Chapter nine:

The next day was the day the Tributes would go before the Game-makers to receive our test scores. This was a closed session where we would be given the opportunity to increase our chances of getting sponsors. We were marked out of a grade of 12, 1 being very bad and 12 being very good. Being on either end of the extremes could also increase the enemies we had as the Careers could use our scores to see us as easy pickings or as a threat, being ranked in the middle meant that you might be able to fly under the radar while the Careers picked off the extremes.

Therefore for this reason, James and I were going to make sure that we showed the Game makers we had potential to get sponsors but we had to do it in a way that would keep the enemies off our backs for as long as possible.

The session would start at midday and all of the Tributes met down in the foyer before the training gym. We were all dressed in our training uniforms as usual and sat along two benches against opposite walls in our pairs waiting for the Game-makers to call for the first Tribute which would be Markus from District 1.

The air was a lot tenser between us as we sat there in silence. Mixed emotions were running high such as fear from the younger Tributes, arrogance from a few of the Tributes and even dread.

Beside me James was bouncing his knee up and down nervously and his hands were clasped in front of him. I could feel waves of pent up energy radiating off him that was starting to make me nervous and several times I had to close my eyes against the nausea that followed making me want to throw up the small breakfast that I had barely swallowed down this morning.

To distract myself and to make the time pass I once again began to survey my fellow Tributes as I had been doing since I first arrived. On the bench opposite us, Markus and Diamond were lounging with an air of confidence and arrogance. Markus sneered when he caught me watching and I quickly looked away down the bench.

Megara was sitting between Diamond and Hunter who had his head tipped back against the wall and his arms crossed as though he was taking a nap in a display of boredom and dismissal. Megara on the other hand looked like I felt. Her face was a bit paler than usual against her dark hair and she was slouched back in her seat. The Tributes of District 3 were about the same height as Hunter but their thin structures next to his thick build made them look frail in comparison and I wondered what they would show the Game-makers.

Irvette was playing with a strand of her orange bronze hair and I could see a muscle twitch in her jaw as Merrick casually draped a huge arm around her shoulders like he did the first time they met during their Reaping.

Beside Merrick was the two Tributes of District 5. I'd remembered that the male who was no older than 13 was called Volt but I still could not recall the young girl's name.

To their right was Ilium, our ally. He was mimicking James' pose with his hands clasped and I caught his eye as his eyes danced around the room fearfully. Bow was next to him but her eyes were glued to a spot on the floor and she didn't once look up as though she was trying to make herself less of a target.

Another Career, Rowan from District 7 was near the end of his bench with Hazel to his right. He lacked the casual arrogance that the Careers usually oozed but nevertheless he made up for it in the brooding looks he gave the other Tributes.

James and I sat on the opposite bench nearest to the gym doors and I had to lean forward slightly to look down the line at the other Tributes.

Beside James were Argo and Tex from District 9. Argo was quite small for her age and my eyes almost skated right past her. She was very good at camouflage and I could almost bet that she would last long in the arena just by the fact that she could just disappear while we all battled it out.

Tex was a Career and I didn't like the way he was clicking his knuckles and giving some of the already scared Tributes menacing looks. At one stage he caught my eye and gave me a look which I responded to by rolling my eyes. I didn't want him to know that deep down he did intimidate me.

Next to Tex was the female Tribute from District 10. She looked a little despairingly at Tex and didn't look at all comfortable sitting so close to him.

I glanced to her right and took in Colt's casual posture. He had crossed one leg so that his ankle balanced on his knee. He was leaning forward slightly and his dark hair flopped slightly over his forehead as his eyes roved lazily around the room before falling to me.

His eyes burnt trails over me as he took me in as I had done to him and I held back a shiver as his eyes met mine and his deep confession from the day before echoed in the back of my mind. I stared back at him until a lazy smile crept onto his face making me blush furiously as I realized I had been staring.

I jerked back in my seat and at the same moment the gym doors were opened and a Peacekeeper in a familiar white uniform stepped into the foyer.

"The Game-makers will see you now, starting with District 1, Markus." The Peacekeeper informed us in his deep voice. Markus stood and gave us all an arrogant salute and was escorted into the gym.

I let out a deep breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding and tried to calm the staggered beating in my chest. I wasn't sure if it had been caused by my fear of not performing well of if it Colt who had startled such a reaction in me.

Time slowly ticked forward and I watched not very patiently as each Tribute disappeared into the gym making an effort not to look in Colt's direction. Some of the Tributes took more time before the Game-makers then others but it was hard to tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Finally the bench opposite us had cleared and Hazel of District 7 had already been in the gym for some time.

I jumped sharply when the Peacekeeper opened the door for me and James gave me a reassuring pat on the back. "Just do what you do best." He whispered to me.

