Hi everyone! My chapter again. I must say, poor Ari. I really loved Icepath-Snowwing's last chapter, and I'm suspecting many of you did as well. So, slight swearing notice, and here we go!

Wait, song lyrics, I forgot.

Our song is the slamming screen door,
Sneakin' out late, tapping on your window
When we're on the phone and you talk real slow
'cause it's late and your mama don't know
Our song is the way you laugh

"Our Song," by Taylor Swift, representing the good times Etolia had with the other tributes during training.

I survey the room. Mya—with Kobe stuck to her side like glue—is talking animatedly with Sapphire. Ari and Teribia are by the fire-making station. Urness and Blossom are stunning the edible plant expert. Ore is moping around by the snares. Atonia is watching Kobe and Mya with an unreadable expression on her face. I suppose she is jealous of the attention he's giving to Mya and not her, his district partner. And here I am, at the bow and arrow station. As I pull pack on the string, I smile, remembering Ari's shot. I let the arrow fly and hit the target dead on. As well I should've, since I've been here at this station for the last three hours, ever since we got back from lunch. The instructor smiles and I nock another arrow. Just as I release the bowstring, I'm distracted by some commotion. I turn and my arrow flies upward, slicing neatly through a cable up there, emitting a shower of sparks. A few of the Gamemakers are looking at me and nodding, thinking I did it on purpose. Well, that's fine with me.

I look around for the source of the commotion. An expert is beating at Kobe's arm with a wet rag. Kobe is standing there, laughing hysterically as Mya does the same. It's easy to see what happened. He set himself on fire for Mya's amusement. I thank the trainer and set the bow down. I go over to them, smiling.

"Hey Mya, hey Kobe," I say as I approach.

"Hey," they reply.

"Nice stunt with the fire," I tell Kobe.

"Bopping bobble-head," the Capitol woman in charge of the fire station mutters. From the way Mya's burst out laughing again, I'd say that's a Capitol swearword.

"Where'd Ari go?" I ask.

"Oh, she left," Mya answers, still chortling with mirth.

"Off to," Kobe quotes, imitating Ari's voice, "take a nap and have a little ice cream!"

We all laugh again, getting weird looks from the tributes around us and an indulging smile from Sapphire.

"All right, everyone," the woman in charge calls from beside the elevator doors, "Your first day of training is now over. The next day starts tomorrow at ten!" We all troop toward the elevator in small groups. Sapphire comes over to talk with us.

"Any more recruits, Mya?" she asks.

"Just one I'm working on," Mya replies, brushing her hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear, "You know, the girl from District 4. Ari." Sapphire makes a face.

"You really think we need her?" she asks.

"She's nice," Mya replies.

"Okay," Sapphire says as we step into the elevator and she hits the 1 button, "Whatever."

**~~o0o~~**

The next day isn't much different from the first. Instead of training, I go team up with Mya and Kobe right away, knowing they'll like my plan. I really don't feel like training today.

"Kobe! Mya!" I whisper, beckoning them. I whisper my plan into their ears and they nod, grinning slyly. I head over to the shield station, standing next to Atonia. Neither of us greet each other. Kobe and Mya go to the knife throwing station. Mya picks up a few of the knives, holding them up to the light, pretending she's deciding which one to use. When she holds up a nice thin bladed one that folds in like a pocketknife, I pick up the wooden shield off the table. She practices throwing it a few times at the target—bulls eye every time—while Kobe moseys around the table.

"Ow!" he screams suddenly. Too loudly, the other tributes will notice, but the experts won't. Everyone looks at him. The expert rushes over to him. He holds up his finger, which is actually bleeding quite a bit.

"It cut me," he tells the expert, who picks up the long knife and rushes away with it. Can't have a sharp knife on the table. A medic comes in to attend to Kobe's hand, and Mya gives a casual flick of her hand, sending her knife into my shield. I pull it out quickly while everyone is still watching that table and fold it up. I slip it into my pocket.

