Alexandrite was watching Ciara with a perplexed and annoyed expression. "In a few days, you're going to be in the arena, where food will be difficult to come by. I'm telling you now that you will regret not eating."
Ciara and Conner were sitting on the train with their escort and mentor. A delicious buffet of food had been delivered by a pair of Avoxes. Conner had shamelessly begun to stuff his face the moment the dishes had touched the table. Ciara, however, sat with her arms crossed on a squishy sofa to the side of the train car.
"I will regret eating," Ciara assured with a huff, picking up her left arm and examining her nails with a bored expression. "There wouldn't happen to be any nail polish in this color on this train, would there?" she asked Alexandrite.
"Don't change the subject!" the escort snapped, her striking red hair giving her a wicked appearance. "Eat something. Anything. You'll survive longer if you do."
Scoffing, Ciara flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder. She had taken it down directly after the reaping, the brown hair tie now ringed around her wrist. "Eating this food will only disturb my figure," she said simply, glancing out the window.
The shattering of glass had Ciara whirling around, hair streaming out behind her. Her mentor, Taz, was standing over a broken drinking glass. A few trickles of blood slipped down her hand and left little dark stains on the red carpet. "You are so stupid," the woman said decidedly. She ran her unmarred hand through her jet-black pixie cut. She was a head shorter than Ciara, but that didn't stop her from storming right up to her and pointing a glass-punctured, bloody hand at her face.
"If you make it past the bloodbath, I will be shocked. If you're not dead the first night, it will only be because of a miracle."
Ciara eyed the muscular short woman with cold dark brown eyes. "And why are you so sure that I'll be one of the first to die?" she inquired angrily.
Taz snorted. "Well, let me think about that one. You've never had to lift a finger to do a thing in your entire life if you didn't want to. You've always had enough to eat, regardless of whether or not you wanted to eat it, you've had people eating themselves to help you since you could walk, and not to mention that you lack any muscular build-up and frankly seem too stupid to win the Games."
Conner and Alexandrite watched awkwardly as the female tribute and the District 1 mentor glared at each other with daggers in their eyes, each clearly attempting to kill the other without lifting a finger. Finally, it was Alexandrite who broke the silence.
"Taz? Why don't you and I take a walk down the corridor? Ciara and Conner ought to get to know each other better..."
Shooting Ciara one last Look-of-Doom, Taz turned on her heel and followed Alexandrite out into the skinny hallway that ran along the train car, which resembled a small apartment. Conner glanced at the door when it closed, a look of panic crossing over his eyes. He turned to Ciara, mouth full of cheesecake, and swallowed quickly, nearly choking on the mushy dessert.
"Well?" Ciara questioned rudely, taking a seat back down on the sofa.
The boy looked positively mortified of being spoken to. A few moments passed with Ciara's dark brown eyes glaring into Conner's lighter ones before she sighed dramatically and looked away. Conner swallowed again, out of nerves. "I'd ask you if you wanted to be my ally, but I'm afraid you might makeover me to death."
Ciara fixed her gaze back on the boy, slightly narrowing her eyes. He paled, looking back down at his plate and shoveling another forkful of cheesecake into his mouth. "That's what I thought," Ciara spat. "I'm going to see if I can meet some tributes that will make worthwhile allies. Have fun gaining twelve thousand pounds on this Capitol food."
Stepping out into the hallway, Ciara looked left and right. Each side of the car ended in a door. Assuming she would run into the District 2 team if she went right, the girl decided instead to go left and see if she could find the free-for-all car that was open to all tributes. She pushed open the door and was greeted with a meter-long hallway lined with windows on either side. It was the connector between the two cars. Shrugging, she pushed open the next door.
As she had expected, she found a room full of sofas, more food, and a few tributes from other Districts. It was quiet. Taking a chance, Ciara sat daintily down on a sofa that had a pale-skinned, black-haired girl with gray-blue eyes sitting on the other end. Neither girl said anything for a few minutes, each staring off at different tributes. Finally, the other girl turned to look at Ciara.
