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Chapter 7- Performance
It's hard not to feel like a trained monkey when one is waiting to be scored on their survival skills. This had been the one part of the preparation for the Games that I had not felt prepared for. In fact, I felt underprepared. Because really, what could I do? I was fast, but speed would only help me for so long in the arena once the bigger tributes really got into the games. I know a lot about poisonous snakes. Whoopie. Unless the arena was a snake pit, that would not help me in the slightest. The only skill that would help me, as I revealed to Elder, was one that was not exactly physical.
When I was about seven, my father decided that it was high time for me to learn the art of glass making. He told me the basics and set me to work. I was awful, terrible in fact. My glass cup turned into a blackened melted lump. And surprisingly, blackened melted lumps were not in high demand in the Capitol. My father laughed and told me to try again, but I had about as much luck as the first time. After about a week of this, he finally pulled me aside and showed me. I copied him flawlessly. From then on, whenever he wanted me to help him make glass, he showed me first. And I copied. With wonderful results I copied.
After a while I discovered that my copying ability did not just apply to glass making, but to all areas. Once I saw something done once I could copy it. It was useful, but Elder saw far more potential in it then I did.
"I want you to watch," he said, "Don't do anything in the training sessions, just pick someone out and watch them."
And so I had. District One was great with swords. District Two was pretty much great with anything. Useless, all useless. I was no miracle worker, I was a copier. I would never be able to do what the boy from D1 did with a sword, or the girl from D2 did with a spear. Impractical. A whole bunch of flash for the Capitolian audience. How they loved their show. They loved it so terribly much that they sacrificed even practicality. Yes, D1 and 2 were all flash. They were useless to me. And so I didn't see them at all.
Instead, it was the boy from seven that caught my eye. The one that had made so little of an impression on me during the reaping was quite proficient with the axe. He made the chopping movements graceful, the motion of the blade almost loving in his hands as he hacked one of the numerous dummies to "death". An art, truly. Clayton Ashbrooke, I overheard his fellow tribute call him during one of the lunches. Slight build at first glance, but strong arms. Arms that were used to hard labor. Arms that could use that axe to chop me to bits.
Thus, my "Tributes to Watch" list became longer as I added the unremarkable but talented Clayton to my list. His fellow tribute, I found, was nothing to concern myself with. I watched her for the first two days, anxiously waiting for her to reveal some unknown talent as Clayton had. But no, my first impression of the girl, Lianna Matthews as I uncovered, as plainly pretty, dull and talentless, proved to be the correct one.
Lunch was a quiet affair. Nathan sat by me, I sat by him and we ate. There was not comrodarry between us. Not like there was any between other District pairs, but our silence was somehow more awkward. Neither of us used any of the stations, on my part, it was by choice. Nathan was limited by lack of talent with any of the various weapons laid out daily before us, and therefore had no choice but to confine himself to the edible plants table which I also frequented. We couldn't have been a very impressive pair.
Like a flash, the training sessions were over, girl following a short 30 minnitues later. No doubt they were wowing the Gamemakers with their brilliant swordsmanship. Great.
The hours seemed to fly by. District Two was over in a half hour together, District Three was kept a little longer, most likely because they were confused as to what they should show the Gamemakers. District Three was made up of inventors. Their giants were mental, not physical. Four was also quick. The girl's hair was a much deeper shade of red then I'd thought. I blinked and five was done. I wasn't the only one hyper aware of the passing time, every time the next tribute was called the little girl from Twelve would make a strangled noise like a kitten being stepped on. Six whizzed by, Seven was nonexistent. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat.
And then it was Eight. Alyiss Mark stood, and, briefly, our eyes met. My blue to his black. And then he was gone through the swinging doors at the end of the hall. His District partner began to cry as soon as he was out of sight. Poor girl really didn't have a chance when it came down to it, and it seemed like she knew it. Long dark hair, pale, but probably from working in the factories. Not particularly pretty. Actually, a little sickly looking thing. Agora Flax, I think. I didn't know why I even bothered to learn her name.
But soon, impossibly soon it seemed, her name too was called. And it was at that moment that the daze came over me, much as it had when I had been reaped. I barely registered Nathan's name being called, or his empty seat beside me. The boy from Ten had to prod me when they called mine.
Like a zombie I walked down the endless hallway into the room that could have enough air in it, and stood in front of the people that, in a few days, would be orcastrating my death.
"Well Miss Ellis," the head Gamemaker prodded after a few moments of silence, cranberry sauce dripping down his many chins, "Show us what you can do."
I honestly can't remember what it is that I did exactly. Threw around some weights, ran about the room as fast as I could, and tried to show off my physical stamina. After a while of this I was dismissed with a polite nod and a "thank you." And then I was being directed to my floor where I then directed myself to my room.
Sometime later a Ramona came to rouse me from what she undoubtedly believed to be a cat nap.
"Rise and shine Cassie baby, you're going to be on television again!" she squealed, flicking on the light.
When I didn't answer immediately her voice lost its surgery sweet girly quality, "Come along Cassandra, it's starting soon."
And I had no choice but to follow.
We sat as we did before, all quiet except for Ramona who felt the need to fill every minute with her incessant prattling.
The TV came to life with a flash of the Capitol seal and the first sounding notes of the anthem. The first face to appear was the boy tribute from district one, Gadriel Wingate, six foot two, 180 lbs of pure muscle, it was no surprise to anyone when he scored a nine. His beautiful district partner, Sereaphina Lear was much the same, scoring a predictable eight. Flash and Ever both scored tens, much to the excitement of the announcers. District Three's scores were abysmally low, a three and two respectively. The male from the fishing district, the giant and stoic Kale Hobbs, scored a nine, his partner with red hair, a seven. Five and Six's tributes both scored in the four to six range. Clayton scored an eight, Lianna a four. Alyiss, to the surprise of the announcers, scored a ten.
And then it was District Nine's turn, Nathan score flashed across the screen-a five. And then it was my turn, a six. A perfectly average and unextrodanairy six. Perfect.