Harry Striffer, 16, D8M:

My day so far has not been going all that well. I've been bouncing around the survival stations for the best part of the morning, listening to the trainers explain how to find water and such, but the things they're teaching are so boring they're rather difficult to sit through. There are some stations that are a little more interesting, but less important. Building fires is tedious when you're forced to repeat the same motions and steps dozens of times in a row, and even if weather is interesting on its own, my mind wandered a little when the trainer was lecturing me about the various storms and their levels of danger. My morning wasn't fun, but there's still half a day left, so it has time to pick up. We were told today's mandatory activities would require ten minutes to set up, so we were free to do what we liked until then.

It seemed like a waste of time to get out supplies only to put them away in a few minutes, so I decided to use the restroom and park myself on a bench in the corner, scoping out some of the other tributes. There are several younger kids who are twelve or thirteen, and none of them has shown much promise yet. As cruel as it is to say, they probably won't survive past the first day or two, despite the efforts of some of the older kids. A good deal of the fourteen and fifteen year olds look ready to fight tooth and nail to win, which I suppose is a good mindset, but the Careers have already taken a dislike to one or two of them, so those couple might be done for. The older kids are, for the most part, strong, and have formed some strong alliances.

I'm on my own for the time being, but I'd like a friend or two. Perhaps even a love interest. None of my crushes have ever really worked out, but it would be nice to have a relationship. If I die, Grandmother will have some closure too, the knowledge that I was at least happy. I'm definitely not attracted to girls, so that narrows down the field to eleven, since I obviously can't date myself. I don't necessarily consider it to be out of desperation, but when it comes to love, almost anyone will do for me. Subtracting all of the twelve to fourteen year olds, because that would be gross, as well as highly inappropriate, I'm left with eight potential options. Three are Careers and one is the narcissistic boy from Three, which is a massive turnoff, and it doesn't make sense to fall in love with someone who's planning on murdering me, so there are really only four feasible options: Ardledge from Four, Quinten from Six, Radley from Nine, or Griffin from Eleven. Which one is best?

There's a sudden whistle screech from the center of the room. "Tributes," Hortensia says, "Please come over here." I obediently get up and walk up to her, just like everyone else. "Your training exercises today are swimming and boxing. The swimming exercise will involve basic underwater mobility and diving to retrieve objects. For the boxing exercise you will be placed in the cushioned ring with a trainer to spar with them. The goal is not to beat them, it is to last one minute without being hit. It is a defensive challenge. The task will end early for you if a trainer touches you. Does anybody have questions?" Nobody speaks up, so she carries on. "Alright. I'd like the gentlemen to head over to the pool in that corner, and ladies, you'll be at the boxing ring along the wall there. The Gamemakers will all be supervising, but the Head Gamemaker, Ms. Saccharyn, will be running the boxing area, so I'll be over with the swimming group. Go to your stations at this time."

The swimming pool is long but wide, spanning multiple lanes. Six people could race in it at once. It's deep too. I doubt the tallest boy in the room, the Career from Two, would be able to keep his head above water with his feet touching the bottom. I have very little experience swimming, but in the wooded clearing near my house in District Eight, there was a pond that used to fill up when it rained, and I'd sort of splash around in it if the weather was warm enough. The idea here is to force us to dive, fully submerging ourselves, as we overcome various obstacles. There are tasseled weights at the bottom that we'll probably have to collect, and there are some hoops and bars we have to swim through, over, or under. Someone shoots Ardledge, the Four boy, a telltale glance. He probably has the most experience swimming since Four is the fishing district.

Actually, I think I heard him mention a fiancée earlier, so I guess he's also not a potential boyfriend. Other tributes are eyeing the water with a variety of expressions. Some look terrified, a few look confident, but most look somewhere between confused and uneasy. There are always tales of drownings, and I can understand how it would make someone nervous to put their head fully underwater and be unable to breathe. I think it won't be that bad, though. I've done it before once, when my locket fell to the bottom of the pond and I had to go fetch it. It's definitely an odd feeling, but it's easy to breach the surface if you feel like you're running out of air. I used to be friendly with the local healer, and he taught me a fair bit about anatomy. We actually carry plenty of oxygen in our bodies, and can generally hold out up to a minute past where we would normally exhale.

