I started writing this as soon as I finished Chapter 7, and... well, I don't think anyone's reading this, so I'll tell you after you read this chapter.

Disclaimer: Guess what? I'm Suzanne Collins. Instead of writing another HG story, I spend my time on Fanfiction. Yeah right.

"Do you have a plan for tomorrow? Trust me when I say that the personal sessions are quite stressful." Beetee's eyes filled with memories.

"Yeah. Well, I think," I replied, shifting. Sheeshey, Uniqua, and I really just talked about before sessions.

"Well?" Beetee looked at me expectantly. "What are you planning to do? Are you aiming for a high score?"

"Of course! Who wouldn't want a high score?" I questioned. Did Beetee know nothing?

"Well... oh, forget it! What are you going to do?" Beetee looked like he wanted to yell.

"Well, I'm gonna throw some knives, make some snares, and then if I have time I'll climb the rock wall," I said, laying out my plan.

"What score are you hoping for?" Beetee asked. "The higher scorers tend to go down first, but they get more sponsors."

"I think I'll get, maybe, a seven or eight," I replied, hoping secretly I'd get a 10 or something.

"I hope you do well! Remember, the Gamemakers will love you!" Octavia squealed, and I smiled.

Then, I stood and made my way to my room, having finished eating.

-o-O-o-

"Five more minutes," I moaned into my pillow; someone had just roughly jerked my arm.

"No! You need to get dressed and eat! It's 9:30, and training starts at 10:00!" Beetee growled, jerking me again.

"Okay! Okay! I'm up! Get outta my room," I moaned again, and tumbled out of bed. Then, I jumped up; I didn't want to ruin my hair. Beetee was gone, and an outfit was on the floor for me.

Some black denim pants, a purple head band, and a t-shirt of the same color. I slipped into the clothes, as well as the black combat boots that were next to the outfit.

"I'm here!" I called as I stepped into the diner.

"Try to eat up; these are the last times you'll have food easily," Beetee advised. I nodded, and grabbed my normal meal, knowing that I'd get some food in the arena.

-o-O-o-

"Good luck! Be sure to plan with your allies!" Beetee and Octavia called together.

I jabbed the elevator button, and I was in the Training Room before I could say, "Blue elephants."

-o-O-o-

"Okay, you're having a half-day today, because there will be private sessions after lunch. You will be called in number order. I think you know the stations by now, so off you go!" Delly said, bouncing off; I turned to Sheeshey and Uniqua.

"Ugg, she's so annoying!" I exclaimed, and they nodded. Sheeshey, being Sheeshey, got right down to business.

"Agility, here we come!" Sheeshey called out quietly, and we headed to the rock wall.

"I'm going for the hardest," Sheeshey informed us when we got there. Uniqua and I nodded, and I declared I would do the third hardest.

"I'll do second easiest," Uniqua said, and we walked in.

-o-O-o-

It turned out that Ashley and Annie had the same plan as us, because they were there when we walked in. Or maybe it was because they heard our plan. Never thought of that before, I thought as I made my way to my claimed wall.

Ashley was on Uniqua's wall, and Annie on mine. "Hey! I was going to climb that!" I exclaimed.

"Well, now you aren't!" Annie called down, just as I noticed the sign.

Two people allowed on each wall.

Yes! I thought, and hopped onto the wall. I worked my way up; finding that Annie was waiting for me.

"Hey, coward," she whispered. I rolled my eyes, and kept climbing. "Wondering why we're here?" she asked. I didn't respond, and soon I was higher than her.

-o-O-o-

I dropped down onto the net, and saw Sheeshey standing by the door. "Slowpoke!" she teased. I grinned.

"Not as slow as Uniqua!" I said back, and Sheeshey shrugged, indicating that I was right.

Just then, Uniqua dropped down. We waved her over, then left the compound, heading to a bench to plan some.

-o-O-o-

"So, should we all run up to the Cornucopia?" I asked.

"Yeah. Each of us should grab a backpack if they have them, our weapons of choice, and anything else that might be useful. Then, we should all run to... someplace," Uniqua said, thinking out loud.

"How about we choose someone to pick a way?" I suggested.

"I think we should follow Sheeshey," Uniqua proclaimed. I nodded. Sheeshey blushed, but she agreed.

"Then, after we're safe, we plan from there," Sheeshey said, and we got up, heading for the survival stations.

-o-O-o-

"Let's go to the test-thingy first," Sheeshey suggested, and Uniqua and I nodded. We walked to the station, and found three people already at it. Looking at their backs, I saw they were numbers 3, 7, and 15. As soon as we stepped up, they scattered to another survival station.

"They're not fighters," I muttered to Sheeshey and Uniqua.

"Pretty sure they're in an alliance, though," Sheeshey muttered back. I stepped up to the test- thingy and pressed go.

Which of these plants are edible?

There were three choices - nightlock, katniss, and foxgrove.

I frowned. Nightlock, of course, was poisonous. I was pretty sure katniss was edible, so I pressed that.

What kind of knot is this?

There was a picture of a knot - I didn't know what kind. There were also three choices, so I randomly picked one.

After about fifteen minutes, I got my score - a 79%. I groaned. "It's not a bad score," Sheeshey comforted me. Then, she took my place and did the test.

