| " C A R E E R . " |

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"Why would he do that?" Bane asks.

"I don't know. Go ask him yourself." I grumble.

"Actually, this is great." Paul chuckles, sitting down on the couch next to me.

"How could this possibly be great?" I question, raising an eyebrow.

"Because if he likes you, he'll help you out in the games. He'll protect you at any cost, and that'll help you big time. Tons of fans. Tons of allies. Tons of sponsors." Paul replies. I scoff.

"I hardly call that help." I snap.

"She doesn't need him. I'll be there with her to protect her. We don't need him." Bane argues.

"You can't protect her by yourself, Bane. What happens when you need food? Water?Shelter? You can't be with her the whole way, you'll have to leave her at some point." Paul snaps back.

"We'll go together. Triton won't be of help if he's constantly tracking tributes down. Face it Paul, your plan won't work." Bane glares.

"Just both of you shut up! I get to chose my allies, not you two! I'll chose who I want, so knock it off!" I yell, catching their attention.

"Listen, Lana. You need as many allies as you can get if you want to go home. But in order to do that, you'll have to watch them get picked off. You can't go through the games without watching someone die." Paul says softly, then leaves the room.

I let out a sigh, and run my fingers through my hair.

This is a tough choice.

___♕___

The next morning, I was woken up by Leo.

"What?" I groan. He chuckles in response.

"Your training starts this morning. But unfortunately, all the other tributes will be there. It starts in an hour. So get your lazy ass out of the bed, and get dressed." He says, hands me a training outfit, before leaving my room.

I grumble incoherent words under my breath, but get up anyway. The outfit consists of black leggings with a red and white stripe going up the side of them. The shirt is black, and has a red and white stripe trailing up the sleeve.

Just then, Aven bursts into the room. He smiles when he sees me, glancing at my outfit.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I don't like these training outfits, so I changed yours up some." He says with a smirk, and hands me my new outfit. He takes my other training outfit, and exits. I roll my eyes, and look at the new outfit.

"Oh my god." I mutter. He has given me shorts with the stripes on it, and a v-neck shirt with the stripes. They look like the last outfit, except they're the stripper version. I scoff, staring at the door he just exited.

"You have to wear it, Lana. I'm your designer, and I tell you what to wear." Aven says from outside of my room, and I can tell he's trying not to laugh.

"Why?" I whine.

"You'll see."

"Whatever." I roll my eyes, slipping on the clothes. This shirt is showing my cleavage, and the shorts are barely covering my butt. I leave my hair in its normal waves, pull on my black shoes, and step out of my room. Aven looks me up and down, and smiles down at me.

"It looks great." He comments. I scoff, once again.

"I look like a stripper. How is this great?" I ask in exasperation.

Then it hits me.

What Paul said yesterday. "Because if he likes you, he'll help you out in the games. He'll protect you at any cost, and that'll help you big time. Tons of fans. Tons of allies. Tons of sponsors."

He didn't.

"Paul, get your fat ass in here!" I yell, and shove my way past Aven.

"What is it princess?" I hear him ask from down the hall. I step into the kitchen where everyone is. Bane takes a look at me, and drops the glass of water he has. His jaw hangs open, gaping as he looks me up and down.

The glass shatters on the floor, and Reena shrieks. Leo, Reena, and Krystal turn their attention to me. Leo chokes on his water, and spits it everywhere. Krystal and Reena just stand there with wide eyes.

"There's no way in hell you're going to training going like, well . . . that." Bane points out.

"Yes, actually. She is. Nice work, Aven." Paul says as he walks into the room, clapping Aven on the back with a smirk.

"Why would you make her wear something like that?" Leo asks, referring to my outfit.

"Well, Triton already likes her. Why not get him to fall harder for her? I mean, it'll help her big time in the games." Paul answers, shooting Bane a wink.

"I say she wears it." Leo responds.

"Me too." Aven adds.

"No, she shouldn't. She's manipulating a boy into dying for her. I say no." Krystal crosses her arms over her chest.

"I second Krystal's opinion." Bane chimes.

"She shouldn't wear it." Reena says.