Hortensia comes over as well, a few trainers trailing behind her. "Do you see those lane numbers at the end here? I'm going to assign you lanes and you'll go line up at your respective starting points. Just like yesterday with the running, there will be two heats. Tributes in the first heat are as follows: Chip Maxen in Lane One, Harry Striffer in Lane Two, Rafe McClellan in Lane Three, Ardledge Merton in Lane Four, Trey Copper in Lane Five, and Radley Allaway in Lane Six." I move over to my lane. Our training uniforms are apparently alright to swim in, but Hortensia does instruct us to remove our boots and socks so we're lighter in the water. "I know some of you may be a little frightened," she says, "But my trainers are here to rescue you if you're in danger. Not all of you can swim. I know this. The test is designed to assess your existing skill, so don't worry. This is a timed examination. You will be given five minutes to collect all of the sinkers that are in your lane and make it to the opposite end of the pool. Ready? On your mark. Get set. Go!"

I take the biggest breath I can and dive sharply until my fingers skim the bottom of the pool. I grab the tassel of the first weight, a squishy green thing filled with tiny beads of some kind, wedging it into the pocket of my pants. Most of the scared kids ended up in the other group, but Chip, the boy from Twelve, is just now inching his way into the water. The others are creeping forward at varying speeds, with Ardledge predictably leading the group. Rafe trails behind him, and Radley is also a little ahead of me, finding his bearings quickly. I paddle around a little helplessly, having lost all the momentum from my initial dive, and begin to copy Radley's movements as he uses his muscular arms to propel himself forward, making scooping motions, bringing the water into his chest, and then tucking his arms around as he kicks firmly with both legs at once. Trey lags behind. There must not be anywhere to swim in District Ten, but perhaps District Nine is similar to Eight and also has a pon, or maybe a lake.

Trey tries to grab a weight and narrowly misses as I pick up another few of my own. I find it's easy to stay near the bottom, but I'm running out of air, so I push up to the surface for a few seconds and dive back down, weaving through a hollow ring. Ardledge is already finished and out of the pool, toting his fistful of weights like a prized trophy. I chance a glimpse behind me and see Chip being pulled out of the pool by an instructor, sputtering all the while. Nothing much changes. I collect more weights, and although my progress is on the slower side, I feel like I'm doing okay. Rafe grabs onto the ledge at the other end of the pool and climbs out, landing in second place, also handing over all his weights. Trey gives up on the weights altogether, determined to just finish before the time runs out, but I already have a big lead. I surface for another breath and find it a more laborious task this time to dive down again, evidently already tired out. Radley easily claims third, and I make it into fourth, swinging a leg up onto the deck and I turn out my pockets. Trey eventually reaches the end also, and Chip looks both worried and upset about his placement.

I might have not done too well, but I'm proud of where I landed. It means that I'm capable of diving and swimming, and I'll be prepared if the arena is aquatic. I'm handed a towel, lace on my boots, and am immediately directed to the cluster of girls around the boxing area. Many of them are already making their way to the pool, passing me in the opposite direction. Others sit glumly on the sidelines, but a few look proud of themselves. I wrap my towel around my torso and tuck in the end so it resembles a dress and take a seat alongside a brunette whose name I don't know. Emily, the very young girl from Ten, is just stepping into the match lasts about two seconds. She stands frozen in place, and the trainer leans over and jabs her in the middle of her protective stomach padding using a soft mitten-type thing, and she nearly topples over. Seeing as I've arrived, the Head Gamemaker pauses to explain the rules to me. She's young and nice-looking, with curly magenta hair tucked into a tight bun and warm brown eyes. She passes me padding of my own, and informs me that all I have to do is evade the trainer for the full minute in order to win.

