The Peacekeepers march me into the Justice Building and sit me in a fancy room for an hour so I can say good-bye to all my nonexistent loved ones. I don't expect any visitors. The only person who will care that I'm gone is Johanna, and she'll be mentoring Lilly, so I'll see her plenty leading up to the games. I'm wrong about not having any visitors, though. About five minutes after the Peacekeepers leave me, a hysterical Candi enters the room. This only angers me, because as much as she pretends to care for us, we all know she doesn't. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't even know my name until Polly read it off that slip. I don't play nice as she tries to hug me; I stand rigidly with my arms folded while she sobs on my shirt.
"We're all going to miss you so much," she sniffs. "So kind and caring…it's all so unfair." If I needed any more proof that she had no idea who I was, I had it now. I may not be as entirely heartless as people think, but anyone who describes me as kind and caring is delusional.
"Good bye Candi," I say, prying her off me and leading her to the door. "Nice knowing you." Except not really, I think to myself. She keeps up the act as she exits the room, sobbing as though she is heartbroken that I have been chosen. In a way, I am almost glad that I am going to die if it means that I won't have to deal with her anymore.
I sit alone in my room for the rest of the hour. Finally, the Peacekeepers retrieve me and lead Lilly and me to the train station. Although she is trying to look brave, her eyes are still red and she lets out the occasional sniffle. Unlike me, she has had quite a few visitors. I feel bad for the kid. If she won, she could have a family, friends, and a future to come back to. But I know there's no chance of that. Even if she could hide from the other tributes, the Gamemakers would drive them together eventually and she wouldn't have a prayer. She's so small that I'd be willing to bet she couldn't hurt a fly. For kids her age, the reaping is about the same as a death sentence. But much, much more cruel.
As we enter the train, I try not to let my astonishment at all the finery show. I know everything from the Capitol is fancy and luxurious, but having never experienced it myself, I am unprepared for the actual thing. I'm used to sharing everything with every other kid at the orphanage, of only owning clothes that have been worn by ten other boys before me. In fact, the very outfit I'm wearing now is a hand-me-down reaping outfit that has been worn for several years. A couple days before each reaping, Candi just calls us all down to try on different outfits and we just see what fits whom. It doesn't matter if you like it or not; if it fits, you take it. Argue and you don't get dinner.
I scarf down every plate of food that is put in front of me at dinner, amazed against my will at the tastes that greet my tongue. I see Lilly eating similarly, but Johanna and Logan, a man in his mid-thirties who will be my mentor, have a bit more restraint. Polly watches Lilly and me with disdain at out obvious lack of Capitol table manners, as if we should have learned them somehow.
Once we have eaten all that our stomachs can hold, we retire to the lavish sitting room to watch the recaps of the reapings across the country. The Careers from districts 1,2, and 4 look as formidable as always. There is a menacing boy from 8 and a sly-looking girl from 10, but the rest of the tributes appear scared and half-starved. Little threat, unless they are trying to play Johanna's game. I am pleased with how I seem, though. I don't flinch when my name is called, no shock or disbelief crosses my face; I just calmly leave the group of boys and walk up to the stage. My gray eyes look cold and angry, the hint of a smile at my lips makes me look cocky and arrogant. In fact, these combined with my height and relatively strong build make me seem like a legitimate threat. Maybe I have a chance at these games after all.
"Someone looks scary," Johanna remarks with a smirk. "Sure you don't want to play the little crybaby and then kill them all?"
"I think some obnoxious little brat already did that," I say dryly.
"Damn right she did. You know, you might actually have a shot at this if you play it right. Even that boy from 1 isn't that much bigger than you. It'd be a good fight if it came down to it. And if you won you could live next to me in the Victor's Village," she says with a smile.
"And there goes my motivation for winning," I say sarcastically. But even as I say it, I smile. Johanna is about the only person who can draw a smile or laugh out of me. It works the other way, too. Most people don't even know that she has a sense of humor. She just seems cold-hearted and moody. A lot like me. It's probably why we get along so well.
"She's right, you know. You have a good shot at this. I've seen you in the woods; you're good with an axe. If you could get your hands on one in the arena, the title could be yours," says Logan, speaking for the first time tonight. I'd almost completely forgotten he was there. I've only talked to him occasionally, but he seems alright. Victors aren't required to work, and they often don't because they have more money than they could ever spend, but Logan does. I started working in the woods cutting down trees when I was fifteen to make a little extra money. I've seen him there often; he's there almost every day, although I've never figured out why he bothers.
"What about me?" Lilly pipes up all of a sudden. We all look around at each other, none of us knowing what to say. Lie and tell her she can win or get her hopes up only to be murdered? It turns out we don't need to decide, however. "I know I can't win, but can you at least not tell him all about how he could come home and have a nice house in the Victor's Village when I'm right here? And could my mentor at least pretend like she wants me to win instead of helping my opponent?" she says, glaring at Johanna. We are all still staring at her, shocked at her sudden outburst, as she stomps off to her room.
"Maybe she has a little more fire in her than I thought," says Johanna, glancing guiltily down the hall where Lilly had disappeared.
"More fire than any of us thought," agrees Logan.