I nodded once and stood catching Colt's eyes again as I turned to the door and walked stiffly inside.

The gym had been rearranged so that the weapons racks were placed just below the Game-makers lounge and everything else had been cleared away save for practise dummies and survival station tables that could be used if we wished to use them for our performance. The Game-makers were seated in their usual lounge area above the gym and I noticed a buffet had been laid out for them. The Game-makers were starting to look a little bored but they at least were relatively focused on the matter at hand when I came in.

"Helen Forge, District 8." I said and was pleased when my voice didn't waver. A couple of the spectators nodded and the head Game-maker gestured his hand as if to say 'proceed'.

I glanced at the weapons racks until I found the one I wanted and stalked straight forward. A few of the spectators murmured when they saw my choice of weapons and one actually spat out a laugh.

I know I didn't look like much but their blatant amusement and lack of respect made me irritated. My hand had come to rest on the medium sized axe that I had used yesterday in our private session but though I tried to make myself grab it I found that I couldn't. I knew that I had to fly under the radar and just show my skills but that suddenly didn't seem to matter. My hand moved without me asking it to and I grabbed the much larger and heavier axe next to it. This one only had a single blade on it like the one I used at home but it had a long handle and the blade was very wide and curved elegantly at the lower end.

My shoulder dropped a bit when I picked it up and I gritted my teeth as I lifted my arm higher in an effort to make it seem as though the axe weighed nothing to me.

I dragged three dummies into the middle of the room and then set myself up before them bracing myself and testing the added weight of the axe. I had to balance carefully to accommodate it unless I wanted to fall head over heels.

I closed my eyes for a second feeling the eyes of the spectators on me and let myself reveal in the small power I held over them in this moment.

Then without further thought I swung out to carve a huge crevice across the first dummies chest I then swung the axe back up to my shoulder to cleave the first dummies head clean off before drawing the axe around my head. I spun to the right using the momentum of the axe to hack the arm off the next dummy and starting making mince meat of that one too.

Fake limbs littered the floor and I marvelled at the ease of which I was able use the axe despite its weight. The length of the handle meant that I could reach my opponent without moving too close or I could move my hands up its length closer to the blades to put more power behind the movements for more damage.

The third dummies' head fell to the floor to join the first two with my last swing and I stilled myself gasping and sweating. My arms felt like lead and they slumped dropping the axe to the floor. The blade connected with the ground and its metallic clanging echoed through the empty room before it fell silent again.

I turned around to face the Game-makers and my eyes widened as I saw the spectators who where all in various stages of disbelief or admiration or even suspicion. Only a few were still seated the rest were on their feet gazing at me and what was left of the dummies at my feet. One looked as though he had spilled his drink and I recognized him at the one who had laughed at me. I returned the favour my letting out a snicker in his direction and was satisfied when his face coloured red and he looked away in embarrassment though I knew I would probably pay for it later.

The head Game-maker gave me a small nod when I looked to him and I stalked out of the room leaving the mess on the floor and the room still shock still.

I went straight to the eighth floor and ignored Ray and Pamelda when the stood up as I burst in. I locked myself in my room and pressed myself against the door hardly daring to breath. What had I done? I thought to myself. I wasn't meant to push myself so far but anger had clouded my judgement and now I had most certainly painted a target on my back as they would either rank me so low that I would be targeted and not given any sponsors or they would rank me high giving me sponsors but dooming me to be targeted as a threat. My only hope now was that James didn't let Ray and Celia down so that he might not share the same fate.

Celia knocked on my door seconds later trying to get me to open up. I pushed off the door and sank onto my bed putting my pillow over my head to drown out the world.

No such luck. I felt gentle hands pry the pillow away and I looked up to see Celia leaning over me.

"How did you get in?" I grumbled.

She laughed softly, "I picked the lock, had to keep myself sane somehow back in District 8." She tucked a stray lock of my hair behind my ears in a sort of motherly act and sighed. "Now are you going to tell me what happened down there or do I have to go and waste my time eavesdropping just to get it out of someone else?"

I groaned irritated at her persistence. "I just overreacted. I shouldn't have acted how I did but I just I got so angry." I sat up and crossed my legs. I replayed it all for her grudgingly and I was sure she would be mad that I had deviated from our plan

But to my surprise Celia laughed, "Oh I wish I could have seen their reactions I bet they got the shock of the century!" When she saw my confused expression she added, "Don't worry, I'll make sure Ray isn't too mad. Besides it doesn't matter what you did, I'm sure we would have reacted the same way and this could be a good thing."

"But it could be a bad thing also!" I cried, "What if they decide to punish me?"