I have to wait for the last few girls to go, and then I position myself at the edge of the ring in waiting. The other boys from my heat have also arrived and are watching to see how I fare. I myself don't know how well I'll do. I'm fairly agile and flexible, but I also have poor physical strength. There's no telling what will happen. The Head Gamemaker snaps her fingers to signal the minute starting, and the trainer approaches me with caution. She's wearing padding on her hands so she doesn't really injure me, but I'm still afraid. I duck to the side and evade her attempt to trap me against the side, but she turns around quickly and smacks my shoulder. I didn't have any protection there, but it still barely hurt. Us tributes mustn't be damaged until we enter the arena.

I know I'm sort of done for if I get into a fight, but since I've also been learning a weapon, I hopefully won't have to worry about that. Taking advantage of my free time now that I'm done with the exercises, I head towards the archery range, choosing a bow and a quiver of arrows. I'm actually halfway decent at shooting it, but it's been difficult to actually get some practice in. I've been sneaking snatches of time whenever I can, but unfortunately, I've been constantly kicked out by people. My first three attempts all go in different places. I'm at the level of skill where I can hit the target the majority of the time, but beyond that, there's no consistency whatsoever. I occasionally get a bullseye, sure, but I also occasionally miss entirely. If I had the freedom to train as much as I liked here, I might be able to solve the problem, but that hasn't really been possible.

My main problem is that Lyra-Rose, the Career who specializes in archery, is really, truly, the most territorial person I've ever had the misfortune of encountering. She's so possessive of her little range and all four firing areas within it that she'll shout down whoever dares to encroach on her space and bully them into leaving. At first she begins by chucking various things at me and verbally harassing me, but when that doesn't work, she whines to the rest of Careers who then scare me off. I don't want to abandon the station that could save my life, but I also don't want to become a target by disobeying them. The solution has been training when I can and waiting until Lyra goes to get the Careers, then going to a different area. I'm on high alert and ready to scram at any time, which in and of itself is probably a useful quality to have in the Hunger Games.

Elle has also been having issues with the Careers. I definitely hold some concern for her, you know, because I have district loyalty, but she's been handling it a lot worse than I have. She's dead set on using the knife throwing range no matter what, and when it was full, she mouthed off instead of leaving. She's seemed to rapidly go from shy to reckless. I think she's going in with a 'what's the worst that could happen?' sort of attitude, but I'm not sure it'll serve her well in the arena. Also, she seems to believe she's a lot better at knife throwing than she actually is, so I'm worried she's just setting herself up for failure.

Then, of course, there are the Careers themselves. Each one is physically fit and has a refined technique with their weapons (at least it seems refined to me, but hey, what do I know? My shooting is about as straight as I am). When they were at lunch, I overheard them developing some sort of kill list. I was very relieved that my name didn't end up on it, but I'll have to be very careful not to upset them in the next couple of days. If I want an alliance, I'd better make one quickly, and I'd better make sure that nobody in it is on that list. I might be in the market for a boyfriend, but I still need to put myself first. The bottom line is that even if I do end up falling in love, one of us is bound to die, and I just don't know if romance and a death match are compatible.

Oscar Poudret, 17, D1M:

Life isn't always easy. Back in District One, Alise was horribly abusive and I never got to make decisions for myself. The Capitol is indisputably much better, and nobody's hurting me, but the threat of violence is still looming in the distance. Plus, Livi and Rafe are making decisions for me, but their choices do actually make some sense. It's tough training for so long, and I definitely get fatigued just as much as everyone else, but everyone seems to think I'm so damn invincible. Fine, maybe I'm a little cocky, but I'm only a boy, just like half the people here. Just a poor, stupid boy who didn't know what he was getting himself into when he volunteered. Sometimes it feels like all of Panem has a personal grudge against me. Why do I always get the short end of the stick? Why did I get the dad who committed suicide, the mother who liked to take out her personal issues on me, the district partner who's horrid, the mentor who;s so doped up he can't do a thing, the escort with her head too far up her ass to do anything but lounge around and eat pastry-based desserts?

I feel so snubbed. At least I've been doing pretty well in training, though. Yesterday, I aced my mile and got two thirds of the way through the agility course. My strength has carried me far. It's a source of comfort that some of the other Careers weren't quite as good. It made me feel a lot better about not finishing the agility course totally. I'm glad I was the best at running out of all twenty- four tributes, but I know if the training exercise took place in the District One Academy instead of the Capitol Training Center, Alise would've definitely beaten me for my failure to complete it.

