Louisa was the last on the train. Six other kids looked at her, sitting around a dining table.
There was a big beefy girl with a brutish face, stringy brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was hacking at the steak with a dagger.
Next to her was a boy with slightly elfish features and a mess of wild, curly hair. His brown eyes were warm and cheeky; matching the grin he shone her way.
There was boy with golden blonde hair and warm blue eyes sitting opposite the curly-haired boy. They seemed to be sharing a joke. Next to him was a beautiful girl with layered hair and multi-coloured eyes that shone with amusement at the conversation blooming between the two boys.
There was another blonde boy with blue eyes that glowed brightly like the summer sky. He gave Louisa a friendly smile, but there was a layer of unease behind it. He was of slight build, like a long distance runner.
The sixth kid was sitting upright in his chair, pale and shaking. He hadn't touched his meal, his light grey eyes fixed on the peas, as if he were trying to figure out what they were. His mouse brown hair seemed golden in the lighting.
Effie Trinket was sat at the head of the table, playing Mother.
"Ah, here she is!" She got up and floated over to Louisa, holding her arms out. Her arm went around Louisa's shoulders. For a slender, posh woman from the Capitol, Effie was strong. She dragged Louisa to stand at the end of the table. The six teenagers were watching her. "This is Louisa and she will be leading the team!" Effie sang. "Isn't that nice?"
"Wait… I'm leadin'?"
"Oh, yes." Effie nodded eagerly. "Sit, sit. Try some of the soup. It's just divine!" Effie placed her hands on Louisa's shoulders and forced her to sit down at the opposite end of the table to Effie's seat. Effie went and sat down.
"So, you're the captain?" The beefy girl grunted. Her hair was tied up with a camouflage bandana.
"Apparently."
"I'm Clarisse." The girl held her hand out. She nearly broke Louisa's fingers, but Louisa kept her expression neutral. Clarisse didn't seem too happy that Louisa was captain.
The others introduced themselves. Louisa's personal favourite was the bubbly introduction from the boy with curly hair:
"Leo Valdez, reporting for duty!" He failed at saluting properly and shook her hand warmly.
"Are ya normally this hyper?"
"I'm not even that hyper." He grinned slyly. "Yet." Louisa blinked at him.
"That's what I did." The blonde haired, blue eyed boy smiled, the one Leo had been talking to earlier. His name was Jason and apparently he was dating the pretty girl, Piper. Louisa wasn't too interested in the romantic side of life, so she didn't ask any questions on their relationship.
"It's a natural reaction to the supreme Valdez."
"Yeah, OK." Louisa helped herself to the steak and fries. "So, what can ya guys do?"
"Do like what?" Leo asked.
"Fightin', shootin', whatever."
"I fight." Clarisse said.
"Weapons?"
"Sword, spear, loads of stuff."
"Awesome."
"Sword and spear." Jason said.
"I fight with a knife and, um, I'm OK at bribery." Piper smiled.
"Too good." Leo corrected. "According to Jason, she bribed this rich guy out of his Lamborghini and got away with crashing it."
"Nice. Shame ya crashed it though."
"it was a horrible colour anyway."
"I can shoot." The other boy with blonde hair and blue eyes said quietly. His name was Sean. He was slowly relaxing, which was a good sign. "And I'm a bit of a field medic."
"That's handy. I can't first aid for toffee."
"I make stuff." Leo piped up. "And I'm good with fire and blowing things up."
"What sort of stuff do you make?" Clarisse asked.
"Depends what I have to make stuff with." Leo replied. "Uh, I've made swords, robots, remote control car that ran an old lady over- long story- helicopters that shoot pigeons… loads of stuff." Leo pulled his project from earlier out of his pocket. It was a normal, bronze sphere the size of a large marble. He rolled it across the table and it jumped up. It unfolded and took the form of a little, bald man completely made of bronze, including bronze trousers and T-shirt that were welded to his skin. "Meet Bill. Uh, I don't know what he does other than keep you company."
Bill ran towards the soup bowl. Leo quickly grabbed him. "No, you'll short circuit." Bill's head turned 180 degrees to look at him. "That's so cool." Leo grinned. "Um, return to ball form." Bill curled in on himself until Leo held the bronze sphere again.