Kobe seems to be enjoying the attention. He flashes me a wink as the Capitol medic bandages it tightly and the expert gushes a million apologies to him. There's a loud CRACK! and everybody turns. Ari's there at the ax table, staring, horrified, at the camouflage table, which has cracked in half. Sapphire sidles up to her, speaking to her. Does Ari have to break something with everything she touches? Ari moves on to the edible plant table, where Mya and Kobe join her. They have a conversation, and Mya abruptly walks away. Sapphire says something to Ari, who looks angry and upset. Somebody got reeeeeeee-jected! I think, smirking. I give a thumbs up to Sapphire. She smirks and smiles.

I'm glad Ari is alone. Last year, the boy tribute from District 4 won the Games. But he was brutal. He had nearly all the tributes on his side, with the Careers. He was their leader, from start to finish, picking his teammates off from the first day by leading them into bad situations that weren't his fault from the other Careers' point of view. Just bad decisions, that's all. For instance, on the fifth day, he sent the District 1 and 2 tributes on a secret mission to destroy the group who were planning to desert that night. He told them to hide a bit away from the camp. Then he told the rest of the Careers that those tributes had deserted and were planning an ambush for them. They simultaneously destroyed each other, while he guarded the camp, safe and sound. He thought he was invincible, and boasted about District 4 all the time both during and after the Games. Maybe it's wrong of me, to base this off one guy, but anything that reminds District 4 tributes that they're no better than any of the rest of us is a score in my book.

I glance around furtively. Ari is preoccupied at the snares table with Meryll and Icanya. Mya and Kobe are talking with Sapphire while she exchanges blows with Amethyst at the hand-to-hand combat station. I slip under the cloth of the spear station, hoping Ari won't hurl a snare at this table. I take the piece of bark out of my pocket and turn it over in my hands. Whittling is a pastime that often calmed me down in District 5. That and singing. It helps me focus, creating something beautiful and letting me think at the same time. Not that I particularly need to think right now. I just don't feel like socializing and training.

I take out the knife from my pocket and start to shave off wood chips. I was taught how to do this particular skill by a boy in my class. I spent many a recess carving soap into shapes with an old steak knife. As I got older, I began to carve wood too, although not as often, as it was a scarcity in District 5. I look down at my carving to see that I've begun to carve a cow. Odd choice, less than a week before the Hunger Games, a cow, but you don't choose what to whittle. It just…comes out. No other way to explain it. It's inexplicable.

Sometimes whittling letting you think is a bad thing. Like now. My thoughts wander back to the District 4 victor from last year again. Another thing he, Typho, did, was kill cruelly. Right off the bat he declared that all people found had to be brought to the Career camp for a public killing. I knew the District 5 male tribute last year. He was caught by Caiai, male, District 2, on the third day. Caiai knocked him over the head with the butt of his sword, bound, and dragged him back to camp. They tied him to a stake they had pounded into the ground and waited until he came around. When he did, all the Careers took turns punching him. Then Typho ripped off the boy's shirt and cleaned the blood off the boy's chest from the blows. He then gave leave to Caiai to carve his name in the boy's stomach before they killed him. He cut into the boy's stomach amid the boy's screams, all the other Careers laughing. After he'd carved Caiai, Caiai slit the boy's throat. But wasn't all, no. The Careers had set up camp by the lake. Typho cut pieces out of the boy to use as bait for fishing. Finally they let the hovercraft take the boy up, all mutilated and bloody, but the name etched in his stomach clearly visible. It wasn't just the boy. He and their Careers, under his leadership, did that to all their victims.

That boy from District 5 had been the one who taught me so many years ago to whittle.

The person in charge calls us all for lunch. I duck out from under the table, stuffing the cow and folded knife in my pocket. Hopefully no one notices the pile of wood shavings under the table until later. It's not like I could've scraped it off with my fingernails or anything; they'd know I have a knife. But they're worried about me committing suicide with it, slitting my wrists. I didn't. And I'm not going to. So no problem.

I sit down next to Sapphire again after filling my plate. Most of the other Careers are there already. Moliask seems to have beat Amethyst to the seat next to Sapphire this time, and Amethyst is narrowing his eyes at him from across the table. Next to Moliask is Garilee, Ari's district partner. Across from Garilee are Mya and Kobe, who are laughing and joking with Velvito (all the way on the other end of the table), who is ignoring them and eating quickly with a scowl. Next to Mya is Amethyst, and next to him, across from Sapphire and I, is Pearanya. She's just listening to the conversations around her (or, in some cases, the lack thereof) and I feel like I should try to make friends with her, since she's from District 3, which is closely allied with District 5. We make up the "technical aspect" of the Careers.