I'm much more pleased with the results of today's activities, and it's enough to put the mess of my agility performance safely in the past. I did the best out of my heat with the swimming, but Rafe got an overall faster time than me, and Ardledge of course did the best from the boys. I think we all expected that. What I didn't expect was for Livi to be a weak swimmer. She didn't need to be fished out by the instructor or anything, but she was definitely in the lower half of the girls. Maybe if the arena is underwater, I'll be able to do her in by swimming or something. The boxing station was sort of fun, even though it wasn't truly boxing. I lasted out the entire minute. I have plenty of experience running around in an enclosed space trying to avoid a fist being thrown my way, so I didn't get touched once. I had been prepared to relive the trauma, but I always enjoyed boxing back home, and it was good to face down an opponent in the ring again, even if I wasn't allowed to hit her. The Head Gamemaker congratulated me when I was done, which only added to my pride. If the person running the show believes in me, I'm probably allowed to be confident in myself at this point.

The knife throwing station is blessedly free from that infernal Eight girl, Elle. Instead, Eliza's in the area next to me, both of us throwing knives with perfect accuracy. Eliza's become my closest friend in the Career Pack so far. She's not that talkative, but she's discovered some newfound confidence, and it's good to have a nice, normal person by my side. She's also amazingly skilled, plus she has a smart mentor, so I can honestly see her getting really far. Eliza gets along with everybody, and I think at some point she might be the only thing holding the Pack together.

Rafe is obviously a huge threat. I was around to see him lose his temper with Radley earlier, and I don't think things are looking good for District Nine, since we decided over lunch both he and Zea should ideally be dealt with in the Bloodbath. I'm sort of torn between hoping that Rafe becomes the leader if only to keep Livi at bay, and hopefully free me up from her control a little bit, and wishing for Livi to win. The problem with Rafe is that his only appeal as a leader is being someone other than Livi. Livi actually understands how to run an alliance and keep it functioning. When I advocated for her the night of the Tribute Parade, I relieved most of what I was saying. Rafe's tough, maybe the only person tough enough to take down Livi, but I have to wonder if he'll actually be worse. His leadership would endanger the whole group, but better for me personally. Still, it might not even matter if Livi's manipulating me if Rafe accidentally leads us into an ambush on the first day.

Whatever the case, it's out of my hands. They're battling it out in the training sessions, and it's all up to the Gamemakers to decide who comes out on top. Rafe's also gotten pretty close with Trey, our non-Career Career from District Ten. He's been practicing a lot with his switchblade, but he's also visiting a few other stations, primarily the expediency area, where he's learning how to kill a person as quickly and efficiently as possible. All us proper Careers know this from our Academy instructors, but I'm glad Trey is taking it seriously and doing his best to catch up. I always feel really safe with Trey around. He doesn't behave erratically, and he listens intently to the instructors, especially when they're discussing how to properly kill. He clearly doesn't want to make a mistake and cause more suffering than necessary, since he's asking so many questions, and I know he's going to be a great asset with that focused mentality.

Although he doesn't originate from a Career district, he's fitting in much better than Lyra-Rose, who simply fails to understand that the core ability you need to be a part of a group is cooperation. She's totally incapable of teamwork. She constantly props herself up and brags about her achievements to the point where even Rafe and Livi, who are both practically the definition of arrogance, are getting tired of it. She also has issues using her weapon of choice. She's a very accurate shot when she's ten yards away, but she usually can't even make the outer ring from farther away. There are issues with her technique sometimes too, and she has trouble loading and unloading her bow quickly. Recently she's begun flirting with me, Rafe, and Trey, possibly in a desperate bid to be better-liked, but it's been fairly lackluster. Nobody's giving her the attention she wants, and both Rafe and Livi are planning to give her the boot, so she's probably leaving no matter who ends up in charge.

