Hey, I'm back! I decided to update again, since I'm going to my best friend's house for her birthday sleepover, and I won't be able to update then. I'll try to update everyday if possible, but at least every other day. So far I think I'm doing pretty good :-)

Annabeth-TheTributeThatLived: It's okay, she gets better, you'll see. Thanks so much, I'm happy that you found this story good enough to mention! Well, you'll see if Rose fails the ropes course now... but you won't be disappointed ;-)

The Bookworm (Guest)- Thanks! But, this takes place after the last chapter of Mockingjay, and yet before the epilogue of the same book. I guess it became confusing, but the prologue takes place a few months before the rest of the story, and in those few months is when everything else in MJ happened. Then again, this was a review for the first chapter, but sorry for the confusion.

Gabby delacour (Guest)- Yeah, I figured that out. The only reason she missed the target is so she wouldn't be flawless. But Katniss got a training score of eleven anyways, so Suzanne Collins' efforts were in vain :-/ Anyways, I'm just trying to prevent doing something that most authors do a lot. You know, not mentioning anything about not updating and then updating two months later with "sorry for not updating but I was on vacation for two months and it just slipped my mind," or something like that *sweatdrops*

Supportsthebullyed: Katniss is pretty strict and untrusting at this point, and Rose's innocence is giving her a painful reminder of Prim, Rue, etc. So she's trying not to get attached to Rosie so that it won't be as painful for her when/if she dies. Also, Linda's just a suspicious person in general, but she means well :-)

Thank you for all the lovely reviews I've been getting, reviews make me want to update more often and let me know that people aren't overlooking my story.

On with the chapter!

Rose

"It's okay, Rose. Just climb the ladder, get through the course, and climb back down. You'll do fine."

That was how Bambii had tried to reassure me. I had broken it down into three steps. Step one; climb ladder. Step two; complete course. Step three; climb down ladder.

I place my hand on the final step of the ladder, hauling myself up until I am standing on a small, metal platform.

Step one, finished.

I look across the ropes, and estimate that the course must be at least ten feet across, if not more. I look down, to see Linda give me a thumbs-up, Amor shaking his head sadly, the 'Careers' laughing, and Bambii and Zinc standing next to each other. Bambii is hiding her eyes with her hands, while Zinc switches between looking up at me and comforting Bambii.

They must be really good friends. I wonder if they had met before the Games.

Maybe Zinc knows about Bambii's memory, too.

I look back at the ropes, trying to decide whether or not to get back on the ladder and go back down. But I know I can't, because if I got myself into this mess, then I need to get myself out.

Even if it means breaking a few bones.

I reach out my hand, grabbing onto the first piece of rope. I quickly do the same with my other hand, before taking a deep breath and stepping off the platform.

Wait, what am I thinking? I can't do this, I'll definitely fall! This is ridiculous, I think quickly, tightening my grip on the rope.

I panic when I remember there's nothing separating me and the floor, making me grip the rope even harder. I don't dare myself to look down, because I know I'll probably lose my breakfast.

I finally relax as much as possible, which isn't saying very much. I think of Lizzy, and my mom, and Isa, and Analex, and I realize that I'm not accomplishing anything by just hanging out up here… quite literally.

I loosen my grip with one hand, keeping a tight hold with the other, and move it to the next piece of rope. I get a tight grip on the next one before letting go of the first, moving my hand to the next one. I count in my head how many pieces of rope are left.

Twenty-two… oh, how nice, one for each tribute, I think sarcastically, moving to the third rope. As I move through the ropes, I try to think of something that has to do with that number.

Twenty-one; that was how old mom was when Lizzy was born.

Twenty; mom's age when she and dad got married.

Nineteen; mom's favorite number. She had said that it had to do with freedom, and I guess it was meaning that it was the age people in the Districts didn't have to worry about being Reaped anymore.

Eighteen; how old mom was when she met my dad.

Seventeen; the age of my oldest cousin.

Sixteen; Lizzy's age after her birthday next year. I hope I can celebrate with her…

Fifteen; the age of my other cousin.

Fourteen; Lizzy's favorite number.

Thirteen; Linda's age. I feel a wave of sadness as I realize that Linda might never turn fourteen, but I force myself to keep moving.

Twelve; my age, as well as Analex's and Isa's.

Eleven; my age a few days ago, and the age of the characters in one of my favorite books.

