Hello my amazing readers! :D The new update has come! Yay! Anyway, I would like to thank RoseMaple for reviewing to every chapter and bringing a smile to my face! Also, readers who haven't reviewed, please review. I enjoy everyone's thoughts. :) Enjoy Chapter 11, everyone! (btw, none of Alison or *cough* some character's opinions in a certain discussion later on are NOT at all my opinions of anything. They are completely in the story... you will get what I am talking about soon.)

"Remember Alison, be fearless. It's all you really have to go off of in the Careers." Hallie whispers in my ear, and I nod. All I do is face the stainless steel elevator doors. Today is the first day of training for the Games, and Hallie doesn't seem to be sugarcoating anything this morning. All I have received from her this morning are insults about how vulnerable I look to the Capitol citizens, and how the sudden red mark on my cheek is just so distracting to her. She is starting to sound like Jamie, which is ironic because she hates her. When she noticed the slap mark, I was surprised that it was still there. One time when I was nine, I had went to Faye (whose dad is the area's doctor) after I had unintentionally slapped this horribly mean girl at school, and Faye said that slap marks only last about 30 minutes tops. I guess Azalea decided to use her hardest slap on me. "At least Jamie's makeup was able to cover up that huge red splotch on your face. Seriously, what happened?"

"Must have fallen off of my bed while I was sleeping." I lie. Hallie accepts it, though, and she puts my hair into a ponytail with the same blood-red ribbon from the tribute parade.

"You know, those kinds of marks don't come from just falling. Something must have happened besides that." Cato interrupts, glancing down at me. His voice scares me a little bit, since I had forgotten that he was in the elevator also. He must know that I'm lying. Out of the corner of my eye, I look up at him.

"Why do you even care?" I coldly spat.

"I don't, I'm just trying to point it out that that doesn't come from falling. Just saying." He replies, looking back at the doors. Silence fills the elevator for a minute until the elevator halts to a stop and the doors slide open. It's deathly silent in the center.

"Have fun, you two!" Hallie exclaims and slightly shoves me and Cato through the door. I send a little glare back at her and take a second to regain my balance, but Cato just keeps walking like nothing happened. I take a deep breath and walk into the middle of the room. Behind me, the doors shut, and the sound seals the deal. I really am in this. I really am in these Games. Cato puts his cocky persona to work while he struts over to the other Careers, who are a brown-haired, tall boy and a white-haired girl whose face is caked with all different kinds of makeup. When I arrive over to the rest of the tributes, I end up standing with the girl from District 4 and a girl with bright blue eyes and gleaming blonde hair that has been put into a braid that runs down her back. Once I realize who this is, a gasp threatens to escape my mouth: it's Primrose Everdeen, Katniss Everdeen's little sister. Primrose eyes me suspiciously.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask her, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Yeah. Shouldn't you be with the Careers?" she questions, but not in a curious way. More like a mocking way. I already don't like her.

"Later on, I'll have to be." I reply.

"You shouldn't be with us. You don't care about anything but winning." She insults, and I flinch at the cold tone in her voice. I thought she was a nice, sweet little girl, but I guess I was wrong. Now, though, it's my turn to be the mean one.

"I wish I could say different about your sister." I shoot back. Immediately, I wish I could take it back. I've never said anything that mean before, and Katniss actually seemed really caring. Why am I letting rude feelings take control of my mind? Primrose's jaw drops at the words.

"District 2 really is heartless, isn't it?" she responds after a minute, her voice sounding broken. I can't believe I just said what I said. "You know, I hope that your sister gets reaped in the future so that she can die a way worse one than you will." I don't feel bad about my words now. The urge to slam her against a wall pokes at me, but I ignore it.

"Really shouldn't be telling a Career that, should you?" I growl at her, my head flicking in her direction. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch the District 4 girl skitter away. Laughing, Primrose takes a challenging step towards me.

"Do I look like I care about a Career like you? You couldn't take me down even if I let you try." She spats. I take a step towards her.

"I could take you down, and you wouldn't even see me coming." I say. We both walk towards each other until we are a deadly few inches apart.

"I'd like to see you try, you stick of a twit." She whispers, a smirk on her face. Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Back off, you two. You can fight in a few days, but not today." A woman's voice booms from behind me, and I slowly turn around to find a tall, dark-skinned woman standing right behind me. I glance at her nametag, which reads 'Atala'.

