Svetlana Mason- district Six female (17)

"But I don't want to hurt anyone."

"This is the one time you can do it without getting into any trouble. Haven't you ever wondered what it's like to kill someone?" The spear tutor got a faraway expression. "I sure have." I didn't stay long at the spear station.

The woman at the physical fitness station was massive. I'd never seen anyone so big in person. She looked like she could run through a wall and leave a her-shaped hole.

"How did you get so big?" I asked her.

She looked down at the round stomach protruding from under her crop top. "It was mostly the bread," she said cheerfully.

"No, no!" I hastened. "I meant the muscle!"

The attendant laughed and clapped me on the back. "I'm just messing with you. It wasn't easy, though. Most people give up before they achieve this." She flexed her arms.

"No one would want to fight me if I looked like you."

"You could get through the whole Games without hurting anyone!" The attendant responsed. So I chose the fitness station as main focus. I trained with a sword too, just in case, but my first plan was avoiding a fight altogether.

"Pull-ups are still the best measurement of overall upper body strength," Penelope instructed as I stood under the bar. "Have you ever done one?"

"No, but I'll give it a shot," I said. Penelope lifted her eyebrow and smiled a little as I hopped up and grabbed the bar. I gave my best pull. Nothing happened.

"No one just starts off doing pull ups, noodle arms," she said after I let go. "I see you used the palm-forward grip though. Most ladies do. When you get as big as me palms-backward is easier, but you're not going to get that big in three days."

"How did you start?" I asked. I didn't even see how it was possible. I couldn't even feel the muscles engage.

"Pull-ups are a two-person sport," Penelope said. "Hop up again." I grabbed the bar and she moved behind me to put her hands on my back. "Now try." As I pulled she slowly pushed up on me. With her support I felt my muscles go through the motions of a pull-up, though of course it wasn't all me.

"The first bit it's going to be all your partner but as you go you'll start helping more and more." She pushed back up as my arms were starting to burn. "Try for three."

After the third assisted pull-up Penelope advised me to work on some other muscles. She said endurance was built not by doing heavy work a few times but by doing lighter work a lot, so I should alternate small sets of pull-ups with small sets of other things. I wasn't sure if I could get all the way to unassisted pull-ups before the Games started but Penelope said it was possible. Even if I didn't, some progress was better than no progress.

Amberlynne Hyde- District Nine female (15)

Back in Nine the Capitolites had always thought I was cool. I was a Districter. Hardy. Exotic. Wild. A hardscrabble rough and tough brute so much tougher than soft Capitolites. I really wasn't most of those things but perception is reality. Here in the Capitol I was both a Districter and a Tribute, which I quickly learned made me even cooler. So it wasn't hard to wheedle my new friends into sneaking me out of the Games building to see the Capitol nightlife.

Before we even entered the first club I'd learned a lot. I was always trying to stay trendy in Nine but I never had much to go on past what visiting Capitolites happened to mention. As I looked out the window of the taxi I noted all the clubs we passed. Themed clubs were in, if the wild west club and the outer space club were any indications. I would have thought that hilariously cliche but I was always willing to give the people what they wanted.

According to my new friends, Euphoria was the hottest. I considered myself pretty knowledgeable on club history and dance and things like that but I'd never heard of "disco" before. Apparently it was very retro and very "in".

"So, what do you think?" Daphne asked as I took it all in, from the mirrored round light to the round hairstyles of some of the patrons.

"The music is cool," I went with. I wasn't sure how to describe it but it was certainly cool. It was like nothing I'd heard back home.

"You mean 'groovy'," Bacchus said, whatever that meant.

Bacchus and I tried to make conversation over the blaring music as Daphne got our drinks. She might have been able to sneak me past the doorman by introducing me as a friend, but the bartender would likely have more suspicions about someone as baby-faced as me, even if the Capitol drinking age was sixteen.

"Of course! Anytime! I'll show you all the best spots- the real hidden gems," I said in response to Bacchus' question about visiting Nine. I was always eager to make new connections in any situation. New friends who could send me food and supplies were even better.

"Heyyyy," Daphne sang as she slid into the booth next to me. "One hard Shirley Temple for the lady." She set my drink down on the table. It was just about the lightest drink I could get. I had to keep up appearances as a bubbly social butterfly but my little secret was that alcohol upset my stomach.

I hadn't even started my drink before Bacchus got up. "You ever disco dance?" he asked.

"First time for everything," I said with a challenging smile.

There did not need to be a first time for disco dancing. When unfolded in front of me was the most bizarre and awkward dancing I had ever seen. Before long I was convinced that I did not stick out at all for not knowing the moves. Clearly everyone was making up every move as they went. The only ones who seemed to have any idea what they were doing were the dancers in the cages suspended from the roof, which just struck me as coming from a weird science fiction movie in some alien kingpin's palace. It had to be seen to be believed.

"Do we know how to party or what?" Daphne crowed as we returned to the booth.

My throat burned as I shouted over the noise. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I just wish they'd crank up the AC a bit." Bacchus wiped the sweat from his forehead as he reached for his drink.

Good idea. I reached for my own glass, looking thirstily at the beads of condensation. I was just raising it when I saw her.

On the best of days Nassor looked like a nerd. He looked like the sort of guy who could tell you the number of electrons in helium off the top of his head His expression as I looked up was even more severe than normal but it was marred by the tinsel dangling from the side of his head and the dancing pricks of light cast on his face.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" he asked, hands on his hips.

"Oh hey, Nassor," I said. "I didn't know you were into disco."