I know I'm posting this pretty soon after last chapter, and I just want to clarify that I did not write this in the span of a day. I know some people can, but I cannot, especially since I'm really lazy and it's hard for me to become motivated. I had this almost finished before I wrote Malakai's chapter, so it didn't take me long to finish this.

And as usual, I apologize for grammar/spelling mistakes. After I finish writing a chapter I just want to post it, so I don't bother reading through what I just wrote to check for mistakes. I'm sure there are several, but I'm not going to bother checking for them.

District 2

Glitter Monique

I wake up earlier than I did yesterday, eager to continue training. Yesterday morning, I was exhausted from the drama of the previous night. Waving from a chariot may not seem like a big deal, but entering the Capitol, seeing all of the sponsors, getting acquainted with my room; it's a lot to process. And it was my first night sleeping on a mattress as comfortable as the one underneath me now, so it was troubling to get up.

I look over at the clock and realize that it's only 5 AM. The gym won't be open for another hour, but I might as well get up anyway. I still need to eat breakfast and take a shower, after all.

The rest of the team must still be asleep, because the hallway is silent when I walk out of my room. I consider tip-toeing, but then I realize that's ridiculous, because it's almost time they wake up, anyway. The lights are off in the dining area, but light from the busy city filters in through the window, allowing me to make out all of the furniture, so I don't bump into anything. Despite nobody being up, the table is already overflowing in dishes of breakfast food.

It takes a few seconds for the motion sensors to detect me, but as soon as they do, the lights flicker on around me. I scan the room for them, impressed by the technology. In District 2, I'm part of one of the richer families, but we still don't have anywhere near the extravagance of the Capitol. I suppose motion-detecting lights are only the beginning; after all, I have buttons in my room which allow food to be sent to me without any human interaction.

An avox scurries into the room holding a covered plate in each hand. She squeaks and stops in her tracks when she sees me. She looks around, unsure of herself, before setting the dishes on the edge of the table, where some of the only free space remains. She uncovers both of them. One of the dishes holds some sort of blue goop which I know I won't be trying, but the other has a plate of small sausages which have a mouth-watering aroma.

I take a seat at the edge of the table, and immediately begin stacking food on my plate. I make sure to get a generous helping of the sausages, and also stack up on pastries. I want to eat as much Capitol food as possible for the next few days, because in the arena, it will be bread and bruised apples. And that's if I'm lucky. Some years, there's practically no food in the Cornucopia, and sometimes the Careers are forced to move away from it, because of flooding or something. I know that I'll get Capitol food for the rest of my life as soon as I win, but I will have to deal with nothing for a week or two.

I help myself to the best-looking food on the table, making sure to eat until I'm full. Back home, we had no shortage of food, but it wasn't nearly as good as this. I must have been eating for over thirty minutes, but no one shows up, yet. The only person I have to keep me company is the avox, who constantly waits on me, passing me new dishes and clearing out the old ones. Although, I'd barely count her as a person. She's more of a robot servant that is afraid of me.

When I'm done eating, I push away my plate and stand up. The avox rushes to clear my plate as I leave the room. I'm honestly a little disappointed in Glorian - I knew he wouldn't be as motivated as me, but I thought he would at least make the effort to wake up early to train at the first opportunity. I suppose he isn't as tough as I thought. I kind of regret voting for him as our makeshift leader; Cecelia won anyway, though, so there's no harm.

I shower quickly, not even bothering to switch the water to warm. I can deal with cold water; I can't deal with wasting my time as I try to figure out the buttons of this complicated contraption. I wash as quickly as possible, and don't bother drying my hair. I don't understand the hair-drying device, either, so I'd rather just keep it wet.

I don't want it soaking, though, so I use my towel to pat down my hair and get rid of the excess water. When it's no longer dripping, I tie it up in a ponytail. I don't want it getting in my face as I train, since that can be a distraction. Also, I once accidentally cut off some of my loose hair with my sword as I was destroying dummies.