At the moment, my money's on Livi. Yesterday she and Rafe were well matched on the mile, but she pulled ahead in the agility course. Today, although he beat her in swimming, she also lasted the entire minute in the boxing ring, whereas Rafe went down surprisingly quickly. He's big and tall, and he just can't move quite as fast as some of the rest of us. Livi is also doing excellent in her training, and Eliza even seems to be warming up to her a bit. She's just a better leader than Rafe. She decides what strategy we take, and even though it's clear she dislikes some people, she can keep her temper in check. Rafe's not enable to play the 'at least I'm nice' card ether, ever since his outburst, but he has a more versatile selection of weapons than Livi, so although the Gamemakers might be more impressed by him, it's more likely that Livi's fighting technique will put her ahead.

Livi might be calmer than him, but she poses more of a concern to me in particular. I've been known to be a little manipulative on occasion, but Livi apparently knows how to play the game just as well. She and I might be equals in terms of below the belt tactics, but she's a far better fighter, and she knows just how to leverage that against me to exploit my remaining power and use it to benefit her. She's still been positively icy to me when giving me my orders, but recently she's also been softer, less harsh, even kind to me on occasion, and I can't figure out what she's trying to do. If her goal is to get me to like her, it's not working. Maybe I trust her a little more, but she's still using me as a pawn, and I need to do something about that.

That's where the poison comes in. Yesterday afternoon, I lied and said I was going to the private training booths to ask for advice on approaching the bloodbath, but what I really did was get information on how to quietly take care of her in a way that wouldn't involve any combat, since I'd surely lose. I learned all about naturally occurring poisons that could be in the arena, and I memorized their names, appearances, levels of toxicity, proper handling measures, and modes of employment so that I'll have the best chance possible at dealing with Livi before she decides I outlive my usefulness. I decided the best choice, and the one that I have the highest probability of encountering, is hemlock, so I took extra care to make sure my information on it was correct.

I've also spoken to Fulton about my plan. He's a pretty crap mentor, but he's deigned to allow me one hour of interaction a day, and when I told him that I needed him to send me some poison if I couldn't find any on my own, he reluctantly agreed. "Sure, sure," he said, "But I don't have to be happy about it. It's a great idea if you keep it secret, but somebody's bound to find out at some point. If that someone feels like blackmailing you, you'll have two bosses to please, and if that someone is Livi, you're good as dead. I'll try to rustle up some sponsors for you, but remember, I'm watching the Hunger Games. I'm omnipotent, I know everything that's happening in the arena, and if I see Livi keeping a close eye on you, I'm not going to give you any. My job is making you live, not making her die." I suppose his reasoning was okay, but the actual wisdom came in the form of his Bloodbath advice.

He instructed me to find throwing knives or a similar weapon immediately, pick a specific tribute or two to target, and only focus on killing them. That way I don't have to divert my attention to other kids or make split second decisions. He also warned that the Gamemakers will probably do something funny to the arena since it's a Quarter Quell year. "Last time, they meddled with it by doing some sort of odd maze," he said. "Other times they've put the platforms in quicksand or along thin beams. Be prepared for anything and only go for your target. You don't want to get distracted by other tributes."

This, of course, leads me to consider the kill list. Us Careers talked at lunchtime and decided which tributes we wanted dead. The overall list includes Emily, Damon, Radley, Elle, Zea, Jenna, and Ardledge if he happens to be in the way. Each one of us got to pick one person we wanted on there, and Lyra-Rose just picked her district partner out of pure spite, so he's more of an optional death. I nominated Jenna, since she's one of the strongest outliers. Trey wanted Emily to die just because of some history they had together (she had greatly wronged him, apparently) but also Damon due to the whole token debacle, so we added both. The tribute I'm going after is Jenna. Even if Elle is more annoying, she's weaker and not as much of a priority for me.