"Okay, so that's three to three. It's Lana's choice." Leo says.

"There's no way in hell I'm wearing this." I narrow my eyes.

Some of them sigh in relief, but others grumble under their breaths. I change back into my normal training clothes, eat breakfast, then head to the training center with Bane. When we enter the room, I look around.

"Hey guys." Laila says from behind us. I'm guessing all of the training clothes are the same, because everyone is wearing the same ones, even the guys.

"Hey." I reply.

"So let's go meet with the other careers." She says excitedly.

"You and Bane go. I'm gonna train by myself for a while." I shake my head.

"Are you sure?" Bane asks. I nod.

After they leave to find the others, I walk to the knife station. I pick up a knife, feeling eyes on me. I suddenly feel the need to show off.

I flip the knife in the air a couple of times, catching it. I smirk, then throw the knife straight into the chest of the dummy. I turn to see a guy smirking at me. I think I know who he is . . .

"Hello," He says politely, stepping over to me.

"Uh, hi?" I furrow my brows. He chuckles.

"I'm Seth, District four," He greets me, holding out a hand.

"I'm Lana, District two." I reply, shaking his hand as he nods.

"Everyone knows that."

"Okay. That's kinda wierd, but okay." I laugh.

"Listen, I want you as an ally." He gets to the point.

"Is it just you?"

"No, I've got a couple of people with me." He answers.

"Who are they?" I question.

"Lily from twelve, and Grace from four." He says. I look to the floor.

"I'll think about it." I reply. He nods with a smile, and walks off.

Why does everyone want me as an ally? I walk to the sword station, and see that Leane is there. She's the girl that hates me.

She was shooting me glares the other day at the tribute parade. But I don't know why I've given her a reason to hate me. She's teamed up with Creve from District thirteen, Maria and Lance from District nine, and Chris from District eight. That's five people that hate me.

I'm first on their kill list, I just know it.

I pull myself from my thoughts when Leane shoots me a cold glare. Wow, she's evil. I put my hands up in surrender, and walk away from her. I decide on the trident station. I pick one up, and think of a target on the dummy.

The head. In a flash, the trident is in the air, and takes down the head of the dummy. I smile in victory.

"Nice job." Someone whispers in my ear. I freeze up, and can't move from my position.

"What do you want?" I snap. I turn to see the tributes in Leane' group, including Leane.

"We just want to talk." Chris answers.

"About what?" I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Allies." Lance says simply.

"We want you to be allies with you. You can join us in the games, and we'll take everyone out," Leane shrugs.

"Why would I do that?" I spit at them.

"Because you'll do it if you know what's good for you. Otherwise, we'll have to kill you, princess." She answers with a smirk. A chill goes up my spine.

"Think about it." Lance whispers in my ear before all five of them leave me.

There's no way I'm teaming up with them.

I turn my attention to the tridents. I pick another one, and throw it into the chest of the dummy. This is boring, I already know how to do this. Other tributes struggle with their weapons, and I feel sorry for them.

The careers are laughing at them, and it makes me mad. If it weren't for Triton, I would be exactly like them . . .

Triton.

I haven't saw him since he kissed me, but I prefer it that way.

"Hey, Ana." I hear a familiar voice say. There's only one person that calls me Ana. Triton. I turn to face him.

"Hey," I smile weakly, before throwing another trident into the chest of another dummy without a glance. He smiles.

"Guess you're getting good, huh?" He asks.

"You could say that . . . " I trail off awkwardly. I focus my attention on the tridents and dummies. Then I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Listen Ana, I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't-" He starts, but I cut him off. I look up at him.

"I'm sorry Triton, but we can't be allies in the games. I want to, but it would never work out. Only one comes out and wins it all, remember that." I state, being straight forward.

"You've got to be kidding, Lana. You're a career, you have to stay with us." He argues.

"I don't have to do anything. I don't want allies in that arena. When I die, I want to die, knowing that I haven't hurt anyone. You'll get attached, and I know how it feels to love someone and lose them. I don't want it to happen to anyone else. I'm sorry, Triton." I apologize, and walk away without a second glance.

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