Before I can think of a conversation starter, Ari walks up, holding her tray. "Hey, can I sit here?" She glances at all of us. There's room in between each of us, but not enough for her to squeeze into unless we scoot over. Why is she here, anyway? She declined the invite to join the Careers, and Mya and Kobe rejected her. "Will you move over?" she asks.

Sapphire looks up. Everyone is either looking at her or at their plates. "Can't you fit in? There's plenty of room over there." She points to the other table. Hopefully Ari can take a hint and get that she had her chance. Sorry Ari, not even you from your perfect snitty District 4 can have the best of both worlds.

Ari frowns. "No, there's plenty of room here."

"Are you too fat that you can't fit next to Etolia?" Sapphire asks.

Ari pauses, biting her lip, and then shakes her head. "I can't sit there." Sapphire gives a dramatic sigh and scoots over very slowly. I follow her lead, staring at my food, refusing to look at her. "There. Happy?" Sapphire asks. Talk resumes at the Career table, and I scoot as far away from Ari as I can without intruding in on Sapphire's personal space. Nothing against Ari, except the fact her district's tribute last year had been a brutal maniac, but I won't be accepted with the Careers, especially since I'm from District 5, not a Career district, if I'm seen fraternizing with the enemy. I'm beginning to think Kobe had the right idea. Latch onto a Career who likes you, and you've got it made, even if you are from District 10. And annoying. But maybe I'll try that this afternoon.

**~~o0o~~**

Well, this afternoon did not go as planned. First, when we got out of lunch, Mya and Kobe were nowhere to be found. I mean, where could they have gone? Under the tables, yes, but I would look like a complete idiot looking under the cloth of each station's table for them. So I went off to try something new. Until now, I'd been avoiding new things (well, except for the spear, which I never really got the hang of). I headed over to the ax lady amid the pounding noise of sword against shield as Sapphire and Garilee banged away at each other, handling a sword and a shield each easily. She explained how to hold one and then let me choose which one I wanted to use. I picked up a medium sized one with large blades on each end, hefting it into the air.

"Trying something new?" Mya came up behind me.

"Oh, yeah, we'll see if any good at chopping people's heads off," I joked. Mya stared cryptically at my weapon.

"Not really my thing," she admitted.

"Okay," I backed up, giving myself plenty of room. "Well, here goes."

"Raise it above your head, to about two o'clock," the instructor said briskly. I lifted it above my head, relying heavily on momentum, but missed the two o'clock position. It went past my head and I fell over backwards, landing hard on my butt. The ax cracked into the floor where Mya's foot had been moments ago.

"Yeah, like I said," Mya told me, "Axes really aren't my thing. For good reason." She holds out her hand and pulled me to my feet. I set the ax back on the table. "If I didn't know any better," Mya said conversationally, "I'd say you were trying to kill me. You do know the Games haven't started yet, right?"

"Oh shut up," I told her. Above, some of the Gamemakers were snickering, and I felt like telling them to shut up too. But I really didn't think that would help my training score.

So now here I am, feeling like a moron. That and my tailbone hurts.

"Let's go use some knives," I say. Anything to get away from the axes.

"Okay," Mya agrees. We go over to the knife station, which has had a steady stream of visitors all day, but now we're the only ones.

"Throw or fight?" I ask.

"Which one do you need practice on?" Mya asks.

"Fighting," I shrug. "I can't seem to fight knife against sword. My survival instinct—my instinct to stay away from the long blade—prevents me from getting in close."

"All right then," Mya says, "I'll get a sword. Shield too?"

"Doesn't matter," I reply, going over to the mat. I take the knife off the table most like the ones I have at home and prepare myself for Mya's onslaught. She comes at me quickly—a quick slash to the side—and I parry reflexively, catching her blade on the flat side of my knife. As I was taught, I simply use it as a block for her sword and don't try to force it back. Knives aren't for tests of strength. They're for speedy, too-fast-to-see-coming moves. Mya's too smart to fall for the trick where I let her blade slide across the flat of my knife; she brings it right back into the defensive position in one fluid movement. If she hadn't, I would've had a few precious seconds with her sword down, not able to block. She comes down on my head and I roll under the blade, coming up right in front of her. I'm moving to press the blade against her throat and claim my victory when she smacks me in the head with her sword butt and kicks me away, dazed, with her foot. She spins her sword in a quick circle at her side and feints toward my right ankle. I don't see the trick coming, and she reverses and bangs me hard on my hip.