The kill list includes all the most threatening and dangerous outliers. Zea proved to be really good at using throwing knives yesterday, despite holding them incorrectly, and it's like she's been practicing for most of her life, since she's almost as consistently good as me and Eliza. Jenna's deadly with that axe of hers. She;s from District Seven, and has probably been climbing trees for years, so I don't want her to take advantage of the arena. She has the greatest potential to be a threat, so I want her gone early. Radley is allied with her, and although he's not as gutsy, the incident with Rafe this morning proved he can stay cool under pressure and he's not automatically afraid of Careers. He could seriously wound one of us with his sickle if he gets the opportunity, so he also has to go quickly. Rafe will be taking care of him, that's for sure.

Rafe's an expert with a sabre, but he knows how to use almost every weapon he touches. That's a real piece of luck if the gamemakers decide to put unusual weapons in the arena instead of the more common ones, but I doubt they'd do that when there are so many tributes who have expertise with them. I'm excellent with my throwing knives. I never miss. Eliza doesn't miss. Livi doesn't miss. Rafe was chatting with her at the spear range for a little while and he doesn't miss either. Still, even though I have great accuracy, I have my own weaknesses. Mid-range combat is my major flaw. If I'm faced down by a person with a sword, I'm not far enough to throw a knife but not close enough to properly stab them.

That of course makes me worried for my future in the arena. I'm skilled, but I have my own issues to worry about. Will I be able to hit someone who's running? It's not as though the tributes will stand still and politely wait for me to kill them. Nobody here wants to die, especially not Jenna, and I'm afraid for what will happen when I face another tribute down in the arena. There are the Gamemakers too, and they won't make it easy for me. THey'll provide plenty of challenges to compound my existing problems of Livi and her underhanded tactics, but I have to win. I know I'll win. Anything else is unthinkable, and once I'm a Victor, I'll finally have enough power, fame, and status to get Alise out of my life for good. If I win, I'll have everything I need, and I'll move into Victor's Village with Lucia and Logane and be able to finally experience freedom.

Radley Allaway,17, D9M:

It's been an interesting few days. I've only been away from home for less than a week, and yet so much has changed in that time. I went from being a farm boy cutting wheat for a living to a tribute in a Quarter Quell Hunger Games, getting dressed up in fancy costumes and sent to the Capitol's Training Center to learn how to survive. I've been studying with intent and fighting with everything I have in me, because I really do want to make it out of this hellscape and go back home. I miss my parents even more than I expected. Auntie Tamsin is probably wringing her hands right along with them, begging to something beyond the clouds in the sky above the fields of grain that I'll come back safely, and it pains me to imagine Rodney, who always liked to act so tough, crying and fretting, and Dara's silent worry every time she sees the sheets pulled taut over my bed and remembers I may never be alive to sleep in it again.

I wish there was some way to let them know I'm fine. Things will definitely be taking a turn for the worse in a very short time, but at the moment, there's nothing they need to worry about. The Capitol lives in luxury, and I'll never have to want for food or walk to the river for water. I can press a button and summon enough food to provide for an entire week of the six of us eating. The Capitol's wealth is almost insulting to the people who toil in the districts yet still live in poverty, but I've been very careful to keep quiet about that. If I'm going to make it to Victory, I have to act according to the government's and Gamemakers' standards. However, I don't just have to go through the Gamemakers. I also have to outlive twenty-three other tributes.

I do pity the younger ones, but I also pity their families. Most of them don't stand a chance of winning, and I know their parents and siblings will be devastated, if not surprised. I wonder if it's worse to live with the anxiety and uncertainty of not knowing what'll happen or the heavy knowledge that you're condemned to death. I think they're probably equally bad. The slightly older tributes, poor things, have to live with both of them. They know they probably won't survive, but it must be horrible to also have the tiny spark of hope rebloom and get crushed as they remember what the Careers are like. The Careers aren't my favorite people, but they want to get home just as much as I do, and I respect their determination even if their motivation is a little off. The older outlier tributes like me are the ones I'm truly about. We grew up surrounded by various degrees of lawlessness, and we're the ones who know that our families might be in danger without our contributions.