My training outfit is lying folded at the foot of my bed, which is not where I remember leaving it. I remember peeling it off, then throwing it on a heap on the floor last night. I guess avoxes came into my room to clean it, but I wish I knew when they entered and they didn't just sneak in as they've been doing, lately.

I pull on my tight training outfit, which is simply black and sleeveless, with a 2 on the back. It sticks a bit to my damp skin, but I manage to get into it pretty fast. My arms are pretty flexible, so it's not very difficult to reach back and pull up the zipper. I have a feeling that some of the less competent kids might have trouble with it, though. When I'm completely in my suit and shoes, I head back out toward the dining room. To my surprise, everybody else is still not up.

I check my watch. I have ten minutes until the gym opens, which is unfortunate, because there's not much else for me to do up here. I consider waking Glorian up, so we can go down to the gym together, but then I'll have to wait for him to eat and get ready, which will take much longer than ten minutes. I also consider turning on Capitol TV and seeing what people think of me, but that might take too long. In the end, I decide to just wait by the elevator until the gym opens.

When the clock finally turns to 6 AM, I immediately press the DOWN button for the elevator. The elevator is pretty fast, but I still have to wait for it to come down from the top, where I assume it was parked. The doors finally open, and to my surprise, the car is not empty. The boy from District 7 is leaning against the far wall, looking wide-awake. He stares at me as I enter the elevator, but doesn't open his mouth until we begin shooting down.

"Obviously," I say, rolling my eyes. "Didn't you see me slashing dummies with my sword yesterday?"

"No. I have better things to do than watch you," he scoffs. For some reason, this ticks me off.

"Yeah? Then who were you watching?"

"People who matter and have a chance of success," the District 7 male says seriously. However, I see him smirking slightly when I open my mouth to argue back to him.

"That's creepy!" I finally say, angrily. He doesn't seem to care at all what I think about him, or how creepy his actions are.

"Okay." The one word, the indifference of his statement, really bothers me. Before I can think of a clever retort, the elevator doors slide open and he steps out into the gym without another word. I consider following after him, but decide that would make it look like I have nothing better to do.

Reluctantly, I head over to the sword station. I begin cutting up dummies, but watch the District 7 male out of the corner of my eye. He's at the spear station, skewering dummies. Even though no one else is in the gymnasium with us, he's not paying any attention to me. I know I shouldn't care that he doesn't watch me, but I can't help but be bothered by it. I seriously hate this kid. One way or another, I'm going to kill him at the first opportunity.

District 12

Rachel Ivy

When I step out into the gym, it's much more lively than yesterday. The first day of training was very organized; everyone had to follow a schedule and pay attention to the Head Trainer. Today, we have much more liberty and everyone is taking advantage of it. No one is lying around, everyone is training hard.

In fact, it seems like there are barely any kids who haven't arrived yet. I thought Quentin and I were smart by arriving fifteen minutes early, but it looks like we weren't the only ones who decided to squeeze in some extra training time. I see almost every tribute as some station, working hard.

Quentin immediately leaves me, running off for the plant identification station. I consider following after him, but decide against it. I was planning on teaming up with him and getting him to protect me throughout the Hunger Games, but I've ditched him since then. I've learned that he's a little odd, and he also doesn't seem to want anything to do with me.

Since Quentin is no longer a viable option, I've been forced to find new potential allies. Looking around at my options, nobody particularly sticks out to me. I want to find someone strong but gullible. The only strong males I currently see are Buck from District 10, Sprucen from District 7, Dennis from District 5, and Kade from District 6. None of them seem like great options right now; Buck might work, but he doesn't seem all that trustful and from the dirty looks the Careers are giving him, it looks like it would be a bad idea to team up with him. Sprucen seems like a jerk and way too overconfident. He also has the same problem as Buck; half of the Career pack already seems to hate him. Dennis is totally creeping me out. And while Kade seems like he'd trust me, he seems super annoying and I don't want to torture myself by aligning with him.

