Chapter Five:

I feel like I've been run right through the mill

And I can't move around and I can't stand still

The second and third training days went as well as the first, which made them all uneventful. But, the other Careers and I did a good job of intimidating the remainder of the tributes. We definitely gained the attention of the Gamemakers.

Today we would go in for individual evaluations. The Gamemakers told us to show them one skill in particular, but if I were one of them, I'd be looking for the tribute with the most talents. I have several skills to show them, thankfully.

I dress in my training clothes and arrive at the basement via elevator. After I sit next to Hunter and Parker, I notice them tapping their feet and shuffling around. They are not nervous, they just have trouble staying still. Plenty of Careers do; we're always anxious to slaughter and interpret moves.

The remainder of the tributes enter gradually. Finally, I hear a booming voice on a loudspeaker announcing, "Stingra Heart." She begins to enter the room immediately.

Good luck, I mouth to her. I wait eagerly in silence for her to finish.

The one weakness we Career tributes have is that everyone knows what you're doing in there. They see us showing off in the training center, but we can't help it, we're just that good. Once the tributes see our scores, they know exactly how good we are at what we do. Our pride becomes a major disadvantage, and we don't know what anyone else is plotting.

Down at the end of the bench I see Prim, chewing her nails. She is jittery and fusses with her ash-blonde hair. I smile. Her pain gives me pleasure.

"Hunter Topaz," the voice rumbles.

Hunter leaves my side and goes off into the secluded room. When I see his score, I'll know how well he can throw a spear… And once I know that, I'll know the chances of me killing him. Or even worse, the chances of him killing me. I don't want to think about that now. Thinking of how you'll kill a close friend isn't the best way to comfort yourself.

Hunter returns and I know I'm next. "Aqua Pyrette," I hear.

My heart is racing faster than it ever has before, possibly other than when I was excepted into the Career Training Center. Parker claps my shoulder when I get up, and all eyes are on me. Everyone wants to know how brutally I'll end up killing them.

I strut down the hallway and wait for the doors to close behind me. Even though I'm slightly afraid, there's no way it's going to show.

Once I enter the seemingly empty room, I see the Gamemakers above, watching my every move.

"Aqua Pyrette, District two," I announce. I expected to squeak or stutter, but the words flow from my mouth loudly and with confidence.

I breathe in and out slowly. I walk over to the station with dummies and various weapons, and take a trident secured in a stand with some other weapons. Stepping back about twenty feet from a dummy, I aim and throw. The trident hits the dummy right in the center of the stomach, precisely where I wanted it.

This time, I pitch towards its head. The three prongs strike the face perfectly.

I glance over at the Gamemakers for a miniscule moment, and it looks like I impress them. That would suffice for most, but I remember what Enobaria said about sponsors: You can always use more. It's the same here. I grab the trident out of the soft 'flesh' of the dummy, and stand back even farther. This time, I will aim for the neck. It is a far more difficult target. I close my eyes, breathe in, open my eyes, breathe out, and throw. The middle point lands in the exact middle of the neck. Collected murmurs indicate that the Gamemakers are pleased.

Now that I've really gotten their attention, I decide to push my luck even farther. I go and get the double-sided axe. Using the same dummy, I slice off everything I can until it is completely demolished. I do not speak to the Gamemakers and barely look at them. Then I leave.

When I get back to District Two's floor, Emberlynn and Enobaria are waiting for me. I know what they are going to ask, so I talk before they can.

"I think I did pretty well," I announce to them.

Emberlynn looks pleased. Enobaria, on the other hand, remains emotionless. "We'll see."

I return to my quarters and collapse on my bed, recalling my Hunger Games journey so far. To put it simply, I gained Panem's attention. I pummeled Chelsea at the Reaping, scared young tributes at the Training Center, and showed the Gamemakers, and soon everybody else, that I can kill in a matter of seconds.

While I'm thinking about all of this, I hear Parker outside, talking to Enobaria and Emberlynn. He's about to go into his room until I call him in.

"Parker, you wanna check out who people are betting on?"

He smiles at me and agrees, "I'm pretty sure that everyone's betting on you winning, but why not."

On the TVs in our rooms there's a channel showcasing each tribute and their odds of winning. Since they don't say anything we don't already know about them, like their age, name, and District, the other tributes are allowed to watch. And the betting odds are based on the Reapings too. When I turn it on, Stingra's on the screen. It has a picture of her, her District one's symbol, and her age, 17. Also, at the bottom are her odds: 5:1. It's pretty good for a Career Tribute. When I click the right arrow on the remote, I see Hunter, whose odds of winning were also 5:1. Then I scroll to me. My odds were higher than both Stingra and Hunter, 3:1, which were also my brother's odds. I smile smugly to Parker.

"We still need to see mine, you know."
When I go to his page, his odds are 4:1.

"Ha," I say to him.

We have fun looking through the other people's odds, and laughing at some of them. The only other high ones were Rosie's, Jack's, Chuck's, and Constance's, but none were as high as mine or Parker's. Before I know it, it's time for dinner. I eat my food quickly to make sure we didn't miss when they announced the scores. After I finished, I went to my room and got a pen and pad of paper that was supplied in one of my drawers to write down everyone's scores. This was the first time I saw Caesar Flickerman's new colors: Teal, the same color I was wearing during the Reaping. I start to wonder if it's just a coincidence, or if everyone's actually rooting for me.

Stingra was first, of course, as she is from District one. She got a nine, as did Hunter. Then I come on. I have an eleven, the highest known score other than a twelve, but nobody in Hunger Games history has ever gotten a twelve. Parker got a ten, not as good as me, but better than Hunter and Stingra. Tonya gets an eight, and Edison gets a nine. I guess they were a good pair to have in the Career alliance. Rosie gets a ten, and Jack a nine. The only others above seven were Maya with an eight, Chuck with a nine, and Constance with an eight. Prim had a seven, though I have no idea what she could've done to get that, so it was probably a pity score. I decide to go to bed early to have more time to prepare for my interview.

Training Scores:

Stingra Heart, 9

Hunter Topaz, 9

Aqua Pyrette, 11

Parker Brown, 10

Tonya Locks, 8

Edison Well, 9

Rosie Caspar, 10

Jack Zellman, 9

Victoria Willow, 4

Rayn Simon, 3

Maya Kallos, 8

Blaze Hummin, 6

Karlie Percy, 6

Chuck Woods, 9

Samantha McCollin, 7

Edward Karin, 5

Rayvenn Bright, 6

Bob Corrmin, 3

Constance Peng, 8

Asher Trett, 5

Sophia Cherrey, 4

Alex Tanner, 6

Primrose Everdeen, 7

Cyrus Juniper, 3

A storm rocks a ship on the sea

The wind shakes the leaves on a tree

And I'm a nervous wreck and I'm all shook up

'I'm Shakin'' by Jack White

Any surprising scores?

What is better in this version of the chapter?