I started a joke which started the whole world crying

But I didn't see that the joke was on me, oh no

I started to cry which started the whole world laughing

Oh If I'd only seen that the joke was on me

"How's training coming along?" Rhiannon asks as I sit down for breakfast. "You have your private session this afternoon."
"What do you think I should do?"
"Whatever you feel most confident with, hun. Of course, don't do anything to make the Gamemakers mad at you, or they might place a target on your back."

I crumble up a pastry in my hands, spilling crumbs everywhere. "Oh God. That makes me nervous."
"Why are you nervous?" Rhiannon my shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do fine!"

Now's my chance to cram in as much last-minute training as I possibly can. I spend most of my time sorting plants, until I feel confident enough I can tell most of them apart. That's not entirely true; I'm still a bit lost. But at least I know which berries are really good for me and which ones will kill me.

But the slow and repetitive act of sorting gives me time to think. What skills do I have to show to the Gamemakers? Is my best bet to shoot as many arrows as I can in hopes at least one shot is impressive? Do I group off edible plants instead? Should I do both?

The atmosphere is much more tense than it has been in the past two days, because the other tributes feel the same; what do the Gamemakers want from us? I haven't seen much from Whyllis in the past two days, because they've made it clear they want me to stay out of their way. Currently, they're throwing axes with Tyrone.

Suddenly, there's the sound of several paint pots crashing to the ground. I glance behind me at the camouflage station, where Cindra is covered in green and black paint. The trainer winces, producing a small towel to help clean her off. I notice a very familiar girl hanging out nearby, a mischievous gin on her face. She raises a finger to her lips at Sitka, who stomps her foot angrily.

At lunchtime, Jane decides to sit across from me. I want to slap that silly little smirk right off her face. "What the hell were you thinking!?"
"You told me to go piss off Cindra."
"I did not!"

Jane crumples up her napkin into a little ball. "What's done is done. Nobody can prove I did it. And you're not going to tell."
She's right, I won't tell anyone. This might backfire on me once we're in the arena and I really can't take that risk. I can't take more of Jane either.

"TRIBUTES! PRIVATE SESSIONS WILL BEGIN IN HALF AN HOUR! PLEASE LINE UP ON THE BENCH PROVIDED IN DISTRICT ORDER, WITH MISS LUMEN AT THE DOOR AND MR. PAMTORTH AT THE END!"

I find myself sitting between Magaz and Whyllis; both are perfectly fine ignoring me. Ugh, why do I have to be so close to the end? That just gives me more time to be nervous!

Rhiannon told me last night each sessions only lasts fifteen minutes. So, by the time it's my turn, I've been sitting there for hours. "Vera-Ryanna Kingsley," an automated voice says. I stand up, my legs suddenly throbbing after sitting for so long.

The Gamemakers are staring at me, and only me. This is my chance to shine and show them what I can do. Those hours of sitting have given me a lot of time to overthink my strategy, so I pick up a bow and load a quiver with about ten arrows. I take one, spend a good amount of time aiming, then fire. I hit the target.

Then I hit it again.

I miss, then hit. Miss, miss, miss, hit. By the time I've gone through all ten arrows, I've managed to hit the target with half of them on the outer rings. Ugh. Now would be a great time for a lucky shot. I reload the quiver and I've still got a little less then half my time left. I could leave, but if I can pull off a more impressive score, then I'm going to do it.

But it's just so, so, so frustrating, because these arrows need to count, yet I find myself slipping up and making all these silly mistakes. Finally, I'm dismissed to leave. And out of seventeen arrows, only nine hit the target. No bullseyes, no crazy luck. Nothing.

I take the elevator back up to my floor, alone. I step inside the shower, just staring at the pristine white tiles on the wall. Once I'm dried off and changed, there's a knock on the door. It's Rhiannon. "Hey hun. They're going to be revealing the scores soon, if you'd like to come see them with us."

Cheyenne and Whyllis are already crowded around the television screen. I take a seat off to the side and watch as faces start to flash up on the screen with numbers beside them.

"Starting off with Opal Lumen of District 1, with a score of...Six!"

"And Bartleby Richmond also with a score of...Six!"

"From District 2, Cindra Heath with a score of...Nine!"

"Her district partner Troy Jong, with a score of...Five!"

"Next is Delta Marris, with a score of...Five!"

"Up behind her is Gayle Apollox with a score of...Five!"

"Quincy Burnett of District 4, with a score of...Eight!"

"And their star-crossed lover Anthony Morrison also scores...Eight!"

"Hailing from District 5, Karen Angenellis has received a...Six!"

"And her district partner Flynn McIntyre with a score of...Five!"

"Abril Schumacher scores, very fittingly...Six!"

"Next up, Ethan Keddy with a score of...Five!"

"Sitka Rowan from District 7 scores a...Four!"

"And her hulking district partner Tyrone Quinifus, with a...Seven!"

"Now we have Ellie Corzin with a score of...Five!"

"And Damask Weave of District 8 walks away with a...Four!"

"Up next is Teff Bran, of District 9, who has scored a...Four!"

"And Magaz Hector, with a score of...Five!"

"From District 10, Vera-Ryanna Kingsley has scored a...Five!"

"And Whyllis Shears has walked away with a...Seven!"

"Jane Dough from District 11 scores a...Two!"

"Her district partner Basil Garland has scored a...Three!"

"From District 12, Maryann Corinne Loorker has scored a...Five!"

"And finally, we have Leo Pamtorth with a...Four!"

The music begins to fade. The scores are over. All I can think about is five. A five. That's average. I don't know how I feel about being nothing but average. Hell, Whyllis walked away with a seven! How could I ever compete with something like that!?

My eyes blur up. I quickly excuse myself and hurry out of the room. I don't want to cry about this. Not when I was feeling so certain that I could do something to increase my odds. The joke's on me; my mediocre shooting skills won't be enough. I don't know what else I can do to at least fool myself into thinking I might be able to survive what comes next.

What do I do now!?

Current Alliances:

Careers: Bartleby (1), Troy (2), Cindra (2), Anthony (4), Quincy (4), Karen (5)

The Mad Scientists: Gayle (3), Flynn (5)

Brute and Bitter: Tyrone (7), Whyllis (10)

The Little Kids Squad: Sitka (7), Basil (11), Leo (12), Maryann (12)

Gentle Giants: Damask (8), Magaz (9)

Single Ladies: Delta (3), Ellie (8)

669: Ethan (6), Abril (6), Teff (9)

Nothing But Chaos: Jane (11)

Loners: Opal (1), VR (10)

Training is over and the scores have been announced! Did any of them surprise you?

I've added the list of alliances, which will also be included once we hit the arena, since so many of them formed offscreen. Are any of them surprising to you?

Next chapter will be the interview prep! So stay tuned for that!

-Vr