Since my plan of getting one strong guy to protect me isn't working out, I guess I should turn to strength in numbers and recruit some trustworthy, even if a little bit weak, tributes into my alliance. After all, it'd probably be best if I could overpower them. I don't plan on fighting; poison is my main skill, but it'd still be nice to know that I have the high ground. I do want them to be someone strong, though, because dragging around a bunch of kids who scored 2s in training doesn't sound appealing.

I look around, searching for someone who could possibly be a good fit. A lot of tributes seem to either be weak, already in alliances, or not looking for an alliance. However, my eyes linger on someone at the crossbow station, an area that's otherwise unoccupied (a lot of tributes don't bother to learn how to handle one, since they rarely appear in the arena). A girl with blonde hair is there, shooting a crossbow relatively well. She isn't great, but she's hitting the target and seems like a good fit to my alliance. I decide to talk to her.

I approach, wondering how to pose my offer. Should I make it seem like we're just friends working together in the arena? Should I make the alliance seem logical, like we're just using each other? Before I can fully decide, I've reached her. I can tell by the number stitched on the back of her uniform that she's the girl from District 6, but I can't remember her name. She turns and looks at me as I step in front of her.

"Hi, I'm Rachel," I say, smiling wide.

"I'm Tristana," she says. She doesn't seem unfriendly, although she does seem a little suspicious of me.

"I'm thinking about creating an alliance - a big one, so we can work together and protect ourselves against the Careers," I say, completely thinking off the top of my head. It's definitely not the best pitch, but she seems to seriously consider it, which is a good start.

"How many people?" she finally asks.

"Well… just me, so far, but I was thinking four or five?"

"And do you really think four outer District tributes can take down the Careers?" she asks, chuckling slightly. She loads her crossbow again and shoots at the target. I don't think she's really taking me seriously anymore.

"Not take them down," I explain. "Hold them off, or help each other out. It's better odds than if you go solo." Tristana thinks about this.

"Okay," she decides after some deliberation. "But I want to be a co-leader."

"Done," I say, even though I don't intend on listening to her input nearly the same as mind. I'll pretend she's a co-leader, but I'll be the one who's really making all of the decisions. I'll be the puppet master.

"We definitely need to find some other kids to join, though." Tristana scans the gym as I nod in agreement. "How about the girl from District 10?" she asks, pointing at really tiny girl at the climbing station. I watch as she scampers up a fake tree.

"I don't know… she seems kind of tiny?" I say.

"That doesn't mean she won't be useful. Besides, we need numbers," Tristana says reasonably. I guess I see where she's coming from. But if every one of our allies is like the Ten girl, we don't stand a chance. But just one young child would be acceptable, right?

"Okay. Let's go talk to her."

District 6

Kade Anderson

I slide through the water, encouraged by the swimming instructor's endless praises. She runs alongside the pool in order to keep up with me, although she has to be careful not to slip. The surface next to the pool is pretty wet, so it's dangerous to run alongside it. I do so anyway, but I have really good balance.

I reach the end of the pool and finally stop swimming. I hold onto the edge so I can catch my breath. The instructor runs up, reaching me. When she stops, she almost slips on a puddle but manages to keep her balance. She looks a bit nervous, though, and kneels down instead of standing.

"Good job, Kade! You're a pretty good swimmer," she says, looking impressed. I've been working with her all morning, learning how to swim for the first time. District 11 doesn't have any swimming pools and if we have any lakes or rivers, I definitely haven't seen them. I suspect they're out beyond the fence, but we're not allowed out there and security is pretty strict.

I smile cockily at her compliment, ignore the tired ache I feel in my arms. I flex them, as if to show I could swim all day long. I won't though, because I'm exhausted. But no one else needs to know that.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good for having just learned, haven't I?" I prompt. She nods enthusiastically. I try to pull myself up out of the pool, but my tired arms collapse and I fall back in, narrowly avoiding crashing my face into the concrete side of the pool. She looks concerned, but I shake it off. "I like to do push-ups at the edge of the pool," I explain, pretending to do a few.

