In the Training Center, each district had its own floor. On the elevator that Aft led me to, all I had to do was press my district number District 6 was right in the middle, with District 1 on the bottom and District 12 on the top. Once we all had gotten washed up for dinner & I did another injection of morphling, I heard an argument between Marcy, Johan, and Loriana. "It's not my fault he has the tendency to instigate!" Loriana yelled.

"Well, control your tribute! Because if she throws something else at him, I'll get the Peacekeepers!" Johan retaliated.

"Will you both calm yourselves? Why don't we figure out why the hate each other so much?" Marcy tried to reason.

"Oh yes, 'cause a pre-game therapy session is totally going to change their views! They're gonna have to kill each other anyway! I just want to make sure my tribute isn't getting more weaponry thrown at him or hit in places a man should never be hit!" Johan yelled.

"Well, maybe she wouldn't have hit him there if he didn't kick her in the face! Spencer paints himself as the victim when I saw him fighting with her! Oh, and the Peacekeepers? What are they going to do? She's gonna die anyway!" Loriana yelled.

Loriana saw the fight between me and him? I asked myself, keeping my back pressed up against the wall. Hey, wait, what makes her so sure I'm gonna die

"He said she was threatening him in the corridor on the train! You were probably on morphling when you saw it! How could you be so sure of what you saw?" Johan yelled back.

"You do morphling too! How can you be so sure you heard him say that?" Loriana countered.

"Will you two please-" Marcy started before I walked in. It was starting to become boring to listen.

"Oh, hello," I said innocently. "Am I interrupting something?"

Loriana and Johan looked at each other then me for a second, debating on whether or not to call me out for eavesdropping. "Of course not Kristen," Marcy said, gesturing me towards the table. "We were just about to sit down to eat."

Marcy, Loriana, Aft, Forta, Johan, and I sat down at the big table. All laid out on the table were a variety of foods. Towards the middle was ham, turkey, chicken, potatoes and corn. On the left side were the rolls, gravy, fruit, and soups. On the right side there was vegetables, more sides, and drinks. I went to reach for the turkey before Marcy slapped my hand.

"Manners Kristin," she said sharply. "We mustn't have anything until we're all accounted for."

I sighed. I was going to have to wait until that miserable excuse for a human being to show up before I could eat. We were all supposed to be at the table by nine, and it was nine fifteen. "Where the hell is he?" I asked in frustration.

As soon as I finished my statement, Spencer walked in. His hair was wet, just as if he just finished showering. What was he doing in the shower for that long, I wondered. "Hi," he said roughly before pulling out a chair.

I shot a look over at Marcy, silently asking if we could eat. She gave a short nod and I started piling food onto my plate. Chicken, turkey, potatoes, potato soup, chicken soup, corn, steamed broccoli, and biscuits. I ate slowly, so I didn't puke again. Spencer put every food that was on the table on his plate. And he implies that I'm fat, I thought. After dinner, we had dessert. Dessert was ice cream, cakes, brownies, cupcakes, and cookies with hovercrafts frosted on them. I smiled when I saw the cookies and ate a few brownies and a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Towards the end, Marcy held up her glass of champagne. "A toast!" she said. "To Kristen and Spencer for their effort and courage so far in this process of the Games!"

Aft, Forta, Johan, and Loriana held up their glasses to and said, "To Kristen and Spencer!"

The Avoxes cleaned up and I went up to my room. I fingered the necklace Jonathan gave me and I felt like I was about to cry. I grabbed my pillow and screamed into it. "Dammit!" I yelled and I punched the bed. I heard a knock on the door. "Kristen? Are you okay? I thought I heard you yell," Loriana inquired from the other side of the door.

I took a deep breath and replied, "Sorry, I just stubbed me toe against the bed."

"Oh, okay."

I smiled to myself. I could be a good liar when I needed to be. When I was sure Loriana left, I allowed myself to cry. "Screw this," I whispered to myself and I picked myself up off the bed. I knew there was a door to the roof that was left unlocked. I walked out into the hall, checked to make sure I didn't hear anyone, and went to the door. I walked up to the roof and took a look at the Capitol. It was so bright and there were people still out partying. It made me angry. How can the party about this when 23 of us are going to be killed? How can they treat this like a damned party? Why don't their kids get sent into the arena? I screamed in my head. There were little stone walls up and I propped myself up on one. I took a deep breath and jumped.

I hit something and flew backwards. I landed on my back and grunted. "Just so you know, there's a force field," I heard Aft say from behind me. I tilted my head back and saw him leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. He walked forward and helped me up. He gave me a hug and held me out in front of him. "Why did you just try to kill yourself?" Aft asked quietly.

"Because I don't wanna do this anymore. The Games, watching the people here treat it like a party, having them treat us like nothing but objects to bet on!" I cried. "You people don't understand this!"

"Actually, I do. I wasn't born in the Capitol. I was born in District 1. I came here with my aunt and uncle when I was nineteen. When I was seventeen, my twelve year old sister was reaped. No one volunteered because they wanted her to prove herself. She was too young. I knew that, but since I'm a guy, I couldn't volunteer for her. She was killed by the male tribute from District 4 who got a trident as a sponsor gift. So yes, I know what the Games are like," Aft said sadly.

I stared up at him. I wiped away my tears. "I'm so sorry Aft," I said softly. "Was it quick?"

"No, he threw it and the trident's end tip caught her in her neck. When he pulled it out, she ended up drowning on her own blood. The boy couldn't have been older than fourteen and he looked like he was going to be sick."

I hugged him and cried out every last tear. "I just wanna go home," I cried. "I wanna go home."

"I know," he said. "I know. But you have to win to do that. Which means you will have to kill at least one person."

"It's not the fact of me killing people that bothers me. It's the anxiety. The what if I get killed and my family and friends have to watch that happen, unable to stop it."

Aft didn't say anything for a while, he just let me cry. "Tomorrow will be a new day. Let's get you to sleep and don't you overdose on morphling on me. Promise me Kristen," he said sternly.

"I promise," I said sadly.

"Do you have a sister?" he asked.

"No, but I have a brother. Jimmy, he's fourteen," I answered.

"Who are your friends?"

"Tristen, well, he's not really a friend as he is the person who gives me my morphling and Jonathan. He's kinda like a big brother."

"Parents?"

"My mom. She's 38. My dad is 42, same as his girlfriend."

"Pets?"

"Two dogs. They're cute."

"Win for them. Use all of them, your brother, friends, parents, and pets as motivation to not kill yourself and to make it home," Aft said.

"Okay," I said as we walked back down to the hall and towards my bedroom. When we got in, I went into the bathroom to change into my pajamas. When I walked out, Aft helped me into bed. "How long until we are sent into the arena?" I asked.

"Six days," he replied

"Good night Aft. Thank you."

"Good night Kristen," Aft said before he shut the lights and walked out.