| " A C A R E E R . " |

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I walk carefully and slowly into District one's living quarters, making sure that I waste as much time as possible.

"Oh, you're here!" Glimmer says, pulling me towards the dining room. I inwardly groan to myself. Why did I have to do this? "Guys, c'mon, Taylor's here."

"Finally." Marvel smiles, and pulls me into the seat next to him. I smile back at him, and sit down. Glimmer looks at me, smirks, and wiggles her eyebrows while gesturing at the two of us.

I roll my eyes, and shake my head at her.

"Hello, Taylor." Enobaria speaks up, taking a seat across from me, and next to Glimmer. Brutus follows behind her, and sits beside Enobaria. "I hope you enjoyed the tribute parade." She begins as Avoxes place plates full of delicious food in front of us.

"I did, actually. I feel like I gained a few sponsors," I say, hoping that I wouldn't mess this up. Because I certainly need allies in these games. If not, I'll be dead in the bloodbath.

"We spoke with Elaina just a few minutes ago, and she informed us that you had gained quite a bit of sponsors." Brutus says, nodding.

"That's always good to hear."

"So, what weapons are you good at using?" Marvel asks, not hesitating to dig into his phone. I, on the other hand, don't want to eat all of this food. It'll give me an advantage during the games- being able to survive without loads of food for a while.

"I'm good with a spear, but even better with an axe. I do okay with daggers and knives." I say. "But axes are my definite favorite."

"Axes are a great choice. Marvel has a talent with spears, and Glimmer can shoot pretty well with a bow and arrow." Enobaria says between her bites of roast beef and thin slices of potato.

"What do you plan to go for during the Interviews?" Brutus asks as soon as Enobaria is finished. I sigh.

"I haven't really planned that, yet. I've easily gotten down to either: deadly and confident, silent and resourceful, or a plain but astute kind of tribute." Marvel raises his eyebrows and Enobaria and Brutus smirk.

"I think you'll do just fine in this alliance." Marvel pipes, while the others nod in agreement.

"Well, I'm very sorry that I'm late, but I ran into some extra guests." Plequa, Marvel and Glimmers' escort, says cheerfully, entering the room. I mentally slap myself as Cato, Clove, Cashmere, and Gloss walk in. Perfect. Note the sarcasm.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but we figured that right now would be the best time to have a chat with Taylor." Cashmere gestures towards me.

"Oh, no, that's perfectly fine. We were just talking about her, actually. Why don't you join us?" Brutus suggests. These people are nicer than they seem...

"Sure, sounds great." Gloss smiles casually, and everyone gathers around the table. Cashmere sits at one end of the table, opposite of Plequa. Clove sits next to Marvel. And you know what that means.

Yes, Cato sat next to me.

With everyone dressed up, and enjoying themselves, I feel like sprinting back to my living quarters. But I can't. This is the only chance I have.

"So, Taylor, darling. Have you put any thought into your private session?" Cashmere asks, and all attention is on me. I clear my throat, before speaking as clear as I can.

"Yes. I plan to show off a few of my talents with my axe, and maybe a trick or two with a spear. But to overwhelm the gamemakers, I want to throw a few knives at moving targets, add in a few somersaults. With that, I might just get a good score."

"So an axe is your chosen weapon?" Plequa questions. I nod.

"It seems that you have everything under control. But what about allies? Any other people we need to watch out for?" Gloss asks. I can tell that he's only questioning me to see how I act under pressure, and what kind of threats the tributes pose to me.

"I'm currently watching out for Thresh, the girl from five, and fire girl. They should be the only people that are a threat to me. Other than the careers, of course."

"That's good enough for me." Cato stands up. "She's with us, I say she's a career."

___♕___

The next morning, I was flocked by Ross to get my butt out of bed, and get dressed. He had put me into a plain black outfit with a grey and red stripe down the side of the shoulder on the shirt.

I had to admit, the outfit was comfortable, but I didn't quite like it.

In a box on the side of my shirt, was the letter '3' that signaled the District of each tribute. I yawn, and walk out of the room to run flat into Ross.

"It looks great." He charms. "Now lets get you to breakfast with the tributes, then to the training center."

"With the tributes?" I ask. "But I thought we only had breakfast with our District partner, escort, stylists, and mentors."

"Well, since you are in an alliance, your mentors decided that it would be a better idea to get to know them better." He smirks, and winks. "Especially Cato."

I slap his chest, then move away from him, walking straight for the dining room.