When she seems somewhat convinced, I squirm on my side out of the water, my face burning. She offers me a towel, which I immediately snatch from her hands and begin drying down my body. I pat my slick brown hair dry and get rid of all the droplets of water snaking down my back before wrapping the towel around my waist.

"I think it's time for me to try some new stations," I explain. Before I can practice with spears more, though, I have to get back into my training uniform. There are a few dressing rooms by the swimming station, so I head over to those. Not many people use the swimming station, which means that the dressing rooms are mainly unoccupied. I assumed when dressing into my swimsuit that no one would use my dressing room while I was in the pool, so I just left my uniform discarded on the floor.

Sure enough, when I enter the dressing room, my suit is still strewn on the floor where I left it. I close the door behind me, not bothering to lock it, and quickly get out of my cold and wet swimsuit. My skin is still a bit wet, so I run the towel over it a few more times before getting back in my suit. The chlorine from the pool makes my skin slightly sticky, but I ignore it.

There's a full-length mirror in the room, which I use to make sure my appearance is up to code. I'm hoping to convince the Careers to let me join their alliance today, so it's best if I'm looking sharp. I observe myself carefully in the mirror, slicking my dark brown hair back again. I break into my best smile, and am impressed with myself. I look pretty hot right now. I flex my bicep, which makes me look even better. I consider myself prepared, and exit the dressing room.

Yesterday, I talked to the Careers in the elevator. My plan had been to seduce one of the female Careers, but for some reason, my charm didn't work on them yesterday. They were all a little speechless, but that must have either been from my looks or charisma. Hopefully, today, when they are already acquainted with me, they'll be open to me joining their alliance.

I re-enter the gym, scanning it for the Careers mainly the female ones. I spot Cecelia, Noelani, and Lucretius at the spear station, which seems convenient, considering the spear is my best weapon. I walk over with my head held high, trying to look as confident as possible. They barely notice me approaching, too caught up in practicing throwing spears.

Lucretius is the best, and his spear severs through the dummy's head as I arrive. I stand next to them, and they all turn to look at me.

"Hi," I say after a moment of silence. I decide to be direct and to the point; I can join the Career alliance now and seduce a female later. For now, I should just focus on getting in. I'm skilled, I can manage. "I want to join the Careers."

There's a moment of silence when they continue staring at me, as if waiting for me to say something else.

"Is that all?" Cecelia finally asks, after realizing I was done speaking.

"What else am I supposed to say?"

"Well, we're not going to just let you into the alliance," she says, chuckling slightly. "You need to prove that you can help us. We don't just let random kids into the alliance, just because they want to join. Prove you're useful."

"Fine," I grunt, slightly annoyed that my charm didn't immediately earn me a spot with the Careers. I head over the rack of spears and select a long, silver one. Noelani and Lucretius, who were standing in front of the target, move out of the way as I get a running start. I launch the spear at the plastic dummy, which is about fifteen yards away.

My aim isn't great, and only nicks the dummy's arm, but it manages to reach it, which is pretty impressive. I turn around and look at the three Careers hopefully. They look unsure. Cecelia takes a few steps back and waves them over. I watch nervously as they engage in a discussion, whispering so I can't hear them. Finally, Noelani removes herself from the huddle and turns toward me.

"If you get a training score of 8 or above, you can join the alliance," she says. I'm immediately relieved - 8 isn't a hard score to earn; I suspect I'll get around a 9. I wish I could join the Career alliance sooner, but I'll accept two days.

"Can you move? We're trying to throw spears." I reluctantly leave Cecelia and the District 4 tributes to resume their practice. I consider joining them, but I feel as though I'd be unwelcome. After all, I'm not in the alliance until after I inevitably get an 8 in training.

District 3

Nikola Allegra

The lunch bell rings, and I let go of the logs I was desperately trying to lean against one another. The whole morning has been disappointing; I've circled through a few stations, mostly the survival ones which seemed like the only ones I'd have any luck with. I was partly right; I was terrible at the few weapons I tried, but it turned out that survival stations weren't my strong suit either. The only stations I was remotely good at were knot-tying and plant identification, neither of which are handy in a fight.

