For the record, I kicked Jenna's butt
Here are the train rides, decided to do even odds
The next chapter will be training day 1 and it will be even
Training day two will be opposite odds
Private sessions will be opposite evens.
Boom boom bang, everyone gets a POV : D
There's a hope that's waiting for you in the dark
You should know you're beautiful
Just the way you are
You don't have to change a thing, the world can change its heart
Alexandrite Renaldi, 17
District 1 Female
The train is a lot bigger than I imagined it to be.
Its lush furnishings are literally towered from the top of the living room cart to the bottom of the floor. From diamond chandeliers to fur carpets of animal furs I've never seen, this train has it all.
Oliver hasn't said two words since we've boarded. Glitz, our mentor, told us that we need to wait in the living compartment for him to come back out. He's been gone for thirty minutes and I honestly can't imagine what's taking so long.
As if reading my thoughts, the District mentor walks into the compartment and sits down on the sofa that lies in the center of the room. He ushers for me and Oliver to sit in the love seats that are across from the sofa, and when we move over there he puts his feet on the coffee table that sits in the middle.
"Well, hello," he says as he begins to play with his nails. "I won't sit here and pretend that like either of you. I won't pretend that I think you'll be the winner because odds are without extreme luck and a cunning strategy, you won't be. I will, however, do my best to get you where you need to be." He looks up at me and points his finger. "You have a lot of work to do. I'm disappointed that they chose someone that wasn't full time, but I'm also more disappointed that you took the place of a girl that isn't going to die in the bloodbath."
"Excuse me?" I say to him defensively.
"I didn't stutter. You probably think I'm being mean, but that's not mean, honey, it's honesty. You-" he says pointing his finger to Oliver. "Go to your compartment and wait there until I come to join you. I need to talk to our friend here."
Oliver nods his head and gets up from the seat next to me and leaves the room. Glitz takes his feet down from the coffee table and looks at me sternly.
"Do you even have a strategy?" he ask me.
"Yes, I have a strategy," I say back letting my sarcastic temper get the better of me. "What the hell kind of a stupid question is that?"
"You're coming across kind of hostile," he says holding up his hand. "I'm going to need you to calm down and not get butthurt with everything I say, Princess. The truth is you'll have to work twice as hard to work with the careers. Especially since that boy" he says pointing to the compartments, "in there knows that you're not a full-time trainee."
"I want people to think I'm average," I say quickly wanting him to shut up. "My whole life I've been seen as average. I've never been the prettiest, I've never been the smartest, I've never been the most popular, but I swear on everything on this damn cart that I'm the most ruthless. They won't see someone like me coming!"
He claps his hands. "Now that we got that show out of the way, tell me why that strategy's effective. What do you plan on doing to get from point A to Victor's seat?"
"I'm going to get a median score in training, I'm going to stay out of the way of the other girls, and I'm going to lock on to the boy from District 2."
"What if he's not interested."
"Trust me, he'll be interested," I say.
To be honest I haven't even seen this boy. If he's interested it makes my life a lot easier. If he's not then I might need to break out of the pack and join a small outer District alliance. No one really strong, just people that I can outrun in a situation of peril.
"Do you have anything else?" I ask kind of annoyed.
"You seem to have answered everything for me. I don't know how effective your strategy will be, but I see you are determined, and the fire will serve you well. Just remember, you don't have the luxury of letting your guard down. People like Oliver are waiting for you to mess up. You have to see through it. I may seem like I don't believe in you, but remember I'm not here to tell you you're a special snowflake and hold your hand. I'm here to prepare you."
"Well thanks for preparing me," I say getting up from my seat. "You'll see when I win these games and come back."
"I guess I will," he says.
Everybody's got a dark side
Can you love me?
Can you love mine?
Micah Cobalt, 15
District 3 Male
"Oh my gosh," I say shoving my face with any sort of food you can imagine. "I've never seen this much food in my life! My family isn't bad as far as money as all, but nothing I've ever eaten comes even close to as good as this!"
Mashed potatoes, green beans, steak. I didn't even know you could get a steak in the Districts. Who knew all I had to do was get reaped for the Hunger Games?
"Oh my gosh," I say "I was reaped for the Hunger Games."
