Last chapter I said Ryker's hair was blonde but it's really dark brown. Pretend I said dark brown last chapter.
Azure Copenhagen, 18, District 4 Female
All us from Districts 1, 2, and 4 flocked together quickly like a pack of birds as soon as training commenced, but it didn't take long to realize that one of us was not like the others.
"Coilee Undergaze," Aslan hisses at her, who looks shrunken. "Came to our attention that you weren't Two's chosen volunteer."
Coilee just looks at her shoes, saying nothing.
"Guess it's true then," Aslan says in an empty voice, shaking his head. "We won't have any weak links in this group, so unless you'd like to explain why we should let you in, you're on your own."
I can't help but feel bad for Coilee. She seems like a nice girl, and has already been somewhat resigned to her fate it seems, based on how she isn't even able to stand up for herself.
"Ash, hold on a minute," I intervene, standing next to Coilee. "She might not have been the chosen volunteer but she obviously isn't a weakling. Just give her a chance!" Aslan gives me a dirty look, angry that I questioned his authority.
"What, are you two friends or something? Why are you standing up for this nobody?" Kyle mocks, folding his scarred arms.
"Because I believe in underdogs, and I think Coilee deserves a fair shot at these Games like everyone else."
Coilee looks up in surprise at me, then gives me a grateful smile.
Vinna scoffs at the sight.
"How about she proves that she deserves a chance in the Career pack?" Vinna sneers, tossing her long braid to her back. "What's your main weapon?" Coilee looks up at Vinna, refusing to look intimidated.
"A spear," Coilee mutters. Vinna lets out a haughty laugh.
"A basic weapon, but if you can prove to us that you're good at using it, we'll give you a chance." Vinna steps aside and Aslan throws Coilee a slender-looking spear, which she catches with relative ease. We all walk to the spear-throwing station and Alsan tells her she has three chances to hit the target. If she misses more than one, she fails.
Coilee nods stiffly and takes a deep breath, her arm in a ready motion before she throws the weapon with lots of strength, and it hits a moving dummy square in the chest. It collapses to the ground useless and I can hear some sounds of approval from the group.
"Not bad," Aslan says simply. He motions for her to do it again. She takes another spear and throws it hard at a different dummy, and it hits them in the stomach instead. The dummy pretends to double over in pain before flopping onto the floor.
"Still downs a tribute pretty good," I point out to the Careers, and they nod in agreement. Coilee takes the final spear and hurls it in the direction of two running dummies, and much to the amazement of all five of us it pierces through not one, but two dummies in one throw. I start to clap excitedly, and Armahni chuckles.
"I can't say I've ever seen that before," Armahni admits. "That's like, one in a million."
"Because Coilee is one in a million!" I insist, holding her by the shoulders. "She is special, just like all of us, and she definitely deserves into the group." Vinna looks to Armahni, who looks to Aslan, and they all nod in unison.
"Alright, we think she's proved herself well enough for now. But when we're in the arena, you'll have to keep proving yourself if you want to make it far." Aslan offers his hand and Coilee takes it, shaking it firmly.
"You won't regret this!" she declares. Coilee is actually smiling now, something I haven't seen until now. I would be smiling too, if I were her, because even if she had fallen short of acceptable to the Careers, she still would have been a massive target for being stronger than the outliers. I'm also glad she's in because she has been my only friend so far during this entire experience besides JT, and she won't even be going to the arena with me.
I take Coilee by the arm and lead her to the cafeteria area, where they are announcing a thirty minute break for lunch.
"Ohh, I can't wait to see what they've got! We'll all sit at the big table in the middle, like the cool kids," I muse, as the rest of the Careers follow me inside. "Were you popular at school, Coilee?"
"Not at all," she says sheepishly, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "This is like the first time I've ever even been accepted to a friend group like this."
"Well, enjoy it," I tell her as we sit down at a large table. "You've earned it." I glance over to the lunch selections, my mouth already watering. "What we've all earned is some food."
Pontiki Aror, 16, District 5 Female
I'm peacefully residing in the shelter-building station, an unpopular one by the lack of tributes even coming in my direction, but part of me is horrified at the thought of sleeping under the stars, or forcefield generated stars, I should say. What if it starts to rain and I freeze to death? What if a Mutt sees me sleeping and decides to make me its next meal? My entire mind has been occupied with what-ifs since the moment I got Reaped, and I'm dreading the moment they all become reality.
A bell rings out, signifying the lunch period. When everyone flocks to different tables, just like at school, I can't help but cringe. I'm immediately reminded of Rula and how full her table always was, crammed with friends who simply adored her as if she were a goddess. Meanwhile, I was exiled to a corner table where I mostly had my meals alone. To be honest, I prefer eating lunch that way, because the last thing on my mind during a meal is mindless chatter. In the Hunger Games, however, the last thing I want is a visual representation of the fact that I am a loner in front of all the other tributes.
"Screw this," I mumble to myself as I notice the tributes piling into the cafeteria. I turn on my heel and head to the elevator that took me down here, pressing the number with a star on it which I'm assuming takes me to the ground floor of the Training Center. I don't want Tarinth or Kollene to notice me not in training.
As the elevator rises I start to feel a little bad upon the realization that I've left Ethan behind. Being only twelve years old wasn't entirely helping the fact that he had no allies, either. It's common courtesy to partner up with the person from your district if there are no other options, but I simply can't be weighed down by a child. In this case I have to consider the optics above all else.
