Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.

Down below me, the lights of the Capitol are blazing, the people laughing and partying and celebrating the deaths of another twenty-three of Panem's youth.

I sit up on the roof of the training center, looking down at this cheery atmosphere. The sky is dark above me, and there are no stars to fill the black expanse of sky. They are dimmed by the city lights below.

I have been sitting up here for hours, simply looking up at the starless sky and down at the star-filled streets the sun rises slowly, until it turns the sky yellow and pink with its glow. This could very well be the last sunset I see before I die. This may be the day set aside to prepare for the interviews and make final plans for the arena, but I will have none of it.

I know how to act during the interview. Back in District 1, we had etiquette classes along with our combat training. After all, skill means nothing if you don't have sponsors to get you through the days of limited food, water, and shelter.

And I already have a plan for the arena. Make as many kills as possible during the bloodbath, but act ditzy after a careful eye on Delaney and Hali, just in case they decide that they don't want to wait until the pack splits up to kill me.

"Kallie?" I turn around to see Jared standing there, hands clasped behind his back.

I turn back around and stare out at the sun as it peeks out over the horizon. "I told you not to follow me."

"We have to plan," he insists.

"I already have a plan," I say. "I don't need your help."

"A plan that involves telling your allies that you got wasted on your first night in the Capitol. That doesn't sound like a very good plan to me."

"Well, it worked," I snarl. "The Capitol citizens see only my training score, and my allies underestimate me. It worked better than the plan we made together. Oh, that's right. we didn't make one, because you were too busy doing stuff that isn't important when my life is on the line."

"It wasn't my choice not to be here," he says, sitting down on the bench next to me. I scoot farther away from him.

"What do you do?" I ask suddenly.

"I- I don't think it's my place to tell you that," he says.

"Really? I have a right to know. Because I asked Quinn, and she said that I should ask you."

He hesitates. "You need to come downstairs."

"No. I can stay up here if I want to."

"What if I gave you this?" I look at him and see he's holding a bottle of brown hairspray. "Capitol magic," he adds with a grin. "Stays in no matter what."

I reach for it, but he holds it out of my reach. "Uh-uh-uh," he says matter-of-factly. "Not unless you come downstairs and make a plan with me."

I pull my hand back. "Fine."

He grins again. "Yes! Quinn told me blackmailing you wouldn't work , but now I get to rub it in her face!"

"But I also want to know why you were gone," I say.

He groans. "Why?"

"Because I have a right to know."

"No, you don't," he says stubbornly.

"Yes, I do. You weren't here to help me make a plan. I have a reason to know why you weren't here."

"Fine. I'll tell you after we make a plan."

"So you're trying to get all the other tributes to underestimate you?"

"Yep."

He grunts and leans back in the armchair in my bedroom, his arms crossed.. "Good plan. I'm surprised you thought of that all by yourself."

I sit on the ground against the foot of my bed, my knees pulled up to my chest. "Don't force your gender stereotypes on me. I'm smart."

He grins. "I can tell."

There's a knock on my door. "Come in," I call. Tiberius opens the door and steps in, his hands folded behind his back.

"Kalantha," he says. "As you know, you had your token taken from you during your prepping before the chariot parade so specialists could make sure you weren't bringing any concealed weapons into the arena."

"Oh, so you've come to give it back to me?" I ask. "That's great!"

"Well, actually…" he spreads his hands wide. They're empty. "They said the large stone on your necklace could be used to bludgeon somebody to death, so they denied it entry into the arena." He sighs. "I'm sorry."

"Wait…" I say. "So this means I don't have a token?"

Jared nods. "It happened to the girl from District 2 in my games," he says. "They took it away from her. After she died, they sent her token back along with her body."

"Wow, I hope they send mine back with my body as well," I say sarcastically.

Jared rolls his eyes. "I didn't mean it like that."

Tiberius looks back and forth between us. "Well… I'm going to go now. I'll see you this evening, Kalantha. We're going to redye your hair brown." He smiles. "And I think you'll like your dress." He shuts the door behind him.

"Oh, my God," I say, running a hand through my hair. "I can't believe this."

"Who gave you the token?" Jared asks.

"The little girl I volunteered for," I say. "And she was poor, too. I didn't want to take the necklace from her, but she insisted."

He sighs. "I'll make sure it gets back to her."

"So, what's my interview angle going to be?"

"I don't know," Jared says, staring up at the ceiling. "What do you want it to be?"

"I don't know, really. Anything except ditzy. Smart girls usually get a lot of sponsors, don't they?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Pretty girls get more."

"Well, I'm both, so what's your point?"

He laughs. "Nothing, I just… do whatever you want. But you have to tell me about your life, so I know what to expect for your answers to the questions Caesar Flickerman will ask."

"I'll only tell you about my life after you tell me why you weren't here."

"No," he says. "You tell me your life before, and then I'll tell you."

"Deal."