Celia laughed again, her earrings glittering in the light. "Why would they? You did nothing wrong. This was a test to show them what you are made of and you did just that. The worst they could do would be to give you a bad score and I'm sure they won't." She fell serious after that, her eyes darkening. "You just showed them that you are a big competitor in this game and worth watching. They're going to want to keep you around so long as you give them a good show. That's all they want."

She frowned and played with one of her earrings before looking at me sadly, "You see my earrings?" she asked me.

I nodded curiously seeing almost 20 earrings spread out across both ears.

"Well you may have noticed that I get new earrings every time I come to the Capitol. I only ever come during the Hunger Games and I never get more than two new piercings and sadly never less than two..."

It dawned on me then, where she was going, "Oh,"

She nodded, "Every year I get a new piercing to mark the death of a Tribute that I failed to save. I get them as a reminder of my failure to save the lives of those children like I could not save the Tributes I faced in the arena in order to save myself." She pulled down the collar on her shirt and showed me a blood red tattoo of names just above her heart.

"Are those their names?" I asked her.

She nodded tightly and slipped the collar higher covering it up again. "The Capitol might forget them all as the years go by. But I remember them all and I will continue to remember and cherish them when no one else will. But you won't be remembered this way." She said firmly, "You are going to live your life until you are an old lady watching her grandchildren grow up. This much I have never been sure of until now."

A stray tear runs down the side of her face and I watch as it drops onto my duvet feeling the unsettling feeling in my heart take over.

What if I did win? Would I be able to live without James? How could there be a slither of hope that was only big enough for one of us? What if it wasn't big enough for one of us if it meant loosing the other?

I was distracted from my despair when the door opened and James strode in. Celia subtly wiped her tears away and plastered a smile on her face trying to be brave.

"How did it go?" She asked him.

"Well, I think. But what did you do?" James asked me, "I went in there and the Game-makers were all wound up about something and were distracted at best."

I rolled my eyes and replayed what I had told Celia. James found it amusing too but was more concerned than Celia had been, "That was stupid Helen, and you could pay for this if the Career's decide to take you out first."

"I know," I said, I had already tormented myself with enough 'what ifs' for one day and was seriously in need of a break from this whole train wreck.

I ended up having to replay my session twice more to Ray and Pamelda and then to my prep team and endured even more scolding from them for my deviation despite telling them I wasn't fully aware of what I was doing.

Later that night we sat before the T.V and watched as August Goldfinch read out our rankings as each name was called a picture would be shown of us and then our score would be given. I was biting my nails in anticipation.

From District 1, Markus received a very high score of 11 and Diamond got a score of 7, from District 2, Megara, got a score of 8 and Hunter with a 9, District 3, Irvette got a 7, which was good for our alliance and Merrick got a 9 from District 4. Ilium got quite a low score of 5 however but I was too nervous to worry about that at this stage. From District 7, Hazel got a 6 and Rowan, the Career got a 7. Then August was reading my score.

"From District 8, the Twins, James has a score of 8," Celia and Ray whooped happy with his score and I flashed him a quick smile, "And Helen with a score of...my, a score of 12."

"What!?" I nearly shouted and Celia jumped up and did a silly victory dance.

"I told you it would be okay!" She winked at me and I let out a sigh of relief and worry.

"Quiet you!" Pamelda said and we went back to watching the rest of the scores being called all feeling a little bit more relieved.

Tex from 9 and Colt both got a 10 and Sawyer another of our allies got a 7. The rest blurred out of my memory and I felt myself jolted back to the reality that I would be a big target now that I had such a huge score.

"Okay, okay, settle down," Ray said after Eleanor and Pamelda popped open a bottle of wine to celebrate my extreme ranking. He looked at James and I sitting on the couch, "Now, just because you both have a high score doesn't mean that you are going to get sponsors just like that. Tomorrow night you have the live interviews with August and this is another chance for you to gain support and dare I say it, fans and of course sponsors so we will make time tomorrow to work on your images to give everyone the best impression of who you are and why they should invest in you."

"And we need to make time for you two to get ready" Kale added.

Eleanor was nearly bursting with excitement, "We have been working on the most wonderful outfits for you two which I'm sure you will look fantastic in!"

"It's not going to be anything like our Parade outfits is it?" I asked apprehensively.

She laughed, "Maybe, but my lips are sealed and you are not getting any more information about them until tomorrow night when you see them."

I wasn't too certain if I was looking forward to the interviews or not but I knew that they would certainly give all of Panem a look into our lives and if anything, this was the time to set the rebellion in motion.

A/N Okay so I have not written a chapter in a while but here it finally is. Hope you like this one and I am very much looking forward to writing the next one. Also thank you to everyone who has read my story so far, ive gotten over 100 views so far which was more then expected so thank you every one! We are SO close to getting into the actual Games and I promise you it won't be long now! Hope you guys are enjoying the holiday season wherever you may be and I hope you had a good Christmas! xx