Chapter 9- Confidence
Day three at the Training Center dawned bright and early and Sparrow did not want to face the day. Today was the last day of training, the day she was to be evaluated by the Gamemakers, and when the interviews were taking place. On top of that the Games were tomorrow! And now with everything that had transpired the night before...well. She was even more of a nervous wreck than before.
After her and Salton had kissed they had stood on the rooftop for as long as they dared before retiring to their respective rooms where Sparrow tossed and turned for longer than ever before. Around 3:30 am she had finally fallen asleep and here she was, awake at a quarter past eight. She decided she would ask Blight if there was any sort of serum from the Capitol that would give her energy for the coming day. Now that she thought about it, maybe she'd ask for something for her sore muscles as well.
After twenty minutes of trying to talk herself into getting up, she dressed and headed out into the dining area where Blight was reading a magazine and finishing up his toast. Everest was just heading out the door, on his way to the training room.
"See you done there Sparrow, ok?" Everest called. She nodded in agreement and he closed the door behind him as he headed towards the elevator.
"This may be one of the only times that everyone else is up before you," Blight said softly, appraising her over the top of his magazine.
"Yes, well. I didn't get the best sleep last night," Sparrow said, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks.
Blight thankfully didn't notice or pretended not to and got up, moving over to a large, clear mug filled with a dark liquid. He poured some of it into a cup and handed it to her.
"What is it?" Sparrow asked as she swirled it around and breathed in the wondrous new scent.
"It's called coffee. It has something in it called caffeine which should wake you up a little bit. Fair warning though, it has a really strong taste."
"Thank you so much Blight. I think this is just what I need," Sparrow breathed a sigh of relief and took a small sip of the liquid which turned out to be extremely bitter but really not too bad at all.
Blight nodded and pointed to a small bowl. "You can add a bit of sugar if you like. It will make the coffee taste sweeter,"
Sparrow smiled her thanks and pulled the bowl towards her, picking up the small spoon within and putting its contents into her cup. She stirred it around while she pulled some toast and jam towards her, knowing she'd need as much nourishment as she could get today. "I don't suppose there's anything to help sore muscles?"
Blight smiled and snorted lightly. "I don't have any but your stylists might. Ask them when they're getting you ready for your interview tonight."
"Ok sounds good. Thanks for the coffee!"
As Sparrow ate her breakfast, her and Blight briefly discussed what she would do in the private training session and they had both agreed that she would show off her skills as well as she could. She needed a leg up in this competition and Sparrow felt sure that the interview wouldn't do it for her.
After finishing her breakfast, she moved to exit the room. She felt a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. She turned around and saw Blight staring concernedly at her.
"Remember what I said about being careful who you trust," he said quietly, his eyes never leaving hers.
Sparrow felt a small rush of panic and embarrassment as she looked at him. No, there's absolutely no way he could know about me and Salton. Right?
"Of course. Don't worry, I'll be careful," she said, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat and backing away from him.
She moved out into the hallway and shut the door firmly behind her before leaning against the wall. What have I gotten myself into?
0.0.0
As she walked into the training center there was no doubt that she was the last to arrive. This meant that her competitors would have that much more practice than her. Her hands began trembling as streaks of panic flashed through her but, to be fair, she thought the coffee also had something to do with it. She didn't know exactly what caffeine was, but she was now fairly certain that it was pretty powerful and was making her feel pretty jittery. Of course. More nervousness was just what she needed.
As she gazed around the room, she decided to go to the shelter making station and then maybe the knot tying and snare stations. She wanted to make sure that she got to practice at every survival station at least once and then make her way back to one or two of the weapons stations later on.
Today would be slightly different than the two previous training days because their morning would be spent training while their afternoon would be spent with the Gamemakers and that evening: the interviews.
Sparrow began walking to the survival stations when out of the corner of her eye she saw Salton hurling a spear into the chest of a dummy. He turned around with a small, confident smile playing on his lips. When he looked up and saw her watching, his face broke into a true smile.