When I expressed my concerns to the trainer of the plant identification station, he assured me that survival stations were just as handy as weapons and fighting in the Hunger Games. But he's in charge of plant identification, so he might be a bit biased. From what I saw last year, not a single person died thanks to the elements. If last year is a projection of this year, my skills will be absolutely useless. I probably won't get a chance to find out, though.

I was watching Capitol TV last night and Cupid Bloke and Leandros Winthrop were discussing each tribute's odds. When they got to me, both of them immediately decided that I would die in the Bloodbath and continued on to Noelani without another word. I can't say I blame them, because I don't think I have much of a chance, either, but it still hurt to hear someone else dismiss me as an early death without a second thought.

My efforts at the shelter-making station have used up the past hour, to no prevail. I was attempting a lean-to but I was terrible (and based on the snickers coming from Sprucen, he thought so, too). I couldn't get my log to balance against the trunk of the tree for the life of me, and none of the suggestions the instructor gave helped me. I'm very happy to get to walk away, and know that I'll definitely be trying another station after lunch.

I grab a tray from the counter and get in line behind the long line of tributes who had already arrived. Looking around them, I notice with dismay that I'll probably have to ask someone to sit with them. Last time I got to the front of the line early and managed to snag a table for myself. Lennox and Sprucen ended up joining me, but I didn't have to talk to them. Unfortunately, it looks like this time, I won't have that luck.

One by one, tributes stack food onto their plates then run off to find a good table to sit at. With only six tables, there are a lot of bad options. You could get stuck with Dennis Fielder, who has been creeping everyone out since he was Reaped. You might end up with Sprucen, who doesn't hesitate to insult anyone near him. So you have to be careful with your seating arrangements.

By the time I load a sandwich and plate of fruit onto my tray, not a single table is open. I expected no less, but it's slightly disappointing. I look around at all of the tables, and finally decide on one with three girls sitting around it. From what I have seen, they all look kind of nice, which is promising. I shuffle over and have to clear my throat a few times before I get their attention. When I do, they all look up at me, making my face burn.

"Can I sit here?" I mutter.

"Sure," the younger one, the girl from District 10, says and moves to a different seat so I have half of the table to myself. I sit at the end, not wanting it to look like I'm eavesdropping on their conversation. The other two girls are Tristana and the girl from District 12, whose name I don't remember. The three of them are talking in hushed voices so I don't overhear, and seem to be planning something.

The girl from District 12 looks up and catches me staring. I immediately begin looking everywhere but at the three of them. I look around the cafeteria, only nibbling on my sandwich. My nerves are covering up my hunger, so I can't eat a lot.

The only other alliances I can spot in the cafeteria are the Careers (which is obvious) and a group of four, which consists of the girl from 8, the boy from 6, and the two from District 9. I can't figure out any other alliances; a few people are in conversation, but I don't know if they're aligned or just being polite.

I set down my sandwich; sitting so close to the Careers and other people who may be plotting to kill me is stressing me out and I can't manage to eat right now. I'll just wait for lunch to be over and daydream until we're allowed to go back into the gym. The trainers force us to spend at least half an hour in the cafeteria so we can get some food. I think the real reason is just so they can get a lunch break.

I rest my head in the palms of my hands and stare at the blank gray wall, imagining home. Back at home, I would spend hours in my room, using all of the gears and wires sitting around my room to make inventions. It's something I could never get tired of; inventing things was so exciting, I would often stay up all night just to finish a project. I wish I could be back home now… just sitting on my bed, metal and wires in hand. Maybe Mom next to me… I just want to be home.

District 11

Yael Harident

I'm calm right now. The bad thoughts come and go, not always holding me under their power. I can be almost completely free for hours at a time, with the nagging voice in the back of my head reduced to a mere whisper; a whisper can't force me to do anything. And while I still want to do bad things, I can ignore them and control myself. I can almost completely focus on the task in front of me. But then the bad thoughts will randomly shout, and the urges become strong, almost irresistible.

