Glimmer's Story

Beginning of Training

The ride down to the training rooms only took a minute, and we were the first to arrive. Probably because it was only 9:00. A girl came up to me and Marvel and pinned a number 1 on both of our backs.

"You two are a little early," said the girl with a smile.

We laughed and walked around for a little bit in silence. I then realized that we were still holding hands from when we came down. He smiled at me like he just realized it too, but we both kept our hands locked together.

"So," I said breaking the silence, "what stations should we work on today?"

"Well, Gloss wanted us to show our strength, but I really think we should at least work on some survival skills," said Marvel.

"Me too," I said. The doors to the elevators opened and the tributes from District 2 walked in. That's when I saw him. The bright blue eyes that sparkled in the light, the perfect blonde hair. I felt like I couldn't breathe. After their numbers were pinned on their backs, they both walked over to us and introduced themselves. The girl tribute was named Clove and the boy that was incredibly handsome was named Cato.

"So, I guess we're gonna be allies?" asked Cato.

"Yeah, of course," I said. I noticed Cato kept staring at me. All of a sudden I remembered that Marvel and I were still holding hands. I quickly pulled my hand away. Marvel looked at me with a sad expression, but he didn't say anything. Cato smirked.

"So, I guess we should try to split up the stations so we get as much information as we can," said Clove.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," said Marvel. We all talked about stations for a while and soon, almost everyone arrived. I kept looking at District 4's tributes, Blaine and Lavena. They were small and young, but I knew I wouldn't be able to watch them die. I wanted to make them our allies, but I knew nobody would agree to it. We didn't need anyone to slow us down.

Soon enough, the head trainer named Atala explained all the rules. There weren't many besides not to "engage in any combative exercise with another tribute." After about five minutes, we were allowed to go anywhere we pleased. I decided to go with Cashmere's advice and work on my skills with weapons.

I went over to the bow station and absorbed all the advice and tips the trainer gave to me on aim. After he was done, he taught me how to properly hold the bow and how it worked. Soon, I was shooting arrows near the target. I thanked the trainer for his advice, but went to a different station because I knew that I would never be a skilled archer.

I started to walk over to the edible plants station, but then I saw Clove over by the knife station. She hit the target right in the middle every time. Maybe I could pick up some advice from her. I walked over to her and picked up a knife, but as I was about to throw it, I saw Clove holding back laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You're holding the knife upside down," laughed Clove.

"Oh... psh, I knew that," I laughed while flipping the knife the other way.

"Here, try holding it like this," she said while demonstrating. I did as she said and threw the knife. It landed near the heart of the dummy.

"Oh my gosh. Thank you!" I said.

"No problem. Now, try flicking your wrist back just a little before throwing," she said. I held the knife like she said, flicked my wrist back, and let the knife fly. It landed right in the heart. I turned around and saw that Cato was watching me. He smiled and winked at me. He walked away when he caught Clove glaring at him.

"Haha, jealous much?" I said.

"Me? Jealous? Hahaha, no way. I don't know what you're talking about," she said. I gave her the look that said "you're really bad at lying". She stuck her tongue out and went back to throwing knives. For the rest of the day, I hung out with Clove and mostly practiced on weapons. By the end of the day, Clove and I were practically best friends. I really needed to stop growing so close to everyone...