Slightest bit of bad language and suicidal thoughts this chapter.
Aston Shinjin, 14, District 6 Female
The first day of training passed without much incident. No one bothered me, thankfully, and I was able to go about the day without having to make any awkward introductions. Lancia told me allies improved my chances in the Games, but my shyness is proving to be more of a barrier than I thought. While I see the others forming groups and starting lively conversation with ease, I'm overcome by a sense of fear and dread every time I think of talking to someone.
A group of girls are chatting animatedly near the rock climbing station, talking about animals and how they're going to do their hair for the Games. I recognize them as the girls from 8, 11, and 12. Strangely enough, I also notice the girl from 2, Coilee, among them, but she doesn't look like she's threatening them. In fact, she almost fits in better with them than with the Career pack she belongs to.
"Coilee! Get over here now!" The boy from 4 demands. The blood rushes from Coilee's face and she hurries back to the group of Careers, and it looks like she is receiving a scolding. Deathly curious, I saunter over to them silently, crouching beneath a bench.
"What are you doing talking to those girls?" Aslan questions, his tone venomous. Coilee scrunches her nose.
"I was rock climbing and Esther came over. We were just having some small talk," she says defensively. Her posture is tall and confident in the face of her larger and much more menacing peer.
"You don't make friends with the people you're going to kill," Aslan intructs. His partner, Azure, looks like she wants to say something, and finally steps forward to face Coilee.
"I know you're a bit unaware of how things work here, but we have an image to uphold," she tells Coilee in a kind but firm voice. "Careers aren't friendly. We're fierce."
In the end Coilee promises to not fraternize with any more outliers, and walks off with the Careers, looking defeated. Part of me wonders how Coilee is going to make it in a pack she clearly doesn't fully belong to. Will they see her as dead weight and betray her in the bloodbath so she does not go into the Arena with the intent to eliminate them? I'm already scared of the Careers as it is, with plenty of cold glances from Vinna and Kyle convincing me to stay clear of them, but Coilee is stuck with them. I hope she is able to break off from them without incident, because I don't see her as being long for the world in the position she is in right now.
Thinking of another place I clearly didn't belong, my eyes start to flood with tears. Although the last year has been an absolute living hell for me, I'm better for the experience considering I am going to the arena soon. Had I been the soft, shy girl I was under Mother's care, I probably would have been bloodbath fodder. I feel as though I have a slight chance, considering my survival skills are the reason I'm still breathing.
Mother definitely would be proud no matter how far I made it.
At the very least, if I die, I would be reunited with her. I'm hoping to not die at the hands of the Careers. I'll kill myself before giving those monsters that satisfaction. Their evil expressions and the way they laugh reminds me of Baxter.
"Why do I even keep you around? You're as worthless as your whore mother!"
If his insults didn't hurt me enough, a slap would reaffirm his utter disgust of me and everything about me. I often wonder why he went through so much trouble to meticulously devise a plan to destroy both me and my mother's life. You can find whores anywhere, so why did his next recruit have to be his daughter?
Snapping back from my thoughts I notice a queue forming near the gauntlet. It was mandatory for all tributes to complete it, "mandatory" being a somewhat useless term, because what's the worst you could punish a tribute for not doing a silly obstacle course? Pontiki, who has lingered near me as the others head to the gauntlet, looks unhappy.
"Yeah, I'm not doing that," she declares, turning to me. "How about we do something a little more constructive with our time?" Her tone is pleasant, not at all like the constant sneer she had yesterday.
"Like what?" I ask her. Pontiki grabs my hand and leads me back to the elevator.
"Well, since we did a lot of reading yesterday, I was thinking…" I notice her push the button that leads to the ground floor. "Let's get some food, so we don't have to eat with the others again."
Pontiki's enthusiastic demeanor and my growling stomach are instantly swayed to the idea.
We head to a cozy café with a rustic theme, with the tables and chairs looking like they are one with the forest. The waiter recognizes us and seems honored that we would visit, but also confused as to why we are not in training. Pontiki grimaces for a moment but then lights up.
"We wanted to try some different cuisine," she tells him, and her answer satisfies him. We order our respective meals, with Pontiki requesting quiche while I decide on a simple salad.
"I wish we could skip the private sessions too," Pontiki complains as she plays with her fork. "I'm not good at being put on the spot."
I sigh deeply. "It's something every tribute has to go through."
"They have so many reasons to make us nervous before the actual Games. Training, private sessions… oh gosh, not to mention the interviews!" Pontiki seems to become instantly nervous.
"And the arena," I add quietly. Pontiki mentioning all these things is not helping with my nerves. "We'll get through it, though." I give her a supportive smile and Pontiki returns it, in her sweet but slightly awkward way. I'm glad that I at least made a friend. Baxter would probably be furious at the little ember of happiness I'm managing to kindle.
Vinna Hegarty, 18, District 1 Female
I manage to finish the gauntlet with a thirty-four second time, and everyone claps. Even though I went first, I'm certain no one will beat it.
