The next step of the Hunger Games is training. Finally.

This is the most important part of the whole event. Now is when you can first freely communicate with your fellow tributes and also when you learn the skills you need to survive. And if you neglect the survival stations, it may mean bad news. And if you talk to wrong people, of course, that could also be bad news. In fact, I think the Games are bad news.

But, starting today, I'm going to take Trevor's advice. After all, if the Capitol likes an angry volunteer, but they're going to like an excited volunteer even more.

The training speech is given, and I realize that it's eerily similar to the one they used to tell us at the Academy. But I look excited and interested the whole time. I never considered myself a real actor, except when Cassia and Valentina glared down at us and Elijah and I played innocent. I sure hope this is convincing enough for them.

Anyways, after the Capitolite finishes, Platinum comes forward and greets all of us once again. When I look down the line of tributes, a lot of them still look in-awe. Some, like the Archer boy from 12, look disgusted. Well, one thing we can agree on, right?

Oh wait, no we can't. I should be defending the Victor, shouldn't I? I can see through what the Capitol's done to him, even if I am the only one. In that moment, I could see the tears he cried. I could see the sleepless nights he's endured. I could see the darkness he's been standing in. And, though I hated it to no end, I'm glad it happened. Knowing that now, that could be me someday very soon, I have to respect him.

Besides, wouldn't an excited volunteer idolize someone like him?

I feel like he holds eye-contact with me longer than everyone else, but maybe it's just me in thought.

"In my Games… It all came down to a sword fight. And had I not trained with swords, well, the results would've been a lot bloodier for District 1."

Cutter's smile looks really and truly forced.

I don't think that's true. I think that, in the end, District 4 wouldn't have had the balls to do it. Especially because he was all gaga over Cupcake's District partner. But I don't say anything. If anything, I have to be extremely agreeable to him, and act like I'm stupid enough to believe that this is true.

I look back down the line and see Cutter physically trying not to frown and clenching his fists tightly.

If anything, I swear that Cupcake avoids Cutter's eyes at all times. Maybe it's just me, though.

By the end of his speech, Cutter is scowling at Cupcake. (Oh no… I sure hope this Cupcake thing doesn't become a habit.)

When we go to training, the blonde boy takes a couple breaths and the smile gradually comes back on his face.

"I thought it was interesting, too," Priscilla's little voice startles me and I jump. She giggles and I roll my eyes, not smiling like I used to but not scowling like I want to.

"What was interesting?" I ask, tearing my eyes away from them.

"Cutter. You can't bring up last year without him getting all weird."

"Well-" I'm about to bring the whole Cupcake thing up to Priscilla, but decide not to. "Weird. Any idea why?"

"He seems to be one of those people who really didn't like Platinum. Like us."

"Weird."

"No kidding."

Azure and Cutter approach us again, and the blonde boy looks more like the boy I met the other day.

"Hi Priscilla!" Azure says affectionately, "And hi volunteer!"

"Hey you two," Cutter says with a smile.

"Interesting speech made by Cupcake, eh?" I ask, looking mostly for a reaction.

All three just stare at me dumbly. "God, Nate," Priscilla speaks up suddenly, "You have feelings for that guy!? Have you-"

"Priscilla, you know I'm not gay."

"You sure about that? You just called him Cupcake."

"I, uh…" I have no idea what I'm saying. "I meant the girl. The first one to speak. Duh. I was being sarcastic, for all of you who didn't live or train at an Academy, because they give us that speech every time."

And, all of them are dim enough that they all three believe it. Priscilla even giggles a little bit.

Melanie appears just then, dragging her District partner behind her. "This is Flounder, guys."

Her green eyes find their way to me. "Hi there. I'm Melanie."

"Nate," I say quietly. I put out my hand and she shakes it.

"Well, I suggest we all get to training, then!" Cutter says, "Who wants what?"

"I get swords," I say. "No whats, no buts, no coconuts."

Priscilla giggles at this, too.

"Can I try the knives, please?" she asks sweetly.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Cutter says, "Sure."

"I wanna look at that bow!" Azure squeals, and she leaves the others to go there.

"I'll take it," Cutter says, "She's a little bit of an idiot."

Melanie shrugs, "I'll focus mostly on survival."

"But you have to have a weapon," I tell her, "So what is it?"

She shrugs, "Miscellaneous. I'll take a look at tridents, scythes, and maces."

This is fine with me. I walk away from them and need to clear my head. I work with the trainer there on swords, but everyone is amazed by my skill already. I guess a lot of the outlying Districts didn't know that 2 got an Academy.

