No matter how hard I try, I can't sleep. I think being in the Capitol is getting to me.

This is my first night without my family, and I just can't get them out of my head. Is my sister tossing and turning in her bed, thinking of me like I'm thinking of her? Am I ever going to see my parents again?

I came to the common area of the District Eleven suite about an hour ago now. My room seemed to shrink smaller and smaller, threatening to swallow me whole, and I needed my own space to think.

I slip my locket out from under my shirt. My mentor, Jordinia, took it from me yesterday. She said it would need to be checked by the Gamemakers before they allowed me to keep it as my token from home. I only got it back right before we all headed to bed tonight.

I click the locket open, and its usual song pours out. My father gave it to me for my fourteenth birthday, and he got it specially made to play music like a music box when it opened.

And there's my family: my father on the left, my mother on the right, and Mindy in the middle. My little sister.

Just seeing my family's faces again makes me want to cry. Here I am, stranded across the country and about to be sent to my death. I would give anything to be home again...

A shadow flashes across the wall as someone walks into the common room, and I snap my locket shut with a click. Silence engulfs the room as I slip my locket away.

"Oh, sorry," Eddie says, running his hand through his hair. "Didn't think anyone would be in here."

"It's okay," I exhale, turning to face my District partner. For a moment, we stay suspended in silence, unsure of what to do next. Ever since we were Reaped, there's been a tension between Eddie and me that I can't quite place. We both come from very different sides of District Eleven, I think, and we don't have much in common.

Eddie breaks our staring contest, moving towards me. "Couldn't sleep?" he asks, crossing his arms over his chest as he sits on the couch across from me.

"Just thinking about my family," I say. "It's hard to know that I might never see them again. I guess I really took what I had in Eleven for granted."

"Me too," Eddie says, his eyes dark. "You don't know what you have until it's gone, I guess. You have any siblings?"

"Just a sister," I tell him. "Mindy. The only good thing about me getting Reaped is that it wasn't her. She means everything to me."

"That's sweet," Eddie sighs. "There are lots of us at my house. We're close and all, but I don't know if I would volunteer to take their place if they were Reaped. I mean, they didn't volunteer for me."

"I'm sure they wanted to," I assure him. "But who wants to go into the Hunger Games?"

Eddie nods. "I'm worried about all of them," he admits. "They all worked in the fields, and I was in packaging. I made double their wages, and now I'm gone. I was the main person supporting all of them, and part of me feels like I've let them down."

"You couldn't have controlled the Reaping," I say. I can't imagine working to support my whole family like Eddie is, especially at our age. It makes me respect him a whole lot more.

"Well, I'll be letting them down if I die in the Arena," Eddie rephrases. "That's how I feel."

"Don't be unfair to yourself," I tell him. "We just have to try our hardest. That's all we can do."

Eddie just shrugs. "I can't stop thinking about Training," he sighs. "That's why I can't sleep. Everything I do could mean the difference between life and death in the Arena, and I want to go back home so bad."

"You're gonna be fine," I assure him. "I mean, you have to be one of the strongest people here. I wouldn't worry about it."

"That's why I'm worried," Eddie says, his eyes dark. "I'm a target."

Eddie locks eyes with me, and I see a fear in his gaze that scares me.

"We should get drinks and go sit on the balcony," I suggest, turning away from Eddie. "I think both of us need to clear our heads."

Eddie nods, his brow furrowed. At my call, an Avox approaches us from the corner of the room.

"Orange juice, please," Eddie requests, receiving a nod from the Avox.

"Juice?" I ask, surprised. "Not soda or anything?"

"I've never had soda," Eddie shrugs. "Too expensive."

A pit forms in my stomach as I look at Eddie. How many things in my life have I taken for granted because of the family I was born into? How many luxuries has Eddie never experienced in his life?

"Come on, you should try it," I encourage him. "I'll get some with you."

At my suggestion, Eddie orders an orange soda. I ask the Avox for lemon.

"No soda, huh?" I ask, curious to know more about Eddie's lifestyle. "What's your drink of choice?"

"Orange juice," he says with a nostalgic smile. "My brother Dom worked in the orchards, and every once in a while, he'd sneak a few oranges out for us to make juice."

"He snuck stuff out?" I ask. "Is that allowed?"

Eddie just laughs as if I've asked a stupid question. "No," he says with a rare smile on his face. "He got caught once, and they whipped him so bad he was out of work for a week."

This makes my jaw drop. "Who did?" I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer. "Who whipped him?"

"The field overseers," Eddie says, giving me a funny look. "You know they have whips, right?"

Of course I know that the field overseers have whips, considering that my father is one. They're only used to direct people, though. Stay out of this section. Whip. Pick up the pace. Whip. I've never heard of someone being whipped like that for punishment. And to be out of work for a week... the thought makes me shudder. My father wouldn't do that... would he?

"I've never heard of anything like that," I admit to Eddie. "I can't believe they would get away with treating your brother like that."

"We come from very different worlds," Eddie says with a knowing smile. "It's just how it is."

Our drinks arrive, and I lead Eddie to the window. After this conversation, I think I need to clear my head more than he does.

"Jordinia told me there was a little latch here," I mutter, sliding my fingers across the edge of the window. I find it, sliding the huge pane of glass open to reveal the tiny balcony outside.

Beneath us, the city streets are quiet. Cars silently pass eleven stories beneath us. Up above, a sea of stars watches over us, unmoving.

"This is amazing," Eddie says, his eyes bright as he sips from his glass. "I might order another before I'm even done with this one."

"Here, try mine," I say passing him my glass. The way he's looking at me is like a kid in a toy store. Eddie quickly sips from my glass, taking in the new flavor before passing it back.

"That tastes amazing," he raves. "What other flavors do you think they have?"

"Whatever you could possibly think of, I'm sure they have it," I tell him with a smile. Eddie quiets down, thinking about what he's going to get next. I find myself looking back up to the stars.

"My father told me that the stars look the same no matter where you are in Panem," I say. "If our families are looking up at them right now, they're looking at the same stars as us."

"That makes the distance seem a lot smaller," Eddie says quietly.

I set my drink down between us, turning to my District partner. He's staring out at the luxurious streets below us.

"You know, this has been the craziest two days of my life," I say, and Eddie glances over at me. "But I'm glad that I'm here with you. We're an unlikely pair, but I've learned a lot from you since we met."

"Me too," Eddie grins. "Without you, how would I ever have found soda?"

We laugh, looking back out over the city. Sure, this is the wildest ride I've ever been on. Here I am, in the middle of a city where I don't belong, hours away from my family.

But now I have a friend, and none of that seems so bad.