Third day of training and private sessions! Excited? Hopefully. XD I'm so excited for the interviews! I have a dress planned out for rue already! :D I need ideas for Dave though. I'll try to make it good.

And thank you so much for the reviews! I didn't know I was going to get that much. SO THANK YOU. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games.

Rue

Dave and I walk to the spears station. Dave takes one and throws it at the farthest dummy. I am amazed at this and Dave smiles proudly of it, "Thank you. You're too kind." I roll my eyes and laugh, "You think you're so good." He laughs and I pick one up as well. I throw it at the second farthest dummy and it hits the stomach. I huff in frustration and Dave just keeps on laughing, "Shut up, Dave! I'm better than you in camouflage, knives and don't forget, archery." He stops laughing and glares at me. I laugh at his reaction and continue practicing it. I should've practiced this yesterday. Oh well, too late for that.

We walk over to the knives station and find all of the careers are there. Everyone except Camille. I wonder where she is. She seems like a good ally to me. They look over to us and roll their eyes. Rain and Shine are talking to each other and keeps glancing over to me. I step closer to hear what they're talking about. "We can't let her be in our group." Shine says. Rain shakes his head, "She may be young but she's strong."

They're talking about me.

Shine sighs and continues, "I don't care. She doesn't belong." They keep arguing about keeping me in the career group. I get tired of their bickering and grab a small knife. Since there is a big gap between them, this is a great way to surprise them. Dave looks at me worriedly and I give him a reassuring smile and walk away. I stay a bit of a distance away from them and aim myself at the target. I throw the knife and it passes threw Shine and Rain. They get startled and become quiet. They look over at me and I smile. Deanne, Mason and the guy from District 4 look over at me as well. I walk over to Dave and he's smiling like an idiot, "That. Was. Awesome!" I smile at him and we walk over to the weightlifting station. I'm not going to do anything but Dave will try to lift some of them. After 15 minutes of it, he got the hang of it and mastered it. I was quite surprised. We head over to the knots station and begin to tie them. I try making a snare but once again, I failed. Dave laughs at my attempt to make one. I look at the archery station and sigh. Dave notices and pats my back, "Don't worry. Show them what you got to the gamemakers tomorrow." I smile and we start walking to another station. But before we get there, the careers stop us, "Hey!" Deanne says, "We want you guys in our group." I look at them shocked. "By we, she means they." Shine says, obviously not liking the fact that I should be joining them.

I look over to Dave and it seems like his interested. My jaw drops and I close them before I turn back to the careers, "I'm not interested." I say to them. They looked shocked when I said that. Dave is shocked as well, "Excuse us for a moment." He drags me far away from them, "What the hell are you doing?" "I'm not joining those monsters!" I reply. Dave sighs, "It's an opportunity of a lifetime!" "Dave, you know how much I hate them! They are monsters! They kill people for fun!" I say. There was a silence between us before I speak again, "If you want to join them, then do it! I don't care, just go with them." dave opens his mouth to fight back but I immediately walk away before he says anything. I can't believe him. I thought he hated them. Last night he kept saying that he hates them with all his gut. I won't let him get to me. I won't. I walk over to the knives station and I pick up a knife.

Small, but dangerous. Just like me.

I'm not letting Dave ruin my chance. I'll show them. I'll show them that I'm not just some weak little, pathetic thriteen year old. I'll show them that I'm strong. I throw the knife at the farthest dummy and I must've thrown with force because it makes a hole through the dummy. These games change people. It's changed my best friend.

But it won't change me. I could go mad but I'm not letting that get to me. If dad can recover from his hijacking, then I can recover from being mad and crazy. The gamemakers dismisses us and tells us to be well prepared for tomorrow. I smile slightly. I'm ready, I say. As I walk to the elevator, I have planned out of what I'll do in the private sessions. First, I'll throw knives, then tie some knots, make some snares and archery. I smile at the thought of that. I miss it. I want to hunt in the woods like the old times. I wish these games never existed. But if it didn't, then I wouldn't be here.

I walk into the penthouse and see mom sitting on the couch, excited to hear what happened. "How's training?" she asks. I sigh and just walk past her. I open the door to my room and walk into it. After closing the door, I change into some comfortable clothes and lay on my bed. I hear a knock on the door, "Come in." I say. Mom comes in with a worried face. She closes the door and sits on the bed with my back facing her, "Rue, tell me what happened. Why are you so upset?" I sigh, "Dave wants to join the careers." I can tell by the silence that mom is shocked. I finally rotate my body and face her. Her eyes are full of hatred and anger and shows a bit of betrayal, "I thought he didn't want to. Rue, that doesn't sound like him." I sigh once more, "We argued about it. He thinks its an opportunity." Mom sighs, "I'll talk to dad about this." She begins to stand up and walk to the door. I sit straight up and stop her.

"No! Just let him, if he wants to." I say. Mom sighs and walk outside. I lay back on my bed and find the door opening again. I find dad standing outside of the door, "Rue, let me show you something." he says. Istand up and follow him. He leads me up a staircase and to the roof. I stand there shocked at the view, "Dad, what is this place?" I ask. He chuckles, "It's just the roof. I come up here for some relaxation." I look at him and see that he's worried, "Dad, why are you so worried?" I ask him. He sighs and begins, "The games begin in 2 days. I'm worried about you and Dave." he says. I sigh and look at the view. There are Capitol people with crazy colored skin and hair. Some have tattoes that sparkle. I pull out a disgust face and he chuckles, "They sicken me as well." he says. I look at him with a serious face and sigh before I begin saying,

"Dave wants to join the careers."

