A/N: That's Olive⬆️ She's portrayed by Maia Mitchell.

* * *

AS we get off the train, people are screaming at us. They are so full of excitement to see us. Olive looks at me, surprised by the amount of attention we're getting. After all, we are just the filthy underdogs from District 12. I smile at her and turn my head back towards the people. I wave, smile, and blow kisses. They seem so exhilarated to see me and it makes me feel special. No one has ever been this excited to see me.

We enter the apartment where we will be staying until the games. It's bigger than my entire house, but that was expected. This is the Capitol, after all. The floors and ceiling are a light brown with light green pillars lining the walkway inside. The dining room is an orange shade, while the living room is more white. Every room seems to be a different color.

I enter my room and I melt at the sight. A king-sized purple bed and tons of drawers filled to the brim with new clothes for me to wear, not that I'll be here long enough to try all of them. A large window covers the wall on the left and I can see the people of the Capitol buzzing about. The people here are so colorful, and everyone has a different style. Some dye their hair crazy colors, while others go as far as to dye their skin different shades of pink or green. They're clothes are covered in wild patterns that don't match, and most seem to be owning white, velvety dogs. It seems strange that people with such outgoing fashion senses would choose to have plain pets, but I guess that's just the Capitol for you.

I caught myself day-dreaming about living in the Capitol when Olive comes in. "Hey."
    "Hi, what's up?" I turn around to look at her.
    "You're not mad at me, are you?" Olive asks.
    "Of course not. I love you, Olive, you know that. I can't let you die in that arena. I have to protect you and I worry about you, that's all."
    "We protect each other. That's why I volunteered for you. Hardest decision ever. But your life is worth more than mine, you've got more to live for," Olive states, smiling a bit to hide the pain in her voice.
    "Olive, don't say that. Everyone's life is worth something. Especially yours."
    "I'm gonna die. I know it."
    "No, you can't say that. I won't allow it," I say.
    "Lilac, you have more experience than me, you can hunt. I can't. Please promise me you'll win." She crosses the room to stand in front of me.
    "Olive, you're not gonna die--"
    "Promise me!"
    "I promise!" I yell, giving in. Of course I would want to win, but I'd rather help her. She doesn't deserve this. She volunteered because of a stupid pact that I made us make, and now it's up to me to see to it that she makes it out.
    "Good. I'll see you tomorrow. We start training." Olive leaves my room and shuts the door on her way out.

*   *   *

When I wake up, the sun is just rising over the horizon. Colors such as pastel pink, amethyst purple, and maya blue splash together making waves and swirls around the sun.

Effie barges in my room. "Breakfast is on the table!"
    "Okay, I'll be there in a second," I reply.

Effie walks out and I decide to take a quick shower.
There are so many buttons and switches in there, that it takes me almost ten minutes to get the water running. After choosing a pair of blue jeans and a yellow sweater, I'm finally ready to head down to breakfast.

As I walk closer to the dining room, the aroma of breakfast floods my nostrils. Plates of food are scattered across the table, and both Haymitch and Effie are already seated.

"Good, you're here. Your food was getting cold," Effie exclaims from the head of the table.

I sit down and start to eat my scrambled eggs. Haymitch pushes a plate that's full of toast in front of me and I grab a slice. An avox girl comes over and puts down a plate of bacon. I love bacon, even though I've only had it once or twice before. I grab a handful and start to chomp away. Olive finally decides to grace us with her presence after a few minutes. She sits down next to me and starts to eat her food.

"Grab some more, honey," Effie insists to Olive.
    "No thanks, I'm good. I'm a really picky eater and I don't eat that much anyway," Olive assures her.

Olive rarely eats much of anything. Ever since she was a kid, her parents could barely supply themselves with food and she couldn't hunt for anything like I could. I tried to help her sometimes and I gave her some of the meats I would catch, but she would normally decline. She didn't want to feel like she was burdening me or my family. Olive eventually got used to not eating much of anything. She can now go a couple days with little to no food.

"Olive, you will start training today and you need to get some fat on that body of yours! You need to be strong and I shouldn't be able to see your rib bones!" Effie exclaims.
    "Okay, okay, I'll eat more!" Olive replies and she grabs a piece of bacon and chews on it. Effie rolls her eyes in annoyance.

*   *   *

"Everyone gather 'round!" The trainer gets our attention as we enter the room. "Today you will start training for the Hunger Games. There are different stations throughout this whole room. I suggest you visit all of them because you will need all of them in the arena. More people die by eating poisonous plants or by an infection than they do by the tip of a knife. Think about that when you decide which station to go to next. You will be training here every day for the next three days. The members of the Capitol sponsorship program will be evaluating your every move. Train hard and it pays off in the games. Now, go!"

I decided to start with the plant's survival station. Since I hunt, I already know what plants you can and can't eat. but since everyone's gathering around the weapons station, I don't want to wait in line. I'll start here and wait for the weapon station to clear up.

As I look around, I realize this is the first time I've actually seen any of the other tributes. I mean, I saw them at the parade and all, but they didn't look like actual people then. They were just models riding around in chariots, but now I actually get to see what they're capable of. My eyes trail to the right, where I see the two district 3 girls huddled together over a computer screen. They are trying to learn about plants or something, but whatever it is, it's clearly not their area of expertise because their faces show obvious frustration. Next, I glance over at one of the district 7 girls talking to the girls from 6. I don't know what that's all about, but chances are, they will be together in the arena.

I check to see if the weapons station has cleared up, but when I look over, I see all the girls from 1, 2, and 4 just having the time of their lives. These girls are from career districts and probably the only ones here who find any fun in these "games." With a second glance I realize that the girls from 2 look identical. They must be twins. The only way I can tell them apart is through their hair. One has thick, black locks that flow in waves right down to her shoulders. This is the more aggressive one of the two, Venus, I think. The other one, Phoenix, sports a long, straight, brown ponytail that reaches the middle of her back. I don't think I remember ever seeing a pair of twins together in the games before. I'll have to remind myself to ask Haymitch about them at dinner.

As I continue surveying the training room, I realize I don't know where Olive went. For some reason, it really grabs my attention, so I decide to go look for her. I find Olive in a corner section where she's building fire.
"Hey," I say as I approach her.
    "Hi."
    "What are you doing?" I ask.
    "Playing around with the flint. What about you?" Olive asks.
    "I was over at the plant's station," I say.
    "Yeah, I don't like the whole idea of showing myself off to everyone."
    "Me neither. I'm waiting for the weapons station to clear up."

A girl walks up to us and interrupts our conversation. "Hi, I'm Ivory from District 8."

When she says this, I remember seeing Ivory and her partner split up the second the trainer let us go. I don't think they know each other very well and I don't think they'll find each other in the arena. I actually remember seeing her partner buddy up with a girl from 10. I couldn't imagine coming here and having the only piece of home you have left abandoning you like that. I'm lucky to have a partner like Olive.

"Hey, I'm Lilac and this is Olive." I gesture to Olive. "We're from 12."

She seems like a nice girl. Long, wavy, mocha brown hair. Her crystal clear blue eyes reminded me of my mother's.

"Want to be allies?" Ivory asks and it catches me way off guard. Olive's head shot up for the first time to look at the girl since the conversation started.