"Sooooooooooooo…." Marvel said devilishly. "I noticed that you didn't get back to our apartment until about an hour ago. I wonder why that is?"
Glimmer blushed as she sat down at the breakfast table. "That's not any of your business!" she snapped.
"As long as your rendezvous with whoever last night doesn't interfere with your performance in the games!"
"Clove is not a whoever!" Glimmer gasped and put a hand over her mouth.
"Clove!"
Glimmer sighed. "Yes, Clove." Seeing Marvel's stunned look, she added, "Clove is a lovely girl, really!"
"Like I said, as long as you perform well. Hey, has our mentor even returned yet?"
Glimmer looked around, grateful to be off the subject of Clove. (As much as she loved Clove, she realized she'd rather not discuss that with Marvel.) "I don't think so, or else she'd be joining us for breakfast."
"Geez, I was hoping she could give us some more advice before the Games begin." Marvel said in annoyance.
"I'm not sure exactly how much advice she could give us in two hours. Besides, we know our stuff." Glimmer said.
Glimmer quickly finished her breakfast and climbed into the tribute elevator. The elevator in the apartment building was very…in a word, luxurious. The ceiling was a mirror and if you felt like it, you could check yourself out. The walls were shiny glass, no smudge marks to be seen. There was even a little couch sitting next to the glass walls. Glimmer assumed that was for the District 12 tributes who had to ride to the basement all the way from the topmost floor. She pushed the button for the basement where the hovercrafts were parked, waiting to transport the tributes to the arena.
There were several tributes waiting for the hovercraft when Glimmer arrived. Clove wasn't one of those tributes much to Glimmer's chagrin. Glimmer found Cato, Marvel, and the male tribute from District 4.
"Clove here yet?" Marvel asked, smiling.
Glimmer shook her head, blonde curls flying.
"I think she was still getting ready when I left our apartment this morning." Cato said.
Clove was in the elevator. She felt a little sick from the butterflies devouring her stomach. She hoped that she wasn't too late and the other Careers weren't going to be too angry. She slept in a bit too late.
"Glimmer." Clove sighed. "What happened to getting plenty of sleep before the Hunger Games?" She was still exhausted from the night before.
Just then, the elevator doors slid open and Clove strolled out confidently. It didn't take long to spot the Careers: a small group of tough-looking tributes. Clove hurried over as fast as possible.
"You're late." Cato grunted.
"And? The hovercraft hasn't arrived yet." Clove snapped.
"We were going to go over last minute plans, you know." Marvel interjected.
"Well, then explain those plans."
"In short, take care of that tribute girl from 12." Glimmer informed. "I've decided she should be our first target."
Clove nodded. "Katniss, I think her name is."
"Well, her name doesn't matter. She's a tribute. A dangerous one, but still a tribute. But it doesn't matter. We'll get her for sure." Glimmer said with confidence before winking at Clove.
Clove felt herself blush again. Thankfully for her, two identical hovercrafts pulled in the basement and the whirring of the engines drowned out everything else.
Two Avoxes walked over to the herd of tributes and ushered 12 tributes in each hovercraft. Clove made sure that she sat next to Glimmer. The seatbelts moved on their own to lock each tribute in. One of the Avox girls was inside the hovercraft with a gun-looking thing. Clove winced as a tracking device shot into her skin.
Soon, the door to the hovercraft slid shut. Clove's stomach lurched as the hovercraft took off into the air. They were on the way to the arena and the biggest day of their lives.