AUTHOR'S NOTE: I actually went through the trouble of naming each and every tribute myself. This chapter is a little longer than the others, and sheds light on the tribute names, as well as their training scores. However, remember that a training score is still just a number, and has no bearing on how well or how dismally a tribute will perform once they are thrown into the arena. Also, I'm far enough ahead that I can change my posting to every 3 days or so now.

CHAPTER 10: The Scores

The next few days passed in similar patterns to the others. Wes could still not decipher what the careers all thought of Ava, but the girl stayed close to Chel, who seemed to want to protect her. One thing did become clear to Wes during the training—overall, the tributes, including the careers, were generally much more sociable and friendly to each other. He had heard that earlier in the games, even as early as Katniss' time, they were not on such friendly terms. In fact, Katniss even claimed that it happened after the quarter quell when the new training center opened.

Wes' socialization was not without benefits though. He managed to ally himself with the District 11 pair, and they even got along decently well with Ava, but were wary of her because of that towering girl from District 2 that seemed to follow her a lot. He also learned that the boy from District 10, named Rook, had volunteered in place of a friend. Wes sort of hoped that if he or Ava could not win, that someone with an intent as noble as that one would be able to take the victor's crown.

Today was different though. The time had finally arrived for the private sessions between the tributes and the Gamemakers, where everyone got a chance to show off their skills to the judges that they might have kept hidden from everyone else.

"My advice," Vigo told them at breakfast before they were to go downstairs to wait their turn, "is don't hold back—show them your all."

"If you're still so hellbent on impressing the careers," Wes turned to his sister, "now's the time to do it. Show the Gamemakers all you've got, and if you score high, you'll probably appeal to them." He had given up trying to dissuade her from this little ambition of hers, and even Vigo was at a loss. Maybe she could get away with siding with them, even if it was District 2 that had offed his partner years ago.

Ava simply shrugged, and Wes shook his head. "what'd I tell you, Vigo," he turned to the mentor, "she's not easy to communicate with."
"I can see that." Vigo put his fingers to his chin, scratching the stubble he had there. "But my advice still stands, so you two best be getting ready and head on down there."
To cut a long story short, soon Wes and Ava found themselves waiting at the end of a long line of tributes. Some were chatty; others leaned against the wall and slept while they waited their turns. Ava simply leaned back and closed her eyes, almost accepting of her fate. Wes shook his head; he couldn't understand that girl sometimes, and he was her brother. If he couldn't understand her, who could?

The line of tributes got smaller and smaller as each one got called in to demonstrate their skills to the Gamemakers. Soon, it was Wes' turn.

"Good luck," he smiled at Ava, "wish me the same."
Ava actually did wish Wes luck before he entered the training hall. He turned to the Gamemakers before beginning his performance.

Wes displayed decent skill with a sword, and promising skills as a hunter or trapper. He was a fairly decent shot with a bow, although he surely felt that the careers had outdone him. Still, as long as his score was not anything embarrassingly low (like anything below a 4, really), he would be content. After about 15 minutes or so, he was dismissed like all the others, and Ava was called. She would be the one to wrap this all up for her, and Wes gave her a hug before letting her go.

By the time Ava returned to the apartment, Wes and the others were there. They were mostly just biding time till the announcement of training scores came up. Amadeus and Celine dismissed themselves early to go put the finishing touches on Wes and Ava's interview outfits, while the others watched the TV for the upcoming tribute scores. Soon, the announcement had arrived.

"Ladies and Gentlemen—the training scores of this year's tributes, for the 91st Annual Hunger Games."
Wes and Ava watched the screen intently.

"Zaffre Jade; District 1, with a score of… 10"
Neither Wes nor Ava were surprised at this. He was a career tribute, and so of course he'd score high.

"Lazuli Cohen; District 1, with a score of… 9"
Wes had expected her to get a little higher, but 9 was still a very respectable score and was hard to beat.

"Chaco Haden; District 2, with a score of… 10"
These careers were shaping up to be just as dangerous as they were reputed to be. It made Wes worry even more for Ava, although he remained silent for the time being.

"Chel Colorado; District 2, with a score of… 12"
Ava's expression changed to one of awe and amazement, while Wes shook his head. It did not terribly surprise him that the tall girl had scored so high. She seemed proficient at more or less everything she had put her hands to. She would be difficult to bring down.

