HELLO!

I know I suck because I take 10 million years to update but that college and work life man. Anyways saw the new Hunger Games movie…it was good but I wasn't a fan of some of the changes they made too it. I personally liked the first two movies the best. If you have seen it, let me know what you guys thought!

But hope you like this chapter, nothing to major but let me know what you think and please review and all that jazz.

As Harry Styles would say,

Much love xx Brooke

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games and its characters.

CHAPTER 3

A long week had passed and I had surprisingly put on some muscle, improved a bit on my spear throwing skills and learned how to makes snares, but I still hated it all. I still did not see myself volunteering for the games or even being in the pool of possible tributes that were being considered for the games. All I needed was to get through these next two years with my dignity intact, but all I wanted was too quit the academy and begin doing something meaningful with my life. But the sad fact is that want will not be the case, and I needed to keep pushing through these next few years.

Now as much as I wanted to get through this next term of training, there was always a slight uneasiness in my stomach because the end of this term also marked other things. The academy always ended a term of training when the Hunger Games rolled around, and this year was no different from the others, but the incoming volunteers and tributes is what really unnerved me. Michael was turning 18 this year, marking the last year of training thus his last year of being a possibility for the games. Some may think that this is all a good thing, but no it is the farthest thing from good. Michael was one of the top tributes at the academy, putting him at the top of the list of possible tributes, and it was only a matter of time till the decision was made and Michael is inevitably the newest tribute for District 2. He was the last thing on this planet I truly cared about, and was the most important person in my world and to have him taken away from me and thrown into a horrific game was something I could not handle. If he goes to the games and dies I will never have my big brother ever again, but if he wins that means he has to kill and murder other innocent children which as much as he cannot admit it, he could not live with himself. I would also have to watch my brother become the killer they are programming us too be, and as recent history has proved no one ever comes back from the games the same.

As the new week begins Michael has begun to take it into his own hands to make me put in the extra effort. At 6:00 AM I hear the usual time banging on my door to get up, to which I let out a large groan.

"It's only six leave me alone" I groan, as I try to burry myself even deeper into my bed.

"Aila were leaving early get up" Michael yells through the door.

"No we are not, you can but I am going to enjoy one more hour of sleep, so if you could kindly f*ck off I would greatly appreciate it." Soon the door swings open and there is a giant mass laying on top of me, I struggle to squeeze out from underneath Michael, and curse at him before surrendering. "FINE FINE! I'll get up just get off of me"

Michael quickly hops off and gives me a broad smile while saying "Be down in 15 or I'm coming back up"

Groaning once again, I drag myself out of bed to change and finish getting ready. After slowly putting on my shoes, I proceed to slowly mope down stairs where Michael is waiting for me. I give him an icy glare before following him out the door.

Briskly walking down the road out of Victor Village, neither of us said anything to one another but it was a comfortable silence, and me just trying to wake up. Reaching the staircase to the Academy I slowly walked up the stairs, slightly lagging behind Michael until he eventually waited at the door. "I would rather pull out all of my hair one by one than be here right now" I whined. Making Michael simply chuckle and carry on to the boy's locker room without me. Slowly I made my way to the nearly empty girl's locker room. There were few girls in there so I silently threw my stuff toward my locker and walked into the gym.

As my eyes scanned the gym I found April surprisingly stretching near the corner of the gym and I walked towards her.

"I didn't know you came this early" I said with a small nod.

"Yeah I do now, my parents are forcing me too" she replied with a sigh.

"Same, accept Michael is making me come early now" I chucked quietly.

We both simultaneously sighed at the same time and continued to stretch. I stretched my legs, sliding into the splits and leaning forward in order to get a deeper stretch. As I leaned into the stretch even more I shut my eyes for a few seconds of peace. I just needed a moment to collect my thoughts before I had to start another long torturous week of training. When I begin to set my elbows and forearms on the floor I look up and begin to examine the room. Michael is in the corner on the treadmills running, his best friend Charlie on the machine next to him, silently competing with one another to see who can go the longest and the fastest. Not really surprised on that one. The trainers were near the rock climbing wall going over certain training plans for the days. Then there was Cato. For once he wasn't being followed by his little group of followers but sat alone working on a machine. I studied him for a moment watching the way his muscles contracted as he did each rep, and the focused and determined look on his face. But then I noticed it. The large bruising across his cheekbone, the changing of colors as if some of had already healed, and the bruising closer the temple area was purpler than the rest of the bruise. After a minute or two of staring I decided it was time to probably look away since I was crossing the line of normal to creepy. The rest of the gym was pretty empty, a few trainees here and there but within the next twenty minutes everyone else would begin to file in.

A few hours had passed and eventually the best time of the days, besides closing time was here. Lunch time. Most people would be surprised by how much I ate, since I'm for the most part thin, but with all the training at the academy it really keeps you in shape. So basically the only good part about the academy would be I can eat all the food I want. Plus I knew the lunch ladies and they always gave a little more food than they were supposed to.

After April and I got our food, we walked toward the tables unsure of where to sit. Take our usual spot or sit with my brother…he told me I needed to start eating with him and the other "top tributes." Whatever that means.

"Aila! Aila!" Michael yelled across the lunch room, and I stopped myself from face palming since I knew he was trying to embarrassment me. I sighed and looked at April, nodding toward to the table in which she followed me. We both grumbled as I took a spot next to the other trainees, at the end of the table. I sat between April and one of the other trainees, Cadie who was one of my favorite girls in my brothers class. She had been there for me when I first began at the academy, showed me different medicine remedies and medical skills, while being easily the next sweetest girl here besides April. In all honestly I didn't know why Cadie wanted to be a part of the academy on a mental and emotional standpoint since it always seemed like she could not hurt a fly but then you saw her skills with a bow and arrow. She was without a doubt the best female with an arrow, and would probably pose as a pretty big threat in the games. There were a few kids here that resembled Cadie and April, but most were stuck up, and cocky trainees.

