The last day before the Hunger Games started for me in Gale's arms. After I had stopped laughing yesterday he had crawled into my bed, pulling me tight. I had enjoyed lying next to him so much that I never wanted to get up again. This was one the things I was going to miss so much in the arena.

"Morning.", Gale mumbled, still half asleep and ran his fingers through his tousled hair.

"Morning."

"Already time to get up?"

"I am afraid so", I replied quietly.

He buried his face in my hair. "Do you want to get up?"

"No, not at all."

"Fine, neither do I." Gale seemed to be pleased. "Then we can stay in bed."

"That would be great, but today is our private session with the Gamemakers, remember?"

"So what? If we don't go they have nothing they can judge."

Gale's suggestion was more than tempting, but a good score meant sponsors and they were really important in the arena.

I sighed and wanted to get up, but Gale hold me back. "Where are you going, honey? We still have a couple of minutes left."

"Do you want Effie or Haymitch to come in?"

Gale grinned. "Let them come. Trust me, I am in advantage with my insider-knowledge."

"Really?" I took the bottle of water I had put next to my bed the night before. "What kind of insider-knowledge?"

"Believe it or not, but we are definitely not the only ones sharing one bed."

...

As soon as he had said that I started coughing and dropped the bottle. What did he just say? I must have misunderstood him, there was no other explanation. I quickly wiped the water drop off my chin and faced Gale, still surprised. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I am not."

"Effie and Haymitch?"

"Yeah. It seems like they fit together quite well." He got out of the bed and picked up the bottle that was still rolling around on the floor, spreading the water.

"Not to be mean, but EFFIE and HAYMITCH?"

Gale rolled his eyes. "I just told you so, didn't I?"

"How do you...", I still couldn't believe it.

"I wanted to get some water last night and I heard them."

"Okay, but how can you be sure that it was Effie and Haymitch?"

Gale started blushing und stared at the floor. "Trust me, you really don't want to know that."

Oh my god…

...

During breakfast I couldn't help but stare at them the whole time. No, that couldn't be true… Well, Effie was more than just strange and Haymitch was probably just crazy, but the two of them together…no way.

Gale nudged me under the table and I winced. I stared at him quizzically and mouthed "Ouch!", but that just caused him to turn to his plate again, grinning.

"So, are you guys ready for your private session?", asked Haymitch after a while.

"I think so", I replied and tried to get rid of the pictures running through my mind. Disgusted, I pushed the plate away from me. Damn, Gale should really stop telling me everything.

"You don't like your food, darling?", Effie wanted to know and pointed at my nearly full plate.

"Sure, I am just not hungry." I really hoped that Effie wouldn't get suspicious. Obviously not, because she started patting my hand softly. Okay, what was that?

"Katniss, you really don't need to worry about the private session. I am sure you will do great!"

Sure, as if I would be afraid of that stupid PRIVATE SESSION. Hello, I have to go into the ARENA tomorrow!

"Ähm, thank you Effie", I thanked her and stood up. "I am getting ready."

Effie smiled at me. "Of course, darling. We have to leave in ten minutes anyway."

In the bathroom I leaned against the door and inhaled deeply. "Please, don't let me screw up!", I begged and started cooling my face with water. In the end I put the mockingjay-pin on my T-shirt, put on my jacket and focussed on the private session. I had to be good, I just had to.

...

Minutes later Effie and Haymitch brought us to a small room that was connected with the training center. During our training I had noticed that there was some kind of balcony. I guessed that the Gamemakers would be up there, observing us, while we were showing them our skills.

"So, there is only one task today: Show them what you can do and impress them. They must not forget your, right?", Haymitch said and seemed satisfied when we nodded.

"Fine, then I wish you good luck!" He patted Gale's shoulder and Effie hugged me.

"Good luck, kids. We'll meet you afterwards in our apartment."

Shortly after they had left, Gale's name was called. He smiled at me encouragingly and entered the big training room. My thoughts were with Gale all the time and I wondered what he would show the Gamemakers. We didn't have time to talk about that, but I guessed that he would do something with knives, snares or this heavy ball. My heart started racing when my name was finally called. I took a deep breath and looked at my pin. "Make me lucky", I whispered and entered the room.

...

Gale must have left the room through another door because I couldn't see him. I wished he would be here now. How did he do?

My hands were shaking when I took the bow and strained it, but I was so nervous that I couldn't shoot straight and missed the target. Damn, that was just great! I took a second arrow and hoped that I would hit the target this time. My heart seemed to jump out of my chest and I felt like throwing up. "Focus, Katniss!", I thought and tried to be as calm as possible. There was no use in worrying and if I really wanted to get me and Gale out of the arena I had to be tough now.

With this thought in my head I strained the bow once more and shot. This time I hit the target straight in the middle. I glanced at the Gamemakers, but they didn't seem to pay attention. They were chatting and loading food on their plates. That couldn't be true! I resisted the urge to insult them and thought about a way to get their attention.

"Impress them!" Haymitch's voice echoed through my mind and suddenly I noticed the red apple in the mouth of a grilled pig. Seconds later he landed at the wall, pierced by my arrow. Everyone was staring at me, but I finally had their attention.

"Thank you for your consideration!", I said, bowed shortly and left the room. Then I realised what I had just done. How could I have been so stupid? What if they saw an attack in my performance? I couldn't believe that I had been so stupid, nearly shooting at the Gamemakers. Damn, where the hell had I gotten myself into?

...

I really hoped that Gale had done well, everything else meant that we were as good as dead. I screwed up, I so screwed up…

As soon as I had opened the door to our apartment Effie grabbed my hand and pulled me with her. "How could you? You can't shoot at the Gamemakers of the Hunger Games! ARE YOU EVEN AWARE OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?" Every piece of friendliness seemed to be blown away and I really owed Cinna that she didn't yell at me any longer.

"Effie, calm down. It was really…impressive." He looked at me reassuringly. Then I noticed Gale, wo was sitting on the sofa with a wide grin on his face. I sat down next to him and wanted to talk to him, when…

"IMPRESSIVE? Cinna, she nearly shot the Gamemakers! That's not impressive! This are bad manners and they won't tolerate it!", Effie squealed hysterically.

"Shut up, Trinket, yeah?" Haymitch had entered the room and sat down on a chair in front of me. "So you shot at an apple near the Gamemaker's heads and said…Thank you for your consideration?"

I nodded, but I didn't dare look him in the eyes. "I am sorry, I didn't think about it."

"You ARE SORRY?"

I nodded again and hoped that the damage wouldn't be to big. With a queasy feeling I awaited his reaction, waiting for the big argument, but to my surprise he burst out laughing.

"Genius. Freaking genius", he said and couldn't stop laughing. "Thank you for you consideration! God, I've never heard something like that. Simply brilliant!"

Wait, he liked it? He even approved? I really didn't see that coming…