Zea, my district partner, is one of these such older tributes. She lived down by the seedier pubs, and even worked in one as a waitress for a while. Plenty of bribery, gambling, drunken brawls, and other disorderly and scummy things take place 'll have no qualms about murder if she's been rubbing elbows with the people who frequent her bar. She'd have had to develop some kind of self-defense skills, since people try to do plenty of horrible things to teenagers down by the bars, especially the girls. The Peacekeepers usually arrived if they heard crimes were being committed, but even they didn't like hanging around there if they didn't have to. Zea also probably played plenty of dart games, due to the knife throwing thing she's got going on, and even though she's acting nice to me, I'm smart enough to still be wary of her.

I much prefer being allied with Jenna. Jenna's been using axes in her work the same way I've been using sickles. We grew up handling weapons related to our jobs, and it's just a simple jump from cutting grain to cutting throats. Jenna has a pretty similar outlook, and although she doesn't revel in violence, she understands that a little violence is necessary in the Hunger Games and that it's better to be alive and preserve yourself. She's serious and quiet and I really like working with her, if only because she's a dependable person. I don't think I'd normally be friends with her, but she's great as an ally.

Elle is less great of an ally. We invited her to join the alliance right after lunch yesterday, mainly at my urging. She did great at the exercises and we thought we'd lucked out, especially when she turned out to be okay at knife throwing. Then, however, she talked back to the Careers, and things started going downhill from there. There's a difference between taking a risk and being foolish, but that's something Elle has yet to discover. If the sponsors saw her, it might work out in her favor, since they always love the feistier girls, but there are no sponsors in here to see her anyway, and her personality is coming off as more taunting than outgoing. Jenna suggested that we turn on her in the Bloodbath if she screws up anything else, but I thought that'd be unnecessarily cruel, so we came to an agreement that we're kicking her out if she doesn't get supplies or a kill. The truth is, even if I don't want to ally with her anymore, I wouldn't like to see her dead.

There definitely is someone else that I'd like to ally with. I've been keeping tabs on Quinten, the boy from District Six, ever since I noticed him looking at me during the time we were backstage before the chariot rides. Jenna and I are great at combat, but we have no options if we're outnumbered. Neither of us are that great at running, and although we're both alright at climbing, we'll need another solution if the arena is flat and doesn't have trees. Quinten's spent the majority of his time at the camouflage station, and he's really good at making himself blend into the background. He could help us hide from the Careers, especially since it's no secret they want me dead.

Of course, that's not the only reason I want him in the alliance. He's cute as hell , and even though Hunger Games romances are a terrible idea, that boy is absolutely gorgeous and the pretty thing from anybody and everybody who wants to hurt him. He seems so shy and introverted, and I felt horrible when Livi, one of the female Careers, was treating him like crap over by the spear station. Earlier this morning, he switched stations just in time to hear the brunt of Rafe's temper tantrum. He seemed really sad that I hadn't paid him any attention when I walked by the shelter building area, but Rafe was still glaring at me. I didn't want to make Quinten a target. Judging by how much he's stared at me these last couple days, I think it's safe to say he likes me. I like him too, like him so much that it's becoming a fixation, and my gosh do I just want to get my arms around him right this instant. If he's okay with it, of course.

The problem is that Jenna, Elle, and I are all being targeted by the Careers, and if Quinten joins the alliance, he might also wind up on their kill list. I want him to be safe and secure, and for now, unfortunately, that means I can't invite him to join our group. He'll have to stick it out on his own until I can go out and find him, which might take a couple days, and a couple days is plenty long enough to bleed out if he happens to get hurt in the Bloodbath. I'm a protective person, and I'm not a fan of the whole 'leave him by himself and hope for the best' thing, but it's a necessary trade off. I can't even talk to him until we're in the arena, since the Careers and their support teams seem to be everywhere I go, and if Rafe finds out about this, both Quinten and I are screwed, and not in the good way. I've already discussed potentially letting Quinten in the alliance with Jenna, and she thinks it's a good idea, so she's perfectly aware of the plan, even if she doesn't know about my ulterior motives.