Sitting down I listened in on their conversation and quickly regretted it. They were talking about the poor girl from District four that one the games a few years ago, Annie Cresta. After the games she was immediately deemed as the crazy girl and yeah there were parts of that were partially true but it was the games that turned her into the mentally unstable person she was. She had watched her district partner's head get sliced clean off, and they replayed his death on repeat for the next twenty minutes. Watching it over the television screen was bad enough, I can't even imagine what it's like to witness it in person. I would have gone crazy too.

"Her face was priceless though" one of the other trainees explained, as the rest continued to laugh at the poor girl.

"She was such a nut job after that, it was almost too funny too watch"

"That was one of the cleanest decapitations the games has ever had"

"She was lucky she even got out of those games"

"I bet it was all rigged"

"She was lucky our district never got their hands on her"

It just kept going and going and I couldn't take it anymore. How can people possibly be so cruel and heartless? This games kills children. Every tributes was someone's daughter or son, brother or sister, had friends, a life, and a future. And it was all taken away from them because of a game. I had to leave. I needed to get out of this conversation and this room for just a few minutes so I could regain my composure.

Swiftly I got up from the table, leaving my food behind and began to walk away. Michael began to get up but I gave him a warning look not to follow me and he actually listened for once. I pushed my way through the doors and walked into the giant gym area, and it was nearly empty besides one small corner. Near the far end of the gym I could see Cato just wailing at the punching bag, like he was going at this thing full force. At first I was a little surprised but then I began to walk over. I don't know what compelled me to do it but I did.

"Geez what did that poor thing ever do to you" I joked, leaning up against the mats stacked up against the wall near the punching bags.

Cato stopped and looked at me intensely, taking off his gloves he snarled "What do you want?" as if he was trying to intimidate me, but I'm nowhere close to being intimidated by him him.

"Calm down, I was just joking…why are you even out here? Shouldn't you be eating?" I questioned.

"Shouldn't you be in there?" he fired back.

"Touché" I laughed giving him a small nod while asking "That a nice bruise you got there. How did you get that one?"

"That's not really not your business" he stated as he threw his gloves on the floor.

I walked toward him, seeing all the beads of sweat dripping down his face, and his chest rising and falling due to his heavy breathing. I ignored his hostility and examined the bruise, it was still pretty swollen for the most part, and most of it was a pretty dark purple. "Did you put anything on it?" I asked.

"No" he replied, not looking with me.

"Come with me" I said grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the medic center. He gave me a questionable look but began to trail behind me. "Sit" I said, pointing toward the table, in which he actually appliqued and sat down watching me.

No one else was in there but us I went about my business without being questioned. I took some ice, placing it in a bag, and wrapping a cloth towel around it. Walking toward him he sat still, and hopped up on the bench next to him. Lightly I pressed the ice compact on his face. I lightly massaged it around the swollen area as he sat there silently. "You'll have to do this later or at least a few times a day, well if you want the bruise to heal fast"

"Why are you being nice to me?" he asked, turning his head, making eye contact.

Why was I was I being nice to him? I'm never nice to him nor do I associate with him.

I sighed taking the compress off his cheek, and looked at him. I laughed a bit before joking "You see I'm the opposite of others girls, I'm really nice to others when I PMS rather than being a raging bitch"

Cato chucked a little and so did I. "Well that all makes se-"he began before I cut him off "Hey just cause I can make fun of myself, doesn't mean you can make fun of me" I laughed "But honestly I don't know why I'm being nice…but I mean it looked like you were having a pretty crappy day so yeah…" he gave me questionable look. "What!" I hop off the bench "Is it that hard to believe I'm actually trying to be nice...You know what? Don't answer that."

Cato chucked lightly, and hopped off the bench. He looked down at me with a smirk and spoke "Thank you Aila, but don't lose that bitchness, makes things more interesting." He then left the medic center and walked out onto the training floor.

The one time I try to be nice.

Charlie, Michael and I walked back from training toward Victor Village with one another. We laughed about stupid stuff that happened today, and soon reached our empty house. The lights were off indicating that my parents were gone, and we had the house to ourselves. I smiled slightly, which might be terrible but honestly Michael and I would be better off without them.

Once we all reached the kitchen I through my bag down in the hallway and slid onto the counter. "So what are you making us Michael?" I asked, letting a laugh escape my mouth.

"I think the question is what are you making us, I believe it is your turn little sister" Michael replied raising his eyebrow.

"Wrong big brother" I grinned "I made dinner for us a few weeks ago when it was your turn because you pulled a muscle, so I believe the cooking is your job tonight"

Michael frowned and began "What, that doesn't count I was- hey Charlie you never cook for us, I think it's about time you start pulling some wait around here."

We both laughed and quickly turned to Charlie "Hey, I am a guest, guest never have to cook for themselves"

"Well you've been a guest a little too much" Michael laughed causing me to let out a giggle, and Charlie too scowl at him.

A few hours passed, Michael reluctantly cooked dinner for Charlie and I and we all cleaned up the dishes. The kitchen was cleaned and Charlie had gone home, tired from a long day of training so Michael and I headed toward our rooms. As we reached the top of the staircase Michael stopped me before I could go toward my room. "So do you mind telling me why you stormed out to the cafeteria today…clearly something was wrong, because I know my little sister and she never leaves food unless something is really wrong."

"Michael. Is it really that hard to see?" I questioned.

"