-o-O-o-

"What are you planning on doing for the sessions? Or is it a secret?" I asked Sheesheey; Uniqua was up at the test.

Sheeshey looked around, then leaned in - she probably didn't want a repeat of the Seashell incident. "Spears, and some agility. You?"

I turned and whispered into her ear, "Throwing knives, and then some snares."

Sheeshey nodded, and turned as Uniqua came back to us. "What did you get?" she asked.

"89%," Uniqua responded.

I nodded. "Nice," I said, and pondered for a bit - Uniqua had gotten the highest score, so I'd say she was the best at survival. And I was pretty good at multiple weapons, while Sheeshey and Uniqua could only use one or two, so I was probably the weapon person. Sheeshey, obviously, rocked at agility. Good, we're all good at different things, I thought, and snapped back to what Sheeshey was saying.

"...do some snares - there is a good chance at least part of the arena will be woods/forest. If that is true, snares would be one of our main food sources." She said, and I nodded, along with Uniqua.

"I can show you the snares I learned," I offered. Sheeshey grinned.

"Awesome! Let's go!" Uniqua said, and we headed over.

-o-O-o-

"And then you tuck this here," the trainer explained, finishing the lecture. Sheeshey, Uniqua, and I were at the station with the ones we saw earlier - 3, 7, and 15. 15 groaned; she had failed the knot. She looked about as old as Ellie - I almost felt bad for her.

"It's okay, Lily. We've got the snares," Seven said, and 'Lily' sniffed.

"Yeah, you're the best runner we've got!" Three exclaimed.

"David! There are other people here!" Seven scolded, looking over at us. I rolled my eyes and picked another knot to try.

-o-O-o-

When we finally got up, my fingers were sore. By the way Sheeshey and Uniqua were rubbing them, they had sore fingers as well.

"Where to next?" I asked, looking at the clock.

"What about edible, inedible, and medicinal plants?" Uniqua asked. We nodded, and once again wandered there, looking at other people.

The plant station was almost all the way across the room; we passed a lot of people, and learned a bit about alliances. My eyes wandered around for Ashley and Annie. They found them at the wrestling station, and I gulped. They were good. I would have some dangerous enemies.

"Katrina?" Sheeshey prodded me in the side. "We're here."

I looked around, and saw that we were finally at the plants station. "Medicinal or edible/inedible first?" Unqiua asked in a whisper.

"Edible," Sheeshey and I said together. We sat down, and the trainer started explaining.

-o-O-o-

After the trainer finished explaining, we each got a pile of twenty plants and were told to sort the into two piles: edible and inedible. I studied each plant hard before putting it in a pile - I wasn't going to die by eating a poisonous berry or something.

-o-O-o-

I stared at one berry for quite some time - it looked exactly like a blueberry, and I almost put it in the edible pile. But something was nagging at me, something the trainer had said.

The trainer held up a berry I thought was a blueberry. "Who knows what this is?" he asked. I raised my hand, and the trainer called on me.

"A blueberry," I said. "It's edible." Another girl - number 21 - watched me with careful eyes while a boy - 22 - laughed.

"What?!" I asked, outraged.

"It's... it's not a blueberry," 21 choked out, laughing. I glared.

"Well, if it's not a blueberry, then what is it?" I asked, because clearly, it was a blueberry.

The trainer grinned as if our quarrel amused him. "It is a Menispermum canadense, also known as moonseed," he stated, and the girl laughed.

"I must get it from my father," 21 explained. "He was President Snow's logician, so I must get my logic from him." I rolled my eyes at Sheeshey and Uniqua, and they nodded.

I shook myself from the memory, and put the berry in the inedible pile.

-o-O-o-

After we did medicinal plants - which Sheeshey rocked at, we went to the lunch room, because it was lunch time.

I sat with Sheeshey and Uniqua, picking at my food.

"What are you guys planning on doing?" Uniqua asked, munching on some bread.

"Spears, agility. You?" Sheeshey replied, taking a sip of soda from a glass.

"Throwing knives, snares. If time, I'll do the rock wall," I said. I had told Sheeshey, so I was saying this for Uniqua.

"I'm gonna do the blowgun, then start a fire, put it out, then if I have time, I'll do some edible plants." Uniqua said, answering both her own question and our unasked one.

"Coolio. Is it wrong to be nervous?" Sheeshey had finished her drink, and was playing with her soup spoon.

"I hope not!" I exclaimed, before adding, "When are they calling us?" I set down my spoon, having finished my soup.

"Now," a new voice said, just as a speaker crackled on.

Hi. Sowwy. I hope you liked this chapter, because I love cliffhangers. (While I'm writing them!) Oh, and nightlock is actually based on nightshade, and foxgrove on foxglove.

I don't think you want to hear reasons why I'm late, so I won't say. However, I do have some questions. And a question before the question. So, I was thinking to try weekly updates. The chapters might be a slight bit shorter, but I'd try to update every Sunday. Or, I could keep doing what I'm doing, with these staggered updates and slightly longer chapter. What do you think? I'd love to get your feedback!

Okay, questions.

1) Who do you think the new voice belonged to?

2) Thoughts on Sheeshey, Uniqua, and Katrina's friendship/alliance?

3) How am I doing with Katrina's personality? I don't write Capitolites very well; any tips?

May the odds be ever in your favor!