I have to constantly be alert in case the thoughts jump upon me suddenly; if I'm not prepared, I might not be able to control them or myself. If I don't expect them to arise, I may do bad things before thinking about what I'm doing.

So far, I've managed to stay calm. It's been tough; I'm in a place crowded with people and rows of weapons… so many weapons. There are battle axes, swords, crossbows, spiked maces, whips… even some pointy objects I don't recognize, but look like they could do some damage. Being surrounded by voices makes resisting the temptations even harder.

I've avoided people and weapons thus far. I've made sure to stay by myself, in uncrowded corners of the gym, working at stations that no one seems to bother with. I've also steered clear of weapons; I know it would be smart to learn them, but I'm scared of what would happen if I held one in hand. If I have a weapon and am surrounded by people, there's no telling what I might do. I might kill people before I even reach the Hunger Games.

Currently, I'm stationed at the animal-skinning section, which is a small platform in the very back. No one seems to think it's important, so it has been unoccupied the entire time I've been here. The point is to learn how to properly skin, gut, and cook a dead animal on a platform made to look like a very small portion of a forest. The instructor is very nice and helpful, which is why I've asked her to leave me alone. I made up some lie about concentrating better if I'm by myself…

She bought it, and wandered off somewhere. I was afraid I might hurt her, since I have to use a knife for skinning. It's a simple one-sided blade, but it can do some damage. I have a real rabbit in my hands; it's half-skinned and its blood is all over my hands and lap. The trainer offered me an apron, but I refused it. I'm fine with getting myself dirty - I lived in a forest.

I'm so focused on skinning the rabbit and trying to ignore the other tributes, I don't notice two girls approaching me. I don't realize they're there until I see both of their blacks boots standing in front of me. Then I look up and see two girls; one is rather short, with braided brown hair. The other is blonde and has a confident smile on her face.

"Hi," I say, although is sounds more like a question.

"Hi," the blonde one responds.

"Can I sit here?" the braided one asks me. Before I can respond ('no' would have been my answer) she slides into the seat next to me and looks at what I'm doing. "Ooh, that looks fun!" she says, sounding genuinely enthusiastic. The other girl doesn't seem to think along the same lines, though, because her nose is turned up in disgust.

"It's not," I mutter.

"I'm Arabella. I'm from District 10," the braided girl says, holding out her hand for me to shake. District 10 is in charge of raising and butchering animals, which explains why she was so comfortable with me skinning the rabbit. I lift up my right hand, but it's covered in blood. Arabella doesn't seem as pleased at the prospect of shaking my hand, so her's falls. "You know what? A handshake isn't necessary."

"So, why did you come over here?" I ask. It comes off as a little bit rude, which wasn't my intention. But everything I say sounds a bit rude, so that isn't surprising. I'm worried the bad thoughts will pop up any second now, so I drop my knife on the ground. If I do get the urge to hurt either of them, my hands will probably do a lot of damage, but less than the knife.

"Well, we have an alliance we've started up," the girl with blonde hair explains, sitting on the other side of Arabella. "We want to create a large, trustworthy alliance with a lot of numbers so we can protect each other. So far, we only have three. That's me, Arabella, and Rachel - she's the District 12 female over there." She points to a girl with dark hair at the fire-making station, who is watching us out of the corner of her eye.

"Obviously, we need one or two more people," Arabella says.

"We thought that you seemed strong and a potentially useful ally," the girl finally explains.

"I don't know…" I begin. But I do know. I can't join an alliance. I'll hurt people; if I'm around people too long, I hurt them. And it only grows stronger. The bad thoughts, encouraging me to kill my friends or companions, only become more pronounced the longer I know them. That's why I can't get close to people.

"Look, before you answer; you need us. I don't know how strong you are or what survival knowledge you have, but it's difficult to survive in the Games by yourself. That's why we have each other's backs." Both of the girls look at me hopefully. I want to say no. I know it's a terrible idea to align myself with people I will end up getting encouraged to kill, but a new voice surfaces. This one is just as strong, but it has different ideas. It's destructive, but it wants to plot than kill. No more rip and slaughter immediately. This one is reasonable. It knows how to plan out deaths.

