Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. If I did, would Finnick have died? I don't think so, Suzanne Collins.
The next day I arrive at the training center early, and I carry a bottle of nail polish that I took from the prep team's supply closet. When I'm done painting my nails silver, I throw it away. It was almost empty anyway, and I'm sure they won't miss one tiny bottle of polish. I put my socks and boots back on after they dry. By that time, everyone is there. Atala dismisses us immediately, and I head over to the edible plant station.
After a few minutes, I shadow falls across me. "May I join you?" It's Maddie. "Sure. I thought you only did knives." "Well, that's the only weapon I'm good at, so I told Oliver that I was going to do survival skills too. It's just in case one of us is… incapacitated." Meaning, if one of us is killed. We learn the difference between nightlock and blueberries, and between nightshade and raspberries, but we also learn what kind of berries small prey animals like to eat, on Maddie's request. "That way we can set snares with good bait," she tells me. The trainer looks at us like we're crazy, probably thinking that we are because we're careers and we have the cornucopia, but the joke might be on him in a few days.
We go to the camouflage station, where we are taught how to paint a basic camouflage design on our entire body without ruining our clothes. The scary part, though, is that the girl from seven has just appeared. She had painted herself into a rock and Maddie and I didn't even notice. That worries me, because she could sneak up on us and slit all of our throats and we wouldn't even notice that she was following us. "Nice job, Jacqueline," the instructor says. I tell her that was amazing and we didn't even notice her. She beams. Praise from a Career on something she's good at, I guess.
There's no swimming pool to learn how to swim (which Maddie thinks is a giant mistake in terms of training), but I promise to teach her how to swim if there's water in the arena. We skip the edible bug station, because I'd probably throw up if I had to do that. I'd never eat a bug unless I was three seconds away from dying of hunger, and Maddie agrees. We make hammocks and try hand-to-hand combat (which neither of us is good at).
The lunch bell rings, and we go into the small cafeteria. We sit at the table with all of the other Careers. We still have ten minutes left after we eat, so Anna asks us all what our talent would be if we won. Alistair says he wants to be a writer, and Maddie says she would be a clothes designer. Oliver, trying to act tough as usual, says he wants to make weapons, and Anna wants to be a gymnast. River doesn't know what he wants to do. I want to be a singer.
After lunch, Maddie and I do the snare station. We learn a few simple snares. Then we do the knot tying station. I know a lot of knots, including some very complicated ones, because it's suicide to go out to sea on a boat without knowing some. Maddie tries over and over, but she just can't get the hang of it.
We try weight lifting, but I only weigh about 130 pounds, so I can barely lift the sixty pound one. I do manage to get it off the ground eventually, though. We learn how to make a fire; we do the ropes course (which we both excel at, despite the overwhelming nausea that we get after scurrying around upside down). Maddie says that she's going to try the fishing station for the last station of the day. I go with her, but only for the fun of it.
Just as she put me to shame at the knife throwing station yesterday, I put her to shame here. They have a small pool-size pond filled with mechanical fish, programmed to act like real fish. By the time she strings and baits her hook, I already have four fish lying on the floor beside me. She catches a four inch fish, but that's it. "I think we'll leave the fishing in the arena to you!" she jokes. "Well, I am from the fishing district, after all," I say.
I go upstairs when training is over. Finnick, Mags, River, and I eat dinner together. After I shower, I lay down in bed. I hope that I don't have any dreams. Today was fun. Obviously, Maddie's going to die, but if she wasn't I think she'd make a great friend. I fall asleep almost immediately. I don't get my wish, but at least I have a good dream. In, my dream, I'm a little girl again, and my mother is doing my hair. Ah, the times before Marlin was a victor, those were the good times. Before the time he had to go to the Capitol every few months to do something that he said I wouldn't understand. I make a mental note to ask Finnick about that in the morning.
R&R, please!