Author's Note: Hi again! I really wanted to get a chapter out today, so here it is! We finally meet the Careers! Dun dun DUN.

Chapter Eleven- Quiet Footsteps

I wish the quiet footsteps thing would have worked again here. But no, the tributes already present are so quiet, so still that I might as well have dragged an elephant in with all the noise my soft footsteps made in comparison. Everyone whips around to face us as we walk in, eyes wide and terrified, probably because we're supposed to be Volunteers.

None of the other Volunteers have shown up yet, but Jayden and District 9 are here, at the side of the room. With them is a girl I can only assume is the District 3 girl, who stands a couple feet away from the rest of the group. I nudge Cass so he knows where I'm going then walk over to them, a nervous smile obvious on my face. I want to comfort them, but I don't want them to think that I'm relaxed, like I'm "in my element" or something like that.

They look up just as I'm approaching them, and I enjoy the variety of expressions they give me. Jayden looks pleased to see me, while Nine both looks sort of happy-nervous. The Three girl, on the other hand, looks downright horrified. She jumps up and sort of speed walks to the other side of the room. Jayden catches my gaze as we both watch her go, and it is very hard not to burst out laughing. Even Heather and Spencer seem to be struggling against their giggles.

"Nice to see you again." I curtsy slightly, making Jayden laugh again. "Although apparently I look quite terrifying this morning. Is there something on my face? Or my hair?" I pretend to swat around my head as if there were bugs, causing Spencer and Heather to join Jayden in his laughter. He's basically rolling on the floor at this point. I walk over to help him up and ask,

"Wow. You must not have many good comedians in Three if I can make you laugh that much."

He shakes his head. "Most people there are a little too…robotic for my taste." I chuckle and high five him for the pun.

"Who was your friend, by the way?" I ask.

"Oh that? That's Pascale. She's not exactly happy to be here." Jayden replies.

"Boo hoo. Aren't we all." interjects Spencer.

"Yeah," Heather adds. "Like this is how I choose to spend my time. I might have been offered a brilliant new job by my factory manager just last week but no, I turned it down specifically to come here."

"Oooh yeah, I see why." I join in, sarcastically. "It's always a party at the Hunger Games, I don't see why you wouldn't. I'm sure your manager will understand."

Heather snorts, making me smile. I was just about to add to my comment when they all go silent and stare at their shoes, as if their sneakers are suddenly the most important thing in the world to them. It's only when I hear someone clear their throat directly behind that I realize what's going on.

I turn around to see Cass standing right behind me. The look on his face makes me suddenly realize how much taller than me he is. I shake off my fear, he is my friend after all, at least, he was. I smile innocently and ask,

"What's up?"

"Alex." He says sternly, as if I'm a misbehaving kid. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Um…" I pretend not to understand what he's saying. "I'm talking to Jayden, Heather, and Spencer." As I'm saying this, I see Willow and Ash walk in out of the corner of my eye. They see us and Willow frowns, walking over quickly. I look back to Cass' angry look, and it bugs me. These tributes are kids, just like us. What's so wrong with them?

"Hey Willow! Ash!" I call, mostly to bug Cassius. I see that I did well, because his eye bug out. Willow waves back eagerly, though her expression shows confusion. Ash just tilts his head sideways, as if he doesn't think he heard me right. Cassius pushes my shoulder a bit to get my attention and I look back at him.

"Lex." He says. "You need to stop this. Come talk to the Volunteers. I'm trying to HELP you."

I sigh. As much as I hate it, he's right. I need to look good for the sponsors if I want to do, well, anything really.

I nod, slowly. "Okay, fine. I'll be over with you in a minute." They deserve at least an explanation.

I'm about to turn back around when I feel a hand on my shoulder. Willow.

"Hey." She says, eyebrows raised. "What was all that about? Isn't that the guy from your district?"

"Alexis?" Jayden calls us back over. "Everything okay?"

I nod. "I'm just going to go over and talk to the Careers for a bit. I might need to train with them too, I'm not sure."

I see everyone's posture sag a bit at my words. They're all silent for a bit, then Heather whispers,

"We were hoping you could, you know, maybe, teach us?"

Ash backs her up quickly. "You know, we know lots of stuff about our own district's skills, but we thought you might be able to help us with the…weapons and well…what if there's water in the arena? Only District Four can ever swim."

I smile. "I'll catch up with you guys later, I promise. My mentor told me I should talk to the Careers today though."

"So are we still, you know, allies?" Jayden asks, quietly.

I look him directly in the eyes. He was so small, he looked like he was 10, way too young to be here. If it was up to me, of course, none of us would be here.

"Of course." I assure him, my expression as calm and confident as I can manage. "Nothing will change that, okay?"

He beams at me, which nearly tears my heart in half. "Okay!" He grins.

They all nod, agreeing. I turn away, ready for my next challenge. I spot them across the room. There's Cass, and District 1 and 2, all huddled in the centre of the room, which happens to be far away from everyone else, since everyone seems to be hiding the corner. I feel all the tributes eyes on me, including the Careers, as I walk through empty space towards the centre of the room. I hear each creak in the floorboards like it's a boulder I'm rolling through and not me just walking by, even though I've always had soft footsteps. I reach the group at the centre in silence as they continue to stare at me.

I raise my eyebrows, just as Willow did to me a minute ago, and try to look superior. It makes me feel awful, because I'm not trying to joke this time. I look each of them in the eyes before saying, "Hey."

At that one simple word, everything relaxes around the room, as if everyone were holding their breath. Within my little group though, not so much. But it does break the silence.

One of the girls steps forward gruffly,

"I'm Tiana, and this is Demetri." she says, motioning to the boy next to her, who nods at me. "District Two."

The other girl, who stands next to me in our little circle, smiles slyly and slides closer to me, sticking her hand out. "Shine." she smirks, tossing her hair. "District One."

I reach out to shake her hand, a little confused, and then she grabs it, and nearly squeezes the life of out it. I do my best to keep my expression casual, and stare right at her. She wants me to know she doesn't like me. For whatever reason, I'm not sure, but I'm sure to let her know the feeling is pretty much mutual.

The other boy, who must be from District One, stumbles towards me in a very non-District One manner. I'm used to them being very much like Shine, graceful and killer. He picks himself back up, blushing furiously.

"I'm Gray." he says quickly, looking me right in the eyes and staring as if he didn't just nearly fall. I nod, trying to shake off his gaze.

"Cool," I say, smiling as much I can muster. "I'm -"

"Oh, we know who you are." Shine interrupts, smirking. "You're the District Four girl who got herself reaped."

I have no response for that. With 3, 7, and 9, my getting reaped was a really good thing. Here, not so much. I open my mouth to respond, though I'm not sure what I was going to say, when I'm saved by one of the Capitol people, Atala, who's in charge of training, begins her speech.

This day's feeling long, and it's only just begun.

Author's Note bit at the end :) : Remember that reviews are extremely helpful and very motivating ;) I'll see you next time! Well, i won't SEE you, I'll...forget it. You know what I mean.