The week passes by in a blur. Gale gains some skill when it comes to throwing a spear or swinging a sword, but I just can't get the hang of it. It becomes clear to both of us that I can only use what I'm already good at in the arena.

We're getting ready to present our skills so that the judges can score us for tonight. After the last person leaves Gale grabs my hand. "What are you going to do?" I ask him.

Gale shrugs and drops my hand. "Probably knock a dummy around for a minute, snare it, then hit all it vital points with something sharp."

"Use the bow first when you stab it."

Gale smiles, "Of course. Can't make your skills with a bow look common now can we?"

Then they call him in. "Hey," he turns around and says, "Shoot straight."

I nod.

I'm called in about fifteen minutes later. Immediately I head for the bows. There stiffer than mine at home and I'm unsure how I'll handle it. The range is too short for me so I head to the middle of the room. My first arrow almost misses the dummy completely.

I'm infuriated with myself. What little attention the Gamemakers had for me is in no doubt gone, but I have to try anyway. My next shot it's the target straight in the heart. I hit all the vital points on the dummy, then I begin to shot anything I see. Paint cans, lights, knifes hanging on the wall, they all fall victim to my arrows.

I turned to the Gamemakers and what I see about makes me explode. A few of them watched me, but almost all of them are focused on the roast pig that was just bought for them.

How dare they ignore me! Dammit my life is on the line here! For a second I lose my cool, and before I know it I let my arrow fly at its new target. The Gamemakers gasp as my arrow buries itself in the apple from the pig's mouth and pins it to the wall. As they stare at me I bow unceremoniously and leave.

I drop the bow when I exit the room, open the elevator, and punch the button that will take me to my floor. My rage has worn off and I'm realizing the possible consequences of what I've just done. Gale's waiting for me when the door opens but I look right past him and hurry to my room.

"What the hell happened, Katniss?" He called.

I run into my room and slam the door behind me. I fall on my bed and sob. What if I'm imprisoned? What if they go after Prim? After a moment I calm myself. They can't replace me this late in the game. And they can't go after Prim without an explanation, and the scoring is secret. Reassured by this I take a shower and head to dinner.

"So," Haymitch says. "How'd it go."

"Ok," Gale replies. "I showed off my skills in hand-to-hand combat and snaring, and I pierced the dummy with anything I knew how to use."

"Good. And you sweetheart?"

"I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers," I say nonchalantly.

Gale chokes on his drink and Effie gives off a high pitched squeak, "What were you thinking Katniss?"

"Well," Haymitch says slowly. "Did you hit any of them?"

"I shot the apple out of their roast pigs mouth."

"On purpose?"

"Yes."

Haymitch looks at me for a moment then smiles. "Oh well, you're probably dead anyway. How'd they react?"

I smiled "They stared at me with the dumbest expressions on their faces."

Gale gave me a good natured punch in the shoulder. "Good job, Katniss!"

After dinner we went into the living room to see the scores. Most weren't noteworthy except most of the careers got nine's or ten's. Gale got an impressive score of eight.

I held my breath when my turn was up.

"And Katniss Everdeen with a score of…" Caesar trailed of. "Eleven!"

I stared in shock as everyone congratulated me. I just couldn't believe it.

"Looks like they liked your attitude," Haymitch said. "Now off to bed, we have to prep you for your interviews tomorrow."

Gale and I started to walk down the hall toward our rooms. "Good job Katniss." Gale says to me.

"You too," I reply. "But I'm going to ruin it tomorrow with the interview!"

"Probably," Gale chuckled. "You're horrible with people."

"If you do good, with our combined scores we should have plenty of sponsors."

"Oh," Gale asked. "So we are going together in the arena."

"Of course," I reply.

"What do we do if we're the last left?"

I think about it for a moment. "We stick together till the other dies."

Gale thinks about it for a moment. "I can live with that."

"Good. Night."

"Night," He says back.