Carter Lasher, 18

Shelby's #2 Male Pick

It was always unusual for Carter to go to sleep early. Being up late at night was a constant struggle for him. He had gotten used to his medication that helped his anxiety immensely, but there was no guarantee that he would have that in the games.

The games were something that Carter didn't even want to consider. He wanted to be in the best possible situation to provide a chance for him to win, but no one reaches out to the quiet, awkward kids first. Carter is decent enough at training, but he isn't the kind of person to put himself out there.

Without an ally, he would surely be in trouble.

"Your thoughts are so loud," Arturo said from the desk in the corner of the room. Arturo and Carter had become friends through a mutual therapist. Have a similar issue in similar circumstances? Cool! You should just be friends!

At least, that's how Carter had always imagined his therapist handling it.

"I'm sorry," said Carter sitting up from his bed. Arturo was sketching away under the light of a lamp, not looking at Carter as he spoke. "The games are getting closer and closer, and the more I think about it, the more I can't stop," Carter threw his head back onto the pillow and groaned. "In just a few days, everyone we know will be dead, Artie."

"Wow, way to look on the bright side," Said Arturo, finally looking up from his drawing.

"I'm not joking," Carter said. "Our siblings, our 'cousins' or whatever the hell we consider them," Carter never knew what to refer the people he grew up with as. None of the "siblings" had ever dated, but the "cousins" seemed to be fair game for the other tributes.

"I consider them family friends," said Arturo. "Makes it less weird when I'd walk in on Ruben making out with Darcy."

Carter laughed at his friend and turned over on his side to face Arturo. "Listen, I know that this is weird, but you should be able to understand the amount of stress me asking something like this would be," said Carter as the ever familiar feeling in his stomach started to turn. "I-" he began to ask Arturo but then stopped.

Arturo spun around on his chair. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the floor next to it. "What's going on, buddy?" he asked him.

"Never mind," said Carter. "It's stupid."

It's a simple question! Carter thought to himself, frustrated. Why is it so hard to ask such a simple question?

"You're valid, Carter," said Arturo. "What does Tiffany always tell us?" asked Arturo. "You're-"

"Thoughts and feelings are important," said Carter interrupting his friend. "Yes, I understand, but what if you're not cool with it?"

"Then you'll know about it," said Arturo smiling at his friend. "What's the other thing that Tiffany always says?" Arturo smiled. "Rejection-"

"Rejection is a part of life. You can't let it run you," Carter knew all of this, but with all due respect, it was a lot easier to say those sentences rather than applying them. He wanted to ask Arturo to be his ally. It made sense.

They were both friends. They both understood the anxiety that came with coming to the games and talking to others. He would have a walking, talking, breathing Ms. Tiffany to help him calm down when things seem to be too overwhelming otherwise.

Carter took a deep breath and looked at Arturo. He could feel the words on his tongue, but it was like someone was holding his lips together to prevent him from speaking. "Will," he began to ask him.

"Will?" asked Arturo confused.

Carter was tired of this. He always felt held back by his anxiety. He wanted to burst out of this shell, he always felt confined to, and if he couldn't do it with his closest friend, who could he do it with?

"Will you be my ally in the game?"

"Of course!" said Arturo laughing. "I've been dreading this conversation as well, and was hoping that it would be implied!"

The two friends laughed, and Carter was annoyed that he ever beat himself up in the first place. Of course, this was something implied, but that's not how overthinking works. Everything keeps spinning and moving until suddenly, the simple thought turned into a six-season telenovela.

Relax now, Carter. He thought to himself, finally able to close his eyes. You have an ally. Now it's time to get some sleep.

Jupiter Aeneas, 18

Princeton's #3 Male Pick

"Guys, we need to talk," Princeton gathered his kids into the living room and had them sit on the sofas. Each of the kids sat criss-cross on various places around the room as Princeton began to speak. "So, I've been thinking with the games coming up, and I was wondering if I could ask you guys something?"

"What is it?" Jupiter asked.

