Today will be our private training sessions. We all will have 10 minutes to impress the Gamemakers. I will probably slice some things with a sword, and set a few snares. All the tributes will meet for breakfast in the dining room. They will call in one tribute at a time, starting with states that begin with A, all the way to the W's. The boy tribute from the state will go first, then the girl. After your session is over, you head back to your room and wait until they announce the scores tonight.
I walk down with Marcus Evan and Kennedie. Max and Sarah meet us down in the dining hall and we all sit together. They serve us a big breakfast, with every breakfast food you can think of. We get to serve ourselves, so I pile my plate with biscuits and gravy, sausage, eggs, hash browns and some fruit. I finish off the entire plate, and am completely stuffed. I lay back in my chair with my hand on my stomach.
"I cannot eat another bite. Ever again." I say. Evan laughs and says, "Well geez porky, you sure did eat enough." I give him a scowl, which causes the others to laugh as well. After an hour, they begin calling off names. One by one, the room slowly empties. Then it's Marcus's turn to go.
"Meet me in my room when you get out." He tells me. I nod and he goes. 10 minutes later, my name is called and I give the others a goodbye wave.
I enter the room and they lock the door behind me. The room is filled with hundreds of weapons. Behind glass, the Gamemakers watch me.
"Hello Miss Stague. You may begin." They tell me. I drag a dummy out into the middle of the room and select a sword. I grab one that has a blade that is about two and a half feet long, with a gold handle with a snake design carved into it. It is straight and razor sharp. I start by taking swings at it, cutting chunks off, beheading it and stabbing it, I hit it directly in the heart, then abdomen. After it is torn to shreds, I grab some wire and set some snares. I look over and they seem impressed. So, to wrap it all up, I grab knives and fling them at targets, getting a bulls-eye every time, except once. When I'm done, the head Gamemaker speaks up.
"Thank you, Miss Stague. You may go now." I bow and step out. A police officer takes me to the elevator and presses my floor number. I ride it up until the doors open. I step out and head to Marcus's room. I walk in and find him lying on his side, flipping through channels on the TV.
"So how'd it got, Sapphire?" He asks me. I sit by his legs and he turns and sits up.
"I think it went pretty good. I'm sure I got at least an 8." I say, "How did you do?"
"I shot some dummies with a gun and spears, but that's it. I think it went pretty well."
"Good. I'm sure you will get a high score." I say. "I'm craving cake. Want some?"
He laughs, "Sure, sounds good." I pick up the phone and order some.
He is still flipping through the TV channels, so I grab the remote from him and flip to the news channel.
"Hey, I was watching that!" He says, but he is laughing. We wrestle around trying to get the remote back from each other. I have the remote and lay down on top of it, but then Marcus discovers my weakness. He grabs my sides and starts tickling me. I start screaming and laughing, begging him to stop. He finally grabs the remote from my hand and stops. He is laughing like crazy while I try to catch my breath. After I am breathing normally again, I sit up.
"Fine, you can have the remote, but you don't get any cake." I say. He scoffs and replies, "I will if I tickle it away from you."
"Ok, you can have cake too. But only a small slice." I say. The chef brings in a red velvet cake with white icing. I cut myself a big slice, and give Marcus a smaller piece. We eat it while we watch a news cast about the games. They are counting down to the first day, which is only 2 days away.
Tomorrow we will be preparing for our interviews. Father will be coaching us on content, and DeAnne will coach us on presentation. Then after that day, we will be prepared by our stylists then the interview themselves.
Marcus gets up from his bed.
"I'm going to hop into the shower, ill be done in a few minutes." He says.
"Ill be here." I say. He hands me the remote and walks into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I lay down on his bed and flip to a station, and a movie is playing. It's an older movie, but I remember seeing it when I was younger. I watch it, laughing. After a little bit, Kennedie and Evan walk in.
"Hey Annelise, where's Marcus?" Kennedie asks.
"He got in the shower. He should be done soon."
She nods and sits in a chair by the bed. Evan sits down next to me and watches the movie with me.
"You guys want some cake? There is plenty left." I say. Kennedie rejects it, but Evan scoots off the bed and cuts himself a slice. Marcus walks out of the bathroom.
"Hey everyone." He says. He sits on the bed next to me, and runs his fingers through his hair. We all sit and watch the movie and Max and Sarah enter. They join us and we all watch the movie until it's over. The sun is setting, and we know it's almost time for them to show our training scores. Father comes in and takes a seat in a chair next to us.
"Time for those training scores!" He cheers. He changes the channel to an announcer who is preparing to give the scores. A picture will flash across the screen with their name and score next to it. They do each state's tributes together, and After the other states, My picture, and then Marcus's appear as they read our names. The scores flash across the screen. Marcus, pulling off an impressive nine, and me getting a ten.