I look over at Cortana who just stopped eating to stare back at me. She's been eating just as much as I have, but with not as much vigor. She sets her fork down and looks down at her plate. Our escort has wanted nothing to do with us after the reapings. They've retired to their room and said do not bother them until we arrive at the Capitol.
"Are you as scared as I am?" I ask her.
"Yes." she says still not looking up from her plate.
"Do you think you can win?" I ask her.
"No." she responds plainly again.
"Do you think I can win?"
She pauses and then finally looks up from her plate. Her face says the answer before she can get it out."No," she says.
This isn't fair. Cortana and I had lives before we had to come into these games. Granted, it wasn't always a happy one, but I had a peanut butter date with the girl of my dreams! I never really thought about how when people say that life is short, it actually is short. I never imagined my life ending at 15 years old, but then again, who imagines their lives ending at 15?
"It sucks that I go through all of this and I still don't get to go out with Elena Bright."
Cortana chuckles, and it's the first time that I've seen her smile since we got reaped. I'm not sure what I plan on doing in the arena, or how I plan on surviving let alone, but I know I want to stick with Cortana.
Too bad about that peanut butter date." she says as she picks her fork up again and begins to eat her food. "I heard those are always the best kind," she says as she begins to laugh harder. She drops her fork again as her laugh fills the whole cart, and in between breaths she looks at me. "Seriously dude?! Peanut butter? What was jelly out of town?"
"I was nervous!" I say laughing as well. "She's hot!"
"Wanna know what's not hot…" she says, "PEANUT BUTTER!"
She falls out of her chair laughing and a few snorts arise. I watch her as she hunches in the fetal position laughing and tears are running down her cheeks as she does. After a minute or so the sounds of snorts disappear and in turn, are replaced with sounds of sorrow. Confused, I get out of my chair and go sit next to her on the floor as she is crying in a ball.
"I'm sorry," she says sniffling. "I haven't cried yet. Not even in my goodbye room. This just isn't fair." she says sitting up. "I beat all those stupid boys in that school. I worked my ass off and accomplished so much, only to have so much taken away." she looks up at the ceiling and lets out a giant scream. "Oh my gosh that feels so good. Do it, Micah."
We both look up and let out a giant, glass shattering, to high pitch for a couple of older teenagers, scream that fills the cart. We let it drown out, and both end at the same time. Cortana sits up and takes a deep breath. "I feel better."
"What in the absolute hell is going on in here?!"
Our escort storms into the cart and stands in the doorway of the hall. She is in rollers and a purple silk robe.
"We were just letting out steam." says Cortana.
"Can't you do it quietly?"
Cortana scrunches up her eyebrows and looks back at the escort in fury. "Can you not be such a bitch? I don't remember it being said that you have to fight for your life in a couple of days."
"What did you just call me?" says our escort in shock and anger
"A bitch," she says just as fiery. "Now move along to your room. Your depressing state is getting in the way of my own."
The escort walks out of the room in a huff and I can't help but laugh the second she gets out of the room. Cortana looks at me and then puts her head in her hands. "The nerve of some people!"
"Do you wanna be allies?" I ask not quite sure how to go about asking that.
She sticks her hand out and smiles at me. "Allies."
I want fabulous
That is my simple request
All things fabulous
Bigger and better is best
Gaia Hummel, 16
District 5 Female
I consider myself to be a calm and relaxed person. I make choices that are a bit out there, but I at least make them under a good thought process and long planning periods.
I wish I could say the same of my District partner. He makes me so mad. I've met so many stuck up, annoying, know it all people in my life. Lenovo takes the whole cake. All I've heard since we got on the train was all about how his parents would buy him out of this. That he is their light and that he has no plans on being in here once the arena comes around.
"I think the replacement for me will be good. He better be. It's about time District 5 gets another Victor." he says as Pine and I just eat our lunch quietly. Elena rolls her eyes as she takes another bite of her soup and I can't help but giggle.
"Excuse you?" he says looking at me. "What's funny? This is a very serious matter here, Gia. I haven't time for your games." He then turns his face to look at our mentors. "And by the way, P-" he pauses trying to remember his name and looks genuinely concerned.
"Pine?" ask Elena with a sarcastic voice. "His name is Pine," she says aggressively.