"Look where I'm tensing," she says. She repeats the move and I see what she means.

"Need any help?" a voice behind me asks. I turn mid-swing to see Ari standing there, holding a knife. She goes to Mya. "Let's show her how it's done, Mya."

"Actually, I'm going to go now," I say, speaking to both of them but looking at Ari hostilely, "Thanks for the tips Mya."

"You're welcome," Mya says and slashes to Ari's right. I walk away and wander over to the edible plant station. It's plants. How hard could it be? The expert hands me a bunch of leaves and herbs and berries and tells me to sort them into three piles: poisonous, edible, and medicinal. I spend the next half an hour grinding and gnashing my teeth over the stupid leaves. In the end, I get only three of the thirty right. The delicious-looking luscious pink berry ends up being the most poisonous thing he handed me. I get the basil leaf and the mint leaf right, though. Edible. Basil is often is in the pasta we have on Sundays in District 5. Everyone eats the same there. Our meals are on a tight schedule. It also makes our district more closely knit than others.

The first example is how a seventeen year old would volunteer for a thirteen year old, even they had never met them before. And then there's the food. Perhaps it's why I like the luxury of choosing my food here in the Capitol. Our meal schedule goes like this:

Day Breakfast Lunch Dinner After-Dinner Dessert

Sun. eggs/toast/fresh fruit pasta w/ tomatoes beef/potatoes/salad one piece of chocolate

Mon. grain mush soup fish/asparagus none

Tues. grain mush sandwich chicken/broccoli none

Wed. bread and butter soup chicken/kale none

Thurs. grain mush sandwich lamb/celery none

Fri. grain mush soup fish/asparagus none

Sat. rolls/pastry w/jam sandwich pork/carrots fresh fruit

I think our meal schedule comes from the Dark Days. The Capitol cut us off from all other districts in order to have us not be able to power their machines and weapons. But that also meant no food shipments came in. We got clean water from groundwater, but we had to make all the food we had last for five months. We set up a food schedule. There would be no district five it wasn't for Elijah Wood.

He was an old man who lived alone and hobbled around on his own with a cane for as long as anyone could remember. All the children were afraid of him and his speech was so garbled no one could understand what he said. But as soon as District 5 realized they would get no food for the next five months, he immediately volunteered his stock of food. No one had known he had been stockpiling food for the last fifty years. There was enough to feed the entire District 5 if they kept to a strict schedule. The practice of sharing food and using a schedule just never went away after the five months or after the man died, three years later.

Nowadays food is shared by everyone, and Elijah Woods is hailed in school as a hero. This also keeps District 5 from having a rich and a poor class. Every family is basically equal in terms of food. Of course, there's always the few who have been cast out from the main group but have nowhere to go. These people were caught stealing—even with the food sharing—hoarding food even when people needed it, or turning someone in to the Peacekeepers when they did nothing wrong. There's about ten or so in District 5 right now. The mayor never follows these rules. If he weren't the mayor, he would have been cast out years ago. But unfortunately that's in the Capitol's hands, not ours.

Anyways, back to the basil. I set the plants back on the table and thank the instructor. He bids me good day after advising me that a very nutritious tea can be made by boiling pine needles. Ari and Mya are done fighting on the mat, and the knife station is occupied again. It's Blossom and Urness. I look around for Mya to see her working with Ari again. Still trying to recruit her, is she? Or is she just trying to straddle both worlds? In my opinion, she's just going to end up hated and hunted by everybody. Except maybe Kobe, who is still latched to Mya's side. Leech.

I join Sapphire at the knot-tying station. She's struggling with a length of wire. Easy-peasy. Note to self: equipment for electrical traps in your private training session is at the knot-tying station. I take up the piece of rope not being used and start to tie a knot. It's standard enough, but I cannot seem to manipulate the rope into the correct shape. It's too floppy. Sapphire glances sideways at me and laughs. I grab the metal rope from her and she snatches my rope. We turn away from each other as to not show each other what we're doing and we turn at the same time, the completed knots in our hands. We laugh and trade again, giving each other tips until the woman in charge calls, "All right, your second day of training is now over! Report back here tomorrow at ten and remember that we will start calling you out for your private training sessions during tomorrow's lunch!" We all troop out. At least I can tell Levitha I know what I'm going to do now.

