Jerome perched himself on the couch between the two plastic ferns. He was in his small condominium, elevated to show off the twinkling lights lining the skyscrapers of the Capitol. Inside his little home, he had a small counter with a sleek, metallic kitchen filled with cutlery and glassware. The wals were beige, and his coffee table holding empty coffee mugs. Despite wanting to have everything organizd and neat, he was a complete slob. Piles of old magazines and newspapers were tied up by his door. A few empty garbage bags were scattered by his eating table, but the strangest thing was his cubist painting collection he leaned against his large glass window. He never hung it up. He was just to lazy to do so.

"Time for the show," he said.

He reached for a grey remote and turned on the television, showing Caesar Flickerman's plastic face. The crowd roared behind him, and flashes of cameras dotted the background.

"Hello, and welcome to this year's training score ceremony. How are we doing back there?" The crowd roared in delight as Caesar clapped. "Wonderful. Time to get to the scores. Remember, scores are posted from one to twelve based on the judges session after the tributes training. This determines how apt the tributes are for the Games. As usual, let's start with District One." Caesar squinted his eyes at the telprompter as a graphic on the screen showed the first tributes face.

District 1

Our first tribute is Glint Mugg, with a score of..."

Glint Mugg-9

"I can live with that." Jerome said with a nod.

"Now, Caesar said. We have Satine La'more who earned a..."

Satine La'more-8

"Not bad. Didn't think she had it in her." Jerome said

District 2

"Our next district. Cadmium ruse, the male will receive a..."

Camium Ruse-9

"Expected," Jerome said. Soon, Caesar's announcing and the graphics on screen continued to segue into the next tribute.

Slate Bedford-9

"Very decent."

District 3

Jay O'Connor-7

"Not bad for District Three,"

Arlyne Hunter-7

"Wow. A pair of sevens. They might do okay this year." Jerome took a bowl of ice cream in front of him and started to eat from it.

District 4

Romeo Caliteo-10

"Whoa," Jerome said, drawing out his surprise. "I thought a nine or eight. Judges are getting soft."

Paige Parker-9

"A nine?" Jerome's mouth hung open for a second. "The judges are soft."

District 5

Timas Etienne-6

"Better than I expected."

Cyrene Polymer-6

"Nothing special. Meh."

District 6

Casmond Indianno-4

"Good luck, kid. You're going to need it."

Monette Zacharias-5

"Better yet, good luck District 6," Jerome said with an roll of his brown eyes.

District 7

Aaron Artaga-8

"Finally, a decent score."

Eva-Marie Green-10

"Holy shit," Jerome shouted. "She pulled off a ten? That's insane."

District 8

Ambrosi Finley-5

"Pretty much what I had in mind."

Cleo Ellis-8

"Wow. That's actually pretty good."

District 9

Aslovee Chesed-8

"Alright. I can see that."

Edan Jibril-4

"Whoa. That's actually a little harsh."

District 10

Sirch Lichen-6

"Understandable."

Talon Brock-6

"Yeah. Expected from District Ten.

District 11

Xavier Thomas-8

"Better than I thought. Farm boy might have something for the others."

Koring Evans-6

"Meh. Thought she deserved a seven.

District 12

Joshua Adams-6

"Good. Now, fingers crossed. Please don't let this next one be what I think it will be."

Venus Whitmore-10

"Fuck!" Jerome shot to his feet and shouted. He grasp one of the empty coffee mugs and flung it at the hardwood floor, making a glass shard bounce back to his hand. He shouted as the shard cut into his skin, making a trail of blood run down his hand. He gripped his wrist, still shouting at the television.

The curved phone on the table in front of him rang.

Jerome picked it up. "Go fuck yourself," he yelled.

"Speaking of fucking people over," the nasally voice of his secretary said. "The President is on the line."

"Fine. Tell him to fuck himself."

"Unlike you, I value my life. Do you want to speak to him?"

"No, but put him on."

A quick ringtone blared into his ear. Then, the president's gravelly voice did the same, causing him to back away from the phone.

"How the fuck did she get a ten?"

Jerome took a deep sigh. "Well, Eva-Marie actually did a good job during her judges sess-."

"You know who I'm talking about. How did she get a ten?"

"It's not my fault. Execute the judges."

"Do you know what this means? There's parity in the Games now."

"Parody? What's funny about this?"

"Not parody. Parity with a 'T', you moron. Now, we have tens from that seven girl. Johanna Mason, much? Remember how she contributed last year? And to top it off, an archer from District Twelve gets a ten. Remind you of anyone?"

Jerome was speechless. He saw all the training sessions, and had to agree to an extent on most of them. Honestly, he could see the surprise tens. He just didn't want it to be true. The President was right. If the audience and tributes felt there was equality, not only would the attitude of the tributes change, but the Districts' as well. Their attitudes were volatile enough as is, and the Games wuld fuel that, as it did a few years ago.

"Don't you get it? They got those scores for a reason. They are targets now. The moment they step in the arena, they will die. Don't worry," he said with renewed confidence. "Once they get in the arena, they will all be equally helpless."

"Make sure it happens. I didn't replace Coriolanis for nothing."

The phone went dead. Jerome slammed it back down on the reciever.

"And now," Caesar said, causing Jerome to shoot his vision back to the television. "The odds so far for this years Games."

District 1

Male: Glint Mugg-10/2

Female: Satine La'more-13/1

District 2

Male: Cadmium Ruse-10/1

Female: Slate Bedford-11/1

District 3

Male: Jacob "Jay" O'Connor-26/1

Female: Arlyne Hunter-32/1

District 4

Male: Romeo Caliteo-7/2

Female: Paige Parker-9/1

District 5

Male: Timas Etienne-45/1

Female: Cyrene Polymer-45/1

District 6

Male: Casmond "Caz" Indianno-75/1

Female: Monette Zacharias-72/1

District 7

Male: Aaron Artaga-20/1

Female: Eva-Marie Green-16/1

District 8

Male: Ambrosi Finley-53/1

Female:Cleo Ellis-26/1

District 9

Male: Aslovee Chesed-35/1

Female: Edan Jibril-70/1

District 10

Male: Sirch Lichen-44/1

Female: Talon Brock-40/1

District 11

Male: Xavier Thomas-30/1

Female: Koring Evans-44/1

District 12

Male: Joshua Adams-50/1

Female: Venus Whitmore-17/1

Jerome sighed and sat back down. "It's not the end of the world. The interviews will change thngs. Just watch."

Suddenly, Jerome looked around his apartment. He sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Who am I talking to?"


Question: Which score shocked you the most? Also, do you If you guessed any of the scores correctly, let me know, and I will add those to your points.

The interviews are going to be huge. I will do EVERY SINGLE ONE. It's going to be tough, but I will manage. If you haven't recieved my interview template, let me know so I can send it to you. I will even act out these interviews to make sure they at least cross two minutes. Two minutes is MY limit. I don't want to bore anybody.

Again, my poll had NOTHING to do with the result of the Games or these scores. Let that be known.

Thank you. See you soon.