Author's Note

I do not own the Hunger Games.

Let's get this goooing!

Luminita Summerfield, 17

She smiled and set her yellow bird on the table to dry. It had turned out well, she was especially proud of her designs around the eyes. Perhaps she could use it as a painting model in future. Maybe if she found an interesting location to take it..?

"Are you just going to stand there smiling at that thing?" Sorcha asked from the doorway.

Luminita frowned. "I like it."

There's a little yellow bird flying round your head.

"But what does it do?"

"It looks pretty and makes me happy. What do you want, Sorcha?"

"Just checking in on you. You know, you spend all your time shut away with your paints."

"Well, now you've seen me."

The television lit up with an advertisement. Luminita frowned down at it as it played the familiar jingle for The Game, followed by a gaudy message that Bluewatch Centre was opening a surprise special.

Sorcha waved a hand at it. "Old news. It's not even that hard to win. I don't know what all the fuss is about. Those District brats have it easy."

"I dunno, they're calling this a special. Besides, you're telling me that you could actually hit someone?"

"Of course I could! Can! I won! And I could do it again!" Sorcha smiled. "In fact, you know what? I'm going to win this special too."

"Can I come along?"

Sorcha frowned. "You would… want to?"

"You say you can win." Luminita took her jacket. "I want to see how true that is."

Emeria Delilah Echavoque, 15

ONE DAY ONLY, declared the advertisement. FOR THE SIX MONTH ANIVERSARY OF THE RELEASE OF THE GAME, BLUEWATCH GAME CENTRE WILL BE HOLDING A SUPER SECRET SURPRISE EVENT TODAY AT ONE O'CLOCK!"

Emeria stared at the screen and then sprang to her feet and hurried to grab her bag. "We have to enter that."

Silverie gazed at the screen for a long moment. "Do you think that's what the worker was talking about last week? When he said we'd have more fun this weekend?"

"Oh, maybe." Emeria slung her bag over her shoulder. "Come on, grab your stuff! We have to enter! And people will want to get into this one, we need to be there early!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Silverie snatched their own bag. "We should be able to get to Bluewatch easy from mine anyway." They slipped their keycard into their bag. "What do you think it is, this special?"

"Maybe they're running an early arena at last?"

Six months, and Emeria still didn't know anyone to have played the first to the sixth.

"Or one of the quells! I'm sure whatever it is, it'll be fun!"

"I don't doubt that." Silverie opened the door. "You ready?"

"Ready!"

"Then let's go!"

Vivaldi Perlman, 16

For a long moment, he simply stared at the screen. A special? Had The Game ever run one of those before? He couldn't remember seeing one advertised. Which meant this was going to be something different, something truly special. He could finally see something from beyond the Capitol, even if it was all virtual.

And he'd prove Thorin wrong.

He could be good at plenty of things!

Like this, for example.

Vivaldi grabbed a jacket – pastel over his neon clothes today, that didn't match, but he needed to get there early so he could guarantee himself a spot. According to all the kids at school, that was the best way to do it. Get there early, get high up in the line. If you were far back in the queue, they said, you'd never get in. Only twenty four players could enter a Game at a time after all. It was meant to be realistic. Or something like that.

Vivaldi called a quick goodbye to his parents over the sound of piano music and closed the door. For a moment his hand hovered over his comm phone. Should he call Thorin and invite him? They could do this as a team! No–

No, he wanted to do this by himself.

He was going to prove to Thorin that he could do this by himself.

Andreas Amandiel, 18

Bluewatch was the furthest Games Centre from his home, but, thankfully, close to the little cafe where Andreas had decided to get breakfast. This system did seem unfair to aspiring players that lived further from the centres though. Andreas had thought before that they should have come up with a better way of applying for participation in the simulator. Online, maybe, with players picked by a random program. That would be fairer.

Still, the line at Bluewatch was still only short when he arrived. How many were here already? Ten, twelve? Definitely less than twenty four. Andreas smiled and stepped into line behind a pair of boys talking away to each other. Presumably they'd come here together, which meant they wouldn't do as allies. They'd be more loyal to each other than him. He needed an ally though, if he was ever to get any further. Especially in a special, where who knew what the operators were about to pull. Some of the younger kids in line were theorising about that, spewing excited ideas.

Was that all that they could think about? They were children of the Capitol; they should be the leaders of the future, not such barbarians.

The simulator was good for a thrill, for trying to taste a little excitement, but truly only served as a distraction.

Perhaps if he could win this special, he could find some support among the players.

Sorcha Summerfield, 17

Despite declaring her desire to compete, Luminita was frustratingly slow on the way to Bluewatch Centre. Sorcha pressed her to hurry up as they went. If it was some kind of special, there was going to be a lot of interest in getting in.