**~~o0o~~**

I awake bright and early the next day to watch the sunrise above the Capitol from my window. To my surprise, nothing is laid out at the end of my bed and my wardrobe is fully functional again. Spring green tunic, tawny pants. I think I know why I like those colors so much. Somewhere in my muddled mind I think they make up for the lack of plants and nature in District 5. I brush my hair back and mosey down to the dining room.

By the time ten o' clock rolls around, I'm thoroughly tired of sitting at the table, eating, even with all the delectable foods to try. Levitha and Cori finally bid us to go down for our last day of training and remind us do well in our private sessions. To my surprise, we're the first ones there. I look up and the giant gold clock and, sure enough, it's ten o'clock. The woman in charge looks slightly puzzled by the lack of attendance, but lets us begin training on time. I'm unsure exactly where I want to go, having planned to join up with Mya or Sapphire this morning. I walk on over to the archery station for some last minute practice. After a few minutes of awry arrows, I resume at the level I left off. Some fifteen minutes later, the door opens. Oh, good, it's Mya and Kobe, I think. I set down the bow and turn to greet them.

Ari pauses and looks around, startled that we're the only ones here. She starts to back up into the elevator again, obviously not comfortable being in here with just us. "Hey Ariella, come over here," Dion calls. She pauses uncertainly.

"He's not going to bite," I tell her, snickering, remembering the Career joke from the first day. She narrows her eyes at me and flounces over to Dion's station.

"District 4, right? You know how to use these?" He gestures to the array of shiny tridents laid out. Ari looks relieved to see something familiar.

"Yeah, sure," she says, picking one up and twirling it around neatly in her fingers. "Everyone in District 4 does, even if they weren't one of the ones using tridents on the fishing boats. I wasn't." She throws her trident with enough force to knock the stupid pig statue off the Justice Building back home. Stupid pig. What kind of pig has wings? If pigs can fly, I'm a catfish Ari ate a week ago.

"See?" Ari says, "Nothing to it." Dion picks up a trident and throws it at the target, the expert ducking to save his mohawk from being slashed off.

"Oops," he says. Ari laughs. It's not a mean laugh, but somehow it irks me. I go over to the station and pick up a trident. Ari stops mid-giggle to watch me hostilely. Dion, on the other hand, is grinning sheepishly and gestures for me to proceed.

"Come on, throw it, Etolia," he says. I do, and the back sticks into the wall a few feet from the target, the three prongs extended. Ari bursts out laughing again at my attempt. I turn on her angrily, eyes icy and cold.

"Let's see you shoot an arrow, Ari!" She freezes. She faces me slowly, her eyes smoldering with anger. I'll never know what we would have done next, because we both noticed them at the same time. We turn to see Sapphire, Amethyst, Meryll, and Velvito watching us. Sapphire has an amused expression on her face and gives me a thumbs up. Velvito is looking bored and pretending to whack Amethyst on the head. Amethyst, realizing what he's doing, pushes him away. Velvito knocks into Meryll, who, until then, had been staring at Ari with an unreadable expression on her face. Meryll, staggers, off balance, and promptly steadies herself on Sapphire's shoulder. Sapphire's slap comes almost too fast to see, but Meryll, lurches away, a red mark visible on her arm, bumping into Velvito, who gives her a death glare. I'm reminded of dominoes. Sapphire strides over to the spear table, followed by Amethyst. Meryll goes to the shield station.

Over the course of the next hour, the rest of the tributes trickle in, including Mya and Kobe. I join them at the sword station, where I prove exactly how inept I am with a heavy sword. Mya twists the sword out of my hand with the flat of her blade every time when I have anything but the lightest sword. I simply can't move fast enough. At exactly noon, we are called to lunch. We get our food from the carts—one of which features district breads—and sit down at the Career table. Sapphire sits on the end, me next to her, and Mya takes the seat to the left of me. Next to her is Kobe, and across from him, in order going towards Sapphire are Moliask, Garilee, Pearanya, Velvito, and Amethyst on the end.

