Abrexa James, D2

Screw my life.

I must have really pissed off the gods in a past life. I was born into a District I had nothing in common with, I got a mother who wanted a Victor and not a daughter, and now I was the only Career in my tribe. I was the only Career and the prime target, and I never wanted to be a Career in the first place. Most likely, I was going to be the first to die. My last act would be to disappoint my entire family.

Humorously enough, my only ghost of a chance came from the thing my family tried to talk me out of: psychology. I was well-trained for the Games, but I was totally unprepared for the more or less randomness this competition offered. From the sound of things, I could get voted to death because I was the worst at balancing teacups or something. I didn't have enough time to learn a new set of skills. My only chance was to convince everyone I was something I wasn't.

My moment came when I saw the Fonu girls gathered at the word puzzles station. I inched closer, trying to look reluctant.

"Is it okay if I join you?" I asked. They looked up at me like President Snow had just asked "permission" to join their little group.

"Sure, I guess," Hannah said. I sat at the edge of the table, being careful not to crowd them. The others pretended to get back to their puzzles, but no one did any work. They just looked at me out of the corner of their eyes.

"Look, no use beating around the bush," I said. "I know I'm the first target. I came over to make my case. I won't lie and say I'm not a threat, but that's not the only factor here. Maybe I'm the first one you want to vote out, but if you keep me around, you might not have to vote anyone out. I'm strong and fast and trained for this. I'm a bad opponent, but I'm a good teammate. Keep me around, and we'll win challenges. We win challenges, nobody goes out. If you vote me out right away, that saves you from sending someone you like. But it only saves you for one day. After that, you're back where you started, but your team is that much weaker. Face it: after I'm gone, you're going to lose a lot more challenges," I said.

"Bull. You want us to be smaller so there are fewer of us in your way," Rahina said.

"So vote me out before that happens. I'm only one person. I'll never have a majority. I don't think I'll change your minds and make any allies. Vote me out once the tribe gets small enough. But don't vote me out first. Hate me all you want, but don't be stupid," I said.

People weren't robots. Psychology wasn't a magic combination of words or gestures that made people change their minds, especially about something as deeply ingrained as hatred for Careers. But self-interest trumped everything. I couldn't brainwash them into liking me, but if letting me live was good for them, it went past everything else.

Lancia Audren, D6

We all said we weren't going to let the Careers boss us around, but when Charming called a meeting, we went. We knew what he was going to talk about, and it was something we all knew was necessary.

"You all know what I'm about to say," Charming said as we gathered around a table. The only one missing was Potato, who was poking around the room looking for food. We looked down at the table as Charming continued.

"Eventually, we're going to lose a challenge. We're the stronger tribe, but things happen. When it happens, we're going to need to vote someone out. I know there's no love lost among you for Careers, but it doesn't make any sense to vote out your strongest members first. Do that, and we'll only lose more challenges. We all know the first vote has to be Potato," Charming said.

"What? We can't! We can't vote to kill someone like that. He's the only innocent one here!" Cross burst out. He looked at the rest of us for support, and we looked away. I hadn't thought anyone would speak up, and I wished he hadn't. I hadn't felt really guilty until then.

"It's the smart thing to do," Reefe said.

"It's the wrong thing to do," Cross said. "You all know it is."

"I don't care about right or wrong. I just want to stay alive," Ruby said.

"He's dead weight. He's barely alive now," Jackie said. She looked at her hands after she said it.

"We all think this is the best choice. You think you're the only one who knows better?" Trent asked.

"It doesn't matter how many people do something. It's either wrong or it's not," Cross said. When no one said anything else, he got up and left the room.

"We don't need his vote. Nobody wants to do this, but it's the way things are," Charming said. The rest of us nodded and dispersed one at a time, nobody wanting to be close to anyone else.

After I left, I tracked down Cross on the Eight floor. He was sitting in a chair with his hands clenched and his eyes closed.

"That was really brave, not giving in," I said.

"I'm just a black-and-white thinker, I guess," he said. "It doesn't mean I'm right."

"I think you are," I said. "I should have said something. It's just so hard to speak up. From now on, I think I will. And I don't think I want any of them as allies."

"Me neither," he said. Just like that, I had the most trustworthy ally in the Games.

Reefe Mordecai. D4

I screwed up. I done screwed up. I could have sold blood and plasma. I could have been a coin-diver for Capitol tourists. I could have set up a blasted kissing booth. Any of those would have been better ideas than joining a deathmatch for a faint chance at winning a fortune. I was a screwup.

It was time for damage control. On the bright side, I'd screwed up during the best possible year. The voting element, oddly enough, gave me much more control over my fate than I otherwise would have had. I didn't have to be the strongest or smartest. I just had to manage my image the best.

It was another stroke of luck that being a less-trained Career would also be a benefit this time around. Instead of the nines and tens Charming, Ruby and Jackie would get, I'd likely get a 7 or and 8. Of the Careers, I was the smallest threat. If I wasn't a Career and had to pick one of us to vote for, I'd pick Charming. He was the friendliest and most charismatic, which meant he was the most likely to win. Me, I'd be last one I'd pick. I was the goofball from Four who was obviously insane, since he had a completely asinine reason to volunteer.

This was no time for specialization. I needed to be a jack of all trades, decent at everything but excellent in nothing. I had to be the quiet, average member of the tribe- one that did useful work and was acceptably good at challenges, but one that didn't have the skills to win and therefore didn't need to be voted out. I had to arrange it so that when people thought about who to vote for, I didn't even come to mind. If I pulled this thing off and won, it would be by default. Default was fine if it meant not dying.

Being resoundingly middle-of-the-pack was easier than being the best and less risky than pretending to be the worst. I thanked my lucky stars I'd asked for a flute as my luxury item. A little nice music both made camp life more enjoyable and made me look like someone who definitely wasn't serious enough to win. I was just an average tribemate. Nothing to be worried about.

It wasn't over yet. Just because I screwed up once didn't mean I'd do it again. Average was easy to attain. Average was easy to forget. If people could just forget me all the way up to the end, that would be great.

Longer POVs this time, for no reason. It actually weirds me out a bit that I write POVs with no attention toward length and they always turn out to be pretty close to 400 words. Not this time.