A/N: Oh look, she finally updated. Don't worry, I still love this story! But things are going to change a little bit during this chapter.

This is FAN fiction. One should assume, therefore, that I don't own the Hunger Games.

I woke up to the sound of screaming. Not a pleasant thing to hear in the morning, mind you, but that's life for you. Like I always say: it sucks.

Slowly, as I became coherent, I realized that the screaming was Besia's. All that it was doing was giving me yet another reason to despise her. I got up to see what was going on. I followed the sound to the dining hall.

As I pushed open the large doors, five sets of eyes set themselves on me. Two mentors, one tribute, and two Avoxes. Of course, the Avoxes immediately averted their gazes back to the trays they were holding.

What I didn't find was the source of the screaming, which had, for the moment, subsided. Despite the eyes that followed me, I walked into the kitchen.

The kitchen wasn't as grand as I had been expecting. The whole train was extravagant and beautiful, but the kitchen was actually quite small and contained. The Avox workers were stumbling about, trying to get around the things in their way without dropping whatever they were holding. You know that expression, 'there are too many cooks in the kitchen'? Well, it sums up the scene in front of me pretty well.

I pushed through the crowd, ignoring all of the strange looks I was receiving for being there. As I reached the back of the room, I found Besia sitting in a corner, furious. Her hair was flopping all over the place, and her hands were shaking. She didn't notice my standing there, or if she did, she didn't say anything. All Besia did was stand up, walk over to the nearest Avox, and slap him. Or, I thought it was an Avox.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, while he turned to face Besia. His eyebrows crunched in, and those blue eyes turned from alluring to menacing. I held back a gasp as I looked at a very angry Trey. "What was that for?" he continued.

"How dare you question the actions of a mentor? I am from the Capitol, puny District boy, and my power alone can crush you and your family!" Besia retorted, her face turning a peculiar shade of magenta. It made her look even weirder, which I hadn't thought possible.

Trey's expression softened, and then he developed a sudden interest in the kitchen floor. "I don't have a family," he muttered.

Besia turned her nose up. "Well, that isn't my problem. The more important issue is that the kitchen has run out of hot chocolate. See to this problem immediately!" She turned for the door. All of the Avoxes made a pathway for her to walk through, and she stalked out the door.

Suddenly, Trey seemed to notice that I was standing there. "Oh. Uh, hi Seyrin. I guess you can see that my job sucks." He blushed and turned away.

Have you ever been having such a bad day that one little thing that someone says can drive you crazy? I had gotten out of bed not ten minutes ago, and already Trey had thrown a burning match on the gasoline that was my day.

The match cause a spark, which exploded into a blazing fire inside of me. How dare he talk about the situation as if he was getting the worse end of the deal? For the first time, I realized what I had gotten myself into. I was going to cease to exist! He could at least be sympathetic! And he was complaining about getting yelled at? I decided to yell at him too. "Not as bad as my job, you blubbering idiot!"

If I'd taken the time to look at his expression, I'm sure it would have been hurt, but I didn't want to be near him. I stomped out the same way that Besia had left just moments before. As I entered the dining room, I hear some loud metal clanging coming from the kitchen. I guessed that Trey had lost his temper and was now throwing things around. Well, he isn't the only one who could do that. I picked up my ceramic plate and threw it at the door to the kitchen. It was quickly followed by everything else set at my place at the table. I turned and fled, ignoring Peten's angry expression, along with Greyson and Chelah's worried ones. I was making a beeline for my sleeping chambers to go and hide in my bathroom.

I sat in the shower and punched the wall until my fists bled.

I don't know how long I sat on the bathroom floor after that, just hugging my knees and rocking back and forth.

But after a while, Greyson came into my room, holding a plate (I noted that this one was plastic) of eggs. I ate them hungrily while he sat on the bed and watched. Finally, he spoke up. "You know Seyrin, you have a good throwing arm." He laughed to himself, and then turned to leave. Before he looked back at me and said, "We're almost to the Capitol. Don't you want to see it? Besia's been gloating about it. Well, only when she wasn't muttering about hot chocolate or how you're breaking the rules." He smiled, and left me alone again.

Maybe I would have gone to look out the window, but I decided that my time was better spent sleeping. So I had a nice nap instead.

