AN: Alright so This is when Clover meets her mentor. District 8's tributes are really the only ones whose mentor's get names becauseI didn't feel like making up more. Also, before anyone freaks out at me for having two mentors, I would like to remind you that in the books the only reason Peeta and Katnis share a mentor is because He's the only living mentor left in District 12. the other tributes got their own mentors.

Chapter 10: Clover
The Mentor

"You have to come back," Leather says as we embrace in a hug, "You need to come back. I can't live without you…"

"I can't…" I cry.

"You can… you must… do whaterver you have to..." He says, "I love you…"

But the Peace Keepers barge in and take him away but he fights it, trying to remain in the room.

"Promise me Clover!" He shouts as he's dragged out, "Promise me you'll win!"

"I promise" I cry back in a shout, "I'll come back!"

But he's already gone….

I wake up screaming: "I'll come back!" but I am in my bedroom, on a train, halfway to the Capitol.

I take a good look at my surroundings. The room is nice, but I would prefer to be back at home. He tried to escape with me… I can't believe he would do that. When the called me to the stage he told me that he'd volunteer and that we could do this together, but I told him no and that I wanted him to live a long and happy life. This I had done with much remorse… I sit up and realize that I had slept in my clothes, a pink dress with orange lace on my torso.

I tip toe into the bathroom and prepare for the day. Today we are going to meet the mentors. I need to look presentable. I need to get back home. I brush my teeth and strip myself of clothing. I enter the hot, drizzling shower and simply bask in its smoothness for a while. Afterwards I clean myself and exit the shower. I step on a panel and I am dried off completely from head to toe. This whole process would have taken me five times longer back home.

Are all showers like this in the Capitol? I wonder, but find myself not really caring. I return to my room to find an avox giving me my old cloths, which they had washed, dried, and pressed with in minutes. I thank the avox and redress into my clothing. I then turn to the chair next to my bed and see the dark green scarf that my dad had given me the day before. It's to be my token.

I put on some shoes and I quietly make my way out of the room and into the hallway. Quiet as a mouse, I make my way to the dinning cart.

Like District 8, it is draped from head to toe with much cloth, hanging curtains and other materials. It's actually stunning to look at as the entire room is draped in colors like orange and yellow, red and pink, and then the light bits of blue here and there.

I sit at the table and I am served pancakes with orange juice. I take a bite and I'm suddenly mesmerized by the flavor. I pretty much inhale the food and drink set before me and finish just as the boy from my district walks in the room, Baxter, I believe his name is.

"Hi," I say sheepishly. He nods and sit across from me at the table, immediately beginning his breakfast. I guess it's better this way. I wouldn't want to become friends with someone who might become the cause of my death anyway. Though it's also very possible that we might die in the bloodbath, no one from our district would have any type of skill to help us win it anyway… There I go again.

No, I say to myself. Others from District 8 have won and you can to, I reassure myself. As the boy finishes he looks up and gives a feint smile.

Then I get a good look at Baxter. I suddenly recognize him from the school. He's two years younger than me but still, I know him. At school, he doesn't have many friends as most of the kids pick on him. I would always be sad for him but I would never really do anything. I don't understand why they pick on him, as he seems very sweet. I guess all of the bullying has made him sheepish. I'm willing to bet all those kids feel bad about being mean to him now. Still, I mustn't dwell on what others think.

Suddenly, two middle aged people walk into the cart. One is a pudgy man with long brown hair and the other a dainty woman with puffy blonde hair. They sit at the ends of the table and begin to eat in silence. It feels awkward and I am unsure of what to say.

"So how do you usually start this sort of thing off?" I ask but I feel myself regretting my words as they slip out of my mouth.

"With patience," says the woman.

"To hell with that," says the man, "Hi, I'm Macy. You must be Clover right?"

I nod and look at Baxter who is still as silent as a stone.

"Well, let me tell you that in order to win this thing then you need skill. Now what can you do?" says Macy

I think but nothing comes to mind.

"I don't have any skill…" I say but then I think of something, "I mean, I can cook…"

Then I realize that this won't help me in the games.

"You can cook huh?" says Macy.

"Yes Sr." I say owning up to what I had said.

"What do you like to cook?" Macy seems amused by me.

"Mostly breakfast," I admit, "Like eggs and stuff."

"See," Macy exclaims, "Now you have something. Learn to climb and maybe you can find a bird's nest. Just be careful when you start fires. Start them at sun rise or at dusk so you won't be spotted."

I suddenly realized that I wasn't so helpless after all.

"I can sow too," I add.

"Really," questions the woman, "Well almost everyone from District 8 can do that. That is how Macy and I had won. Sowing can prove to be very useful in these Games. You can make snares, stitch up wounds, anything really as long as you have a needle and a thread."

"But don't think you'll get it from the Cornucopia. The fact is that when I tried there was nothing that I could see…" begins Macy.

"That's not true," interrupts the woman, "They just have a little, and it might become hard to find. You just have to convince the game makers to put it there during training."

The two clearly don't get along but they've both taught me something. Even the smallest of talent can be used in the games.

"Wait?" says Baxter, "I thought the tributes were taught separately. No offence but I don't want anyone else to know what I'm going to do in the games."

"Well training styles are up to the tributes. Do you want to be trained separately?" asks the woman and Baxter slowly nods.

I feel at offended but then I realize that I've already revealed some of my own secrets to him and that he's right. We're going to be killing each other. We're not partners.

"Alright," says Macy, "I'll take the girl, but first, we have already agreed to have you both watch some reruns of Hunger Games in which people from District 8 survived. Particularly mine."

We move over to a couch but Baxter and I sit in the chairs instead. He's so quiet it scares me.

Macy pops in a disc and the screen opens to show the tributes being raised into the arena. It appears to be underground and is made up of several pathways and tunnels. The Games begin and several run to the Cornucopia. Macy runs there, but quickly runs away with little supplies. A high amount of people are killed in the bloodbath: fifteen, one of the highest amount of bloodbath kills ever. Even two of the Careers are dead. The Games continue and three die from a lack of oxygen, one dies from falling into a pit. An eighteeen year old boy from District 12 has no trouble in his environment. He must have been a miner just before he went into the games. The rest are killed off until there is just Macy and the boy from District 12 left, an odd last two since usually a Career tribute makes it very far.

However, they are on completely different sides of the arena. Giant snake mutations begin to chase them and Macy runs by a few of the snares that he had created. It stops and distracts the snakes long enough for Macy to escape but the boy from District 12 wasn't as lucky.

"That was horrible," I say.

"Yea," Macy replies, "I hope that the ending showed you just how important snares can become."

A flicker of hope runs through me. Macy has shown me that it's possible to return home. I turn to Baxter and he seems to have realized the same thing.

I hope you enjoyed it! please review!