She keeps up the smile for a good majority of the parade. People absolutely love her dress, and I know Amber has done it again. The crowd is going crazy, cheering out their favorite tribute's name. I hear Emma and Derek's names shouted a few times. The chariots finish their lap, and they drop the tributes off at the front gates of the White House, where they link arms and march into the house. The last of the tributes enter the massive doors and close behind them. Then the program is over.
"Well that was lovely." Mary says. I nod in agreement.
"So this is the mentor's lounge, huh? Is this where we watch the games?" I ask.
"Yes it is. Here sweetie, I'll give you the grand tour." She says. She shows us around, explaining how everything works. During the games, every mentor has an individual screen that shows what their tribute is doing at all times. Its touch screen, and along the side of the screen is an icon with a silver parachute. If a sponsor has offered a gift for your tribute, it will appear and you can simply tap it and it will be sent to your tribute.
"Seems simple enough," Marcus says.
"It's very easy. And the big screen at the front of the room will be playing the live coverage that the rest of the country is seeing," she adds.
She shows us the mentor's bathroom, which is more like a spa.
"Well I hate to rush, but I must be going," she says. I tell her goodbye and she leaves.
"Let's go get them and talk about training tomorrow," I say, and slip my hand into Marcus's, guiding him out. I knock on Derek's door and let him know to change and meet in my room. I knock on Emma's door and tell her the same thing. She hesitates, but gives in. I walk back to my room with Marcus and order our food. The food arrives before Emma and Derek, but they quickly follow. They come in, take a seat, and grab a plate.
Before we start eating, I decide to address the training strategy.
"So we have decided that Marcus will work with Emma for training and interview prep, and I'll work with Derek," I say. Neither of them objects, and we go ahead and eat. Not much talking gets done, and the silence is very awkward. I'm the last one to finish and I pick up everyone's plates and set them on the table for the waiter to retrieve.
"Ok, let's talk strategy." I say to Derek.
"Emma, lets go to talk strategy." Marcus says and they get up to leave. For a minute, a feeling sweeps over me. I wouldn't call it jealousy, more along the line of worry. I push that away though. I trust Marcus, but Emma, I'm not sure. But I don't think she has any interest in that. I find it easier to blame the baby hormones than figuring out why I'm feeling the way I am.
"Tomorrow is your first day of training. I want you to avoid the stations your best at, and work on what you need to improve on," I say.
"So avoid the spears and knives, and work on snares, knots, and fire starting?" He asks.
"If that's what you need to work on, then yes." I say.
"Anything else?" He asks.
"I want you to pay attention to what Emma can do. Since you two will be partners, make sure you know her skills as well." I say
"Partners? With Emma? That requires cooperation, you know." He says. I laugh.
"When faced with life or death, you'd be surprised at how much someone can change." And it's true. I think back to when I was in the arena. Everyone did change. Shy Sarah killed without even blinking an eye; Evan put aside his childish behavior and readied himself to kill. But Kennedie, she changed, which was what caused her own end. To tell you the truth, if Evan's death hadn't affected her so much, she would have probably been easily able to kill Marcus and I off and win the games. Well, maybe not Marcus, but I wouldn't have been able to fight her no matter how much I would try. I get too attached to people. And that's where I make a mental note to not get to know Derek; it will only make it worse if he dies.
"Ok, well I'm gonna go hit the hay. See you tomorrow." He says to me.
"See you." I reply. He leaves and I change into comfy clothes. I'm half asleep when Marcus walks in. I open my eyes back up and prop myself up on one elbow.
"So how'd it go?" I ask.
"I'm afraid that's confidential." He says, and I laugh.
"Did she try to fight you?" I ask.
"Nope, it went well." He says.
"Huh." Is all I say. I yawn and he slips under the covers with me. He kisses my forehead, and I'm out like a light.
The light of morning is just making its way into the darkness of the night. My eyes flutter open, and Marcus is already up and out. I look around the room, but he's not their. It makes me think of the day in the games, when I almost had a meltdown because I woke up alone. And with President Stone's threat, it makes me worry still. I haven't done anything that would harm them. I've kept my mouth shut, so let's hope Stone can keep up his end of the deal. I get in the shower, and when I'm done I smell like strawberries.
Marcus, Derek, and Emma are already here eating breakfast. Marcus and Derek greet me with a smile. Emma just glances and goes back to her meal.
"First day of training. What station are you two going to first?" I ask.
"What do you mean us two? I'm flying solo on this." Emma says.
"You two are going to be partners during the game, why wouldn't you train with each other?"
"Is their a rule that says we have to be partners?" She says, demanding.
"No, but it only makes sense." I retort. We argue about it, then Marcus steps in.
"Emma, come with me really quick." He says, and they step out into the hallway. The door closes behind them, and Derek chuckles.
"I told you." He says, and I roll my eyes. They walk back in, and take a seat. Emma looks directly at me with a snarky smile.
"Fine, we'll train together." She says. I look over at Marcus, giving a questioning look. He just shrugs his shoulder and brushes it off, so I let it go. No use in fixing something that's working well enough to function. We finish our meal, and take DeAnne meets us at the elevator to escort Emma and Derek to the training center.
Training days go by slowly when you are stuck doing nothing. Marcus and I find stuff to do to occupy our time while Emma and Derek are in training. We spend a lot of time with Mary. She has the kind of personality that you can't help but like her. We meet some of the other mentors. Jack, the mentor from Georgia. Lisa, from Vermont, and Travis from Hawaii. A waiter brings in a plate of suger cookies, and I grab three. I eat one, and save the other two for Emma and Derek.
It's the last day of training, and I walk out of the mentor's lounge with Marcus. Emma and Derek are stepping off the elevator from training. We instructed them to work a little on their best stations, and I'm curious to find out what Emma's good at.
"Did you guys work at your best stations?" I ask. They both nod.
"Which were?" I say, hopeful that Emma will give me an answer.
"You know mine." Derek says.
"And Marcus knows mine." Emma replies.
"She went over to the axe station. She is really good." Derek says. This makes me stop in my track. The exact weapon that brought Sarah's end. I remember when I came back home and found an axe in the shed while I was looking for a box to store some stuff in. I had a meltdown when I saw it and father had to get rid of it.
"I am pretty good." Emma gloats. Sarcastic, rude, rebellious, hostile, strong-willed. Now I can add arrogant to the list of words to describe her. It seems wrong of me to judge her so easily, though.
"Right. Well, want a cookie?" I say, holding out the two. Derek snatches one out of my hand.
"My favorite." He says, shoving pieces of it in his mouth. Reluctantly, emma takes the other one.
"Tomorrow is your private training sessions. You will meet the other tributes for breakfast, and they will call you one at a time to impress the Gamemakers." Marcus tells them. They both nod, and retire to their rooms to get some sleep. I decide to get some sleep as well. We slip into bed, and Marcus falls asleep first. I try and fall asleep, but my mind is too busy thinking about the next few weeks ahead. Who knows how long they'll be in the arena.
Marcus starts to stir, mumbling under his breath, just like another time in the arena. I can't make out anything he's saying. He tosses and turns frantically, and I shake him awake.
"Marcus, honey, calm down." I whisper. His eyes burst open, but start to close back up.
"It was just a dream, go back to sleep." I say soothingly. I kiss his cheek and lay back down. Once my mind decides to take a break, I fall asleep.