"Right, Pine," he says glaring at Elena. "I keep telling you guys that my parents can't make the switch if this train is moving if you continue to move. Please tell the driver that it's time to stop so they can meet us. I'm sure they will be here any-"
"For the love of all things!" screams Elena. "Kid, you're going into the Hunger Games! You're probably going to die in the Hunger Games! You will be in for a rude awakening, in the blasted Hunger Games!"
Lenovo pauses and stares at her. For once I can't tell anything the boy is thinking as he looks at her up and down. He frowns all of a sudden and then very clearly says, "That's rude of you to say, Eleanor."
Pine drops his fork and starts to laugh as he leaves the cart. He plays it off like he's choking and needs a minute, but Elena and I know what is going on. The second-hand embarrassment I feel for this kid is ridiculous.
"My name is Elena." she says very coldly.
"You know, we seem to be a little confused," says Lenovo standing up at the table. "Let's start over and reintroduce ourselves, and some rules. I'll go first."
"Of course you will," I mutter to myself.
"Watch it, GiGi," he says warning. "Anyways, my name is Lenovo, I'm filthy rich and I have no business being on this train going to the Capitol. Next please," he says ushering to Elena.
"My name is-"
"Evvie, we know. Continue."
"My name is Elena, and I'm about to shove this fork directly through your eye if you-"
"Okay, let's all settle down now," says Pine as he comes and he touches Elena's shoulders gently. "I think we should all retire to our rooms. Lenovo, I will be in there to talk strategy in a minute after I say goodnight to Elena."
"Hurry up, Paul," says Lenovo as he gets up and walks out of the cart. Elena and Pine look at each other and she begins to whisper very angrily to him as he assures her to calm down. After about five minutes of them going back and forth, he kisses her on the forehead and then walks to the carts to go have his one on one with Lenovo.
"I'm just going to throw this out there," says Elena. "We are clearly banking on you to pull this out. I don't even think this kid understands the gravity of what's going on, let alone have the tact to make it past the bloodbath." she takes a sip of her wine as begins her next sentence. "But you, you have a fire kid. I see it. I'm not quite sure what's making it shine, but we have time to get there."
"So what's the first step?" I ask kind of eager.
"The first step is deciding strategy. Do you want to remain true to yourself and get no sponsors, or be who they want and get all of them?"
"I don't know…" I say kind of surprised that this is her first question.
"Well, you better figure it out, kid. Time is ticking, and we've not much time to figure things out."
If I die young
Bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
Dailen Clervani, 18
District 7 Male
It's hard to imagine that just this morning I was talking to my baby brother about not being scared to be reaped. "Six years I've been eligible and I've yet to be called." Fate is a cruel thing you know. You try so hard to stay positive and optimistic in situations like this, but this dread is so far beyond anything I've ever felt.
"You doing okay?" ask Lennox as she sits on the other side of the living cart. I had been staring at the moon all night I didn't even realize that she was still in the room. She gets up from the sofa and walks over to the window seal that I'm sitting on and sits on the other side. "This whole day has been kind of crazy, huh?"
"Not every day you get the honor of being chosen for the slaughter," I say as I adjust my attention back to the moon. It's a full moon, and it looks huge. The light from it is shining so brightly you can see the surrounding areas light up. There's a lot more trees on the outskirts of District 7. Who'd have thought?
"Come on, now," says Lennox. "What happened to the happy-go-lucky guy?" she asks me kind of teasing me. "I know he's somewhere in there."
"He's taking an emotional break." I retort. "Even the most optimistic sometimes need to pout."
"Well, I'm kind of relieved," she says bluntly. "At first I thought this was probably the worst thing that could ever happen to me. And some could still argue that it might be," she says.
"But?"
"But, I come from a pretty crappy background dude. I'll spare you the details of what it is because I'm sure you're not interested. I also don't exactly like diving into it, but this is a nice change. I always thought I hit rock bottom back in 7, but oh the hell was I wrong." she says chuckling. "At least I know the only way from here is up."
"I can't tell if I should get you help, or agree with you in this moment," I say laughing.
"Oh there it is!" she says smiling.
"There it is," I say. "So Lennox, we have a long time on this train. We might as well get to know each other."
"I'm an open book, dude."
"Tell me what was so bad that you consider this to be a blessing?" I ask.