I dominate the sword station before I go onto learning survival skills, smugly passing the Archer boy with a smirk.

He sneers at me but doesn't start a fight about it. Either way, it would've been broken up.

I sit at the survival station and I look over to see Priscilla toss a knife. It falls at the dummy's base with a loud clatter and doesn't even touch it. She just giggles.

What the hell is she doing?

Whatever. It doesn't concern me. But I notice that the Gamemakers on the platform up above us are laughing. I sit down at the fire-building station and the trainer there tells me what to do. Then she walks off to accommodate to the others. I struggle with the fire for a little and look over to where the little girl with chestnut hair from District 7 looks up. I look up and meet her dark, purplish eyes and she stares back down at her fire-building.

I get a spark before she does and soon my fire is the first one burning. Boeh looks over to where I smugly warm my hands over the flames and scowls at me. I break eye-contact as one of the trainers walks over and extinguishes the fire. "Good job," she says with a slight smile.

"Thanks," I say, still feeling slightly smug. I leave there and go to the edible berries test. The boy from 11 is next to me and his fingers fly across the buttons. I think he's been here ever since Cupcake released us to start training. I watch him identify the berries with a precision that I have to respect.

He looks me up and his lime green eyes look back to the buttons and a blush crawls across his cheeks.

"You're really good at that," I tell him, in a moment of older-brother instinct.

He blinks up at me. "I am?! Well, uh, I've been working at it since we got here. But, uh…" he smiles, "Thanks Nate!"

I blink, "You know who I am?"

"You are the volunteer," he remarks with a slight smile.

"I know, but…"

"No buts. You're famous now."

I laugh slightly. "Sorry, I'm bad with names. Yours starts with… B?"

He laughs, "No! My name's Christopher. Back home everyone calls me Bean, so I guess you were a little close, as a consolation."

"Bean? Why do they call you that?"

"I'm the youngest in a large household," he explains, "I have three brothers and two sisters. People have trouble keeping track of all of us sometimes, and over time I just gained the nickname."

I never should've talked to this kid, dammit, because now I'm going to have moral problems in the Arena! Shit.

"I only have one," I say.

"She must be proud," he mutters, going back to the test in front of him.

"She's n-" I'm about to tell him about everything that really happened, but then I remember that I do have a character to play. "Yeah. She is."

He aces the berry test once again before saying, "Good luck with this. And good luck in the Arena."

I stammer out, "Y-You too," as Bean walks away.

God, not this, too. I need to stop catching on to nicknames.

I stare at the screen with berries on it and think, Well, this shouldn't be too hard. If a 13-year-old can do it, why can't I?

Some berry comes on the screen. Hm. Well, uh, this is easy… it's purple, and you can eat grapes, right? And grapes are purple. I press the button and the screen flashes red at me.

Oops. Rookie mistake. I'll get it next time.

Some green berries come up on screen now. They're round and stout and another picture pops up revealing that the insides are a bright orange color. Those look really good. I hit a button and it appears suddenly that I'm wrong again.

This is going to take some work.

I sift through berries until my eyes hurt and I have to do something else before I go insane. That time around, I had only missed five, and it wouldn't have been lethal.

"Having fun?" a voice behind me asks. I turn around and see Bean back there, and Priscilla's holding his hand.

"Christopher was going to show me his edible berries skills so that maybe he could join our alliance!" Priscilla says cheerily.

"A little boy from 11?" I ask, "Don't you think he'd feel out of place?"

"I'm one year older than her," he points out.

"I don't think Cutter and Azure are going to be so fond of that, sis," I tell Priscilla, hiding the fact that I'm not fond of it, "But maybe he could teach us that and we could show him something in return."

"You don't have to talk to me like I'm a baby, Nate," she says, "I'm not. Not anymore."

I turn around and walk away as opposed to making another comment. I don't like the thought of Bean in our alliance at all. I meet up with Cutter again at the archery station.

"Hi Nate," he says with a slight smile, "How's it going?"

"Priscilla is convinced that 11 boy's going to join our alliance."

Cutter looks over to where the two are working on an edible berries test together.

"That's just like 12-year-olds," he says, finally, "Making friends. But that's dangerous, don't you know?"

"Oh, trust me, I do," I say. I'm about to bring up Elijah but I catch the eye of one of the women on the top platform, watching us. I have to be doing something, so I take a bow and aim it like Trevor showed me at the Academy.