"Are you waiting for something?" the girl sneered. Ciara fought very hard not to walk over there and sock the chick in the face.
"I figured I'd meet someone better than my worthless District partner if I came here. Guess I was wrong."
For a moment, Ciara thought this might earn her a bruise on her face, but instead the girl smirked. "Yuki," she introduced.
"Ciara," the brown-haired girl responded. "District 1."
"District 3. You planning on being a career?"
"Only if I can find a good group. My weakling District partner is out. You in?"
"We'll see."
The two fell silent. Ciara remembered Taz's stinging words and bit her lip angrily. She was going to win. She wasn't going to be a bloodbath tribute. She had shit to prove to her family back home. Taz thought she was a prissy brat? Let her think that, Ciara challenged. We'll see who's laughing when I'm applying to take her mentor job.
Ciara stood up, figuring her conversation with Yuki was finished. She attempted to push open the two way door and met some resistance. She threw her shoulder into it, but it wouldn't budge. Suddenly she was thrown backwards, stumbling and nearly falling.
"What's your problem?" a short and stocky boy standing in the doorway shouted. "I'm trying to get in!"
"I'm trying to get out, pudgy," Ciara shot back, enjoying the look of rage in his dark brown eyes. The boy was very obviously young. Probably twelve.
The boy curled his hands into fists, breathing heavily. He pulled back an arm, taking aim. Ciara dove out of the way just as a meaty fist came flying towards her stomach. "Chill out, little piggy. I'm not here to blow your house down."
Ciara thought she heard a chuckle from behind her, but she couldn't tell over the angry boy's yell. "Make fun!" he shouted. "But I'm going to bring a victory to District 12 this year!"
"Who told you that? Your imaginary friend?"
"I'm twelve!" he protested angrily.
"Exactly."
Before either of them could make another move, the door opened again. "Cedar," a soothing voice said. A girl who looked to be a little younger than Ciara appeared, icy blue eyes stern. "Don't pick fights. You'll only get in trouble with Kyanite and Sammy."
Cedar shot the girl—probably his District partner, Ciara decided—a look. "Don't boss me around, Willow." He said her name like it was the biggest insult. Typical little boy, Ciara thought to herself with a snort. Willow merely sighed.
"I'm going back to our section. Don't make enemies of everyone on the train."
Ciara darted out the door after Willow before the twelve-year-old Cedar could take another shot at her.
Tantrum-throwing kids. Winning the Games is going to be easy.
"This food is so good," Thane said around a mouthful of freshly baked chicken. He swallowed hastily and put a forkful of sticky white rice in his mouth.
"You're acting like you don't live in one of the richest Districts," Anja pointed out, mildly disgusted. She ate a leaf of her lettuce from her salad, chewing politely and dabbing her mouth with a napkin.
Thane sighed. "You're acting like looks actually matter anymore."
"Looks always matter," Anja told him, her voice sounding like a purr. "What if I run into any hot guys? How the hell am I supposed to talk to them if I look like crap?"
Putting down his fork, Thane rolled his eyes. "Okay, number one is that you're gorgeous, Anja. Everybody knows that. Like, no matter what, I'm sure you couldn't do something unattractive and not-beautiful even if you wanted to. Number two is that I don't know if you noticed, but we're in the Hunger Games now. You need to be worrying about your survival, not your make-up. For instance, eating to build up your strength." He picked up his fork and took another bite of his meal, as if she needed an example.
"This advice is brought to you live from the barefoot man," Anja shot back, her dark blue eyes ungrateful. "All I have to do is flirt with the guy most likely to win, and bam. Problem solved. If I play it right, he'll care too much for me to kill me to win."
"You know, Anja," Thane started, losing his patience, "not all guys like it when you flirt with and seduce them. Some guys actually want to get to know a girl instead of getting a full view of her boobs in the first ten minutes."
