Paige Parker P.O.V

I bonk my head on the tiled wall underneath the surface. In my surprise, I gasp, letting in the cool chlorine water flow into my airstream. I shoot my head above the surface, trying to catch my breath. Just my luck. My practice today is clearly not going to work out. I lift myself out of the pool, shivering slightly as I snag a towel from a fold-out chair. I guess I just didn't get ahead of this situation. Get it? Because I hit my hea-. Forget it.

Speaking of large heads, Joe, my cousin, walks over to me from the stands. The pool is somewhat crowded, which is probably understandable. Especially when I realize half of the District is probably related to me. I'm serious, how do we have so many people look exactly alike? That's why I don't want to be with somebody from this district. Accidental incest is a no-no for me.

When he reaches me, he shakes his head and taps me on the head.

"Hello," he says in a drawn-out fashion. "You still have thirty minutes."

I take my towel and wrap it into a tight cone. When I make the cloth tighter than your mom, I whip it right at Joe, striking him on his leg. He shouts out in pain.

"Oops. Forgot that your thigh is bruised." I say with a smirk.

Joe rubs his thigh and grimaces. "Just go home, Paige. I don't wanna talk to you anymore."

"Well, you better enjoy it. One day, we're not gonna have this." I say in a sing-song voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that your the best cousin ever, and you should buy me some ice cream." I say.

Joe sighs as he walks toward the exit. I walk with him, draping the white towel around my shoulders. For some reason, I don't feel that good. When Joe asked what I meant, I obviously wanted to avoid what I was thinking. It's just that District Four is considered a career district, and I have been practicing for a while. Many around me wouldn't imagine that I would think about the games so much, but I just have a real tense feeling in my back. I don't want people to think i'm anther basket case; my brother dying in the Games and all. After that I tried to be the exact opposite of other people I didn't want to wallow in my sadness, but I guess I've felt kind of angry since. Then again, being angry is normal for people my age, right?

Maybe I should volunteer tomorrow. I'm tired of pretending to be so happy all the time. I'm so exhausted.

I bet this ice cream will help, though.

Joe gets my favorite root beer float. Not too healthy, but I have a smallish figure, so I shouldn't even think about it. We sit down by the sea, the waves crashing on the white sand as the wind lifted the sea-salt scent around us. It was so comforting, I'll miss it so much.

"So, i heard that old man down the street got arrested for Graffiti." Joe said.

I sputter out the arctic substance back into it's large glass bowl. "Is he insane. I told him to only do graffiti on his own house. So senile."

"You're not shocked about the fact that an eighty year old man does graffiti?"

"Nobody's perfect. I'm sure you'll still be a terrible fisher when your eighty."

Joe scowled. "I'm fine as a fisherman, thank you."

"I was kidding."

"If you admitted you were kidding whenever you actually were, every other sentence you said would be 'i was kidding.'" Joe says while rolling his eyes.

"You're starting to bring me down, Joe. Am I gonna have to tickle you again?"

"I'm not as ticklish as I was before."

"Really? Let's try that out."

I thrust my arm out across the table. Joe flinches and falls back. His head hits the cracked ground, and he lays there on the ground. I get on my hands and knees, and crawl over to him.

"You know, I wasn't going to actually tickle you." I said with a chuckle.

Joe simply flips me off.

It's times like these that make me a little sad. How will I handle it if I have to leave? There's a part of me that wants to give up. To stop fighting my urges and show people just how much negative energy I have. Where would I be if I was just honest with my emotions? Maybe tomorrow, I'll have that break. That shot to finally be free of hiding from myself. I just hope that it doesn't result in me being six feet under.


Romeo Caliteo P.O.V

I'm starting to think that this is not male mousse. Apparently, mousse is only used be females. I don't care. Anything to look my best for them. I spray some more cologne on myself. It might be overkill, but I think it smells great. It's not too fruity, and not too musty. It's the perfect swirl of smooth and classy; just like me.