Jupiter had been anticipating the games since the start of this year. Mentally, he felt he was prepared for the games themselves. Since he was younger, he would always do what he had to do to succeed. He wasn't afraid to be the bad guy.

Jupiter was encouraged by the idea.

"I want you guys to be in an alliance," said Princeton. "I know that it is a lot to ask, but I won't lie to you guys, I'm nervous."

Princeton had tears in his eyes well up, and Jupiter couldn't help but want to roll his eyes. He understands where his dad is coming from, but he also didn't want to be controlled and told what to do when his life was at stake.

"I don't know if I'm okay with that," said Jupiter honestly. "What happens if we end up being the final 6? Do we want to be responsible for taking each other out? Can you all live with the idea that you killed your brother or sister?"

"Let's try and not just shut things down before talking it out," said Cerise. "There is an alliance of six in this room. We don't need to hear just your opinion."

Jupiter seethed as he watched his sister turn to the rest of the group and begin to have the conversation. The truth was, Jupiter wasn't sure if he wanted to have an alliance. That's a lot of loose ends that he'd be responsible for keeping in line. Not to mention when siblings work together, egos and attitudes seem to run rampant.

Jupiter was not going to let them run rampant.

"I just can't watch you guys go into the arena and not work together for as long as possible," Princeton said, interrupting his children. "I know that technically I'm not your dad-"

"Don't say that," said Valerian and Sagar at the same time.

"But raising you guys has been one of the best things I've ever done," Princeton teared up, and Jupiter looked around at his siblings as they cried too.

It wasn't that Jupiter was heartless. He'd go as far as to say that he loves his family. Deep down, though, he's always seen what this was: a business trip. Whenever he would start to feel more than a little bit of attachment, he would remind himself. I'm going to have to kill these kids one day. You can't kill people you like.

Calling someone your brother or sister makes it challenging to want to kill.

"I'm not entirely against working together," Lily said to the group.

Of course, she's not. Jupiter thought to himself. Who would be there to calm her down when she has a mental break down.

"All in favor?" Cerise asked.

One by one, each of his siblings raised their hands. He felt like he was stuck in between a rock and a hard place. If he agreed to the alliance, he was stuck with them. There's no backing out on a situation where your dad is crying in the middle of the room. If he didn't, there was an instant target placed on his head.

Jupiter didn't like how controlling this situation felt.

He raised his hand, and his father wiped tears from his eyes and smiled at his kids. "I know this wasn't fair of me to ask. Thank you," he said as he got up and walked out of the room.

Jupiter looked at his siblings and bit his lower lip. Cerise stood up and walked to the center of the room. "I think it's important that we have a central leadership," she said. "I think it should be-"

"Not you," Jupiter said, standing up. "If anyone in this alliance is a reader, it would be me. I ranked higher than anyone else in this room." Cerise looked annoyed, but she sat down as Jupiter stood up and gave everyone a nod. "We can run the show if you think about it. Sagar and I are pretty good offensively. I've seen Valerian kick some major ass, let's just hope that ass isn't named Rudi, cause yikes."

Valerian threw a pillow at Jupiter, and he dodged it. He stood up and cleared his throat. "I think that the best scenario right now is to come up with a bloodbath plan. We'd be stupid to think that we are the only ones that are forming alliances. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the top contenders from the score list to try and overwhelm everyone."

"Well then," said Sagar cracking his neck. "Let's do this."

Hadrian Cato, 18

Shelby's #3 Male Pick

Hadrian dreaded going into the games in the next couple of days. He was eighteen-years-old, and he hadn't even lived his life. Now he was expected to go potentially throw it away in the arena?

"BROO!" screamed Rudi as he came storming into his room. "Get dressed now!" Rudi threw a random shirt off the floor at Hadrian as he jumped up and down in excitement. "Ruben and I were at the park, and we found the hottest girls there. They invited us out to the club and said they'd bring their cute friend! Let's go!"