"It sucks," Cutter says, letting an arrow fly. It hits the dummy's head and he makes a face between a cringe and a smile. He turns back to me again and continues, "It sucks to love someone and then lose them." He sends a particularly cold glare over to where Platinum is standing, and I'm about to ask what happened but I suddenly let the arrow go and remember that I have a character to play. It hits the dummy's chest. Cutter blinks and looks over at me, amazed. "Nice shot," he says quietly.

"Thanks," I mutter. Then both of us stop talking.

A couple days of training later and it's time for the private training sessions. This is the part that scares me the most. What if I get outscored by Priscilla!? What if I get outscored by Cutter!?

I can't worry about that. I have to give it my best, and my skills will score for themselves.

They call, "Cutter Atchison. District 1."

He stands up, gives all of us a nod and walks out to the training center. I sit with Priscilla and Bean sits on her other side. Christopher, sorry.

A little later, they call, "Azure Bakwin. District 1."

She smiles and waves to all of us before skipping out there. I'm next. I'm next. I'm next.

I keep thinking that and the butterflies make their way to my stomach. I bury my head in my knees and wait. I snapped out of my trans to the voice saying, "Nate McIalwain. District 2."

That's me. I stand up, take a deep breath, and walk through the doors to the Training Center, all by myself. I step into the room and the Gamemakers are all staring at me. I look up, feeling uncomfortable. "Nate McIalwain," I say quietly, for reference, "District 2."

I pick up a bow slowly, ad take a second to aim. I let the arrow fly and it flings out of the bow and makes a loud PLUNK! as it hits the dummy right in the chest. I roll around my shoulder and aim the bow again at the dummy. This time I let the arrow fly and it hits the dummy right through the neck. I smile and then put the bow away and run to the sword.

This is it. I take the briefest pause before unleashing my wrath on that dummy with a loud scream, slashing off the dummy's arms, then its base, then its head, just like Trevor showed me. I focus on looking exactly how Trevor looked at the Academy, and Brandt. The floor is covered with a pool of fake dummy blood. I throw a sword at the last dummy and it hits the chest cleanly. With that I turn around and walk out of the room. When I look up at the Gamemakers, they all look impressed.

I sure hope that conveys to the training scores.

That night, I shower as soon as dinner is over and come back out to join Esperanza and Priscilla in the main room.

"Hi volunteer," she says quietly.

"Hi," I whisper. I sit down next to her and whisper, "How'd yours go?"

She shakes her head quietly, "I'm sorry… I choked…"

"Oh, my dear…" Esperanza says sadly.

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

"What happened!?" Our escort asks.

"I flinched. The knife missed the first time. Completely. It hit the second time, in the stomach. The third time I finally got it right but I was shaking so badly they were barely paying attention. She sniffles, burying her head in her knees, and I don't exactly mention that I nailed my private training.

"Let's not talk about it," Priscilla says. Suddenly the Capitol seal flashes on the screen and Octavian's voice rings out, "Good evening, Panem! And what a night it's going to be! Today, we have our tributes with their training scores!"

I think back, as much as it hurts.

Priscilla and Brandt stand next to me as we stand in the town square, waiting to see how Elijah did in training. Brandt may or may not've been waiting to see Paulina, his evil sister. Sometimes I think he truly liked her, but sometimes I think that he never liked her. Platinum's face flashes on the television. "Platinum Krietzer, District 1. With a score of… 8. Champagne Walker, District 1. Score of… 7. Elijah Crowly, District 2…" The pause seems to take forever. "With a score of…" Priscilla's eyes look desperate, and that's exactly how I feel.

"6."

Six… Not too bad… It's halfway there… That One girl only outscored him by one. The One boy just by 2.

"Paulina Manson, District 2. With a score of… 8."

The District's faces all light up, even if it's just a little. "You go Paulina!" Somebody in the crowd shouts, and it's met by some whooping. Brandt doesn't get involved in any of it. District 3 passes and the crowd's quiet by District 4. "Drake Fellington… District 4… With a score of… 10."

Priscilla whimpers and buries her face in my stomach.

That's when I realized how slim Elijah's chances really were. And that's when I started to hate the Hunger Games.

Octavian's voice once again pulls me out of my daydream and into reality, "Cutter Atchison. District One. Score of… 7. Azure Bakwin, District 1. Score of… 6."

There's a pause as he switches papers. My heart beats hard in my chest, and Priscilla looks terrified.

"Nate McIalwain." The words seem to echo. "Score of… 10."