Excuse me for sounding full of myself. I'm really not. I just like to be honest. That's another thing girls love. I spray the mousse on, and rub it into my blonde hair. Making sure it has my trademark gentle curls, I walk out of the bathroom. When I enter the spacious dining room, my mother is sitting on the leather couch. My brothers are standing by the door, ready to leave. My mom is trying to ignore me, but I know what is going through her mind. You see, this family has a pretty fucked up story. Long story short, my older brother died in the Games. Happy ending, right? Well, turns out, my brother got my mom pregnant, and she got an abortion on the twins she was going to have. Incest isn't something you hear of often, and hell if I was going to let that define who I am.

It's not that I'm trying to be a ladykiller as a facade. That's who I am. Anything to distract from my silly family. Her cooking isn't all that great, either. I take care of most of her motherly duties. She tries hard, but if you can't do it right, don't do it at all.

I walk out onto the busy street. I nod at my brothers, and we go our separate ways. I keep moving through the ocean of people. Suddenly, a girl in front of me has her leg buckle. She starts to fall backwards. Here's a golden opportunity you don't get everyday. I rush over and dip down, scooping her up into my arms. She gasps, and I move my head right to hers. Her blue eyes widen in surprise.

"Hello, princess." i say with a smile. She looks back at me, a light giggle coming from her.

"Hey, there."

I lift her up to her feet. "You know, I just saved your life."

She smirks. "Really? I've taken worse falls."

"Me too. How about this. Since I save your life, you owe me a favor. How about you come find me after the Games, and I'll set something up." I say with a wink.

"You're volunteering?"

"Of course. A man of my stature needs to show off once in a while." I say.

She giggles again. I blow her a quick kiss and leave. That was a little much, but I have to sell it. You never know. I might have a Games romance. It's tradition that every year or so, there is a romance. It was just recently that this tradition kind of almost destroyed the world. Oh well. Can't win them all.

I make it to the reaping area. It's simple enough. Another finger prick, shepherding into the pen like sheep, and a Capitol clown presenting the best blockbuster movie of the year: The video.

After that fluff is done, the guy reaches over to the bowl. He takes out a small slip of paper, and reads it out loud.

"Our first tribute is Miss Miley Cyrus."

"I volunteer."

Damn it. I wish no one volunteered. I knew that girl that was reaped. I really hated her. You might think of this as a surprise, but I actually don't like many of the girls in this district. They're not particularly trustworthy or smart, and most of them seem like carbon copies of each other. None of them have that balance of looks and culture that I crave for. I have tastes. Quite a few of the girls volunteer, but it's a smaller sparrow that snakes through the crowd and tumbles up towards the stage. I guess she seems nice enough. I really hoped that other girl would have gone up, though.

Now it's time to bring some real gentleman class into these Games. The man reaches in again, and swipes a small strip of paper.

"Our male tribute is a Mister Toby Turner."

I don't even bother to shout out my intentions. I bolt for the stage, pushing away a boy my age with short black hair and eyes. I guess he was the one that was reaped. I make it to the steps. After seeing no one around, I slow down. I have to be gracious, make a good impression, and show people that District Four is still king in the looks and gentleman department. I see the smaller girl with blonde hair. She smiles politely. I wonder if she is checking me out. I doubt it, though. She seems a little young, anyway. Regardless, I stroll over to her, and take her hand in mine. I lean down, and give it a quick peck. When I look up, her face is redder than a tomato. Mission accomplished. now, I just need to keep it up for the games. Soon, my family's problems will be a thing of the past.

I just need to relax, focus, and prove that I can be whoever I want. To my district, the Capitol, and my family. I won't be the black sheep ever again.


Hannah Montana and Tobuscus. That would be a very weird games indeed. If I do sponsoring, here is a question for sponsor points, which will be retroactively rewarded if I decide to do sponsors. If they were the final two, who would win the Games? Toby Turner, or Miley Cyrus. Please leave your answer in a review, along with a constructive review of this chapter. I need more tributes, folks. Tell your friends, your mom, and your grandma to send them in! Thank you!