Chapter 5: Jay

I woke to a hand suffocating me while also trying to lift me out of my bed. Having a brother like mine, I knew the best thing to do was to stay calm and remove the problem. I stood up and breathed out of my nose. I pretended to struggle until I was fully standing, then I tried hard to place my foot behind my attacker's. When I had my foot in place I quickly pulled it forward. I felt the person behind me loose balance and fall. I quickly ran to turn on the light. The moment I saw him on the floor I began yelling.

"What the hell are you trying to do? Kill me before I even make it to training?" Jay just stared, opened mouth as I stood over him half asleep.

"You should have heard me come in. If we were in the arena you would be dead. Now that your up we can look through your file." His husky voice made mine sound like I was a child. I guess you could say I still am but thinking that way, he is one as well. He set my file on the bed. He sat down on it with me and began flipping through the contents.

"It says here you have three brothers and a sister." I looked up at him.

"Two, I have two brothers and a sister. My brother Fade is dead." He looked at me hard. A hint of recognition glinted in his eyes at the sound of my brother's name.

"Fade Ford, he was the one who died from infection right?" I nodded slightly. So that's how everyone remembers him. He continued to flip through my file until he pulled out a piece of paper I was way too familiar with. It was my offense record. Anything I'd done that ended in a punishment from anyone but my mother and father was recorded there. Jay flipped the paper over and hit it, and then he shook it in my face.

"You see this, this will all be erased when you win. The time you lost a fight against your instructor, the time you threw a knife at a classmate, that'll all go away, nobody will remember it. The only thing they'll probably still remember is your reaping."

"That's where you're wrong!" I saw anger flash in his eyes and I took a quick look at his hand told me it was in a fist. I don't know why I lashed out the way I did but it was to late to fix it.

"What do you mean? Have you met me, I'm never wrong, even in my game I won because I went the right way. The rest of my allies died because they didn't trust my judgement. Are you sure I'm the one who is wrong?"

I looked hard at Jay, he was only a few years older then me, I could take him if it wasn't for his training. I felt my anger rise in my chest and my fist ball up.

"I'm not going to win. I'm going to keep Maya alive and she will win." My voiced wavered slightly. Jay looked at me hard, then continued to flip through the pages of my file.

"It says here you have 50/50 aim with a knife and your swordplay skills are beyond questioning. Do you agree?" I looked hard at him. I remember taking the test for my weaponry skills, but I must have forgotten my scores. It had been almost a year.

Give me a selection of weapons and I'll pick up anything with a blade. My archery sucks, probably because I don't care to much about that subject. I couldn't use a spear if I tried and anything heavier then a sword is off limits.

"I like blades; they're easier to use." He looked at me and nodded as if checking every little word I say for some form of hidden meaning.

"I saw you when May's name was called. You're strong and you don't give up." I felt my anger rise again.

"Maya!" He stared hard at me.

"What?" He spoke with resentment and narrowed his eyes.

"Her name is Maya, say it right or don't say it at all." I narrowed mine back.

"It won't matter once she's dead, she won't last a day. She's pathetic, weak, young."

"She's the same age as me!" I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on, which happened to be a cup that was on my bedside table. I squeezed it. silently hoping it would break to show my strength.

"Why the hell did you volunteer then? Plenty of graduates would have happily volunteered in that kid's place." I remembered the looks that the eighteen year olds gave me. I couldn't help but snicker at the fact that I took away their moment.

"Would those graduates protect Maya? No, they would let her die. They would laugh about it." He looked away as if he agreed.

"Stand up!" I quickly did as he said but I didn't take my eyes off of him as he circled me. "How much can you lift?" If he were to make me mad enough I could throw him across the train.

"I don't know try me." Jay stared at me and then looked back down at my file.

"I knew your brother, he was arrogant just like you, but in the end he died because he depended to much on his allies. The other tributes will want you as their ally, the only problem is most of them will stab you in the back if they have the chance."

I thought hard about the tapes I watched earlier. I had gotten the chance to watch a replay of the reapings. I remembered how tough the boy from One looked, the girl from Four definitely showed to be a threat as well. Those two would probably be the last alive, those would have to be the ones I would have to kill. Maya wouldn't stand a chance against them. I also remembered how the boy from Twelve looked so young. He wouldn't last a day.

I also noticed how desperate I sounded when I shouted out my volunteer. The camera's zoomed in on me as I took the hits in the stomach from the peacekeepers and I saw my body flinch at the impact. I grabbed my stomach in memory.