First Impressions

Cicero

We sit in a circle, taking in how much our lives have changed in the last week. On Monday our lives were as normal as they could be, after the Second Rebellion. On Tuesday the government announced a final Hunger Games that the children of the Capitol would have to compete in. On Wednesday we had to register for Reaping at school. On Thursday we realized that this was no joke. It was happening. On Friday they reaped 24 of us, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve Capitol Precincts, just like they did with the Districts. My name is Cicero Merriweather. I live on 65 Reynolds Avenue, in the part of the Capitol called the Plaza. All important government buildings like the Tribute Centre are located here. That's where we are now.

At twelve years old, I am the youngest person here. Everyone is so much bigger than me. The only person I can recognize is Fausta and that's because we have school together. Even so, she's so much older than me.

A lot of the girls are crying. I want to cry too. I want to go home.

"Let's begin with introductions", our Supervisor says. He's been put in charge to make sure that none of us try to run away. "I'll go first. I'm Haymitch. There. Just say your name and move on to the person next to you." He gestures to a small, weepy girl on his right.

"I'm Drusilla", she blubbers, her bottom lip twitching and her eyes raw.

"Vyctor", the boy next to her says.

Summer. Alec. Lorna. Urban. Everyone says their name hushedly or weepily. Junia. Silvan. Fallon. Broden. Names of people that will be dead in a few days time. Lenora. Otis. Fausta.

"Cicero", I squeak when Fausta turns to look at me. For a split second all eyes are trained on me. It's the longest split second of my life. Lily. Falko. Larissa. Max. The whispering resumes. Tunney. Oberyn. Sergia. Corsan. Innogen. Lucas.

We all turn to stare back at Haymitch. "So now that you've had a chance to get to know each other…"

I don't. I don't know anyone here. I look at the faces. I try to remember some of their names so I can talk to them. We're not enemies. We're in the same horrible situation.

The tall, slim girl with the extremely long blonde hair and hoop earrings is Lorna. The one with the beautiful, deep red hair and dark teal eyes and lipstick is Tunney. The kind-looking, bespectacled boy with the short, white-blonde hair and beard is Lucas. The weepy girl with the pink hair who introduced herself at the beginning is Drusilla.

"...make alliances. It's your best shot to survive. None of you have the kinds of skills the Careers had. None of you know how to be hungry like the Outer Districts. You make friends and you stick together. Think of this as the first day of school. You're new here and don't know anyone. What do you do? You make friends." Haymitch glances up at the clock. "OK, it's seven o'clock now. I'll give you two hours to truly get to know one another. Then it's time for bed. You've got Training in the morning." He claps his hands together and gestures for us to move.

Sergia

It feels oddly like a game. The way that everything is so organized, so structured. Our interactions hardly seem real. I gossip with some of the other girls and laugh at their jokes, but deep down I'm analyzing their behaviour. Haymitch is right. To survive in the arena, I'll need friends.

Lorna is a ditz. Summer seems snobbish. Falko is a creep. Larissa is a misanthrope.

But some of the others are nice enough. Tunney has a spirited personality. Lily has some nice stories about her grandfather. Urban even flirts a little.

By the end of the evening, I have a decent feeling for what everyone is going to be like in the arena. Who will be strong and who will collapse. I've made my peace with these Games; there's not much I can do about it, except win. And I'm not going to win if I'm weak.

Broden

I ride up to our floor with the other girl from my Precinct, Fallon. Her hair is fiery, like a phoenix. We're both from the Court and I see her in school. The Court's floor used to belong to the District 5 tributes. Now it's ours for this year.

"I can't believe you got reaped", Fallon says, her arms folded. "Your name was only in there once."

"And yours nine times", I reply. "What were your first impressions about the others?"

"I didn't like them. Almost everyone was acting so… fine with the whole idea of being sent to the arena to kill each other. Like they were actually looking forward to this. Especially the older ones. Did you see how that one girl with the dark blue hair and lipstick kept bragging about how she was always analyzing how the Careers worked? Lenora, I think her name was."

"And the silver-haired guy who acted like this was his life's dream?"

"Was that Urban, from the Border?"

I nod.

"Geez. I noticed that too."

"Who do you think you want to ally with?" I ask quietly.

"Well, it's early days. I don't know anyone well enough to make that sort of decision right now. Plus, nobody wants me on their team."

"I might." Fallon turns to look at me, slightly bewildered.

"Why?" she asks.

"Because… I like you and I know you better than anyone else and I trust you. I don't think that anyone else is going to want to drag me around with them."

"And what if I don't want to drag you around?" she teases, smiling.

"You got a better idea?"

Fallon laughs. "OK, kiddo. You got yourself an ally."

I smile and we exit the elevator.

Lily

The wadded up contents of an entire box of tissues on my bed is proof for how much I have been crying. My nose and eyes sting whenever I move to wipe away a tear or blow my nose.

Grandfather would never have let this happen. If he were alive, he would have crushed the rebellion and brought everything back to normal. The way that it should be. I don't deserve to die like this. This is so unfair and heartless. Forcing us to kill each other. They don't know what it feels like to lie in bed, knowing that when 24 go in, only one comes out.

I miss you so much, Grandfather, I think, hugging the blankets closer to my chest.