Once again, Ari comes over. "Can I sit here?" she asks.

"No, I don't think so," Sapphire says, looking up at Ari. Mya and Kobe stare down at their plates. "Shoo." She turned to me.

"Vamoose," I offer, looking Ari directly in the eye. I look at Mya.

"Go away," Mya says in a small voice.

"Scram," Kobe says without looking up.

"Get lost," Moliask agrees, staring at Ari with cold eyes. He looks at Garilee.

"Beat it," Garilee says to his district partner.

"Poof," Pearanya tells her in an unnaturally high voice.

"Hightail it," Velvito says.

"Outta here," Amethyst finishes, pointing toward the other table. Ari's eyes flash with anger. In one movement, she pushes Sapphire's plate off the table. The plate shatters. Ari hops up onto the table and sits there with her arms crossed. Everyone in the room is staring now, wondering how Sapphire is going to react. Sapphire jabs Ari hard in the side and she leaps off the table, smacking Sapphire in the arm. She walks formally out of Sapphire's reach and sits down at another table. You could hear a pin drop in the room now. Everyone is either staring at her or Sapphire. We have all publically rejected Ari, so after her little outburst, there's little more she can do. Even her "friends," Mya and Kobe participated.

"In the arena," Sapphire says in a soft, deadly voice, "I kill her. My way. Anyone who doesn't bring her to me will face the wrath of the Career pack." It was said quietly, but it was meant for everyone and everyone has heard. Ari hides her reaction well, however.

Up by the food carts, a woman calls Amethyst's name. The private training sessions have begun. Amethyst rises and enters the Training Center. Every fifteen minutes or so, they call another name. Sapphire. Sapphire disappears through the door into the training center after a wink back at us, the Careers. Moliask. Mya. Bermiath. Pearanya. Garilee. Then its Ari's turn. She rises slowly and walks to the door. Everybody watches her go. Sapphire and the others haven't come back yet. Kobe looks a little lost without Mya, so I scoot over closer to him to talk, even though I will have to go soon too. The Career table is nearly empty. But he will be one of the last to go. They call Dion, and I'm starting to get a little nervous. Around twenty minutes later, I'm called in.

As I enter the room, the first thing I notice is the Gamemakers. They sit above the Training Center, watching me enter. A few of them are eating from the banquet in front of them, or drinking from crystal goblets. But most have their attention on me. I make my way over to the camouflage station. Along with the paints, there are different objects that might be in the arena we can use. Blades of grass, leaves, sticks, shards of glass, and bits of wiring. I scoop the wires up and head to the knot tying station next. More of the Gamemakers are fixated on me now, frowning slightly. I suppose I have confused them. At the knot tying station, there's rope and then there are metal ropes. I scoop these up as well and feel along the wall for the hidden panel. I have all of the Gamemakers' attention now. Finally I find it and pull it off. I spend the next five minutes separating the strands in the metal rope. I select one and attach it to the power outlet. I then rig the rest of the wire so it's between me and the archery station's dummy. It still has arrow marks on the heart and neck from this morning, but it doesn't matter. I pick up a knife from the table and throw it at the dummy, skewering it in the heart. The Gamemakers are nodding now, but a few are still confused about the rope. Ugh. How the hell am I supposed to show them that without frying myself?

I looked at the knife on the table and I gently drop it on the wire, so it won't cut through. Blue electricity jumps from the wire to the knife as it falls past it to the floor. I look up at the Gamemakers expectantly. They're all nodding, or have the hint of a smile, and some even look impressed. I suppose, after District 5's disaster of a bid for victory in last year's Hunger Games, they didn't expect much of me. Well, I showed them. The Head Gamemaker clears his throat.

"You may go Miss Akari." I nod respectfully and walk out past the Avoxes into the elevator.

**~~o0o~~**

"So, how were you tonight?" Cori asks us during dinner. Levitha watches me over her bowl of fruit.

"Okay, I guess," Dion volunteers, "Did some spear work like you said."

"What were their reactions?" Cori presses.

"A few of them nodded," Dion shrugs, "One smiled at me."

"And you?" Levitha asks.

