Grace has found some sort of brass instrument for this morning's wake up. The harsh, metallic sound does nothing to cure the butterflies in my stomach. Today, this whole experience goes from faintly amusing to seriously stressful. As I dress in my odd, wetsuit-looking garment with '4' written on the sleeves to differentiate me from the other fish at the market, I contemplate how the score given by the Gamemakers, fat men who don't really care whether I live or die, will affect my chances of surviving the next two weeks. I sit down at the breakfast table and begin helping myself to some smoked salmon and scrambled eggs.
Finnick pours himself some juice and flicks open a newspaper. 'Scarlett, your odds are 10-1.'
I gulp. Those are the same as the odds the doctors gave Coral's grandfather when he had a heart attack. He did survive, but they were surprised.
Christian grins sheepishly. 'Any chance of telling me mine?'
'Yours are 15-1. Not too bad, actually. Your friend from 3 has the worst, hers are 30-1.'
'Her name is Arielle and she is currently trying to create a hallucinogen so powerful that she won't even know she's in the games when she dies.'
Finnick raises his eyebrows. 'Right. Well, here we are; private session day. You two aren't the worst tributes ever to walk these halls, but manage your expectations and, despite your instincts, remember that these people could mean the difference between life and death for you anytime in the next couple of weeks.'
'Guys, I love you and, despite your better judgement, remember to kiss arse like there is no tomorrow and smile like you're loving it here,' declares Grace, tossing her Capitol-straightened brown hair. I see her take a little pill out of a small plastic container and down it with some watermelon juice whilst Finnick isn't looking. Even if I do make it out of this mess, things are never going to be the same.
The avoxes clear up breakfast and we head down to the waiting room for private training. Arielle begins excitedly explaining her drug recipe to Christian, hazel eyes sparkling, complete with the most epic hand gestures I have ever seen. I turn to Cassie. 'So, what's the plan?'
'Acrobatics, edible plants and medicine. You?'
I have absolutely no idea, but I'm not about to tell my only ally that. 'I'm thinking knife skills, spear throwing and perhaps an underwater display.'
Cassie nods approvingly. 'Have they got anything for us inner district people to do this afternoon whilst everyone else is doing private training?'
'I don't know. Do you want to come to D4 HQ for lunch?'
'Sure. It's better than hanging out with Mr Doom-and-Gloom all afternoon.' She points at her district partner, who has an unrivalled forehead crease and is currently staring forlornly at the wall. 'He actually had a good life back home. I don't pity him though; he actually got some training before coming here.'
'Christian's even more screwed than I am.'
Cassie giggles. 'I noticed. Do you have any idea what he's going to do in there?'
'Not a clue. I hope he doesn't score too badly though.'
We continue to chat about a whole manner of things before I get called up to go in. I wander into the room. It is a large, sparsely decorated hall with weapons dotted around the place. The Gamemakers state at me intently. I smirk at them. I don't know why I just did that. Damn, now I actually have to do something. I scan the wall for the button that Finnick told me about. It is small and blue and quite well-hidden. I head towards it and press it.
A good-sized stream appears through the centre of the room and a plan begins to form in my head. This could either go very well or very badly. I grab a spear and wander in, hoping that my wetsuit-looking thing is actually waterproof. I catch a couple of fat trout and swim to the other side of the stream, spear in hand, to the fire station. I leave the fish and the spear there and go to the edible plants and pick some parsley and rosemary. I take a knife from the knife-throwing station and go back to the fire station where my fish and spear are. I rub the herbs into the fish, spear them, construct a small fire and put them on to roast.
I swim up and down the stream some more before taking the fish off. The water feels fantastic against my body and for a moment I can forget that I have a 90% chance of not making it through the next two weeks. I get out and call for an avox and a plate. The Gamemakers look somewhat surprised, but they send one down anyway. I put the fish on the plate and tell the avox to take it up to Seneca Crane. My heart is pounding. I really hope he likes it…
One of the other Gamemakers dismisses me before Seneca finishes my fish, so I am left in suspense. Oh well. I suppose I can't do any more. I go up to D4 HQ and wait for Cassie.
'How was it?' askes Christian. I make an interesting noise and he nods. 'I climbed some trees and made some traps. Then, at the end I made a zipwire.'
I snort. 'Well done, Christian.'
The door opens and Grace struts in, laden with shopping bags. 'It's PARTY TIME!' She empties the bags. I think she may have bought all of the junk food in the Capitol. I have never seen so many different flavours of goldfish crackers. 'Finnick told me I shouldn't be feeding you this stuff, but let's face it; you were never going to win anyway, so I figured you should eat what you want.'
We arrange all of the food on the table and Cassie walks in. Her forest green eyes go wide. 'I picked the right district to ally with.'
'Is there anyone else you want to invite?' mumbles Grace, with a mouth full of caramel chocolate buttons. The people from districts 2, 3 and Cassie's district partner are added to the guest list and Grace calls the relevant mentors. 'This is going to be the best post-Gamemaker session party ever,' she squeals.
Our guests arrive and we start up the party. Clove nearly passes out when she sees the food. 'They never let us eat this stuff at the Academy,' she squeaks, grinning like she's had a divine vision. Even her hulkish district partner joins in, although he only eats the 80% dark chocolate. The boy from 5, Christian and Arielle discover that they all like the same music, although Arielle likes this band called Bile on the Dancefloor and apparently they are terrible.
I introduce Cassie and Clove to the magic of goldfish crackers and we spend the afternoon discussing actual teenage girl things instead of our chances of surviving the next week. This party is the best idea anyone's had all week. Even Enobaria looks like she's having a good time.
Then, Alvarina, ever the party pooper, disturbs the merriment. 'WHAT is THIS?! The scores are being presented in 10 minutes and you're having a PARTY?!' I think I can see a vein pulsing underneath all of her makeup.
Sammy, the mentor from District 5, sighs. 'I think we should probably go then. Thanks, District 4!'
Everyone leaves and we sit down to watch the scores. Even the stylists have turned up for the occasion, although they glare haughtily at the leftover junk food as they walk past. I ignore them and continue to guzzle the pink lemonade, made pink by a chemical that even Beetee couldn't pronounce the name of.
I tune in with a start as Christian's face appears on the screen. A 7 flashes up and our crew claps heartily. Grace even thumps him on the back. 'YAYYY! YOU GOT OVER A 5! Three cheers for Christian!'
As soon as we finish cheering for Christian, my score comes on. I got…a 9?! Really!? This is a bloody miracle.
Finnick grabs the last of the chocolate cake and offers it around. 'You know what? I think you two could actually make it out of this.'
Interviews next. Oh dear. This should be interesting…