For the second time that day, I jolted awake to the sound of Besia's screams. This time, she was in my room, yelling at me to get up because we had arrived in the Capitol. Whoop-dee-do. She reminded me that today it was the stylist's job to make us look camera ready. I could hardly wait to see what horrible outfit I would have to wear to parade around the Capitol.

I stepped off the train. The first thing I felt was the sunshine on my face, so I closed my eyes to savour the moment. Then I remembered that I was supposed to be excited to see the Capitol, so I opened them to survey the scene around me.

When they describe the Capitol to you in school, never believe them. It isn't all that great. It's just a bunch of tall, shiny buildings. And it's loud, and the air smells terrible. Believe me, District 10 gives off some strange odours from the animals, and it smelled better there than it does here. But maybe I just hate it everywhere, because Greyson's eyes were huge as he took it all in. For someone who was eighteen years old, he sure didn't look it, especially at that moment.

Some Peacekeepers came and escorted us to the Training Centre. We'd be staying on floor 10. District ten, floor ten. I could remember that.

The room that was assigned to me looked just like the one on the train, except the window was bigger and the bathroom was nicer. And if it was possible, the bed seemed even fluffier. I quickly undressed and walked into the bathroom, intending to take a shower so that I could push every single one of the dozens of buttons on it. Instead I found three animals sitting on the counter.

Okay, so they weren't animals. But they could've passed for them. They all had huge eyes, and pigmented skin. There were two women and a man. The man looked like a panda, because he was pure white with big black spots. He had green hair, which looked like grass coming out of his head. One of the two women was all orange with black stripes, and her face was all pinched towards her nose. She looked like a sad tiger. The last of the three was the most normal, because she was only slightly tinted pink. But her nose was large and round.

How ironic that my prep team would be dressed as a panda, a tiger and a pig, since District 10 is for raising animals. Ha, ha. Fate sure has a sense of humour. It's part of what makes life bearable.

Anyway, all three of them screeched and ran to hug me. I gave them death glares and they backed away. "So you're my prep team, huh?" I said, meaning for it to be a rhetorical question. But they all nodded.

The man stepped forward. "Shall we make you pretty?" he asked. I didn't think it was possible, but his accent was worse than Besia's. Without waiting for me to answer, they handed me a bathrobe and made me sit.

So the next few hours were basically a living hell. First they ripped all of the hair off my body, along with a few layers of skin. They shaved all my calluses – which I'd worked hard to get, mind you – and clipped my nails. Basically, every part of my body that could be seen as unnecessary was ripped off, except for my eyelashes and eyebrows. My skin burned. I felt like I'd been dipped in hot oil.

After my nails and face had been painted girly colours (yuck), my stylist walked in. He was middle aged with a long, black beard, but no moustache. If he wasn't blue from head to toe, he would look normal. "Hello," he said, with an accent that wasn't quite Capitol, but it was still bizarre.

"Um, hi," I responded.

"So you must be wondering what you shall wear?"

"Um, yes." I responded, shaking a little bit. He was really tall.

"For goodness sake, stop saying 'um'. We'll need to work on that for your interview." He shook his head. "Anyway, here is your outfit."

He opened a garment bag, and I rolled my eyes. Seriously? A cowgirl? You've got to be kidding me.

After enduring the torture of putting the blasted thing on, I looked in the mirror.

Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say it looked good on me, but it actually looked okay. It made me look thin, and the red plaid made my blue eyes shine. I guess that the makeup probably helped make them shine, too. All in all, I don't look terrible. But the hat doesn't fit on my head very comfortably.

My prep team all take turns kissing my hands, and then Besia comes to collect me for the ceremonies. I don't even remember eating lunch.

When we entered the elevator, Besia and I found that we weren't alone. The pair from District 11 were with us. The little girl smiled at me and held my hand. To be honest, I was a little surprised. But she seemed so sweet, so I ended up brushing my free hand through her hair. I might mention that this was no easy task, because she had leaves braided delicately into her hair. I always wanted a little sister.

Of course, we both immediately stopped once the elevator doors reopened. We all walked into the room to go and sit in our chariots. The horses for District 10 were a red-brown colour, and the muscles on their legs were huge. I felt at ease, knowing that they would be able to support us, so I began stroking their necks.

After a few minutes, Greyson limped over to join me. He didn't look very happy. Although, if the situation were reversed, I would be unhappy too. He was dressed like a giant cow. I tried to contain my laughter.

