We sit chatting until it's time to go down to the training room. Sue gives me some words of advice at the door of the elevator. I call thanks to her, and the doors slide closed.
I think Jesse is trying to be intimidating, but he just looks in pain. "You okay softserve?" I ask him. "You look like you've sat down on something sharp." I chuckle to myself.
He doesn't find it funny, however, and lunges at me just as the doors open. I laugh and dance out of his way. He's so slow, he's going to get caught within five minutes.
"I'd visit the track a few times before we get in there, champ."
I saunter off into the middle of the room where the rest of the tributes are stood, waiting for the trainer. I stand alone until someone slides up beside me. I look to my left to see the blonde from district 8 smiling at me.
"Hi, I'm Brittany." She smiles, and I suddenly find myself hoping she'll win.
I smile back at her, unable to help myself. Sue told me not to get attached to any of the other tributes but I feel invisible threads tying me to her already. "I'm Santana."
She opens her mouth to speak again, but the trainers enter the room, along with the head gameskeeper, who has the most ridiculous beard I've ever seen. They introduce themselves then tell us a little bit about the stations placed around the room. Sue told me to hit the stations training people in the activities I'm worst at, so I look around the room, making a mental list.
When they stop talking, I turn to Brittany, smiling. "Wanna go learn some knots?" I ask her, and she smiles, nodding.
We move around the room, learning lots of different stuff, laughing, and I realise that I shouldn't be getting attached to this girl. In a few days we'll be fighting to the death, and when it comes to it, I don't think I can be the one to kill her. Maybe she's playing me, maybe she's the one who wants to kill me, and this is all just an elaborate ploy. I don't think it is though, she has this strange innocence about her that makes me think she probably doesn't even know what an ulterior motive is.
I find out she's good at knots, and she learnt it working in the factories with her mother. She tells me lots about her life, and I find myself fascinated by the way she talks.
We're at the sword station when she looks at me for a minute. "So, we're gonna be together in the arena, yeah?" It's more of a demand than a question, and I nod dumbly. She smiles and thrashes her sword in front of her, jabbing at a dummy. Her aim isn't so good.
I pick up a few knifes, throwing them at the targets without really looking. I know I've hit bullseye on every one though. Back home in twelve, a lot of the people on the edge of the seem hunt. It's a way of keeping your family in food when money's down. My father taught me, and I'd just started teaching my little brother.
When I was younger, before my dad died, I used to see Mr Everdeen and Katniss in the forest occasionally, firing arrows. Sometimes I still see Katniss, but she's alone now, and scared. I don't disturb her though, I know how much it can put you off your game, people yelling at you and scaring away the animals. She's a good shot though. Sometimes our families will have dinner together with what we've caught. Our moms have been friends since childhood, which is why I'm grateful for Mrs Everdeen offering to take care of my family, even though she has her own to look after.
I'm lost in thought when Brittany is waving her hand in front of my face. "It's lunch time" she grins, and goes off on a tangent again, talking about how awesome the food is. We sit at a table with Matt, the other tribute from district 8. Jesse keeps his distance, sitting across the room and glaring at me, but Mercedes joins us. She's hilarious, of course. Of course everyone I have to kill would be people I like. Although I can hear the Berry girl from district 2 practically braying at something the gay kid from her district is saying to her. I dislike her already, and I don't even understand why he's here, he looks so delicate. But he's from district 2 so he's probably secretly deadly. Eventually both tributes from district 6 sit down at our table, smiling. It must be something to do with the poorer districts sitting together, but I can see Hummel watching the smiling boy from district 6. His name is Blaine, and he has a big family back home, which is weird because there aren't that many families in district 6, it has a bit of a drug problem, or so I've heard. I keep my thoughts to myself though, laughing along with the rest of the table.