When the door opens I step into an expansive area that resembles a shopping center. There's cafés, bookstores, clothing stores, anything you can think of. It's fairly crowded, with Capitolites streaming in and out of stores. I try to blend in with the background, but soon find that's nearly impossible with my natural features compared to the bright rainbow colored people suddenly surrounding me.
"Oh my goodness, you're the girl from District 5!" a plump woman with purple braids squeals. She attempts to take a picture of me but I cover my face.
"Can I steal you for a moment?!"
"You're so pretty!"
"Do you think you have a good shot at winning?"
I'm being barraged by questions at every angle, and it's starting to become a bit overwhelming. Using all my strength I muscle past a crowd of people and escape, running as fast as I can into the nearby bookstore, where there is hardly a soul to be found inside.
No one sees me vanish behind the giant mahogany door, thankfully, and I'm left alone in the rows and rows of shelves. It's eerily quiet inside, and I'm wondering if I'm alone here. I'm hoping I am, because frankly I'd like some peace even if it's only until lunch is over.
Suddenly I hear a sound, like paper being scratched. I follow the source of the sound until I see a pile of discarded books, laying about like corpses. I peer around the corner to find a small girl curled up next to a shelf, engrossed in whatever it is she's reading. I have to clear my throat to get her attention.
She gasps in shock at the sudden intruder but then seems to calm down a bit.
"Oh, it's just you… I thought you were a worker telling me to leave," she whispers. I let out a sigh.
"Nope, it's just me." I sit down next to her and grab a random book, setting it on my lap.
"You're Aston, right?" I ask. She nods before guessing my name correctly, to my surprise. Most people don't really remember me at all, even if the only time Aston has seen me is on a TV screen.
Aston scoots over and makes a spot for me, presumably for me to join her reading. I'm taken aback by the fact that Aston isn't shunning me for not being quirky and cute. I just walked in, sort of invaded her privacy, and she is still letting me sit next to her.
As I grab one of the many books lying around and flip to a random page I start to wish I had connected with more people like Aston instead of constantly comparing myself to someone like Rula.
Indy Carmedas, 16, District 6 Male
I found myself at a table that any average teenager would call the loners table. A somewhat strange combination of tributes found themselves here, if only to avoid being alone and at risk of being picked on like how poor Garrett is by the boy from 2. Having your tray dumped on your head is far from ideal, because not only are you embarrassed, there's a pretty high chance that it's that Career tribute's way of letting you know that you're a bloodbath target. The weaker ones always seem to go first.
Ethan, Sixtine, and I are engaging in a playful conversation about being Reaped, something that I normally wouldn't consider jokeworthy material, but it already happened and there's nothing I can do about it, so I might as well look back on it as fondly as I can.
"When they called my name out, I thought I was still dreaming, and that I'd wake up any minute," Ethan recalls, rubbing his eyes. He's a very mature kid for being only 12 years old.
"I tried to play it as cool as I could," I say casually, leaning back in my chair. "Like, oh, whatever, I got Reaped." Sixtine laughs at this.
"You did look cool as a cucumber," she tells me. "I couldn't even read your expression."
"What the hell happened at your Reaping again, Sixtine?" Ethan asks her. Sixtine just hangs her head.
"Long story. If I start to explain it to you now I'd be explaining until after the bloodbath."
Ethan chuckles. "Bold of you to assume I'm even surviving it." I turn to Ethan, frowning.
"You are surviving it," I say in a serious tone, "and that's the end of that."
"If you say so," Ethan sighs, rising from the table. "They just put out dessert, I'm gonna go check it out." He departs, leaving just Sixtine and I.
I start to analyze the cafeteria, curious if we're the only group. There's the Careers, of course, talking very loudly and boldy, as if to intimidate the others. The girl from 1 reminds me of a popular girl from last year whose name I can't remember. All I remember is how willing she was to accept rides to and school from me until she got a car of her own, and how heartbroken I was to find out she had just been using me. Pretty naïve of my fifteen-year-old self to think we could have had anything.
Everyone else is eating with their district partner with the exception of the boy from 8, who is alone. I can't find his partner, Esther, anywhere in the room. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Aston or Ethan's partner in a while, either.
Ethan comes back with a banana split, and my mouth almost waters for a second.
"Hey, Ethan, is your partner missing, too?" I ask him.
"She left a while ago, but I wouldn't really know where she went because she hasn't said a word to me since we got Reaped," Ethan says in a dull voice. His partner, Pontiki, struck me as a bit closed-off, like how Aston is to me.
"Same with Aston, she just vanished," I tell him, looking around again. Sixtine shrugs.
"You two are perfect for each other, then," Sixtine mutters. We turn to her with confused expressions. She sighs in annoyance.
"I'm saying you two should be allies," she clarifies. Ethan and I look at each other, throwing our hands up.
"I guess us widowers need to stick together," Ethan jokes. I look over at Sixtine.
"Would you like to join us, Sixtine?" I offer, holding out my hand. To my surprise, she shakes her head.
"I wouldn't want to be a third wheel. Thanks for the offer, though." Without another word she gets up from the table and leaves, leaving me 'mourning' the loss of yet another potential friend. At least I'm not a loner anymore.