Sorcha had tried to speak to her as they went, but Luminita had no interest in her latest swim competition and Sorcha was unsure what else to discuss.

There was already a short line at Bluewatch, and she dragged Luminita into it. How far back were they? Less than twenty four? How many had already gone in?

None, she found as the worker raised the bar to begin allowing players inside. They must have been among the first to hear about this special.

"We're in!" she said. "Right, so we're working together, yeah?"

"I… assume so."

"Great. Now, just don't embarrass me during the Parade or Interview. That's your chance to get sponsor points – you get some of those from training and your score, but you can earn them from people watching too. Don't mess up being you."

"Understood."

"Great!"

If Luminita liked this, maybe they'd finally have something in common!

Calpurnia Catallus, 16

"Come on, Marcellina! We have to get into this special! Once one of us places in the top twelve in this, Lysandra won't be able to deny we're better than her!"

Marcellina hesitated, faltering as they neared the line outside Bluewatch. "I don't know about this, Calpurnia."

Calpurnia sighed, dragging her over to the line. "Look, it's a game. We're not actually going to get hurt, not like the District scum. What's all your fuss about?"

Marcellina turned a pale shade of pink. "I kinda promised my dad…"

Calpurnia giggled and prodded her in the side. "Ooh, look at you rulebreaking!"

"It's not funny!"

Calpurnia sighed and rolled her eyes. "What does your dad have against The Game anyway? Doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would ever catch his attention."

"It was just something we were talking about a while back."

"Well, I'm sure if you place he'll be proud of you." She peered up the line. "I just hope we got here soon enough."

Maximillian Marcus Badondé, 18

"Come on, Maxi!" demanded his so-called foster sister. "It's a special! It'll be fun!"

"It's stupid," he muttered, looking up at the building. The word Bluewatch decorated the side of the building in large, glowing blue letters. Already a small line had formed, winding halfway down the street.

The two girls sighed. "You need to have some fun."

"And you think this looks like fun?"

"It is fun! It's our turn to play in the Hunger Games!"

Well, at least his weapons training should give him an advantage.

Phoenix Sterling, 13

Up ahead, the worker was beginning to let players in. Phoenix wasn't sure they'd make it, they were pretty far back on account of the triplets trying to hide her from the Gilmores, and made sure to steady behind them. It wouldn't be so bad if they got in when she didn't.

Those around them buzzed with excitement as the neon blue light filled the tunnel from above and soft music played in the background.

"Wonder how special this is actually going to be," said Luminescence, flicking a lock of his platinum bond hair from his face. "We've played most of the arenas."

"They've got to be releasing some of the earlier ones," said Iridescence.

"Pity. The Sixty Third was my favourite," replied Radiance.

"Yeah, well, you're a freak."

"Agreed," said Iridescence. "The Sixty Third was hell. Far too much water."

"Wasn't the Sixty Third all water?" asked Phoenix. That was the one that had been a disaster; half the tributes drowned during the bloodbath.

"Yup," said Luminescence.

"I liked it," said Radiance.

And then they were at the desk, the worker there smiling out at them.

"Four to play please," said Luminescence, swiping his payment card. The worker printed them tickets and passed them under the glass.

"I hope you enjoy our special!"

"Oh, we plan on winning your special," said Iridescence, taking Phoenix's arm to pull her through to the waiting room where they'd get their Game suits.

"I wish you luck," replied the worker.

Phoenix hesitated at the door. "Iridescence, I'm not so sure about this."

"Come on! You're through to be hooked up; you can't drop out now! The game would be one player short!" Iridescence said as she pulled Phoenix along.

"I just really don't know. It's not really my kind of thing."

Iridescence took her shoulders. "Look, it doesn't have to be. You're just going to be our secret weapon against the Gilmores for if everything goes wrong. Grab a bag, hide somewhere in the arena, and don't get killed until at least the six of us are dead. That way we prove us Sterlings are smarter than them if nothing else."

"This is a stupid plan," Phoenix muttered as they stepped through the door. "What if something goes wrong? You won't be able to do it twice; they'll know to target me!"

Iridescence grinned. "Then you better get it right this time round."

Author's Note

So that's the first half of our Entrance section. As a note, all submitted player characters will have a short pov in the Entrance section, so if you didn't see your character here, it means they'll appear next chapter. After that, however, not every character will have a pov for every part of The Game, to stop things getting repetitive. Instead, I've broken the story down into 'sections,' with each submitted player character having one pov in each section. My character povs are a little more spread out in the pre-Games, but that might change in the arena.