"Hello, hello." Heredia chimes. I almost roll my eyes at her. Why are Capitol people come so happy all the time? She's wearing a purple dress that has tons and I mean TONS of sprakles on it. She looks like a glitter monster threw up on her.

Her wig is a violet color with a single flower pendant on the side of it. Her eyeshadow is the same purple as the dress, with silver glitter dotted along her eyeliner. And I must say, she looks rediculous.

"Where's Zach?" I ask, sitting down at the beautifully carved table. I grab a buscuit, and smother it in butter from a small container.

"Right here." Zach sighs, and sits in the chair next to me.

"What's wrong with you?" I question, taking a bite from the butter-smothered-buscuit.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter." He shrugs it off, and grabs random foods, stuffing them on his place. An avox sits a glass of cold orange juice in front of me, and after I thank her, I turn back to Zach, raising an I eyebrow.

"Don't just push it off. Tell me what's wrong." I urge, touching his shoulder. He sharply stands from his seat, pushing my grasp off of him. The furious look in his eyes, I can tell that I pushed him too far.

"It is absolutely NONE of your business! KEEP YOUR NOSE IN YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS, OKAY?" He yells in my face, making me flinch. My heart almost breaks as I stare at my best friend. I stand up from the table, tears in my eyes.

"Fine. Don't tell me. The only reason I'm going into these games right now is for you. I refused to let my best friend go into the arena alone. But I guess that doesn't matter now, does it?"

Before he replies, I run out of our quarters, slamming the door behind me. I guess I'm not going to the tribute breakfast now.

I run my fingers through my hair as I pace the hallway, not wanting to go back inside of our quarters. I'm assuming that Ross, Heredia, Elaina, and Stark have already heard the commotion. When I get back, I'm most likely going to get scolded.

But who cares? If I'm going to the Hunger Games to get killed, why not have some fun while I'm still alive and able?

I wipe away my tears, and walk down the hallway, and into the elevator. Just as the doors close, I see the elevator doors across from mine open. I hold my breath as Clove, Cato, Cashmere, Gloss, Enobaria, Brutus, Marvel, and Glimmer step out.

Yep. It's a really big elevator.

Luckily, no one fully sees me. Except for one person.

Cato.

But to my relief, the elevator starts to move before he can do anything. I'm only guessing that he saw my tear streaked face, that could be the only reason that he frowned.

After getting out of the elevator, I make my way to the training center, hoping to let off some of my anger. When I open the doors to the training center and take a look around, a smirk forms on my face.

I walk straight to the axe station, not even glancing at the other weapons. I chose the biggest axe that is on the rack, and weigh it around in my hands, while staring at a red- chested dummy.

With one quick and smooth move, I send the axe flying into the center of its chest. I nod to myself at my own throw. I could be better, but I guess I'm an okay throw. It would be better for my survival skills if the axe would lodge itself farther into the target. It's a faster kill.

I furrow my eyebrows, looking around, as I hear a clap. I look up, and my eyes widen as I see Gamemaker Ceneca Crane clapping on a balcony, with an evil grin plastered onto his face.

"That was a good throw." He says firmly, placing his hands behind his back.

"Thanks." I reply, grabbing another axe.

"You're Taylor, right?" He asks, tilting his head to the side.

"The one and only." I grunt as I throw the axe into the forehead of the dummy. Perfect.

"I believe that's true." He pauses. "I've never had the experience of watching someone throw an axe quite like you. You have a graceful movement, but a deadly aim. I like it."

"So you aren't going to punish me for training before our practice starts?" I ask.

"Not at all. In fact, I give you permission to come down here every morning to practice. That is, if you want to." He takes a seat, still looking down at me.

"Of course I want to." I say in a 'duh' tone.

He smiles, but looks at his watch as it beeps.

"Sorry to leave you here, but I have a meeting I need to attend." He says, tapping his watch.

"It's fine. But I'll be sure to take you up on your offer." I cross my arms over my chest in a non-aggressive way.

"I'll be here to watch." He stands up, turns around, and walks towards the door that leads off of the balcony. But for a moment, he stops, and turns back around. "But, Taylor?"

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Make sure you keep these a secret, just between you and I. I wouldn't want any other tribute to win the Games." He winks, then leaves.

My eyes widen, and I back away from where I'm standing.

Right now might be the best time to run away from my problems.

For example:

The head Gamemaker wants me to win the Hunger Games.

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