Ten; Analex's favorite number. She couldn't wait for her tenth birthday. She even made a countdown. I can almost hear her voice in my head, "One hundred seventy-nine days, four hours, nine minutes, fifty seconds, One hundred seventy-nine days, four hours, nine minutes, forty-six seconds…"

Nine; how many books I can read in a month. I've tried, I really have. I just can't get that tenth book in…

Eight; my favorite number… for no apparent reason.

Seven; how many years mom and dad had been married.

Six; how old Lizzy wa-

"Rose, look out!"

I'm interrupted from my train of thought by Linda's voice. I turn my head towards her and instantly panic. A knife is flying right toward my face, and it isn't very far away. Instinctively, I move my hands to cover my face, before realizing just where I am.

I scream, trying to grab onto the piece of rope, or anything, for that matter. However, I'm already falling, flailing my arms around, and trying to miraculously catch onto something that would keep me from falling. I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, not caring at the moment that I just lost the bet I made with the Career girl- I don't know her name yet, but I'm sure I'll learn it soon enough.

The knife flies over my head, barely missing my face. It latches onto one of the ropes, almost cutting it off but not quite. Of course, I don't think anything of how lucky I am that a knife just almost hit my eye, but didn't. For all I know, I could be falling to my death. The last thing on my mind is the knife.

As I fall, I try to think of what will happen if I die from this. There won't be enough tributes to compete, and I wonder if they'll drag Lizzy into this, too. Hopefully not, because then I will have volunteered for nothing. Then I realize, wait, I'm not going to die from a fifteen-foot-fall, I'll just get seriously injured. At the moment, though, I can't tell which would be worse.

Suddenly, I feel a rush of pain shoot through my head as it hits the floor. The rest of my body follows, and I hear a sickening snap as my ankle hits. I instinctively reach my hand over to cover my ankle, but my wrist hurts so much that I can't move it. I use my other hand, and realize that my ankle landed in an unusual way and is lying limply on the floor. I hear frantic footsteps, and lots of voices, but my head throbs in pain so much that I can't tell them apart.

"Rose, are you okay?"

"Do you need help?"

"Ha, serves her right for messing with me!"

"Knock it off, Itis!"

"Why should I?"

"What happened?"

"She fell off because they threw a knife at her."

"It was my idea!"

"You sound like it was a good idea!"

"It was!"

"No, it wasn't! She's hurt! She needs a doctor."

Two people sit down beside me, and I recognize one of them as Linda. The other one has short, dark blue hair and warm brown eyes.

"Bambii, are you sure she's going to be okay?" Linda asks, her voice filled of concern.

Bambii...Oh yeah, Bambii! I have only known her for a day, but it seems like a lot longer than that. My head is still in a lot of pain, my right wrist is sore, and I can't even feel my left ankle, which I take as a bad sign. Other than that, my back hurts a little, but I can't tell if it's serious or not.

"I can't tell, but it seems like she's sprained her wrist. I don't know about her ankle, though. It's most likely broken."

Sprained wrist… broken ankle…

"At least it's nothing too serious," another voice adds. I immediately realize that it's Amor, my sister's best friend in all of Panem.

"We'll have to take her to a doctor, though. I'm not a professional at any of this," Bambii adds, her voice filled of worry.

"You might as well be…" Zinc mumbles. He's standing on the other side of me, and I just barely heard him.

"Huh?" Bambii asks.

"Nothing," Zinc says quickly. I would smile, but under the circumstances, I don't think I should.

I think they might be more than just friends…

Bambii shrugs, and I can tell that she didn't hear him. I debate on whether or not I should tell her, but I decide not to. Atala walks quickly out of the control room, and as a bunch of doctors walk in through another door, the pain in my head becomes so unbearable that I slowly fade into unconsciousness.

Uh oh, Rose is hurt! Whatever will we do? *sarcastic over-reaction*

She gets better in time for the Games, don't worry. Well, not completely better, but you'll see the side effect later. Much, much later...

So, how did you like the chapter? I'm attempting to go into more detail about everything, so... yeah. Did you like how she tried to link every number with something significant about her life? I know, it was pathetic and it was mostly ages, but I attempted a few other things. Also, the favorite book that Rose was talking about is 11 Birthdays. I forget the author of it, but it's about two people who were born on the same day. On their 11th birthday, the day began repeating over and over again. They had stopped being friends, but they had to work out their differences to get everything back to normal. It's a really good book, and I'd suggest it to anyone looking for something to read.

Enough rambling, don't forget to review and vote! The votes are beginning to come in, I can't wait to see what the most popular District is!

Still can't think of an ending sign,

~Dawn101907