"Samuel Fukui; District 3, with a score of… 11"
District 3 usually had mid-high scores, since they were usually clever rather than strong. Perhaps this Samuel fellow was a little bit of both. He would definitely be dangerous.

"Alice Kahn; District 3, with a score of… 8"
That seemed more reasonable to Wes, although he was sure she'd still be a formidable opponent.

"Cress Tallulah; District 4, with a score of… 9"
So the diminutive career tributes had done fairly well. He figured his partner would score high too.

"Iris Durango; District 4, with a score of… 12"
He was right, and that didn't bode well. Wes felt it would be a battle between Chel and Iris for the victor's crown. Iris was a rather small girl—young too.

"Volta Tabris; District 5, with a score of… 6"
That was more in what Wes figured would be his range. Then again, the scores were not even necessarily odds of winning—just how much the Gamemakers liked what they had seen.

"Violet Crossley; District 5, with a score of… 7"
He greatest concerns were now over, although there were still plenty more tributes to watch scores for. After all, there was more of a threat than just the careers.

"Kendryx Morocco; District 6, with a score of… 7"
District 6 was always hard to read, as they seemed to march to their own beat. Their tributes were often at least fairly competent though.

"Candie Rielley; District 6, with a score of… 9"
Even Vigo was fairly quiet during these interviews, but a quick glance towards his expression told Wes that he had some things to say when this was all done and over.

"Lombardi Mason; District 7, with a score of… 8"
District 7, much like District 3, might not have been a career district officially, but it usually produced reasonably strong tributes. When Wes saw the girl's score, he reminded himself of this.

"Magnolia Chang; District 7, with a score of… 11"
She'd be a dangerous one—she had outscored three of the four primary careers. With each new score, he seemed to get more pessimistic about his outcome.

"Roy O'Donnell; District 8, with a score of… 10"
Wes shook his head. Was each of them going to score such crazy high numbers? He thought that the 10s, 11s, and 12s were something that only Districts 1 and 2 ever achieved.

"Wynn Butler; District 8, with a score of… 7"
This was one of the only scores that was not terribly above average—it seemed that most of this year's batch of tributes all seemed to have promising potential.

"Jordan Finkel; District 9, with a score of… 4"
Okay, so maybe there would be at least one tribute Wes might be able to outscore.

"Ashley Ursine; District 9, with a score of… 5"
Then again, maybe he was just being hard on himself. He had a tendency to do so; or so said Ava.

"Rook Jackson; District 10, with a score of… 6"
For someone who had volunteered, Wes had expected him to score higher. Then again, maybe he was pulling that trick where he feigned weakness just to turn into a killer in the arena. A lot of tributes from the lower districts did this a lot.

"Megan Crossland; District 10, with a score of… 5"
Perhaps Districts 11 and 12 would be able to provide their usual curve and score above the rest. Wes' mind was dwelling on a lot of these numbers, but as his approached, he grew tenser.

"Florence Hadley; District 11, with a score of… 8"
8 was a decent score—it was often a score career tributes got, even if this year they had all scored rather spectacularly well. Then again, District 11's victors had established themselves as cunning and resilient folks. Maybe that passed on to their tributes.

"Ginger Sevina; District 11, with a score of… 8"
Surely the mentors of these tributes were also rather spectacular at their jobs if they were able to turn simple farmers into masters of combat and survival. Wes was almost envious, though Vigo had done him well, and he was not about to belittle the man. Still, this was his moment—his score was up nexdt, and so he watched the screen without even blinking.

"Wesley Togisala; District 12, with a score of… 7"
Average—he did average. Okay, it was a little above average, which meant that he might have had a little chance. He was currently ranked about 15th or 16th unless Ava outscored him. He imagined that it was fully possible if he was to believe everything that Chel taught her.

"Aveline Togisala; District 12, with a score of… 5"
He turned to his sister almost in disbelief. Whatever she had learned or did had apparently not been very impressive, and he sighed.

"I know what you're going to say," she retorted before Wes could even open his mouth. "Don't say it. I know what I did, and I know what I should have done. There's no taking back the past though."
Wes shook his head as well. 21st—Ava had taken 21st in terms of scoring. He did not think that it would end well for her, but he politely remained in silence.