The Hunger Games | Rilaya

Training and Scores

When it's finally ten, I meet Effie and Riley at the elevator. The training rooms are below ground level. The elevator doors open, revealing the vast room filled with obstacles and weapons. Even though it wasn't ten yet, everyone else was already here.

A woman named Atala begins explaining the training schedule. While she was doing this, I took the time to assess the rest of the tributes. My heart sinks when I see that almost all of the boys and half of the girls are bigger than I am. In fact, I was probably the second shortest one here, the first being Auggie.

Atala releases us and I see all of the Careers head to the deadly weapons on one side of the room, handling them with ease.

Riley nudges my arm, making me jump. "Where would you like to start?" She asks dully, watching as the girl from two hits the bullseye in the target every single time.

"Suppose we tie some knots." I say.

"Right you are." Riley says, leading us to the empty station across the room.

The trainer teaches us some basic snares for a while. Afterwards, we move on to camouflage. Riley seemed to genuinely enjoy this station.

"I do the cakes." She says to me while weaving a combination of mud and clay around her arm.

"The cakes?" I ask.

"At home. The iced ones for the bakery." Riley says.

I could still remember the display of them in the windows. Fancy cakes with all kinds of decorations. Prim would always drag me over to admire them, even though we would never be able to afford one.

"It's lovely. If only you could frost someone to death." I snort. Riley and I had been on edge with each other since the argument this morning.

"Don't be so superior. You can never tell what you'll find in the arena. Say it's actually a gigantic cake-" Before she could finish that ridiculous sentence, I cut her off.

"Say we move on." I scowl.

For the next three days, Riley and I went quietly from station to station, managing to pick up some valuable skills. Even though Shawn told us to appear mediocre, Riley excels in hand-to-hand combat while I sweep the edible plants test. We still stay clear from archery and weightlifting though, saving that for our private sessions.

On the second day, while we're at the spear station, Riley whispers to me "I think we have a shadow."

After throwing my spear, I turn around to see Auggie standing back a bit, watching us.

"His name's Auggie." Riley says softly while throwing a spear.

For some reason, this annoys me. "What can we do about it?" I ask, my voice coming out more harshly than I intended it to.

"Nothing to do." She says sadly. "Just making conversation."

On the third day of training, it was finally time for our private sessions with the Gamemakers. Riley and I silently wait in the room until we're the only ones left. Finally, they summon Riley.

"Remember what Shawn said about being sure to throw the weights." I say without even thinking about it.

"Thanks, I will." Riley says. "You...shoot straight."

I nod and watch as Riley walks out the door. After about fifteen minutes, they call my name. As soon as I walk into the gym, I knew I was in trouble. The Gamemakers already had to sit through twenty-three other tributes showing off their skills and wanted to just leave.

I couldn't do anything about it though. I nearly run to the archery station and grab a bow, having been itching to get my hands on them for days. I carefully choose one of the bows and grab the bag of arrows as well, slinging it over my shoulder.