"I'll be glad to wait. The longer I don't have to fight with someone, the better." Primrose says from behind. When I glance over my shoulder, I see a pout on her face. Oh, this girl will probably be the end of my tolerance level.

After the head trainer Atala's little speech, I start to make my way around all of the stations, starting with the knives. I have always been good with knives, but I am reluctant to use them. Probably because I always think that it is going to fly out of my hand unexpectedly and hurt someone else. In these Games, I guess that is what I am hoping for. Once I get to the station, I cautiously take one of the silver knives off of the knife rack. It feels lightweight, light enough that it won't drop too quickly when it is thrown, but heavy enough that it can land at the exact target of the knife. This is a very good kind of knife to be dealing with. Slowly, I aim for one of the targets and position the knife so that it can be sent into the exact spot I want it to go. Just as I am about to throw the knife, someone clears their throat, and I drop the knife. It clatters onto the floor with a loud crack. About to start shouting, I turn around and find the District 1 male standing there behind me, staring at me with his gray eyes.

"Is there something you want?" I partially yell, glaring at him. He chuckles and takes one step towards me.

"Are you the spunky little girl that was arguing with the Girl on Fire's sister a few minutes ago?" The deepness in his voice surprises me.

"Don't you dare call me spunky again, or I will rip your face off of your head." I growl, bending down to pick the knife off of the ground. When I stand back up, he is smirking like crazy at me. "Stop. You're scaring me, seriously."

"That's good. I want you to be scared, because in these Games..." he says, leaning over to whisper in my ear. "...anything can happen."

"Please leave me alone." I squeak.

"Oh no, I can't do that." He seductively whispers. I try to scoot back, but I find myself cornered between this creepy tribute and the knife rack. "We are both Careers, and Careers have to stick together."

"That doesn't mean you should be creeping around me." I respond, feeling my legs start to shake. He chuckles again and starts to lean in. Oh great. I've got a stalker who wants to kiss me and kill me at the same time. Suddenly, he is ripped off of me, and I find someone pulling my hand. After a second, I find myself behind Cato.

"Jim, leave her alone! She doesn't want you, can't you see?" he exclaims towards 'Jim', and 'Jim' doesn't seem to be too happy about it.

"Cato, why do you care? You don't even care about her!"

"She still shouldn't have to worry about being violated in some way by her own ally." Cato defends, sounding annoyed at the least. Jim's eyebrows rise a little in surprise.

"So, you choose the swing vote of the alliance over a sure-fire member?" Jim practically yells, and a few of the tributes glance over at us. I wish I wasn't here. I wish I could be like that girl Dorothy from a story my mom once told me and just click my heels together to get home. But no, I have to be stuck in a place where there is a small chance of me surviving the next week.

"Are you questioning what I am wanting?" Cato asks, clearly mad. Jim backs off a little bit.

"Sorry! Forget any of this happened. Go back to your little session of training, Miss Smith." Jim says, backing away, turning around, and jogging over to his partner at the archery station. Cato and I just stand there for a minute, saying nothing to each other, and then he lets go of my hand.

"Sorry about that. Jim is really a loose cannon." He mutters. Nodding, I put the knife I didn't realize I was still holding back on the rack. "Did he hurt you?"

"No." I simply answer, turning around to look at Cato. His blue eyes seem a little darker now.

"Okay, good." He states. "What did the little blondie want?"

"The fact that I know how much she wants me to die." His eyes widen a little bit at this. He doesn't say anything for a second.

"Well," he finally says, "at least you are in the Careers. Everyone is scared of them."

"Yeah, I guess." I reply. If only everyone was, and I wouldn't have to worry about the sister of one of the greatest tributes in the history of the Hunger Games giving me a slow, painful death. If only I didn't have to worry about anything simply because of the fact that I am technically in the Career alliance. If only someone else had gotten picked instead of me.

So... what do you think? Please let me know! :) Also, what do you think of Prim? I know, I changed her personality a little bit... *cough* maybe a lot, but yeah, she and Alison really just don't like each other, so that is their attitude towards each other right now. As always, review!

RANDOM WORDS OF THE DAY:

"My strength didn't come from lifting weights. It came from picking myself back up whenever I was knocked down." ~Unknown

-SopranoGhostWriter :)