"Okay," I say before I can stop myself. Both of the girls look excited.

"I just realized we don't know each other's names yet!" the blonde girl exclaims. "We should probably be on a first-name basis if we want to be allies. My name's Tristana Rockett. From District 6."

"I'm Yael Harident." I want to say that I can't align with them. It's too dangerous for them. They seem nice and I don't want to kill them. But when I open my mouth, the words refuse to leave it. The new voice still has control of me and is keeping me in this alliance.

"That's a really pretty name," Arabella says.

"Do you want to come with us to the fire-making station?" Tristana asks me. "I think Rachel still needs some help, and you should meet her. She's really nice."

"Sure!" I immediately say, in a voice much more chipper than my own. My body stands at its own accord and begins walking after them. I feel like a puppet; like someone is pulling my strings and making me do things that will be terrible. But I can't fight it. I can't stop moving, just like I can't tell Tristana and Arabella that it would be bad if I joined their alliance.

As we walk toward my new ally, I realize I forgot to wash off my hands. My hands are stained with rabbit's blood, just like they will soon be stained with the blood of a person.

With the blood of Arabella, Rachel, and Tristana.

District 6

Tristana Rockett

The day ends around 5:00, when Rachel decides we've trained enough for the day. We haven't been training that much, though. After adding Yael to our alliance, we wandered around the gym for some time, trying different stations. We learned a few skills, but we spent most of the time in each station chatting with each other, finding out about our home lives.

Apparently, Arabella and Rachel both have tough and tragic backstories which made me feel slightly embarrassed when I talked about my simple, average family. I haven't had to endure many hardships in my life, apart from being Reaped, which I'm glad about, but it made me feel almost guilty, as if it were my fault my family was so great and Arabella and Rachel have had a tough time. I know it isn't, but it felt that way.

I didn't get to learn much about Yael; her description of her family was very concise. She talked about how her parents were good people and she had an average life with them. I suspect that like me, she also felt bad talking about how great her life was in front of Arabella and Rachel.

The four of us stand in front of the elevator, waiting for the doors to open. At this point, not many tributes are left training. A lot of them called quits an hour or so ago. The only people left training are the girl from District 2, the girl from District 3, and the boy from 10. There are also a handful of others, but I can't recognize them yet. I suppose I should start learning people's names and Districts, but I haven't gotten around to it, because… well, I don't care much about them.

The elevator doors open and we all step aside. Since Rachel is closest to the panel of buttons, she hits one for each of our floors; 6, 10, 11, and 12. The doors close and the elevator shoots up. The side of the elevator opposite of the doors is made of glass and gives us a view of the Capitol as we rise. Since we're in the center of the Capitol, it's bustling with activity. On the building across from the Tribute Center, a giant screen is mounted. I ignore it until I catch a glimpse of Arabella's face magnified to the height of several stories.

When I pay more attention to it, I notice that it's displaying each tribute's name and odds. It's currently displaying a picture of Arabella's district partner, whose name I learn is Buck Hayford. Apparently, the Capitol (or Bloke and Winthrop) are predicting him to get 7th place. I'm guessing that the Careers are the six people ahead of him, since I don't know who else could be in front of Buck Hayford.

"Tristana? It's your floor," Rachel says. I turn around, tearing my gaze away from the screen and notice that the doors have opened for Floor 6. The doors begin to shut, so I rush in front and use my hand to block them from closing anymore. They slide back apart and I step onto my floor.

"I'll see you guys at training tomorrow," I say, waving goodbye at them as the doors close again.

"Yeah. Make sure you're ready for the private training sessions!" Rachel calls out before the doors shut, blocking her out. I hear the elevator begin to rise again, so I head toward the television, hoping to watch something that might prove handy in the Hunger Games. However, maybe I'll find something else to watch… something light-hearted, which I could definitely use. We still have an hour or two until dinner, so that seems like the best option. There's not much else for me to do, is there?