After Armahni makes a slight mistake at the monkey bars, I know he wasn't going to beat it. Coilee is next, and she looks to me for a supportive glance. I only return a cold stare that clearly unnerves her. I'm snickering as she prepares to do the course.
She starts off well, hopping off the platforms with ease, before heading to the monkey bars, which she also pulls off with ease. Coilee looked almost elegant as she swung from bar to bar.
Next was the rope-climbing, and she scaled across very quickly, not even looking a little bit tired. My nerves are beginning to rise, as is my annoyance at this girl for trying to be a show-off.
The rest of the course looks effortless for her, and I space out until I notice her at the end, the trainer telling her she completed the course in thirty-one seconds flat.
The Careers look hesitant to praise her at first, but as she heads back they congratulate her, and she gets back in line. Fury simmering within me, I stomp back to the end as well. Who does she think she is, one-upping me like that?
"Good job out there," I tell her, putting on my best happy face. Coilee thanks me, but her posture is stiff, as if she was guarding herself from me. I hope she's scared of me, because if it wasn't for Azure's pity, she would be as good as dead.
She beat me the second time, too.
I knew I had to act. After lunch I asked if I could speak to her privately. She's apprehensive, and sluggish in her movements as she trails behind me. Once we get to an isolated corner of the centre, I lay it on her.
"Who the hell do you think you are, stiffing me like that?" I demand, my arms folded. Coilee gives me a confused expression, then looks dismayed.
"What do you mean?" she asks, putting on her best look of polished innocence. She might as well be giving me puppy dog eyes and batting her eyelashes.
"You know what I mean. I'm supposed to be the best at everything, including that obstacle course. You made me look like an idiot."
Coilee just stares at me for a moment. "You got the second best time. How is that a bad thing?"
I can feel my cheeks blushing. "It's bad because I hate being second best!" I point my finger at her, just inches from between her eyes. "And you better not forget it!"
She hangs her head, clearly humiliated and defeated, but then she looks back up at me with a confident expression.
"What, are you mad because you're not as perfect as you think? Not everything is about you, Vinna! The rest of us want to win the Games, too!" Coilee's shouting at me lime like a bomb has been defused within her. I step closer to her.
"Uh, it's my life, so please forgive me for thinking everything is about me." Despite the fact that I'm practically touching her with how close I am, she stands her ground.
"You're on thin ice," I warn her. "If you even think about scoring higher than me tomorrow, you're a dead woman." Coilee's lips spasm for half a second, and her eyes begin to dart from left to right.
"If you're so good and perfect," she begins, "why do you have to warn me not to get a good private sessions score? Are you that afraid of someone who isn't even a trained Career? God, you're pathetic."
I'm halfway shocked by this girl's insolence. No one has ever talked to me this way before. I aggressively grab her face, her cheeks in my tight grip.
"Just try me, bitch."
We return to the pack as if nothing happened. Azure is slightly suspicious.
"What were you two talking about?" Coilee gives me a stony look and I smile warmly at Azure.
"Oh, I was just telling Coilee she did an amazing job on the gauntlet," I lie, clasping my hands. "I asked her what her secret was to being so…" I take a moment to consider how to describe her, "…athletic". I almost said 'talented', but even I can't bring myself to say that about Coilee.
"Well, tell her to give me some tips, too," Azure says in a weary voice. "I keep messing up at the hurdle part.
We go about the rest of the day training together, and I relish in every bit of criticism Aslan throws at Coilee. Kyle joins in sometimes, but I mostly stay silent, trying not to make my intentions too obvious. I know she isn't going to outscore me, but part of me still wishes for her to go still beneath my spear or to flop when one of my knives enters her chest. Azure seems to be her only friend, offering praise when no one else gives it. I start to resent Azure, as well.
At dinner that night, Merrilee is not sympathetic when I tell her of what transpired that day.
"You don't need to be so mean to that girl," Merrilee tells me in a child-like voice. "She's a Career, too."
"No, she's not!" I bark at her. Armahni nods in agreement.
"She volunteered, but she's clearly not one of us," he explains. "I'm surprised she even got in."
Merrilee wipes her mouth with a napkin and turns to me. "All I know is, Vinna, she was brave enough to approach you guys. She was in a vulnerable, somewhat dangerous position, and she took a shot." I'm failing to be swayed by Merrilee's pacifistic view, and before long, I excuse myself and storm off to my room.
I wander over to my bed, desperate for some beauty sleep, when I notice a piece of paper on my bed. It doesn't look proper, like it was paper ripped from a composition notebook. Large purple lettering spells a strange message:
It was nice meeting you!
The writing looks like a child's, as seen by the crossed-out attempt at writing the word 'meeting'. Anyone of age knows it's not spelled with a D.
I hold the note, confused, before opening my window and tossing it. I watch it float away, like a feather, into the Capitol skyline. I stare outside for a moment, slightly content, until the familiar sense of anger that always fills me returns.
I'm going to score a twelve so she can't beat me. No way that waif scores that high. Unless she does something stupid like shoot an arrow in a pig's mouth.