I could feel my hands shaking as I sat quietly in the room of tributes who were waiting for their private session with the Game makers. The girl from District 4 just went in, so that meant there was Dune and then me. I tried to calm myself down by taking in a deep breath.
"So what are you planning on doing?" I whispered to Dune, who was sitting beside me.
"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you," he smiled jokingly.
I didn't find it very funny. I forced myself to laugh. For all I know he could be serious! There is only a matter of days before we enter the arena and the last thing I need is for Dune to joke about killing me.
Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and Dune was summoned inside. I gave him a quick "good luck" nod. He returned it and disappeared behind the elevator doors. I waited an entire fifteen minutes until the doors opened again and I wandered inside.
Within seconds I arrived in the Training Center. Luckily, being in District 5 meant that the Game makers were still intent and interested. I felt bad for the tributes in 11 or 12 who probably had to fight for their attention. I walked inside and headed over to a section that had dart guns.
I started off by hitting targets. I aimed and was able to hit each target on my first try every time. Unfortunately, I had only hit about half in the bull's eye. I then turned and hit the spear dummy from across the room twice. As I turned to sneak a peek at the Game Makers, I noticed that many of their eyes were intently watching me. I casually walked over to the knife station and threw a couple knives at the training dummy, hitting it in the head, heart, and shoulder. I ran over to the shelter making station and built a tent entirely out of leaves. If I say so, it looked pretty good. Then I turned and nodded to the Game Makers, signaling that I was finished.
The head Game Maker, Seneca Crane nodded his head and said, "Thank you Holly Maglite, you may now be dismissed."
With that, I turned and sauntered out of the room and into the elevator. I had a pretty decent feeling. I think that when the Game Makers rated us and gave us our scores I would at least get a six or maybe a seven. I punched the five on the elevator panel and the elevator zipped me back up to my floor.
As I stepped on to the floor, I was suddenly crowded by Maya and Quill.
"How do you think it went?" Maya shrilled.
"I think it went pretty good. I shot some darts and threw some knives. Even made a leaf tent." I responded.
"Well I guess we will see exactly how well it went tonight, won't we?" Quill smiled and patted me on the back.
I then headed to my room and took what I think is a well deserved nap.
That night, Harrick, Dune, Quill, Maya, and I all crowded into the room with the television. I would finally get to see my score. The program would show each tribute's score and their picture. I gripped the side of the coach anticipantly and took in another deep breath. I watched as the pictures crossed the screen. The tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 4, the careers, generally had high scores like usual. The boy from 2 had scored a ten. Then Dune's picture appeared. It was replaced with a blinking number seven.
"That's a great score, Dune. Very solid. Good work," Harrick congratulated.
My stomach felt queasy. Dune could obviously outlast me in the arena. What does that mean for my score? Probably meant I would get a six, or maybe a five. Oh, I hope I don't get a five. A five means that you are okay and I want to be good not okay, I want…
My picture flashed on to the screen. Quill put her arm comfortingly around me. When the number blinked on the screen, I thought it was a mistake. I had to double-take and realize that this score was mine. I had gotten an eight.
The response from the others in the room was ecstatic.
"An eight!" Quill screamed excitedly, squeezing my shoulder so tight I thought it would break off, "that's excellent Holly!"
"Oh, I knew you would do a great job," Maya smiled, "and you too, Dune. Very good."
"Thanks, Maya," Dune said.
"Yeah, thanks," I added, still trying to recover from the shock. An eight was far better than I expected. It showed that the Game Makers believed in me. It showed that I wouldn't go down without a fight. Lastly, it showed that Max was right. If I put my mind to it, maybe I could win this thing after all.
I tried to settle down and watch the rest of the scores, but I was so excited I almost had to force myself to watch. Surprisingly enough, the twelve year old from District 11 had pulled a seven. Not bad. I could see that Dune was a little peeved that he had gotten the same score as the youngest one in the Games. I couldn't help but chuckle.
Then came District 12. I watched as the boy pulled an eight. We were on an equal scoring field right now. The girl was next, I think her name was Katniss. She got an eleven.
"Look out for that one," Harrick said dully. He didn't have to tell me that twice. I wonder what she did. Once during training, I was making a tent when I saw her at another station. I could see what looked like longing in her eyes as she glanced over at the archery station. Maybe that's what she showed them. Let's hope she doesn't get her hands on a bow.
After about five minutes of chattering, advice, and congratulations, everyone started to disperse. I headed down the hall towards my room when I head quick footsteps from behind me. I turned to see Dune catching up to me.
"Well hey there," he smiled.
"Hey," I smiled back.
"Congrats on a great score. You even beat me."
"Thanks," I said, "you did great too, though. A seven is very promising."
"I sure hope so. Maybe we can last, you know? Put in a good fight."
"Maybe."
"Yeah, maybe," he whispered, almost to himself.
We walked in silence until we reached my door.
"Goodnight Holly," Dune whispered gently.
"Goodnight Dune," I whispered and closed my door behind me. That night was the first night I was able to sleep soundly and feeling good.