When I reach the seating area, someone is already sitting on the couch and the television is blaring some advertisement for hair products.

"Hey," I greet him, hopping over the back of the couch to sit next to him.

"Hi," Axel says, smiling, looking away from the television to look at me.

"Were you watching this?" I ask, gesturing at the advertisement, which shows several heavily-modified Capitol ladies (two of them have lime green skin) who are smiling cheesily and holding up bottles of the product. "Divine Dorian's Hair Amplifier: Care for your Curls," I read off of the text at the bottom of the screen.

"Yep, I want to perfect my luscious locks," Axel says sarcastically, twirling strands of his short, brown hair between his fingers. I can't help but burst into laughter.

"Smart. You can't lose the silky locks that draw all of the ladies to you," I reply, still giggling.

"Anyway, have you found an alliance yet? It looked like you were talking to a few girls during lunch," Axel says after our laughter has died down. By now, the commercial has changed to a much less interesting one about dish soap.

"Yeah, I teamed up with the girls from 10, 11, and 12."

"Oh," Axel says, looking a little disappointed. "Hadley and Arabella and I added the girl from District 8 - Linen - to our alliance today. She's funny, but I was hoping you'd join our alliance. Hadley's the only one above thirteen, right now, so things aren't looking great for us."

"Oh…" I sigh, my face reddening. "Well, I think it's better if I stick with my alliance. They're all pretty cool and I trust them, so I feel somewhat comfortable going into the arena with them by my side. So…"

"Yeah, you should stick with them!" Axel insists. "You committed to them, and it sounds like you have a good alliance going on." There's an awkward moment of silence that's finally broken by Cupid Bloke welcoming his audience back to his show really loudly.

"Were you watching stuff about the Hunger Games?" I ask, trying to change the topic.

"Yeah, I wanted to see what everyone thought my odds were. Turns out they aren't so great." Axel sounds really disheartened, which is pretty sad.

"Well, they don't know anything about you yet!" I remind him, trying to cheer him up. "They don't know about your dart-throwing skills or speed yet. People automatically write off kids your age, because rarely any of them have had the talent you have. A lot of eighteen-year-olds don't come close! You have better odds than most tributes this year; they just don't know it yet."

"Really?" Axel asks, looking more hopeful.

"Of course. You'll see - when you get a nine or something in training, they'll realize they've been greatly underestimating you this entire time," I say. Axel looks very relieved and grateful.

"Thanks," he says, and gives me a quick hug. He thinks for a minute, then turns to face me. "Hey - if we meet in the arena, can we promise not to kill each other?"

"Of course," I agree. "A truce?"

"A truce," he confirms.

"And if both of us outlive our allies or something… how about we finally team up in the arena? I know it's unlikely, but…"

"Deal," Axel says, grinning. He holds out his hand and I shake it. I don't want my allies to die… but I think I would rather Axel live than them. Not only does he remind me of home and is adorable, but he's a really good guy… he's way more responsible than I thought a tribute could be, and I'm pretty sure he could beat any of my allies in a fight.

If I were betting on Axel or myself, I'd probably have to choose Axel. Despite what everyone thinks, I'm pretty sure Axel has a better chance of getting out of the arena alive than I do.

I was intending for this to only be about 5k words, so I got a little bit carried away. But I'm really excited for this… I'm already doing some planning for the arena and I think (and hope) it will be really exciting.

QUESTIONS:

1. What alliance do you most like in terms of people and the chemistry they have?

2. What alliance do you think has the best chance of making it far?

3. What alliance do you think is doomed?

4. Which possible alliances would you like to see?

5. Which villain (or villian-ish) character do you find the most redeemable?

ALLIANCES:

Cecelia/Trajan/Glitter/Glorian/Noelani/Lucretius/Kade
Cecelia/Noelani
Macey/Tracey (obviously)
Tristana/Arabella/Yael/Rachel
Axel/Linen/Savanna/Hadley
Zaira/Felix

SOLO:

Lennox
Nikola
Dennis
Ruce
Buck
Quentin

- Lilah