Marley Xander POV

I still had two fingers poised in the air. I could win this. We were clustered in a circle in my room on a pile of pillows. It was the last night before the Games. We wanted to get to know each other and just have a little fun. Anything could happen tomorrow, but for tonight, what happened in the sisterhood stayed in the sisterhood. Piles of snacks and empty soda bottles littered the floor around us.

"Never have I ever... broken a limb," I said. Ava lowered a finger. Lottie's single upraised finger triumphantly remained. Olivine was already out.

"Never have I ever shot a crossbow," Lottie said.

"Shoot!" I said as I lowered a finger. I tried one out back at the Academy. It wasn't my thing, and I quickly abandoned it, but it was enough.

We were all down to our last finger. It was Ava's turn. With one word, she could win it all.

"Never have I ever..." she started. She hesitated, and her cheeks started to turn red.

"What is it?" Lottie prodded.

"Never have I ever..." Ava tried again. She turned away and covered one hand with her mouth. I had a horrible premonition of what was coming.

"Never have I ever had sex!"

Ava won.

Mary Ellen Westley POV

I had a problem.

I was a target. First off, I was one of the best. Second, I sort of had a reputation as a villain, even by Career standards. Third, I didn't have any allies. A lot of my competitors would want a chance to whack one of the Games' more unpopular Tributes and gain some sponsors. I had to watch my back.

It might not have been such a disadvantage to be a loner. There were a lot of strong personalities packed into one Arena. Alliances would fracture quickly. With luck I could mop up the leftovers.

It was getting late. Half my competitors were probably tossing and turning, too scared to get any sleep. That was one advantage I had. I could sleep easy. There were risks, and I had to be careful, but I knew I could do it. Not all of them had that comfort.

Daisy Stem POV

Training was over. It wouldn't do any good to worry or fret until the Games began. For my last day in the Capitol, I just wanted some ice cream.

Everything was bigger in the Capitol. The ice cream parlor I found was no exception. Instead of the twelve flavors I had back home, the entire wall was lined with five rows of choices. The other wall was covered with canisters full of every topping imaginable. I hardly knew where to start.

"See anything you like?" the man behind the counter asked. He was wearing an old-fashioned striped outfit and hat, and his curling mustache was striped like a candy cane.

"Everything," I said. "I always thought it would be neat to run an ice cream store." It was a silly dream for a Career. It didn't even make any sense. Either I'd be dead or I'd be too rich to have to work. I really didn't look ahead when I volunteered. It was like I thought I'd win one day and go back to my life the next.

I chose three scoops of brightly colored ice cream and sat by the counter. I liked the store's layout, but if I ran the place, it would have more sprinkles. It needed tall glass jars of sprinkles all over the place, like they could never run out. Sprinkles made people happy, just like ice cream. Maybe that could be the name of my parlor. Sprinkles Ice Cream, run by Daisy Stem. It was like something from a storybook.

Since these are all Careers, an into the tubes chapter would be repetitive. I'll skip to when the platforms raise. Also, I switched Arenas halfway in after I thought of something that gave me way more ideas, so the one person I told might be surprised.

Alliances:

Ultra-Careers: Aversa, Arielle, Akari, Odeda, Venus

Peacekeepers: Steel, Troy and Cierra

Bromance: Whyte and Floki

Chivalry: Ole and Tally

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Marley, Lottie, Olivine and Ava