"Well, I'm the daughter of a cracked out whore with a crap ton of daddy issues. I can't tell you the last time I had a second not worrying about my mom relapsing, and right before the reapings, she did. So I didn't have a lot going for me before this anyways. At least if I win I can send her to a promising rehab center?" she says hopefully. "What about you, spill the family drama tea," she says sitting cross-legged on the wooden window pane.
"Well, I'm a son of two parents who doesn't talk to each other over a misunderstanding. Dad accidentally bumped into mom and it scarred her, literally, and she thinks that he did it on purpose. Little brother is a pain in the butt, but he's my pain in the butt and I would take a bullet for him any day...uh...I always wanted a dog but was never able to get one."
"Puppy love runs deep." she says as she touches her heart and pretends to wipe a tear.
"Hey!" I say laughing. "We can't all have moms on drugs."
"True, I hit that jackpot on that one," she says continuing to laugh. She frowns after a moment, though and then looks out the window. "It's weird. I haven't thought about her since we left. I wonder what she's doing right now."
"She's probably getting help," I say trying to reassure her.
"Doubt it. Sorrow is an addict's best temptress," she says coldly. "I feel kind of selfish, but I'm...I feel like I can be myself for the first time in a long time. My home was always walking on eggshells, but now..well..now I'm just Lennox Knolls."
We sit there in silence, and the next thing I know I wake up with my head against the banister. Lennox leans against the other side of the wall with her eyes closed completely knocked out. I smile as I get up from my side of the window and pick her up. I walk her to her cart and lay her in bed. I throw one of the spare blankets in the closet on top of her and leave her room. She doesn't stir once.
I'm glad she talked to me tonight. There was something about her that was refreshing, and in some senses, she reminds me a lot of home. There's a lot I don't understand about this situation, but one thing I've always learned is that there is always a silver lining in the midst of gray clouds.
"You still have hope, Dailen," I whisper to myself as I walk into my room that's right across the hall.
Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are, but I'm
I'm with you
Sybil Thyne, 18
District 9 Female
All morning we've been studying the other tributes and what they are doing. The only Victor from 9 we've ever had was a 13-year old that died right after the finale. They were unable to revive her, so our training comes from our escort hoping they know what they're doing.
"I don't know how I feel about that girl from 2.," says our escort clicking their teeth. "She seems very assured, but at the same time, those are always the tributes that fail in these situations."
Warren has been absolutely no help in this process at all. He's very quiet, and often times I catch him staring at me with a weird look on his face. It's a weird mix of a psychotic break and longing. I'm not quite sure what unsettles me more.
"I think she looks like a threat," I say. "They all look like the can be a threat."
"That's because you're being a chicken," says Warren opening his mouth for the first time. "I'm not scared of anyone of these tributes. I know that if it came down to it, I could easily slit their throats and win. The careers have absolutely nothing on me."
"What makes you so sure of that?" ask our escort clearly annoyed that he doesn't take this more serious.
Warren smiles as he takes a butter knife from the empty placemat that was in between me and him and stabs a piece of fruit in the middle of the table. "You see, the careers are like these fruits. The look solid, they look delicious, sure fire to be satisfying," he says as he takes another piece of fruit and stabs it in the middle of the table again. "I'm this butter knife. Dull, pretty blunt, but still effective. You see, I'm not scared to kill." he says. "I'm actually rather excited for the thrill of it all." he looks at me and smiles. "I have imagined so many ways to take you out. You're weak, Sybil. You'll be lucky if you make it past the first 30 seconds of the games."
My jaw is dropped. Suddenly Warren wants to get all chatty, and not only is he chatty but he's an asshole chatty. I clear my throat and take another bite of my food. I refuse to allow him to get the better of me.
"I take that back," he says. "You'll be lucky to make it past the first 15 seconds."
"Okay," says our escort. "Let's move on to District 3 again, shall we?" they ask as the press the fast forward button.
Warren continues to stare at me. He stabs his food and doesn't look down on his plate before he puts the bite in his mouth. He doesn't look at the bite at all. Instead, he looks directly at me. With each bite, his eyes get smugger, and even have somewhat of a twinkle in them.
After another hour of studying the tributes, our escort excuses us for the day and we are able to go back to the carts in our room. I get up quickly from the table, anxious to get away from Warren, and all but sprint back to my room.
I thought that I was supposed to be the one that was annoying, not someone like him.
