Hey my awesome readers! :D Finally, another update! Yay! No, it is not in Dante's POV, unfortunately, but you may/may not be surprised about the new training day. Just depends on the suspiscions you have. :)

*Alison's POV*

The little meeting with Dante this morning keeps replaying through my head as I quickly get ready for today's day of training. The more I think about his words, the more I am psyching myself out for today. Cato doesn't stand a chance against you. You won't try, you will win. It makes me kind of nervous in a way, like the standards for me are set really high, but I can't reach them. Hurriedly, after I pull on the training uniform, I jog out to the living room and grab an apple from a bowl sitting on the dining table.

"Well, look who's finally up." Cato's voice laughs from behind me, but I don't even look at him. Ever since I got back inside the apartment, all I have been hearing from Hallie is how I should have told her where I was going before I left. She really has been getting on my nerves this morning with her nagging, and I am getting sick of it. Everything past that has just annoyed me, and it doesn't even matter if it's good or bad. Whenever I am in these kinds of moods, normally people who know me know that they should stay out of the way.

"You shut your mouth!" I yell, pointing in his direction but still not looking at him. "If you have heard anything Hallie has been saying to me this morning, you would know that I have been awake much longer than you have."

"Okay, just calm down."

"Oh, and don't disturb me while I am eating. That will just make me more annoyed." I tell him, taking a large bite of the apple.

"What's wrong?" he asks, his voice now sounding really concerned.

"Why do you even want to know?" I harshly spat, my eyes snapping over to him. His eyebrows are slightly furrowed. "Why don't you go say hi to Azalea and leave me alone!"
"Are you jealous of Azalea or something?" he shoots back, returning my glare, and I have to think about my answer for a second. Am I really jealous of Azalea? Surely not. I mean, I'm not the one who is desperately in love with Cato. I'm the one who hates him with every inch of my soul. Somehow, I can't think of how that isn't getting through his thick skull.

"No! In fact, I am so happy that you two are so happy together! How come you don't seem happy about it?" I say. I know, though, that I am not expecting what he comes back with.

"What if I said that I'm not happy with it?" he quietly replies. My eyebrows rise a little. What is he supposed to mean by that? Is he saying that he isn't happy about marrying Azalea? There's no reason why he wouldn't be happy. She is beautiful, rich, sometimes generous and sometimes smart. Isn't that what he wants?

"What do you mean?" I choke out. He opens his mouth to reply, but then Jamie and Hallie step into the living room with excited looks on their faces. Normally, I wouldn't be surprised by this, but given this morning's whole atmosphere attitude, it seems abnormal. Maybe they took some kind of Capitol drugs.

"Okay, are you guys ready to go to the training center?" Hallie asks loudly, and her voice is slurred. Oh, how peachy. She's wasted.

"We're only taking one trip down there, so you had better be ready!" Jamie exclaims, and her voice sounds the same way. Really, can this morning get any worse? It seems like District 2 is becoming the alcoholic district, too.

"Yeah, sure." I confirm, tossing the nibbled-on apple into the empty trash can. After I make sure that the apple actually landed in the trash can, I head over to the door with Cato following me. Today is sure to be another interesting training day, that's for sure.

When the elevator doors open, the first thing I find is Primrose's cold glare being shot at me. I try to ignore her bright blue eyes shooting daggers at me as I walk over to the girl from District 4. I've never really met this girl before, and now would be the perfect time.

"Hey." I softly greet as I walk up behind her, and her innocent green eyes click to mine. She looks really young, like she could be about twelve. Her dark hair is tied up in a small ponytail, and nothing about her really seems violent. Nothing is ever as it seems, though. Instead of saying anything, she just curtly nods and stares at the little huddle of trainers in the corner of the room.

"Why are you over here? You should be hovering around the Careers." She shakily tells me, and I can tell that she just wants me to leave her alone.

"Yeah, and you should be, too. You're from District 4." I point out.

"I don't want to be in the Careers, though. Careers have only one thing in mind, and that is killing." Her voice sounds monotonous, kind of like a robot's. This can only mean one thing: she has been told this from someone else.

"Where did you hear that from?" I ask her, even though I already have an idea.

"Prim." She simply answers, nervously glancing at Primrose, who is still standing a few feet away. At least she isn't killing me with her eyes still.

"Well, she doesn't know the Careers. The only thing on my mind in these Games is getting back home to my little sister and my family. I really don't want to have to kill anyone." I inform her.

"The Careers are heartless, and they don't care about anything but themselves." She coldly shoots back, but I don't find this as a surprise. I have heard it all before from Primrose. "Now, please, could you go away?" Holding my hands up in defeat, I back away and turn around, only to bump into another tribute. Once I glance up, every nerve in my body goes haywire. This guy is the scariest in the Games this year, that's for sure. He is at least 6 and a half feet tall, definitely taller than Cato. His dark brown eyes glare down at me, and the urge to run pokes at me. Of course, this guy was chosen to be Primrose's district partner. Quickly, I scramble away from him and go over to an empty piece of the floor to stand on, and not long after I find that spot, Atala comes over to our group to give us instructions on how the day will go today. Finally, the little clumps begin to spread out, and without really thinking, I let myself head over to the hand-to-hand combat station. Which is the same station Primrose is at. When she looks behind her to get a glimpse of me, her face immediately twists into a look of disgust.