He looks at me, shocked at what I said. I nod and look back at the view, "Rue, what happened?" he asks. "The careers asked us to join them but I said no." I began, "Dave pulled me away from them and gave me a talk. We argued and I didn't talk to him since." Dad looks at me with sorrowful eyes. I sigh and take a deep breath, "Dad, don't worry about me in the games. I'll be fine and prepared." I say. "I'm still worried, Rue. I remember the lack of water incident." he says. I cringe at the thought of that. Will I dehydrate in the arena? Hopefully not. And if I do, I'll surely die. I shudder at the thought again and just keep looking at the view.

"We better get going before your mother gets worried." he says, "You know you're mother." I chuckle when he says that and head back down with him. Mom was really worried about us. She begin to ask dad questions on what we did on the roof and others as well. I laugh as I see dads' face and go to my room. I pass Dave as I'm going there and shot him a glare. He seems to notice and keeps walking. I storm into my room and just watch the rest of day pass by. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

I see the line of tributes waiting for their turn at the private sessions. The careers were not scared at all. Their faces show that they're ready. Most people think that Rain will get the highest score. I roll my eyes at the thought. Even girls from other districts,5,6,7, etc., were falling over heels for him. Not me. He's a bloody monster in my eyes along with his minions. Tributes come and go and it's almost District 12s' turn to show their skills.

"Dave Hawthorne." a robotic voice says and he goes into the room. I sigh and begin to tremble. I'm scared. I am quite proud of myself for learning a new skill but I haven't touched a bow and arrow of what seems like FOREVER. What if I miss a shot? This is really frustrating. I don't like it when I'm nervous. Whenever I try to tell mom I go hunting, I always get really shaky and later I just shrug it all off. I just hate it.

After 15 minutes of waiting, a robotic voice calls my name. I take a deep breath and walk in. The gamemakers are getting tired of this and are very relieved that it's the last tribute. I roll my eyes and grab a knife. Some are looking at me but others are just ignoring. I scoff, "Excuse me!" I shout. They get startled at my outburst, "Just because I'm from District 12 doesn't mean that you can just ignore me! Maybe next year you can start from District 12 instead!" I shout. Now I've got their attention. I start throwing knives at every dummy. I start to sweat and look at them. They are very impressed and are writing something down. I go and tie some knots but some gamemakers are quite bored by it. I make some snares and most of them get quite inpressed. My last and final thing to impress them.

Archery.

I walk over to where the bow and arrows are. Some gamemakers are quite surprised because they never saw me go to this station before. I smirk and load my bow. I aim for the nearest dummy first so that I can gradually get the hang of it again. The gamemakers seem very impressed. All of them pay attention as I shoot my last arrow at the last dummy. It becomes very silent now. I mean it was always quiet but it was very eerie because no one is making any kind of sound.

"You may leave." the head gamemaker says. I put back the bow and arrow and leave the room. Hopefully I'll get an 8 or a 10. I step into the elevator and go to the penthouse. It's quite lonely when you're alone in the elevator but it's just a short ride. I walk in and mom, dad and Effie are talking on the couch. I sigh and just walk into my room. I jump onto my bed. I wish I can stay in this position forever. The bed feels soft and warm and everytime I lay on it, I feel sleepy.

I groan as I realize that I have to change. After doing that, I lay back into my bed and start falling asleep. I know I said I would rather do something important rather than sleeping but sometimes it's good to drift off into another world sometimes. Unless it's a nightmare...

I wake up just in time for dinner. After this, we will know our scores for the private sessions. I enjoy the Capitol food and think about the training scores. What will I get? What about Dave? Camille? The girl from District 8, Andrea? The careers? These thoughts fill my head as I eat. My mom notices me daydreaming, "Rue, are you okay?" I nod my head quickly and finish my food. Effie looks at the clock a few minutes later, "Time to check the scores!" We finish our food quickly and head to the 'living room'. Dad opens the TV and he sits down between mom and Haymitch. I sit on the on the farthest end from the adults because I don't want them asking questions on what I did in the private sessions. Caesar Flickerman comes on the TV and welcomes us to the programme and some other stuff. Finally, it's time for the scores. Shine gets a 9, Rain gets an 11, Deanne gets an 11, Mason gets an 8, Camille gets a 6, Andrea gets a 7, and soon enough, it's already District 12.

"District 12, Dave Hawthorne." Caesar says. The room goes silent until Caesar says "A ten!" Everyone, except me, claps their hands and congratulating Dave, "Congrats." I mumble. He slightly smiles and turns back to the TV.

"District 12, Rue Mellark." Caesar says. My heart is beating fast, my hands are getting sweaty, I'm not even looking at the TV. I close my eyes and let my head fill the thoughts as I miss my own training score.

Everyone is screaming and shouting loudly. Dave is grinning widely mom and dad are jumping for joy, Haymitch is rolling his eyes at mom and dad but still proud of the score, Torrence is just smiling at the screen and I just have a confused look on my face, "What's going on?" They stop their loud shouting and grin.

"You got a twelve, Rue!" Dave shouts.

BOOM. THERE YA HAVE IT. XD I finally finished it. :P The games are coming closer to us. O.O ARE YOU EXCITED? No, you're not because you are not selfish like the Capitol is. :P