He turned and glared at me. "Do you think that this is funny?"

I nod and smile. "Yes, actually. It's like I own you, since I'm a cowgirl."

"Well, Seyrin," he spat, "it isn't. You'd think that if I was trying to save you, you could be a little more sympathetic."

I did a double-take. "Save me? Why?"

He sighed. "Seyrin, our parents were friends. Close friends, actually. When I was six years old, my family went to visit yours. I sat on my father's lap while they talked. It was getting late, so you were fast asleep in your mom's arms."

"Hey," I interrupted, "I would have been two. Cut me some slack."

He ignored that I'd said anything, and continued, "Our parents were talking about how I'd started school the year before. Your dad was worried about your first day of school, so he asked me to make sure that you stayed safe. At that age, I'd wanted to be a bodyguard, so I nodded my head and promised that I would help you forever."

"Okay," I said, drawing the syllables out. "But that was twelve years ago."

"I know," he responded, trying to be patient. "A couple weeks later was when the animals got loose, and your parents lost their memory. I was permanently crippled. So it's like a reminder to me, of that night." He smiled at me.

Before I could respond, there was a voice over the loudspeaker telling us to get in our chariots. Then the music began.

It wasn't until that moment when I had officially decided that I wanted to go home. It had been a subconscious kind of feeling, but in that moment, I thought about how much nicer this all seemed on TV. When we would watch it in the community home, I would be squished onto a couch with another ten kids. All of my friends would be by my side, and we would all yell out our opinions on the costumes. But here, sitting in the chariot, I'm not allowed to say anything at all. And that made me sad.

As we rode around the City Circle, I pretended to be happy. Greyson and I looked opposite ways, not even acknowledging each other. It was sad, really. I bet he was getting a lot of attention, being dressed as a cow and all.

I didn't even pay attention to anything else going on around me.

When the ceremony was over, we rode back into the stables. Chelah greeted me with a smile, and Peten with a scowl. But no one spoke.

I couldn't help but notice how everyone was whispering. Apparently, some tributes were set on fire. On purpose. But I didn't think it was all that great. I mean, that was my best prank back in District 10, and everyone hated me for it. So why is it so spectacular now?

I hobbled to the elevator with Greyson and the mentors. The three of them were happily chatting away about the other tributes, but I stared at the floor. My costume was getting itchy.

The elevator finally reached our floor. We all hopped off as quickly as possible. But instead of going to eat with the other three and our stylists, I walked off to my room.

After changing out of the horribly itchy costume into some silk pyjamas, I ordered some random food to eat. There was no point of taking the makeup off. I kind of wanted to stain the white pillows.

I decided that I liked the room in the Training Centre far better than the one on the train. I could look out the window at the city lights below, and it made me feel like I was a small piece of something much bigger. It gave my brain some space to think, now that I wasn't the centre of the universe.

So Greyson didn't like me. In fact, he was almost like an older brother. It made how I feel about Trey much simpler. I decided that if I was going to die in a week, I wanted to it while thinking about his eyes. They really did resemble the ocean…

And they were right in front of me. "How's it going, Seyrin?"

I groaned. "Why are you here, Trey? It's like you're following me."

He feigned surprise. "But Seyrin, I am following you."

I raised my eyebrows, but said nothing as he came to sit next to me. He continued, "I've been thinking. And I talked to your parents. So I came to talk to you."

He paused, as if he were deciding how to put his thoughts into words. "It wasn't an accident you know," he said suddenly, and so quickly that I had to strain to hear what he had said. "You parents. They were leading a revolution. A little undercover group. You parents, and mine, and maybe a few others."

Trey looked at me, and his eyes bore into mine. "The – the stampede? What are you saying?" I cocked my head to the side, but was unable to stop looking into his eyes.

He nodded. "Yes. The Peacekeepers let the animals out. And then shot your parents."

Blinking rapidly, I forced myself to look away. My parents could have died. And it would have been the Capitol's fault.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I decided to try again. "I – I'm going to show them. I won't kill anyone. Because if I do, I'm no better than them."

"But Seyrin, that means dying." I looked back up at him to see his sad expression.

For the second time, I couldn't look away from his azure eyes. My voice came in a raspy whisper. "I know."