A/N continued from last chapter... (Note: Not all of you might know who Bret is, but I will tell you that he is from my Adventures of a Modern Day Middle Schooler story! He is in fact a stalker. One obsessed with hair care products. Also, Jake and James are from my story.)

Me: -freaking out- Bret! Why the heck is he back?

Amanda: Calm down, at least Jake isn't here.

Jake: -appears-

Fang: Um... James?

James: -appears-

Me: Ugh! Wait... Space Unicorn?

Space Unicorn: -doesn't appear-

Me: Seriously?

TRIBUTES

District 1: (F) Luciana Remeington (G-L-I-M-M-E-R-ESSENCE)

(M) Rowan Herono (Powerhouse214)

District 2: (F) Keatie

(M) Eevan

District 3: (F) Aaliyah

(M) Jewel Wade (Lionheart0910)

District 4: (F) Calypso (Vampirechica12345)

(M) Fabian

District 5: (F) Rebecca Salvador (KatofFlorida)

(M) Jack

District 6: (F) Cassava Everhart (Liza Halliwell)

(M) Salem

District 7: (F) Roxanne Avery (Trueventer)

Cable

District 8: (F) Ebony

Damek

District 9: (F) Dahlia

Yadon

District 10: (F) Radella

(M) Pier

District 11: (M) Canis Latrans (The Browneyed Bookworm)

(F) Orlena Collins (MeadowRose)

District 12: (F) Kerralynn Mazy (Amanda j granger)

Zachary (Zach) Thompson (Me)

News: If you guys are Harry Potter fans, you should check out my new story, Twisted. It's the childhood of Voldemort. Also, Amanda Katniss Granger has started a petition to make a Kingdom Keepers movie. PM her to sign!

Chapter 9

Zach's POV

I hear a faint whispering sound at my door, sounding discreetly like someone calling my name.

Probablyjuststress,I think. After all, the interview is tomorrow.

I settle back down, but then the voice comes again. "Zach!" it says sharply.

I walk over to the door and open it expecting to find some kind of hallucination. No hallucination, only Luciana.

I blush. Getting all worked up over nothing? Not really my style.

Surprisingly, Luciana doesn't look irritated. Just... Pale. Strange for her.

"What's-" I begin, but she cuts me off, "Just come with me."

She leads me down the dark hall, ducking every time we pass a doorway.

She takes a few turns, then up a set of stairs. I follow.

She pushes open a door that I know leads to the roof.

She locks it, while I make sure that we're alone.

"Now you have to tell me," I say.

Luciana pales, but doesn't mutter a word.

"Come on," I encourage, and pull her over to a small bench. "You can tell me anything. We'll always be friends."

Tears well up in Luciana's eyes. "That doesn't help," she says meekly. "I'm head-over-heels for you. I'm in love. But I can't be."

"I'm in love, too. With a very beautiful girl," I'm surprised at how easily the words come out of my mouth. "But I can't be in love either. The Hunger Games."

She nods. "That's sort of it." Her voice begins to win back some of its strong character. "But not all. We'll have to kill each other. You and I. If we're allies. That's why we can't be."

I'm shocked. The energetic girl who asked me is now rejecting?

"I could have had good allies," I say quietly. "But now they're all taken. No one would be my ally."

"I'm sorry!" she cries desperately. "I just didn't want it to come down to us!"

"There's more to it than that!" I shout. "It'll probably come down to us anyway, and you know that!" I take a deep breath then say rudely, "I bet you already have allies picked out. That's why you're dumping me to fend for myself."

She nods guiltily. "I had to, though! I can't kill you! Hopefully the Careers will already have killed you-" She realizes what she's been saying and slaps her hand over her mouth in shock. "I'm sorry!" Tears stream down her cheeks.

"It's them, isn't it?" I say softly. "And you all probably already picked out my death. You want me dead! Out of the way!"

"No," says a desperate Luciana. "You misunderstood me... I didn't mean what you think!"

I wave her off. "You never cared about me. It was all for your own benefit. All of it. Lies!" I run across the roof and throw open the door.

"You can die, for all I care!" I shout over my shoulder. And I mean it. Every word.

Me: Fang! Amanda! Barricade the house!

Amanda: Okay! -starts throwing poptarts against the door-

Fang: Okay- Wait. What are you going to do?

Me: -eating poptart- Supervise.

R&R? Space Unicorn still won't appear...