"Says you," Anja waved off. "Besides, only tall guys get to see extra cleavage. It's not like I pull down my top for them to get free porn."
"Fifth grade."
"It was one time!"
Thane grinned at Anja, finishing off his chicken and rice. He reached for the chocolate cake and cut himself a generous slice. Anja watched him with a curled lip as he piled sliced strawberries next to the dessert, buried them in whipped cream, and coated the fluffy white mess in criss-crossing lines of hot fudge.
But before he ate, he looked up at Anja, suddenly serious. "Just be careful, okay?"
Giving him a confused look, Anja nodded slowly. "Um, okay?" she guessed. "I can't watch you eat that disaster. I'm blowing this joint."
"I hope that isn't a double entendre."
Anja stuck her tongue out at Thane, reaching for the doorknob. It opened before her hand even touched it, and Morganite appeared with a pixie-like girl in tow. The girl had shoulder-length brown hair and innocent green eyes. She looked like she could be another tribute. Thane cast Morganite a questioning look.
"Sorry for the wait, guys," the pink-haired woman said breathlessly. "Sage is terribly shy. She's your mentor."
A loud snort sounded from Anja, and Thane glared at her. The seventeen-year-old winced apologetically, shrugging. Morganite sighed, rubbing her bright silver eyes. "Just wanted to introduce you all. We'll talk strategy tonight; I want you two start meeting other tributes while you can. Sage thinks you should really focus on training rather than friend-making during the training sessions. Since it's unorthodox to visit the floors of other tributes, this is your best chance. Okay?"
Anja didn't need telling twice. She disappeared before Thane even finished his nod. The boy sighed as Morganite and Sage left again. He shoveled down his cake, not worried about manners while no one was around. When he had finished the very last strawberry he sat back in his chair, patting his stomach.
"Well, off to make friends, then."
Pushing back his chair, Thane got to his feet. He brushed a few stray crumbs off of his Reaping clothes and headed to the door. The carpet was plush and relaxing under his bare feet that were so used to sharp stones and sun-baked dirt. He relished each step across the red flooring, wondering if the hallway would have the same luxurious feel beneath his feet.
He was just closing the door behind him when a tall force slammed into him. He staggered back a few steps, catching the girl that had smashed into him. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" she was yelling. Thane helped her to her feet. She was close to his height, maybe an inch shorter than his 5'11", with long and wavy red hair. Her dark brown eyes were pleading for forgiveness. Thane chuckled.
"Don't worry about it," he told her, patting her on the shoulder. The girl smiled in relief. Thane noticed she had a splattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. He gave a bemused smile at his own train of thought.
"I'm Tessa," the girl introduced to fill the awkward silence. "From District 11."
"Thane from Two," he responded. As the shock of the collision wore off, Thane could swear he could see the friendliness leaving her eyes. Her smiled had faded, and she was watching Thane apprehensively. "Have I said something...?" the boy ventured, confused.
Tessa shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "It's just that you're from District 2, and—"
"And you're worried I might be a career?"
"Well, ye—"
"I'm not."
The two stood their in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Thane leaned against the wall of the District 2 compartment and stared out the windows on the other side. Tessa had seemed so nice. What's wrong with being from District 2? Is she always like this? I'm eighteen; how can I still not understand girls?
"Sorry," Tessa said quietly. "My mom always says I'm too quick to jump to conclusions and that I need to lighten up around new people or I'll never make any friends."
"Why would she say that?" Thane asked. "If you don't mind me asking, that is."
A smile broke across Tessa's face. "It's alright," she chortled. "I just tend to have trouble trusting people I don't know. You seem nice enough, though."
It was Thane's turn to laugh. "Thanks. You, too," he complimented. Tessa blushed at this, highlighting the freckles Thane had noticed earlier.
Well, mission accomplished, Morganite.
AN: I had trouble ending this chapter. But now we're finally getting into the fun stuff. :D Reviews are always appreciated.