, although I missed a lot. Father smiled and nodded to me. He'll take care of me.
"Welcome everyone to the presentation of the training scores. I'm Caesar Flickerman and we will begin with District 1."Caesar Flickerman introduced as we watched the scores. Titus and I were eating on the couch. For some reason, Valora was out, partying. According to her, we had a ton of sponsors.
"I'm surprised that Caesar has lasted this long."Titus commented on Caesar. This was his second year as announcer and this year he was sporting green hair, lips, and eyes. I nodded.
"Gentlemen first. The score for Ostro Lascuis is a ten."he announced, adding in a pause for emphasis.
"The score for Spikelet Fairbairn is a nine."Caesar said. Titus groaned and took both his plate and mine back to the sink.
"The score for Grandis Ivory from District 2 is an eleven."he announced. I heard Titus drop the plates in the background. The telephone rang and I picked it up. It was Valora.
"What the hell?! An eleven?!"she yelled at me. I shushed her as Orchid came up. It was a nine. I handed the phone to Titus and watched the other scores. He came and sat next to me, his arm around my shoulders.
"The score for Titus Hayes from District 6 is..."Caesar started. I could feel the intensity. Titus held me closer.
"An eleven."Caesar said. I could hear cheering on the phone. Two elevens in one year?
"How did you..."I started but he shushed me. It was my turn.
"The score for Olivia Lockhart from District 6 is a seven."he announced. I felt numb inside. I mean, I know I didn't do fantastic but I thought I did somewhat decent. A seven? Titus held the phone up to my ear.
"I can work with a seven Olivia. Don't worry. Everythings gonna be alright."she reassured me. I sighed and TItus hung up the phone. I laid down on the couch and watched the rest of the scores. Savannah got an eight, John got a surprising ten, Matthew got a seven like me, and Madison got a five. The program shut off and I laid on the couch, thinking about what I did wrong. Titus turned off the TV and laid next to me.
"It's okay baby."he said, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"No. It's not. A seven is terrible."I said with a sigh. He stayed silent thinking of what to couldn't think of anything.
"How did you get an eleven?"I asked. He shrugged.
"I guess I'm just good with a spear."he suggested. I rolled my eyes. Yeah. Real good.
"You guys get an extra day."Valora said coming in from the parties. Titus shushed her. We both were exhausted and close to sleeping.
"Well, excuse me, but you need this information. You're not dying tomorrow but instead having a fun day full of parties, sponsor meetings, and interviews. The arena isn't quite ready yet."she explained quickly. Yay. How fun.