Claudia Santana, 46

Hunger Games Announcer

My makeup artist Teo finishes up on my look, brushing rose-gold eyeshadow on my lids, and I look in the mirror. Gorgeous! My dress will match the color of the shadow perfectly. I pull out a couple hundred panars, and give it to Teo. He bows down quickly, and scatters from the room.

An avox maid comes back inside my dressing room, pouring me another glass of champagne, as I requested. It wouldn't hurt to wind down a bit before announcing the scores. The maid wears heels, and as she is leaving the room, she trips and falls, quickly composing herself and getting back up. The girl can't be any older than eighteen. How useless! How come they hired someone so inexperienced for such an important figure like me.

"Scramble! You worthless fool!" I yell, and the maid darts out of the room, not even bothering to apologize. I'll have to report her to my manager later, maybe she'll be sold off to another family.

Not even a minute later, my dressing room door opens again, and in walks my older brother Christos. I squeal, and run up to hug him. It's been ages since we last spoke, I guess he's busy being the president of Panem and all.

"Chris! It's been so long and now you show up unannounced before I have to go on live T.V! What's up?"

"Well, the interviews are tonight, so I thought I would stop by and see you since we'll be in the same building."

"Ah, is your wife coming with you?" I ask.

"No, she's preparing the tubes tonight, but after Glistina is finished with school she will be attending tonight."

It's not like me and Rina don't get along, but ever since her and my brother got married, I never really liked her. We're both so different personality wise, she's really stern and serious all the time and I don't mind a good laugh, so I prefer not to be around the woman.

"That's good, I can't wait to see Glistina! She will love the pair of shoes I got for her." I respond.

My watch rings, reminding me I need to be on set in five minutes to announce the training scores.

"It was great catching up with you, brother! But now I must go."

Christos nods his head, and leaves the room, escorted by his bodyguard. I look at myself in the mirror one last time, and walk down the hallway to the set where I'll be announcing the scores. Cameras are positioned in front of the large table, and I straighten my back perfectly, sit down in my chair, and pucker my lips, ready to go.

"Action!" The cameraman shouts.

"Hello Panem, and it's an exciting day today! In just a few moments I will be announcing the training scores of the 99th Hunger Games tributes! And tonight, my wonderful colleague Astro Flickerman will be hosting the interviews!"

The screen switches to a quick recap of some of the tributes during the training, some are shooting arrows from bows, others sword fighting, and some examining plants carefully. I am given an envelope with all of the training scores.

"Okay Panem, it is now time."

"Midas Peralta, with a score of 11!

Elizabeth Hills with a score of 9!

Cain Masen with a score of 10!

Selene Katsaros with a score of 8!

Alectron Dalton with a score of 4!

Athena Dell with a score of 5!

Finbar Walsh with a score of 9!

Anemone Fletcher with a score of 8!

Namid Ortiz with a score of 9!

Alberta Lee, with an impressive score of 11!

Thomas Gage with a score of 3!

Regina Peil with a score of 7!

Caspum Hollister with a score of 5!

Lily Tang with a score of 6!

Robbie Jute with a score of 4!

Tay Fuller with a score of 7!

Fonio Olsen with a score of 6!

Mazie Millar also with a score of 6!

Aaron Hamilton with a score of 9!

Barbara Gutierrez with a score of 5!

Quincy Cullen with a score of 8!

Asa Gagneux-Boerio with a score of 10!

Vaughn Lovett, with a score of 3!

And finally, Blayke Pashton with a score of 2!"

Alberta Lee, 17

District 5 Female

"Alberta Lee, with an impressive score of 11!"

The room goes from silent, to full-blown celebration. Our mentor, Phoenix Blue, is running up to give me and Namid both hugs, probably because we both got such high scores. Consus just stares at us, probably in shock that two tributes from District 5 finally got good scores.

"You two did amazing!" Consus screams, and he squeezes me into an embrace.

Namid stares at me. "An 11? What did you do, Alberta?"

I flip my hair, "Nothing much, I just played my cards right and made an impression I guess."

The truth is, all I had to do was show off my skills with the tranquilizer on an avox. I was a little surprised they allowed my request, so it probably wasn't the first time tributes have been allowed to experiment with the avoxes. I've been preparing for the Hunger Games for a while now, so back home I paid a few peacekeepers to show me how to use weapons properly.

"When I heard I got a 9, I was impressed, but an 11?"

"They should've given me a 12." I joke, and Namid chuckles.

I've been feeling a lot more comfortable around Namid since we arrived in the Capitol. I feel like I can say anything to him, and trust him as well. But deep down I know that isn't true. I can't trust anyone because I'm afraid if I tell him my plans for the arena, he'll get scared and run away. Then he won't be able to help me.

Phoenix pulls me aside, and whispers something in my ear.

"What were you thinking? You were supposed to keep your skills a secret!"

My mentor knows what I'm capable of. Phoenix won the 88th Hunger Games using stealth and traps, and I was quick to have a chat with him on the train about what my skills are. He didn't believe me at first, but now he knows I wasn't lying.

"I want everyone to know I am not to be messed with." I whisper back subtly.

"The careers will try everything to take you out."

I nod my head, but honestly I'm not afraid of the careers. They can try and get me, but I've got some tricks up my sleeve.

Cain Masen, 18

District 2 Male

Maybe I would have been fine with a 10, if Midas and the girl from District 5 hadn't gotten an 11. When Alberta was announced to have an 11, Selene gasped loudly, and everyone else just stared wide-eyed at the screen.

"How did that girl get an 11?" Selene asks. "And how did I only get an 8?"

"You must never underestimate anyone's skill." Selene's mentor Ryfle says, her face in a serious frown.

I laugh. "What could this girl possibly have done to get a higher score than me? I bet I could still snap her neck in a second."

My mentor Cyprus agrees with me. "It must have been rigged. I heard that the girl is the mayor's daughter."

Rifle stares at him coldly. "Cy, you know that's a serious accusation to make. You can't judge a book by its cover."

I think back to what I've seen of Alberta during the training. I'm not very observant, so I didn't pay much attention. I remember her hanging out with a group of other tributes, and she seemed feisty, but I can't recall much more.

And then Midas also got an 11. I can't help but feel a pang of jealousy, because I was supposed to be the strongest in the alliance. All my life, I've been the strongest, but now two people have proven themselves to be stronger somehow. And now I need to kill them both.

This was super late, but I finally got it done and like I said before chapters may not come as frequently but next up we have the interviews! I don't have much else to say but I have the blog up now, so please check it out :) You can find it at inpl ainsight99t hs bly (remove spaces obviously!)

Questions:

1) Were you surprised by any of the training scores?

2) Do you think Alberta will do well in the arena now that her score puts a target on her back?

3) Do you think Cain is too cocky?

xo, cassy