I had to drag myself out of bed as Lolly knocked on the door, telling me to wake up. I took a light shower, with a sprinkle of cool water waking me up slowly.

When I went out, there was an outfit laid out on my bed. It was the standard tribute-training outfit for everyone, with the district number on the shoulder sleeve and at the back. I didn’t have to worry about seeming waif-like this time. But then, I wasn’t sure if they showed sponsors clips of us training to get a good feel of whom it was good to bet on. Viewers in the districts surely had some different footage.

I didn’t look as helpless, suited up in this outfit.

While I was eating, Alta took care to have my hair styled better than the one that the shower could have produced. They put my hair in big curls and added the few strings of gold. I thought it was unnecessary. I would end up moving and training anyway. It would be messed up in less than an hour.

Mari was talking strategies to us, and what we were going to do in the training rooms. “Show them that you’re competent with a few weapons. Sword fight with the trainer there, and the Gamemakers will make sure that your statistics are high and betting on you would be a smart thing to do. It would also help show your allies that you aren’t completely worthless, but not much of a threat that they need to kill you off early in the Games. Don’t show them your best though.”

“Make an effort to learn things that weren’t available to you in District 4. Learn trapping and how to make snares. Try out the weapons that you’ve never tried. See if you’re any good at those.” Aldo looked calmer than he did for the past few days. He seemed to accept what it was and that his best way of handling this was to keep his tributes alive as long as possible. “There will be someone who will explain the necessity of survival as well as weaponry. Learn as much as you can for the next three days.”

“Do we stick together?” I remembered how they said two tributes looking like they got along was something to look at.

Aldo shook his head. “At this point, we should invest in knowledge. Since the two of you have varying degrees of different skills, it will be better to cover more ground of what you are unfamiliar with. Besides, the relationship that you have to invest on is the one with Slate. I have discussed this with his mentors earlier this morning. They find it mutually advantageous.”

I felt myself heating up as the blood rushed to my face. I forgot all about that. Now, in light of the logical morning and the exhaustion leaving my body, it seemed like some foolish thing I started just because I wasn’t thinking straight.

“Go ahead and go down to the training rooms.” Lolly stood up at this order from Aldo, but he immediately said, “You don’t need to go with them, Lolly. They can find their way easily.”

The training rooms were located underneath the Training Center. When we arrived, half the tributes were already there. Izo, who seemed to be the person who would brief us on the different stations, stood at attention, waiting for the other tributes to arrive. I saw Slate quickly, and took my place a few feet away from him.

Xavier followed me. I knew nothing about this boy except of his skills. I didn’t know whom his parents were or if he lived in the water village. District 4 was too big to know everyone. I had no attachments to him except that he reminded me of Aldo when he was in the Games, but then again, Aldo had come in voluntarily.

The similarities could be seen though. Xavier kept wearing the expression of fear in his eyes. It seemed that I was the only one who could read them, because in the back of my mind, I knew that I had that same fear. We both feared not returning home. What odds were there really, when there were 24 tributes and only one came out alive? After seeing these other Careers, my initial confidence in my abilities wavered.

I might be allied with them at the start, but when the time comes and I will have to turn on them, they will have the advantage of being bigger than me.

After a few minutes, I saw that the rest of the tributes came down with their escorts. These were the ones from 5, 7, 10, 11 and 12. I saw the other Careers smirking at their competition.

Arrogance. Eula said it could be my downfall. If she had not warned me beforehand, then I might have felt cocky about my chances.

I had to remember that it had been a few years since we had a victor. It wasn’t a very long time, considering other districts only had one or two, but it kept me grounded knowing that even Career tributes could fall. There was only so much advice from mentors could go.

Once we were all complete and the clock chimed 10 o’clock, Izo started on the importance of different stations. I already knew this, what with Aldo as my brother. I didn’t expect a lot though. There was a camouflage station, edible plants, how to make shelter, and even ones that I overlooked, such as starting fires and climbing. I had believed that I was so well-prepared that I forgot that there were different skill sets that I haven’t mastered.

Once Izo left us to our devices, I went quickly to the weapons station, where the archery weapons were. I had tried this out at school, and I had decent knowledge of it, but my aim was rusty, and I needed practice. As much as survival was important, I knew that combat and weapons were going to be my salvation against the Careers, if I have survived long enough.

The trainer, Wix, was very enthusiastic about it. He had the standing targets prepared as I held my position. It felt awkward, holding a bow. It always had been for me. Knives were easier for me. This need for another contraption to hit long range was useful, since the distance was greater than any of my knives could, but I just couldn’t get the hang of it.

I felt hands on my waist. I almost turned around and elbow whoever it was, but I somehow guessed who it would be. I resisted my natural instinct to defend myself, but I reminded myself that I was still safe while training. It wasn’t allowed to combat with other tributes. Save that for the arena.

“Relax,” Slate said, sliding his hands and overlapped where my hands were. His breath was at my ear and I felt myself relaxing, but not because he ordered me to. I just mechanically relaxed as I felt his body heat close to mine. What was wrong with me? I felt authentically attracted to him. I had thought that I just needed a distraction, but me being well rested now, I knew that I was aware of my feelings and thoughts.

This attraction was even more than what I felt for those two boys I had feelings for back home. With Slate, it came instantaneously.

“Level it with your lips.” He said, and I felt his eyes on my face, probably glancing at that part of my face where he just mentioned. “Then let go.”

His grip loosened at the same time I let go of the arrow. It shot straight and hit a place on the target that was close to the heart. I turned my head toward him and grinned. “Thanks. Are you any good at it?”

I was teasing, obviously, but it was an open invitation for him to show off. And then I could pretend to be impressed.

I didn’t have to pretend really, since I was actually impressed. He shot at every target that Wix had launched into the air. He misses a few when there were seven tossed at one time, but I was legitimately impressed.

After his hits, he made sure to glance over his shoulder to see if I was watching. Of course I was. I wouldn’t miss a chance to give people something to talk about.

I tried a few more on the standing target, just until I felt comfortable that I could competently handle a bow. I ended up hitting the heart and the head of the target while Slate watched. I didn’t stop until I was satisfied and knew that those shots didn’t come just out of sheer luck.

Slate brought me over to the other Careers, who considered me slowly. Obviously, the whole thing about exaggerating my physical appearance was the main strategy. They knew that I had a set of skills that were useful, especially since they knew I was a victor’s sibling, as well as from District 4.