Esperanza squeals and claps, "Oh, Nate, that's WONDERFUL!"

"Priscilla Westfall. Score of… 7."

Her eyes go wide and fill with tears.

"Seven? That's good!" I don't mention that it's one better than Elijah did. She still has hope.

"You did great, volunteer," Priscilla hiccups.

"You did good, too." I whisper. A smile spreads across her face and she hugs me briefly, wiping her eyes with my shirt. This just proves that both of us have hope. Hope that either me or her is coming home alive. And right now, the numbers are saying it'll be me.

I watch the rest of the Training Scores. Melanie scores a 7, and the scary boy from 7 gets an 8. His District partner doesn't score nearly as well, getting a 3. Bean (Christopher. Chris-to-pher.) gets a 4. Archer from 12 gets a 7. Then the seal flashes again and the TV blacks out.

"Alright, alright, we had our fun! Off to bed now, my darlings! Interview training starts bright and early tomorrow morning-"

Suddenly our nagging escort is interrupted by the strong, dark-haired, silver-banged boy walking in the room. "Uh, hi there. I just stopped by to talk to the tributes about their training scores."

"Oh, yes yes! Please do!" Esperanza says eagerly. Platinum awkwardly clears his throat and adds, "Uh, alone."

"Right away, of course!" She takes Priscilla by the hand and guides her out of the room, "She'll be waiting in her bedroom!"

Platinum ignores this and pulls up the stool from one of the plushy chairs across the room. He sits across from where I sit on the couch.

"A 10," he says.

"A 10," I repeat.

He smiles and pats my head. "Good little job there, Cupcake."

I growl, "Do not call me Cupcake. And do not pat my head like that."

"But you call me Cupcake. I heard you," he says, "So that wouldn't be very fair, now would it?"

I sigh. "Fine. But still, don't pat my head!"

"You're not doing anything to make me cut it out. In fact, your threats are cute."

"I could've killed you on the train," I remind him.

"Ah," he starts thoughtfully. After a pause, he then does some very proper-sounding laughter, "Ahahahaha! No."

"What the hell is the matter with you?"

He leans back and puts his feet up on my legs. "Nothing's the matter. In fact, if I were you… Volunteer," he flicks a finger under my chin, "I would be taking some notes." He smiles charmingly at me.

I hold back laughter, "If you're drunk and trying to seduce me, I will never let you forget this day."

He suddenly bursts out into loud laughter. He puts his feet back on the floor and howls with laughter so hard he has to bend over. "OH MY GOD!" he laughs. Oh well, at least he seems more like himself. "You think… Oh, God… If that's how I look on TV… I might just DIE!" He finally recovers from his laughing fit but the smile doesn't leave his face.

"I really needed that, kid," he says with a grin.

"I don't get it."

Platinum laughs again. Then he says, "God, you think I would try to seduce you!? Oh my God! You're fourteen, first of all. And your hair is not nearly as soft as I'm looking for. Or dark." He puts a hand on my head and strokes my hair, "And your eyes aren't nearly as pretty." I roll my eyes. "The point is," he continues, "I would neeeeeveeerrr, not in a million years, want to fuck you!"

"Then what the hell are you doing?" I ask, very confused.

"It's called…" he makes dramatic hand motions, "Acting."

"And why are you-" I sarcastically mimic him, "Acting?"

He laughs, "You think I want to act this dumb all the time? Let me tell you something, kid."

He leans over and puts his face by my ear. When he whispers, I can feel his warm, moist breath against my neck. "This is all just a good show," he whispers. "And you either know how to act, or you don't."

"Well I clearly don't!"

"I know, I know. Keep your pants on, kid. That's what tomorrow is for."

He removes his face from my ear and puts his forehead on mine teasingly. "That's what tomorrow is for, kiddo. You're gonna learn all that shit. Just remember to pay attention to what makes your escort smile." He makes a clicking sound with his tongue and sits back up, much to my relief, smiling at me crookedly. "You can make 'em laugh. Make 'em cry. Make 'em… Swoooooon… You just have to know how."

"Thanks," I say, still a little weirded out.

"I'll be around tomorrow to help you some more. But consider this lesson here a head start for ya. And you're welcome."

"But… Why?"

He smiles and stands up. "Come on, kid. You have to get to beddy-by now."

I clench my teeth. "Why?"

Platinum smiles and gives me a hug. He whispers, in his normal, genuine voice, "Because, Nate. I've chosen you."

He says nothing more before he sends me off to bed.