Hadrian smiled as his friend ran to his dresser and doused himself in cologne. "How hot are we talking, man?"

"Hot enough that Ruben forgot about Darcy dude," said Rudi.

Hadrian threw on a tight black v-neck t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans. He went to his closet and pulled out a nice pair of white tennis shoes and, like his brother, sprayed a lot of cologne on his body. "I'm ready when you are!"

Rudi howled when he saw his friend and clapped him on the back. "Dude! We are going to have some serious fun tonight."

It was nights like these that Hadrian feels he was robbed of. Nights where he could just go out with his friends, pick up girls, dance the night away. Granted, the boys had this week to get together and do a bunch of that stuff.

But what was one week to eighteen years that he spent entertaining the Capitol? He wanted to experience life, and he wanted to talk to his friends and ask if they wanted to as well, but they didn't have that kind of friendship.

Ruben, Rudi, and Hadrian's friendship consisted of girls, flirting with girls, dancing with girls, and having someone have your back when they get into the Hunger Games. Hadrian thought that as they grew older and started to experience life, they would begin to talk about it.

But the more he waited and expected, the more it became it was in vain.

Hadrian wanted to talk with Ruben about the Darcy break up. Not just the shallow whining about how his life sucks because he's single, but helping him through the breakup and not just shove him into another girl's bed.

"Do you ever wonder about what it's going to be like in the Games?" Hadrian asked Rudi as they walked down the street of the Capitol.

"Dude, buzzkill," said Rudi as he gave his friend a weird look. Rudi pushed his arm and chuckled lightly. "Let's just have a good night, man; we can talk about that stuff later."

"We never talk about that stuff, dude," said Hadrian trying to probe his friend for something more than just shallow conversation. He reached out and grabbed his friend by the arm and turned to face him. "I'm serious, dude; I'm freaking out here. I'm scared. We are about to go into a bloodbath-"

Rudi shoved Hadrian away from him. "Dude, I'm not joking. Just stop. Let's just enjoy our night."

"All we do is shallow shit, dude!" said Hadrian becoming desperate to understand that his life wasn't wasted on shallow relationships. "You know we've been friends since we were kids, and I don't even think I can tell you your favorite color."

"It's green," said Rudi, annoyed.

"That isn't my point, Rudi," said Hadrian. "You're my boy, and I love you, man, but I can't go into the games with someone that I don't trust. I need to know who I'm working with, Rudi."

Rudi rolled his eyes and looked away into the cars passing the street. Hadrian watched as the people who have nothing to fear about their tomorrow and are lost in their superficial problems. He was envious as he watched them.

That was a luxury that Hadrian never was afforded.

"It's pointless anyway," said Rudi. "There's no point in getting to know me. There's no point in us having this big blood brother bonding moment, Hades," he looked down at the ground and began to kick his toe into the cement. "In three days, we are going to be competitors. These nights of girls, and drinking, and dancing are just going to be that. When we enter the arena, there's no room for friendships anymore."

"We got dealt a shitty hand," agreed Hadrian.

He wondered if the other tributes in their houses were experiencing the same issues as him right now. Surely he couldn't be the only tribute that didn't feel that they lived entirely before having it potentially all ripped away from them.

"Let's just go tonight, dude," said Rudi. "'Ruben and I will sleepover tonight, and we can have this bullshit feeling thing you want to do before the bloodbath if you're so insistent on it." Rudi joked at his friend as he clapped his hand on his back once again and began to walk on the sidewalk.

Hadrian smiled at his friend. It may not be a perfect friendship, but Hadrian would take what he could at this point. Because in three days, Rudi and Ruben were going to be all he had.

And he fully intended on losing even them.

That's our alliances! We will have SUCH a big reveal next chapter you're going to scream. At least, I hope. I'm so proud of this idea. You think you know what's coming, but I promise you've seen none of what is to come yet. I'm so pumped!

What do you think of the alliances? Any interest? Any opinion changes? I can't wait to hear from you all!

Keep it classy,

Caleb