"Welcome to the Capitol", squealed Effie into my ear und pushed me out of the train, Gale right next to me. We were surrounded by a huge crowd and everyone was screaming and shouting our names. At first I couldn't keep my eyes off this whole ridiculousness. The people from the Capitol had really strange hair colours and dresses. Then I noticed the mighty and colourful houses, which would fit for at least three families in District 12. I did my best to conceal my anger and just shook my head slightly. Gale bent down and whispered in my ear. "If you consider the fact that there are people starving in Twelve, this is just crazy." I nodded in agreement. The whole thing was nothing but bizarre.

"Come on, kids. Hurry up." Effie led us to a car and a couple of minutes later we arrived in the center of the Capitol. My heart started racing when I realized that this was the moment when the 74th annual Hunger Game had begun…

…

We followed Effie into an elevator. She pressed the button "12" and grinned. "Every district has its own floor and since you are from 12, you get the Penthouse." She opened the door and I was the first who entered the apartment. It was – to describe it with one word – huge. Really huge. I couldn't stop staring and even Gale's eyes widened and that should mean something. "You better get ready for dinner!" Effie showed us round in the apartment. After I had closed the bathroom-door behind me I inhaled deeply. I turned on the water in the shower and let it run over my body. Then I realized what really had happened in the past few hours. I was going to be a tribute in the Hunger Games, together with Gale. Why the hell did he volunteer? Only one of us could survive! I couldn't even think about this without getting sick. What if it came down to Gale and me in the end? I couldn't kill him, not at all, not in a million years. Shit, what had I gotten myself into?

…

When I entered the dining room half an hour later everyone was already there, eating, even Haymitch sat next to Effie.

"Oh, here you are. Take a seat!", said Effie. The food smelled absolutely delicious so I took the empty seat right next to Gale and started eating.

"So, Haymitch, what's our next step?", asked Gale after the main course and looked at him with a stern glance.

"Wow, boy, don't stress me, right?" He sighed. "Fine, training starts tomorrow morning and in the evening is the public presentation of the tributes."

"Public presentation?" An unpleasant feeling was running through my body. That sounded a lot like cameras and a very big crowd.

"Yeah. First of all, there is this big chariot ride and then Flickerman, this idiot, is going to interview you", replied Haymich. Interview? Damn, I hated it so much. Gale didn't seem to be too enthusiastic about that, too.

…

The rest of the evening passed by rather silent. Well, Effie was talking nonstop, of course, but I was so tired that I didn't really pay attention. After dessert I excused myself and went to my room. I just lay on the bed and stared at the wall. I hadn't even been here for five hours and I already started missing everything and everybody at home. What was I doing here?

Okay, stupid question, it was the only way to protect Prim. I had to try to get me and Gale out of this arena. While I was thinking about that I didn't notice that my eyelids got heavier and heavier.

…

My throat was terribly dry when I woke up again. With sleepy eyes I looked at the clock at the wall and realized that only two hours had gone by. I rolled on the other side, but the thirst kept me from falling asleep. I gave up a couple of minutes later and tiptoed to the bathroom to get some water. Because of my tiredness I didn't notice that the light was already switched on and I simply ignored the swoosh of the water.

"Having a sleepless night?" Gale's voice scared me so much that I hit my head on the shelf above me.

"Ouch. Damn you, Gale. Do you have to scare me like that?", I grumbled and looked up.

Holy shit, I should really not go into the bathroom when I was almost sleeping, especially with guys living in the same apartment. It was just my luck that it was Gale, who was standing in front of me with wet hair and just a towel around his body, and not Haymitch.

Oh god, new thought please, new thought…

…

Suddenly I caught myself staring at Gale. Totally embarrassed I looked up and saw the big grin on his face. "Katniss? Everything alright?"

I started blushing. "Hm? Oh, yeah. I just wanted to drink some water. Sorry, I didn't see you."

"It's okay. Does you head still hurt?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. Ähm…I guess I am going to go back to bed then."

"See you tomorrow." With these words Gale turned round and started drying his hair. I was nearly out of the room when an important question came into my mind. "Gale?"

"Hm."

"Why did you do that?"

"Did what?" He turned round and looked at me quizzically.

"Why did you volunteer? I mean, your family needs you, so why are you here?"

He seemed to think about that for a couple of seconds, then he came closer to me and took my hand. Before I had a chance to realize it he pulled me tight and kissed me. At first I just froze. I wasn't able to move, but after a second I laid my arms around his neck. I tried to think clear, but I couldn't think about something else than Gale's lips that were still softly touching mine. Gale's hands moved to my hips, pulling me even closer. Then he gave me one last sweet kiss and we broke apart.

"Did that answer your question?"

I only managed a short nod. He smiled at me, ran his finger through his hair and left the room.

…

The sound of his bedroom-door brought me back to reality. Did Gale seriously just … kiss me? My heart was still racing and my knees were still feeling like pudding, so I guess he did. All of a sudden I felt torn. We shouldn't have done that, we were forced to kill each other in a couple of days after all, but on the other hand I couldn't believe we just kissed. In the bathroom. And I wasn't even talking about the fact that he practically wore nothing but a towel. A million thoughts were running through my mind when I went back to my room and I wasn't able to sort them. I couldn't think about anything, so I just passed out on my bed. What a crazy day…