BIG NEWS: I added Dionysus to Quarla so I could delete the earlier chapter and make things neater.

Quarla Hydrargyrum- District One female (16)

I tried to see the good in everyone. But it was hard to see the good in Amy.

The bathroom door swung open with the squeak whoosh that made me flinch every time. It probably said something that I was so used to getting harassed by Amy and her friends that I could recognize her footsteps on a linoleum bathroom floor. I hurriedly flushed the toilet. Amy was the reason I used paper towels and not the far more efficient choice of a toilet brush.

"Hey, Creme Brulee," Amy called from the entrance of the bathroom, smacking each door as she went by to announce her impending arrival. Amy wasn't very good at either formulating or delivering insults but she did get the point across. "Fireplace", "Fondue", "Overdone Smore"... it was pretty easy to gather what she was referencing. Once I saw the goodness in everyone. Then the world taught me that some things were just entirely bad- no good at all. There were some people in the world either so low or so desperate that they would bully a deformed, disabled custodian.

Amy opened the door to my stall just after I hid the cleaning solution in the toilet tank. I'd tampered with all of them months ago for this exact purpose, even though I never used anything more acidic than vinegar. Not after what she did that one time. Before that I still had a little hair. Now it was just me and my sunny yellow beanie.

"A cockroach in her natural habitat: somewhere disgusting," Amy said as she loomed in the stall doorway. Her two friends smirked, caring more about being included in the in-group than about the contents of the bullying. I certainly knew from experience that it was a lot easier to stand by and watch someone get abused than it was to stand up and put your own position on the line.

"What's it like to be so hideous?" Amy asked. She didn't actually want an answer so I just stayed quiet. Had she actually wanted an answer I would have told her it's not really as bad as she probably assumed. Appearances are everything in One and I would always be a second-class citizen, stared at and denied opportunities because of my looks, but that was just… life. People, especially children, can get used to a lot. I'd been like this for longer than I hadn't been like this and it was normal to me now. I was ugly and poor and like everyone else I was doing the best I could with what I had. That was one reason I still worked at the Academy instead of somewhere less visible. The sewers, maybe?

It wasn't very bad in the end. Amy and her friends just threw out a few more insults, splashed me with toilet water and left. Once everyone else was also gone for the day I went out to the training floor. There were cameras everywhere so they definitely knew I was training. They just didn't care. Maybe they chalked it up to a job perk they could use to offset the guilt of paying me less than minimum wage.

When it was just me and the weapons I felt at peace. My appearance didn't stop me from throwing a spear. My prosthetic leg didn't prevent me from sending a throwing knife into the center of the target. The Arena doesn't care about your past or your beauty. It only cared about results.

Dionysus Bacchus- District One male (17)

It was nice to be at a party for me, even though the reason was kind of sad. I mean, it was exciting that I got picked for the Hunger Games I was riding high off the support and celebration for me. But it was kind of funny I got picked. I trained and all, but I wasn't exactly the greatest thing One had ever seen. I was a good student but not, like, an amazing student. I'd seen better. But then, I'd seen worse. But then, the worse ones all died. But then, most people One sent died, even though we bragged about our statistics. Truth be told it just wasn't that great a year for us. Some years the Academy just doesn't have a very good crop to work with. There were some good ones. I was actually the third pick. Platinum tore a ligament in his knee and then Glitz's mother had a stroke and he dropped out to be her caretaker. That left me.

The official Academy party was already over. It was always a big boring thing where instructors were recognized and given awards and people made long speeches about the importance of the Academy and the bravery of the winners and blah blah. The real party came afterwards, when we gathered at someone's house and did all the things the instructors didn't want us to do even though they did the same thing when they were students. Luxe's parents were at a business conference and they had a ton of alcohol in their basement so he gracefully offered himself as Tribute.

"Shots shots shots shots!"

A dozen riled-up Academy students cheered as I downed another shot of burning liquid. Life is fun without alcohol but it's more fun with alcohol. Careers are pretty much all about short-sighted instant gratification. The instructors can't be mad at us for being exactly like they told us to be. I'd gotten so used to having a few drinks pretty much every day that I felt blah on the days I didn't. And at the party I didn't really have a choice. I was the guest of honor, since Chrysolite wasn't there. She'd been acting weird since a few days before she got picked. Most people thought she was having doubts. Me, I put money on her being pregnant. Why else would she not want all this free alcohol?

It was a good thing Luxe's family had a cleaning woman and he'd already made arrangements with her. Careers like to have fun and parties multiply everything. The house was a wreck and the night wasn't even half-over. But kids will be kids. We're only young once.

A few hours later I realized perhaps there is such a thing as "too much fun". Slumped over a toilet, gross-tasting ooze trailing from my mouth in a thin string, I reflected that I had had enough to drink. Usually I knew my body and caught it before that but sometimes things sneak up on you. You make a mixed drink and pour a little heavily, you don't eat enough before the party… it happens. As long as I wasn't faceup on the floor drowning in my own vomit, it was all good. I'd limp to bed, sleep with my head over the side just in case, and in the morning I'd be fine. I never even got hangovers. I was young and strong.

Chrysolite was in fact pregnant, BTW. When Quarla volunteered she didn't challenge it and instead had a daughter and is now a doting mother.

Quarla: Baldheaded. She has a damaged right ear and crooked set of teeth with a missing front tooth. She is short for her age at 5'0". Fair skin tone, but the skin on her arms and leg were either burnt or bruised. She is missing 3 fingernails on her right hand.

Dionysus: Wavy Brown Hair Medium Length, Averagely Built Lavender Eyes