AN: I wish I owned the Hunger Games. :(

THANKS FOR READING. PLEASE ENJOY.

Chapter 2
Someone screamed. I looked at Clairidy as the peacemakers escorted me away. She struggled and then burst through the crowd. Her mouth nearly formed the words when Sam, William's best friend and my good friend scooped her up. She cried and started to thrash and scream. "I vol-" Sam clapped his hand over her mouth.
I nodded to him, and he nods back. Clairidy is grabbed by mom, who silently leads her back to the group of 12 year olds.
"Well, then and our wild card tributes are..."
I held my breath.
"Sam Smith and Sadie Coohen!"
Crap.

Then we're dragged away and put in separate rooms to talk to our family. Or friends.
My mother and sister come in. I grab Clairidy and crush her in a tight hug.
"Macy, please don't leave. You have to win." I bend down and look at her. "I will. I promise Clair, for the both of us. Don't take anymore food from them. Go to the market with Alex."
She nods.
Then I look my mother in the eye.
"Make sure you get enough to eat, and when Clair's gone with Alex stay with William's mom."
She nods too. Then I hug her.
When they leave, someone else bursts in.
Alex, William's younger brother.
"Alex-"
"I just want to let you know, I'll take care of Clair. Don't worry. She's my best friend, and my mom will watch your mom. I know Clair can't hunt but I will do my absolute-"
I grab him while he's still talking and hug him.
"Thank you. You really are William's brother."
"No problem." And then he left.
And then one last person came in.
"Cy." William whispered.
And we didn't talk, we just hugged for a really long time.
"Why'd you come see me?" I whispered into his ear really quietly. "You know we're going to see each other a lot."
"I know I was just... Worried." He looks at me. "How's your family dealing with it?"
"Oh, your brother is awesome." I answered back.
"TIME TO GO!" The peacemaker yells.
I sigh, as the peacemaker pushes William and I onto the train.
We hold hands the hands the whole way in case they try to split us up.
We sit, on the train, and the lady from before comes up to us.
I sit beside William and lean my head on his shoulder. It's comforting.
"Aww," She says, sitting in front of us. "You too are so cute together."
I look at her oddly and sit up quickly, shuffling away from William.
"We're not together." I mutter, pushing a strand of my hair up.
"Oh." She replies flatly. "But it was a compliment. Now follow me."
We get up, and she leads us to a room filled with food.
"This is the dining car. You know what we do here. The girls room is down the hall on the right, boys, left."
She looks at us.
"Well, what're you waiting for? Eat!"
We sit down, and eye the food. Sam's stomach growls. He grabs a chicken leg, and bites into it. He swallows.
"It's good!" Sam cries to us. "Try it."
We start eating slowly. A man comes out of a room, and sits down at the table, and starts fingering his empty cup.
"Are these what I have to work with?" He asks the woman.
"Yes, Kyles, they are." She answers.
I still don't know her name.
"Finallin, they are horrible. Scrawny. How do you expect them to win?"
"Kyles..." She starts, but he pours a cup of tea, into his glass cup, and then fills the rest up with various alcohols. He sits down, and looks at us.
"I'm Kyles. Call me your mentor. I won the games because I was better than anyone else."
I can smell the alcohol on his breath as he talks to us.
"Introduce yourselves."
We sit silently, and William swallows.
"What? Are you deaf?" Kyles asks us, rudely.
"Excuse me, but that was rude!" Sadie pipes.
"Ahh... Feisty. Good for getting a sponsor." Kyles smiles. "Your name, young lady?"
"Sadie." She mutters.
"Sadie," He repeats. "Lovely. Just rolls on the tongue."
"You." He points to William. "And your girlfriend." He points to me.
"I'm not his-" I start, but Kyles cuts me off.
"I've seen you two together!" He yells. "Don't tell me what to think!"
I stay silent.
"William." William says. "And she's Macy."
"See, that's the type of behaviour that earns you a sponsor. You wouldn't last if you didn't have a sponsor." He said specifically at me.
I opened my mouth to say something, but then I shut it again.
"Good." Kyles says. "And you?" He asks Sam.
"Sam!" Sam says, mouth full of chicken.
"Wow, so we got the love birds, Ms. Feisty and Mr. Cheerful. Hey, you two, Sam and Sadie, you guys would make a good pair."
Sadie ignores him.
"I don't like William." I say coldly. "He's my best friend."
"Uh huh." Kyles mutters, not even looking at me. "Hey Sam, is the gravy good?"
"Did you not hear me?" I ask, just as angry, "I will not be your guinea pig and pretend to like William just to get a sponsor."
"Sorry missy, but you will need a sponsor to survive. Unless you want to die, which I wouldn't mind, I'd advise you listen to me."
Kyles reaches for a fruit knife to cut his bread. I grab it before him, throw it at the apple in his hand, and pin it to the wall.
It almost hit his face, so he just sits there, gaping at me.
"I'm sorry!" Finallin sat up, angry. "Did you just throw a knife and an apple's gores at a velvet carpeted wall?"
"I need to be excused." I got out of my chair, and started to walk to my room.
"That's right! Just walk away from ruining velvet! This has golden silk embroidered on it, you know!" Finallin yells after me.
Kyles licks his lips.
"Looks like we might actually stand a chance this year." Kyles mutters.
I sit in my room, thinking to myself silently.
Sadie comes in.
"Are you okay?" She asks me.
"Yeah. I'm fine." I reply.
"We're having dessert, so I was wondering if you wanted to join us."
"Maybe later."
She nods in understanding, and leaves.
But there is no later, because I fall asleep.
And dream.
I'm walking through a forest, bare feet, in the cold autumn air. Wind rattles the dead tree branches around me.
Where am I going?
A cold harsh wind suddenly whips across my face, blowing my hair up around it, forcing my hand up to pull it out of the way so that I can see.
Clairidy is standing there, her hand outstretched at me. Her face is terrified.
"Clair?" I reach for her hand, but suddenly the wind rips through the air, tearing her piece by piece away, carrying her away from me.
"Clair!" I scream, running for her, but she is already gone.
Then I am alone.
A shadow sitting alone at a chessboard looks up at me.
"Who are you waiting for?" I whisper, my voice small.
"No one." The shadow answers me. It has no voice, just layers of whispers forming words.
"The game has yet to begin."
"What are you playing for?" I ask.
"Lives."
"Who are you playing against?"
"Why all the questions?"
"I'm just curious."
"If you want to win, you should know the answers."
"What if-"
The shadow cuts me off.
"Good luck."
"Wait!"
It tears me away from the world.