The Selection in the Hunger Games

The Evaluation - Chapter 9

I woke up that morning with a fresh dream of Aspen. We were in the field, hugging, kissing, his slender yet strong arms bound tightly around me. I felt so happy. Then I left him. I left him. Tiny tears bumbled in my eyelids. No, I thought, I can't think of Aspen. Not today. We had an evaluation today. Everyone would be judged based on their skill. I had been working in knives all week. Maxon said I was good but I wasn't so sure. I was no Celeste.

Celeste. She was the worst. I dressed in my sleek all black outfit. Even their work out clothes was better than the clothes back home. Carter and I used to walk to the training room but he had been walking with Marlee Tames from District 7. She seemed really nice.

Since Carter was with Marlee, I utilized Maxon as my surrogate. I opened the door to see him sitting on the floor in mock irritation.

"You took forever," he said with an eye roll.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You ready to go?"

He pretended to try to get up but failing. I helped pull him up, smiling.

"Come on, sir in distress."

"I'll take that title gladly," he said, wiggling his handsome eyebrows. "You have to take care of me, America."

"Happily," I teased back, giggling. He lit up. We walked the rest of the distance, laughing and joking as we did.

They had a table of who was going to evaluations. It was ranked by district so I wasn't going until later. Maxon was going first.

"Good luck," I said. He was clearly nervous, his eyes flying rapidly from the room to the chart. "Hey, hey, you got this." I took hold of his hand and he crushed me into a hug. "You're going to do amazing," I whispered into his ear.

"Thank you, America. Thank you." We embraced for a few seconds longer before he reluctantly let go. He mustered a smile on his face, straightening his hair.

"Thanks dear."

I rolled my eyes before joining Carter. Coincidentally, he was talking to Marlee.

"You're America, right?" Marlee asked, smiling brightly. She seemed angelic.

"Yep and you're Marlee Tames. The girl Carter can't stop talking about it." Carter blushed furiously, shaking his head, still grinning.

"As you can see, America's one of the most honest people I've ever met." We talked for awhile, us all fighting our nerves for the evaluation. Except for Carter. He had learned he was good with an ax. But besides that, he was the most easy going guy I have ever met. He had a calming effect on people.

Looking at him and Marlee, reminded me so much of me and Aspen. I felt a little sick but I pushed through. Marlee was asked into the room, giving Carter's hand a squeeze before entering.

"Just a friend, huh?" I asked, barely containing my laughter.

"Shut up," he replied light heartedly before sighing. "I really like her. But with the Games-"

"Carter," I interjected. "I know love when I see it. What you guys have, you don't let that go away." He couldn't tell how close I was to crying. Aspen. May. My family. I was away from them all.

I went before Carter. The room was wide and filled with an array of weapons. I immediately grabbed the throwing knives and aimed at the targets. Magically, I was able to hit them in the center, taking it one target at a time. The judges briefly paused from their feast after the third target. I continued to hit them as best as I could until there were none left.

They said I could leave so I did. I was surprised to see Marlee outside of the door.

"How'd you do?" Marlee asked. If any of the other tributes had asked me this, I would have been annoyed. But Marlee genuinely wanted to know.

"I think it went well. I hit the targets."

She laughed a little. "I'm sure you did better than that."

"We'll see." We talked all the way to my door, laughing at one of the judges haircuts and asking questions about each other's districts. Each one was so different, like a bag of assorted candy. Mmhmmm, candy, I thought.

"Well, America, I have a question," Marlee said. She began wringing her hands, clearly a little anxious.

"What is it?"

"Well, it's about Carter. Did you guys ever-"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Never."

She sighed in relief. "Good, well, it just seemed you knew him so well. And I just started thinking-" She calmed herself, looking up at me. "Do you think he likes me?"

"I know for a fact he does," I replied with a smile. "That is one thing about this whole competition you shouldn't be worried about. He told me himself."

Her smile widened and she bounced a little in place. "Well, I have some things to take care of," she said with a wink before walking quickly down the hallway.

I opened my door to find someone I was not expecting.

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