"I cannot eat another bite. Ever again," I say, resting my hand on my full stomach.
Evan laughs and says, "Well geez porky, you sure did eat enough." I give him a scowl, which causes the others to laugh as well.
"Shut up," I mutter, pushing my plate away from me. The light conversation in the room drops as an officer comes in the room, gesturing for the first tribute to come with him.
I fiddle with my fingers nervously as he leaves the room, my nerves deciding to kick into overdrive now. What if I go in and forget everything I've learned? What if I make a complete fool of myself? If I don't do well, the chances of getting sponsors are slim, which means they will be for Marcus as well. Well, that's not entirely true. If he does well, he's sure to get a few sponsors.
Slowly, one by one, the room empties. I feel closer to throwing up with each name called, and before I know it Marcus is offering me a glass of water.
"You don't look so well," he says quietly.
"I'm so nervous I might faint," I admit, taking a big gulp of water. I realize my hands are slightly shaky, and I curse under my breath. I must look so weak to the others right now.
"Everything will be alright, I promise. You'll do great. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a better score than me," he soothes, rubbing my back gently to calm me down.
"You really think so?" I ask.
"I really do." I take a deep breath, then chug the rest of my water.
"Thank you," I say, giving him a smile. He returns it, and Kennedie clears her throat, gaining both of our attentions. My cheeks flame in horror as I realize half the room had stopped to watch that little display. Great, I'm definitely going to look weak now!
"Are you ok Annelise?" Kennedie asks. I straighten up and hold my head high, trying to retain what little dignity I have left.
"I'm fine," I assure them. I get a few strange looks from the other tributes, who after assuring themselves there isn't anything left to see, return to their conversations. I silently thank the heavens that only the other tributes were here to witness my pathetic moment.
A short time later, they call the girl from Kansas. Then it's Marcus's turn to go 20 minutes later.
"Meet me in my room when you get out," he tells me. I nod and he follows the officer out.
My anxiety seems to hitch back up, but I do my best to keep it at bay. It doesn't matter what happens in here, just what happens in the arena, I tell myself over and over.
20 minutes later, my name is called and I give the others a goodbye wave.
I follow the officer out, and he leads me to a set of massive doors, with two servants standing by. They open the doors for me and the officer gives me a slight shove when my feet refuse to move. I enter the room and they lock the door behind me. The room is filled with hundreds of weapons, supplies, anything and everything you would need to survive in this arena. Behind glass, the Gamemakers watch me like hawks.
"Hello Miss Stague. You may begin," one tells me.
Drawing in a deep breath, I gather all my bravado and nod. Head held high and my shoulders squared; I go to the wall to my left where the practice dummies are located.
I drag a dummy out into the middle of the room. Then I go to the wall where thousands of deadly weapons all await, perfectly crafted and shining. I select a sword, one that has a blade that is about two and a half feet long, with a gold handle with a snake design engraved into it. It is straight and razor sharp.
I grab it with a firm grip and go take my position in front of the dummy. I start by taking swings at it, cutting chunks off, beheading it and stabbing it. I hit it directly in the heart, then the abdomen. Precision and accuracy each time, and my shaky hands have all but disappeared. When I look down at the pieces on the floor, I smile to myself, confidence bubbling up inside of me.
With my newfound confidence, I take off running towards the dummies again, ready to hit them some more and giving the Gamemakers a peak at my speed. Instead of just dragging one out to the center of the room, I run down the row, hitting as many as I can, as if I was fighting my way through a crowd.
Pleased with my work, and time running out, I grab some wire and set some snares. I look over and they seem impressed. So, to wrap it all up, I grab knives and fling them at targets, getting a bulls-eye every time, except once.
When I'm done, the head Gamemaker speaks up.
"Thank you, Miss Stague. You may go now." After a quick sweep over their faces, I bow and step out. A police officer takes me to the elevator and presses my floor number. Inside, alone, I allow myself to silently cheer as I picture their faces. Most of them seemed impressed, while a few were pleased. It seems I was worrying over nothing.
