Clove is now fourteen. It's her birthday. They have visited Elle twice with Enobaria.

" Happy Birthday, Clove" Ally exclaims. Beka and Zea stand beside her smiling.

We walk to Brutus's class. Cato is no longer allowed to fight me. We work with punching bags today.

We go to Enobaria's class. " Happy Birthday, Clove." Enobaria says.

Today, we have to use a different weapon than we specialize in. I go instantly to swords. Ally goes to knives. Beka goes to maces. Zea goes to spears.

I know pretty well how to use a sword. I'm not like Ally, or Beka, but I can use one fairly well. I love how big they are. How sharp. They are the prettiest weapons.

After attending all of my classes, Ally, Beka, and Zea join me on my bunk. "Did you have a good birthday?" Beka asks. " Yes," I say.

" Who do you think is going into The Hunger Games first?" Zea asks.

" My money is on Ally." Beka says. We all nod. She's the best fighter out of all of us. We all know.

Ally denies it though. " I'm not ready."

I shake my head. " Maybe not yet but in, like, three years you will be."

She knows we're right. She will become a victor. She has to. She's top in our class. She's ruthless. Malicious. Pretty. She will be on the wall.

" Don't you want to do anything for your birthday?" Ally asks.

" No. There's nothing special about my birthday. I'm fourteen now. So what?" I say.

" So what? That's fourteen years of your life!" Beka exclaims.

" Who cares?" I ask.

" You should." Ally says.

" Let's go to dinner." Zea says.

We walk down the hallways. Birthdays. Who cares. I'll have plenty of those.

At dinner I don't eat much. I'm not very hungry.

" Clove. Birthdays are important. You shouldn't act like they aren't." Ally persists.

" Drop it Al. I'm fourteen. I'll be fourteen tomorrow. I don't need to celebrate. Birthdays are overrated." I say harshly.

" Birthdays are to be celebrated, Clove." Enobaria says.

" Do you want to be unhappy?" Ally mutters.

I slam my knife into the table. " Allison drop it!" I exclaim.

Ally reddens. She doesn't like the name. The middle name of the woman who left her on the streets.

I go back to the dorms. Ally doesn't know when to stop. She never does. I sit there. The girls file into the dormitory. I don't move. My birthday was the day my parents left me. Why celebrate that?

Enobaria is here for lights out. I lay down. Birthdays aren't important, I tell myself.

I wake up happily. Today is swim day. Happens once a month. I get on my swimsuit. Ally walks with me. Though I was mad at her yesterday, we aren't fighting.

I run to the diving board. Ally taught me to do a front tuck into the pool. I jump twice and flip over. Beka claps from inside the pool. Enobaria already fell asleep. She usually does under the umbrella. We haven't been out here ten minutes. That might be a new record.

We stay in the pool for hours. Then the boys come out saying it's there turn. We look at Enobaria. Brutus walks over to her, tapping her shoulder. " Wake up!" He says sharply. That gets her. She tells us to get out the pool and walk back to the dormitory.

Back in the dormitory it's quiet. Ally and I are quiet. Zea is taking a nap. Beka isn't talking. Tesla and Lacey are reading. Autumn and Delta are making lanyards. Prima and Grove are writing letters to their family. Terra is staring at the ceiling.

Enobaria walks through the doors. " I have never seen a room full of girls this quiet." Nobody even looks at her. She looks shocked. None of us are really in the mood for " fun stuff".

"Girls?" She asks. Recently fun hasn't been an option. We are ruthless. We are icy. We are malicious. We are vicious.

" Yes, sir." We say in unison.

Enobaria looks at us like we're insane. " Want to play some games?" She asks. We are silent once again.

" Watch a movie?" She asks. When we don't respond Enobaria leaves. We sit there. All of us.

" What are we going to do to?" Grove asks. " We can't be quiet all the time."

" Yes, we can can." Terra says bitterly.

I nod. " We have nothing to do with each other. Friends are forbidden anyway."

" So what?" Grove asks. " We've lived together for two years and we know barely know anything about each other. Clove, do you even know what weapon I specialize in?"

I try to think. " Maces?"

Grove shakes her head. " Spears."

" Nobody cares Grove! I'm going to go to bed early." Terra says.

I climb under the covers. So do my fellow trainees. Prima turns out the light.

A few hours later, Enobaria walks into the room. It's eleven. We went to bed at about nine. Enobaria momentarily looks saddened. I don't know why. She realizes I'm awake. She walks towards me.

" What happened today?" She asks.

" Well none of us are great friends anyway so we just didn't talk today. We got bored and went to sleep." I shrug.

" But you Ally, Beka, and Zea are friends." She says.

" I don't talk to Zea that much, and me and Beka are kinda friends and me and Ally don't talk that much anymore." I say.

" Oh." She says. " Good night, Clove."

I put my head against the pillow and try to sleep.

Today is an off day. It's silent again, until Enobaria storms into the room.

" What is with you girls?" She asks.

I gape at her.

"You guys are quiet and self absorbed and you guys barely acknowledge each other!" Enobaria yells.

"I said the same thing yesterday!" Grove exclaims.

" And what did we do to you yesterday?" Terra mutters.

Grove shudders. " Say something to each other!" Enobaria says.

I look to Ally. " Hi," I say.

" Hello," Ally says cautiously.

That was it. Nothing else. Enobaria glares at us. " You two are best friends! Say something!"

" I miss Elle." Ally says.

I nod. " Me too."

" I like maces." Beka says.

We are quiet again. We look at Enobaria. "Well?" She asks. We stare a her.

"What is the point of this?" Terra asks. We nod.

" How many of you guys have known each other before the academy?" Enobaria asks.

" I knew Ally and Terra." I say. " But Terra has always hated me so I don't know if she counts" I spit.

Terra scowls.

" I knew Prima and Autumn." Grove says.

" I knew Tesla, Delta, and Zea." Beka says.

" So you guys knew each other?" She asks.

We nod.

" So why do you pretend the others don't exist?" She asks.

Nobody answers. " I don't care if your not supposed to make friends, do it anyway."

" Hey, Al." I say.

Ally grins. " Whats up Clo?"