Her heart began racing as she smiled back in his direction and then continued on to the shelter making station where the trainer was showing Jal, the boy from District Six, how to weave branches together.
As she began working on her shelter and making small talk with Jal, her eyes kept flitting over to Salton of their own accord. Focus! Stop thinking about some boy. The Games are tomorrow! She huffed in exasperation at herself and tried to pay more attention to what she was doing.
0.0.0
Sparrow felt her knees knocking together with nervousness as she stood just outside the door leading to the room that the Gamemakers were waiting in. She had just had to endure watching as Districts One through Six got called and finally it was her turn. Strange, how one minute you're begging for it to be your turn and the next you're wishing you could have gone at any moment but the present.
After taking a steadying breath and trying to plaster a confident smile on her face, Sparrow pushed open the doors. Blight had told her that she had to gain their attention right away as they would be starting to get bored, especially because the Career districts had already gone.
"Hello, my name is Sparrow Dolan and I am representing District Seven," she called, proud of herself when her voice didn't shake.
When a few of the Gamemakers turned and nodded at her to proceed, she began making her way over to the climbing wall. She figured this was a good place to start because of all her experience climbing trees. It would also loosen up her arms for what she had planned for later.
She placed two hands and one foot into the loops of rope while bracing one foot on the floor, the same as she had done in the training room with Everest the previous day. She breathed in and out slowly and then she was off, flying up the rope wall as fast as she could while ignoring the burning sensation in her arms. She reached the top, hit a small button that would record her time and then worked her way back down more slowly.
She grinned up at those watching her, a proud grin stretched across her face. They looked on in interest and a few smiled back at her.
Figuring this was a good sign, she thought that it was time to test her true talents. She had avoided the axes up until the last hour of training that morning so that her strengths would not be showcased for all of the tributes to see too early. She felt very confident in this skill because of the reactions she had gotten from the other tributes; many of the tributes looked afraid while some were in awe. Jade, the girl from District One, had even let out a small shriek of fury and had stalked away from her. When she chanced a glance in Salton's direction he had winked at her and smiled, sending a fluttering sensation through her stomach.
She made her way over to the gleaming racks of weapons and selected the large knife that she had been practicing with on day one of training. Focusing her attention on the dummy in front of her, she threw it as hard as she could. Unfortunately, this first throw landed in the leg of the dummy. Knowing she would have to do better, she retrieved it quickly and tried again, this time it landed right where the heart would be. Feeling like her throwing arm was a bit looser, she threw it again and it went into the throat.
"Please finish up in two minutes' time," one of the Gamemakers spoke through a sound system.
Sparrow nodded up at them and knew it was time for her grand finale. She walked slowly and purposely over to the ax station, running her fingers along each of their blades. She choose a medium sized one that had a good rubber grip. She worked her fingers along it and did a few practice swings in the air so that she could judge its weight.
Knowing she didn't have much time left, she lined up with the dummy and with a fierce heave, flung the ax clear through the air. A resounding thump sounded through the room as her ax went straight into the chest, actually causing the dummy to fall back with the blade's force.
Aside from a now even more sore shoulder, Sparrow could not have been happier. She showed them what she was made of!
She risked looking up at the Gamemakers and saw that most of them were smiling now as they took notes down on a clipboard; one man was even clapping jovially.
"Thank you Ms. Dolan. This concludes your private session," one man, who she assumed was the head Gamemaker, spoke.
Sparrow nodded once and then walked out through the door into the hallway, almost skipping in glee. Sure, she still had the interview to endure and then the actual Games but for one of the first times since she had been here (aside from her stolen moment with Salton) this was the happiest she had been.
A/N: Hey guys so I'm still feeling disheartened by the lack of reviews…. So please do so! It would make me very happy! Also, training scores and interviews are coming up next! Ok, that's all for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter :p