I ride the elevator up until the doors open. I step out and head to Marcus's room. I walk in and find him lying on his side, flipping through channels on the TV.
"So how'd it got, Sapphire?" he asks me. I jump onto the bed by his legs and he turns and sits up.
"I think it went pretty good. I'm sure I got at least an 8." I say with a smile. "How did you do?"
"I shot some dummies with a gun and spears, and did some heavy lifting but that's it. I think it went pretty well."
"Good. I'm sure you will get a high score." I say. "I'm craving cake. Want some?"
He laughs. "Sure, sounds good." I pick up the phone and order some.
He is still flipping through the TV channels, so I grab the remote from him and flip to the news channel.
"Hey, I was watching that!" he says, but he is laughing.
"You weren't watching anything. You were surfing," I giggle. He tries to snatch the remote back, but I hold it out of reach, waggling my finger.
This of course starts another wrestling match. We wrestle around trying to get the remote back from each other. I have the remote and lay down on top of it, but then Marcus discovers my weakness. He grabs my sides and starts tickling me.
"You're cheating!" I gasp through my laughter, trying to squirm away from his hands. I start screaming and laughing, begging him to stop. When I think I'm about to start crying from laughing so much, I roll off the remote. He finally grabs it and stops. He is laughing like crazy while I try to catch my breath. After I am breathing normally again, I sit up.
"Fine, you can have the remote, but you don't get any cake." I say.
He scoffs and replies, "I will if I tickle it away from you."
"Ok, you can have cake too. But only a small slice," I say. He rolls his eyes, a hint of amusement in them. Someone knocks on the door and Marcus shouts "Come in!" A chef enters, with a red velvet cake with white icing on a silver platter.
I cut myself a big slice, and give Marcus a smaller piece, keeping true to my word. We eat it while we watch a news cast about the games. They are counting down to the first day, which is only 2 days away.
Counting down the seconds, I mutter in my head.
Tomorrow we will be preparing for our interviews. Father will be coaching us on content, and DeAnne will coach us on presentation. Then after that day, we will be prepared by our stylists then the interview themselves.
If I thought I was nervous for the private training, it's nothing compared to the thought of the interviews. Every single person in America will be watching, and one false move will not only make me the laughing stock of the games, but the laughing stock of the entire country as well.
Marcus gets up from his bed.
"I'm going to hop into the shower, ill be done in a few minutes," he says.
"Ill be here," I say. He tosses me the remote and walks into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I lie down on his bed and flip to a station, and a movie is playing. It's an older movie, but I remember seeing it when I was younger. I watch it, laughing. After a little bit, Kennedie and Evan walk in.
"Hey Annelise, where's Marcus?" Kennedie asks, eyes searching the room as if he was hiding in a corner.
"He got in the shower. He should be done soon." She nods and sits in a chair by the bed. Evan sits down next to me and watches the movie with me.
"You guys want some cake? There's plenty left," I say. Kennedie rejects it, but Evan scoots off the bed and cuts himself a slice. Soon after, Marcus walks out of the bathroom.
"Hey everyone," he says. He sits on the bed next to me, and runs his fingers through his wet hair. We all sit and watch the movie and Max and Sarah enter. They join us, and we all end up watching the movie until it's over. The sun is setting, and we know it's almost time for them to show our training scores. Father comes in and takes a seat in a chair next to us.
"Time for those training scores!" he cheers.
"Woo," I say with fake enthusiasm. Marcus chuckles next to me, while father just shakes his head. He changes the channel to an announcer who is preparing to give the scores.
A picture will flash across the screen with the tribute's name and score next to it. They do each state's tributes together, and after the other states, my picture, and then Marcus's appear as they read our names.
The scores flash across the screen. Marcus, pulling off an impressive nine, and me getting a ten.