"Okay. Good maybe even. I got a chance to show off my electrical skills and my knife throwing. I found the panel on the wall and hooked up a trip wire from the knot table and threw knives across it. Then I demonstrated the electricity flowing through the wire with a second knife."

"Okay," Cori said, clapping his hands together, "You both did a great job, and you can be excused to work with your stylist until the training scores are televised tonight." We both pushed back our chairs and stood up.

"Is that supposed to be a reward or a torture?" Dion asks once we're safely into the hallway. After a few seconds pause, Cliarra leads me off to a room I've never been in before. She tells me to stand up straight and tilts my head up to the light, holding up a scrap of green cloth up to my face.

"Perfect!" she says.

"What's perfect?" I ask, feeling stupid.

"Your interview dress will match your eye color," she replies. "Now, I've got to create a look for you…how do you like your make up applied? Light, medium, or heavy?"

"None?" I offer sheepishly.

She laughs, a tinkling sound that somehow reminds me of falling raindrops. "Light then. And what's your district token?"

I pull the thin strip of the paper out of my pocket. "This worthless thing, from the mayor."

She looks in surprise at it. "You don't know what that is, do you?"

"It's…something?" I ask.

"Etolia, this is a tattoo," she says.

"Oh," I say for lack of anything better.

"I can apply it for you tomorrow, if that's what you want," she offers, "I don't think we have time today before they broadcast the scores."

"Actually, I think it's time right now," I tell her.

We all gather in front of the TV in the sitting room, Dion and I on the couch next to one another and our respective mentors and stylists behind. I take up my notebook again and jot their scores by their names. Sapphire, 10. Amethyst, 8. Mya, 10. Moliask, 9. Bermiath, 6. Pearanya, 9. Ari, 6. Coming from a Career district, ouch. Garilee, 8. Me, 9! I smile and Levitha ruffles my hair. Dion, 7. Teribia, 1. One? What the heck did she do to score a one? Yassarith, 5. Lethalissima, 8. Quistor, 7. Meryll, 8. Velvito, 8. Icanya, 9. Hatmic, 5. Atonia, 6. Kobe, 9. Good for him. Blossom, 4. Urness, 4. Tessaraea, 4. Ore, 4.

A scream comes from above and we all look up at the ceiling. District 6 is right above us. Teribia, I'm guessing, with her score of 1.

She's half screaming, half crying at her mentor. "I SPENT ALL THAT FREAKIN' TIME TRYING TO BUILD A FIRE! AND I DIDN'T EVEN SUCCEED! THE GAMEMAKERS WERE FALLING OUT OF THEIR CHAIRS; THEY WERE LAUGHING SO HARD AT ME. I'M GOING TO DIE IN THE ARENA; I'M GOING TO DIE…" Teribia went on, crying hysterically. Dion and I glanced at each other.

"She spent…all her time…building a fire?" I asked. Dion started giggling, and I joined in.

**~~o0o~~**

The next day seems to pass too quickly. Maybe we are supposed to be doing something, but all we really do is eat and sit around. Oh, and I got to practice walking in these golden sandals, but that wasn't hard at all. Unfortunately, Elena Sosot was teaching that. Now it's four in the afternoon, and I haven't seen Levitha or Cliarra all day. The interview will be tonight, but I don't feel very prepared. That's all the prep I get, learning to walk in sandals? I am going to fail this.

Around six o'clock, an hour before the interview is scheduled to start, Levitha walks in.

"Oh, good, there you are, Etolia," she says, "Ready for your interview?"

"Uh, no?" I say. "I'm supposed to have a strategy!"

"You do, and I'm assigning it to you now. Be yourself."

"Myself? That's…that's not a good idea."

"If you were in District 5, then yes, I'd agree with you. But you're in the Capitol. If you don't want to answer the question, lie. I think you're good at that—"

Yelling from below interrupts her. Somebody, a woman, is yelling at someone else. "Lie if you have to! I don't care! Just make yourself likeable. And make up an excuse for getting that frickin' 5!" Levitha and I glance at each other. "Irinead," she says, "Ari's mentor. Now why she didn't just pick dear old Mags, I don't know, but…" She looks around. "They really need to soundproof these walls."

So! How'd you like it? Irinead is so nice, don't you think? Leave a review!