"It's the District 2 girl. Oh no, I am so scared." She sarcastically comments.

"That's right. You should be." I counter, and she just narrows her eyes at me for a second before glancing back at the station. The trainer starts to talk.

"Okay, as you know, this is the hand-to-hand combat station, and this is probably one of the most important things you should know for the Hunger Games. If there ever comes a time when another tribute decides to attack you with or without a weapon and you don't have a weapon to defend yourself with, this is the best thing to go with. That being said, would anyone like to volunteer to go first?" he explain, and of course, Primrose's hand shoots into the air.

"I would!" she squeals, and the trainer smiles at her.

"Okay. Is there anyone in particular that you want to train with?" he asks, and her finger immediately points at me. Now I am starting to wish that I didn't come over here. The trainer looks over at me and nods. "Excellent! Now, both of you come over here to the mat." Excitedly, Primrose grabs my wrist and yanks me past the whole line of tributes to the big, faded blue mat in the corner.

"Let's put your life-long training to the test, District 2." She mutters, smirking evilly before letting me go at one corner of the mat and walking over to the other.

"The first thing to always remember in any fist fight is to keep your thumb out of your fist." The trainer explains, demonstrating what a proper fist is supposed to look like. "That way, there is a less chance of you breaking your thumb almost instantly. Next, never turn your back on your enemy. That's possibly the worst thing you could do in these Games. Always face your opponent." For about five more minutes, he explains the basics, and Primrose looks like she could fall down and just sleep. That is until he tells us to put his rules to work and actually fight. Then, her eyes light up and a cruel smirk crosses her face as she gets into the formation of fighting. Reluctantly, I do the same, and when the trainer blows a whistle, she immediately charges at me with more rage than I thought I thirteen year old could contain. Unfortunately, I slip out of my focus zone at the wrong second, and she is able to land a punch to the jaw. Pain shoots through my face, but I manage to stay upright. I do feel a little wobbly, though. Stars cloud my vision for a second, but I shake my head and focus again. Even the slight taste of blood doesn't throw me off like it usually would. This time, when she tries to land a punch in the stomach, I back up and kick up my foot so that it kicks her in the stomach. With a sharp intake of air, she falls to the ground. Hm... I thought she would be tougher than that. I glance up at the trainer for any signal to let me leave, and instead, he nods approvingly at me.

"Good job, Miss Smith." He says, grinning proudly. Just to satisfy his happiness, I flash a small smile at him. Out of pure arrogance, however, I break a big rule of the trainer's: I turn my back on Primrose. As I start to walk away, a foot trips me, and my face collides with the stiff mat. As quickly as I possibly can, I push myself up and try not to let it faze me as I turn around to look at Primrose. Her face is slightly red from the anger she must have felt when I kicked her. I notice something now more noticeable in her eyes: unfathomable rage. Something has snapped inside of her, and I am now her person of interest. I am the one she is going to aim for first in the Games. Out of nowhere, she unexpectedly tackles me to the ground and starts landing punches left and right. Each punch gets more painful, and right as I feel a little dribble of probably blood slipping out of the corner of my mouth, she is pulled off of me by the trainer, and I am pulled away by somebody else.

"Are you okay?" Cato worriedly asks in my ear, and I nod, now wanting to slap her so hard she sees as many stars as I did.

"Yeah, but you had better hold me back." I warn him, and just as I predicted, my body lunges at her without my mind's permission. Cato doesn't let my arms go, though, so I stand still.

"Did you want to know what I meant by what I said earlier?" he quietly inquires, and I take a minute to recollect the conversation from this morning. Quickly, I nod. "Well, I meant that I don't want Azalea. There is another girl that I love, and I think you know who that girl is." Just those words make my heart stop. "Now, sit down. You need to stay still for a few minutes." Then, he leads me over to a wall that is close to where his station is, and I sit on the floor with my back against it. During the five minute session I give myself to calm down and let myself heal, I think about the information I have gathered in just the few hours of this morning. First, I know that the District 4 girl (and possibly the boy) is being brainwashed by Primrose into thinking that all Careers are sick, heartless machines. Don't get me wrong, some are, but not me. Second, my death is on the bucket list of Primrose. She made that pretty clear when she was beating me senseless. Lastly, Cato is not in love with Azalea. In fact, he is in love with another girl, and he is right about me knowing who it is. Ever since that night on the train, I have known that the girl Cato has loved all along is the one and only Alison Smith of District 2.

Oooooooooh! What do you think about this? Hmm? Good? 'meh'? Please let me know what you think! :) JUST RANDOM SHARING DAY: So, in my consumer science (home economics) class, we have to crochet little chains, and I think I am actually getting pretty good at it, but whenever I make a little loop with the yarn, I never count it (and I have to count it) so then I have to start over again. *crocheter problem*

RANDOM WORDS OF THE DAY:

"Maybe it's hard to forgive, but to trust again is the hardest."

-SopranoGhostWriter :)