I'm not even in my room for 2 minutes before there is a knock at my door. Before I'm able to open it, Warren walks into the room and walks directly to a loveseat in the corner.
"Can I help you?" I ask.
He doesn't answer. Instead, he just sits there and stares at me with the smug grin on his face he's had the whole morning. I sigh and sit down on my bed and return the stare to him. After awhile though I begin to feel uncomfortable and look away.
"See, you're weak," he says laughing as he gets up from the chair. "You'll be fun to kill in the bloodbath."
He walks out of my room and closes the door behind him. I hear him stomp to his door, and I also hear his door close. I jump up from my bed and sprint to the door to lock it before anyone can come back in.
I cross back to the bed and I throw myself down and curl up in a ball. Tears stream down my face as I quietly cry about my circumstance.
"Out of all the people...it just had to be him." I say "It just had to be him."
Thanks for the memories
Even though they weren't so great
Danny Calison, 14
District 11 Male
This is such odd sensation.
I should be petrified, I should be broken down, I should be shaking. I'm none of the above, though. Today is the day that I arrive in the Capitol, which entirely unbelievable. I start training tomorrow for the most dangerous thing I will probably ever do in my life.
Yet I'm still happy.
It's like there was a dark cloud that was shining over me constantly. It would rain, and it would be relentless, but all of the sudden the sun came out. I try not to linger on Denise to much because I don't want to give her the honor of remembering her, but something clicked inside me that day.
There was something about having that belt and tying it around her neck that made me giddy with anticipation. Something about seeing her last breath escape her gives me butterflies of excitement that I never thought you could feel with something like that.
What's even weirder is that I want to do it again.
Yes, that's right. I want to kill. I want to stand over someone with the light in their eyes fading away. I want to look someone in the eye and deny them the right to make it another day. I want to go into the Hunger Games and have the biggest killstreak ever.
And it's all because of Denise and her raggedy ass that I get to know this feeling.
You see I always thought there was something missing, and as I grew older the feeling only intensified. At first, I thought that I was just missing a father figure, but it was so much more than that. I was missing a part of who I am.
Those who lived in the dark so long don't like being brought into the light. You don't always know what you'll see.
"Are we sure there are no books on here?" ask Elodie for the fourth time today. "I'm feeling antsy, I need something to calm me down."
If only I could take the edge off for her.
"We will be arriving in the Capitol in less than an hour. The penthouse you'll be in has all of the books you could ever desire." Our escort says. "Danny, you've been awfully quiet. How're you feeling today, boy?"
"I'm feeling great, Alfonso," I say back immediately.
"Good, now that I've pretended like I care I'm going to my cart for the next hour and trying to get dazzled up for the cameras. My fans await!"
He runs out of the car in a hurry leaving Elodie sitting at the kitchen table looking beyond upset. She puffs her cheeks out and throws her head down on the table and begins to let out a series of loud groans.
"We seriously got stuck with the most idiotic escort I've ever seen!" she says
I wonder what would happen if I were to kill her right now. If I were to just come up behind her and choke her from behind. I wonder if I would get in trouble, or in turn get rewarded for my diligence to persevere and do what we were sent here to do anyways.
"All I want to do is read something that will take me out of this damn hell-hole and experience the world that is different from my own!" she screams with her head still down on the table.
It's not like she actually has a shot at this. Girls like Elodie make it through the bloodbath maybe, but they aren't the type to make it all the way to the end. She will die maybe on day 2, and probably from something stupid like dehydration. What a waste.
I get up from my seat and walk over to the table, I grab the knife that is sitting on the placemat next to the foolish 13-year-old and raise it above my head. I smile as I prepare to bring my arm down and-
"Children time to get to the launch! Oh my goodness, there are so many people! Look!" screams Alfonso.
Elodie picks up her head and then jumps a little at seeing me so close to where she was at the table. She gets up from her chair and hurries to the window to see everyone.
That's fine. She can get up now. That just leaves more fun for me to plan what is to come. Watch you back Elodie.
Well, here is my train rides! I hope you liked them. Next chapter will be training days. (I personally don't see the parade being a thing until at LEAST the 50th. Maybe as like an OMG WE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 50 YEARS LETS DO SOMETHING). You'll hear from the even Districts next chapter.
Fave POV?
Fave Pair?
Predictions?
Keep it classy,
Caleb