I honestly don't know why Rafe had an issue with me all of a sudden. It's not as though anything in particular happened to make him dislike me. My guess is just that he was already having a bad day and got irritated at having to wait for his turn to speak to the sickle instructor. Honestly, I think the Careers are kind of stupid if they put him in charge. Imagine thinking Hmm, we need someone who's nice and stable and won't be ruled by their emotions. It would be terrible if our leader behaved like a spoiled toddler and then directly disobeyed the Capitol's rules and then choosing the immature guy with anger issues to be the boss. Rafe's scary, sure, but his outbursts and lack of self discipline diminish whatever prowess he has. I think I can avoid him enough to be okay, and I've been downplaying my sickle skills a little so I don't garner quite as much attention, and I plan to deliberately do the same thing in my private session. Rafe might be a bit of a bully, but honestly, Jenna and I could team up and kill him in the Bloodbath if we wanted to.

The other Careers are what actually concern me. When people are angry, they lose focus, and Rafe's likely to be a little off his game if he goes after me in a rage. Livi, the other one who's a contender for leader, is mildly terrifying. She's dead on with a spear every time, from up to forty yards away, and she's the real threat. Oscar and Eliza, two of the other Careers, are excellent with throwing knives. I'm concerned about projectile weapons, since I'm very vulnerable to them as a short range fighter. Lyra-Rose is terrible with her bow for more than ten yards, so I'm safe from her, and from what I can tell, Trey has his own priorities. All I can do is train as well as I possibly can and hope for the best.

The main tools in my arsenal are all things that I learned or started learning in District Nine. There were a lot of plants that grew there, so my parents taught me early on how to find, identify, and cook the edible ones. I learned how to swim in the river, which helped me with the exercises today, but when the river froze over in winter, I learned how to find and purify water from other sources in nature. I grew up outdoors, and when it was cold and snowy, I had to build and maintain a fire to keep the horses warm. I had to construct shelters too, to preserve cut wheat when it was rainy or windy.

Auntie Tamsin was an expert at using medicinal plants for as long as I've been alive. She wasn't really a healer, but she always knew what to do for any injury or illness we had to deal with. I've read her journal cover to cover since I arrived in the Capitol, committing each tincture and ointment to memory, since I'm not allowed to bring it into the arena as a token. I've spoken with the trainer at the medicinal plant station, and he confirmed that my aunt knows what she's talking about. I feel like I have an advantage in training, since I already know a lot of the survival skills and I can devote all of my time to my weapon. I've been polishing up my technique, but the trainers have told me that I'm good. Very good. I even took a trip to one of the private booths and performed to my real, full ability, and the trainer there informed me that my score would be so high I'd be able to join the Careers.

I don't particularly want to do that, though, and showing off and scoring high might tick off a Career other than Rafe, which I obviously don't want to happen. I'll aim for a nice solid seven or eight. My mentor, Maeve, definitely agrees with this approach. She's been updating me on my betting rankings, and I'm predicted to be in the top six. Maeve is a good mentor, and she's brought home three other Victors in total. If there was no Quarter Quell twist, she;d be Quinten's mentor, since she's from District Six. I've told her about my crush on him, and she's been helping me work out the best way to keep both of us safe. She told me that once upon a time, in a long ago Hunger Games, two Victors were crowned at once since the Capitlites loved their romance so much. She said that although I need to prioritize myself in the end, there's always a possibility that it could happen again, and that I should do my best to make the Capitol fall in love with me too. That way there's an extra layer of protection.

The Capitol might win out in the end, but I still have hope that things will turn out fine. If they don't, I'm not sure what I'll do. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the whole thing and Quinten's not been paying attention to me at all and I'm just some weird stalkerish boy who's too arrogant to see that the Careers are going to kill him no matter what he does. I've never been very mentally strong, but if I don't become the Victor, I want Quinten to win. The problem is I'm definitely lovesick enough, definitely stupid enough, and definitely self-sacrificial enough to give up seeing my family again so a boy I've never even spoken to won't die.

Please at least let him love me back.

Hey y'all!

I know today is Saturday and not Friday, but I've had to shuffle things around a little so I can maximize my time this week. Lengthier chapters take me multiple days to write but I can write more than one short chapter in a day. Sometimes I'll skip a day, but other days there will be two updates. The next chapter will be coming out tonight, so make sure to keep an eye out for it!

– LC :)