Sweetest Downfall

Presh pushed a lock of blond hair away from her face before taking a bite of syrup drenched pancake bit on her fork. She had a stack of maybe four or five pancakes on her plate, along with various pieces of toast, juice, and an orange. The way she was eating reminded me of a bear, eating a whole bunch to get through hibernation. It was true enough that the Games would put us a little behind on our diets, but stuffing yourself three days before the Games was definitely not the way to go.

Emmer coughed and I turned my attention to him. It was his silent way of telling me to eat more, work it off today during training. I nodded quickly and put a few more sausages and pancakes on my plate. I caught him smile slightly, knowing that I understood his wishes. Casually, he sat down his fork and looked from me to Presh. "So, let's talk strategy for the Games."

"Well, I was thinking that we could hide out until at least a good half of the tributes are dead," said Presh, confidence written all over her smug little face. I was beginning to like her less and less as the minutes flew by. Emmer took a minute to think that through.

"It's not bad, but that means all of the weak tributes would be dead. You'd be up against the stronger half, not to mention each other. I'm not sure you two should even stick together. I can tell you hate each other as is- you'd bring so much shame to our District if you killed one another."

As much as I hated it, Emmer was right. Killing Presh would be such a delight but it would bring so much shame. Presh's eyes met mine, her ice blue against my caramel brown. She had obviously been thinking almost the exact same thing. To be honest, I wasn't even sure why I hate her. Maybe it's because I know her and I know that if it comes down to just me and her, I'd have to kill her. That's enough to hate anyone. Plus, she had the bitchiest smirk.

"For what I've seen in previous Hunger Games, the Career tributes stick together for awhile. I've been training my whole life for this- I think I'll stick with them until the competition goes down, then fight until I'm the last," I said. Emmer nods at my plan. It's not a bad one, I have to admit. Not only could I win, but I could bring home the glory of being the victor.

"What makes you so sure you're going to win?" Presh asked.

"I just know," I smirked back. Emmer scoffed.

"Stop acting like children. Emilyn, I like your plan. Stick to it for as long as you can. Presh, we'll work on your plan a little bit later," Emmer sighed then and took another bite of his pancake before he stood. "Now, finish your breakfast and I want both of you to meet me in the training area in an hour."



When Presh and I entered the arena, I just stood there for a moment, watching as other pairs walked around, training in various tasks- running, sword fighting, hitting punching bags, archery, and the like. Some of the pairs were just odd to see, especially the pair from District Twelve. They were two scrawny, lost kids with no idea what to do and no chance of survival. Others were scary to see together, like the pair from District Three. They'd been the ones who'd really caught my eye at the Tribute Parade last night. They'd went with a theme pertaining to their District's industry- technology. They'd dressed in glamorous suits and dresses that lit up with various colored lights and sent little sparks off in random places. The boy was tall with thick muscles and strong legs. He had curly blond hair, green eyes, and a determined expression. He was one of those you either joined forces with or had to kill them early in fear they'd kill you.

Emmer gestured for Presh and I to meet him over by a small track, but another tribute walks into my line of vision. It was the girl from the train, Shay, and her partner. She looked so innocent and delicate, but I could that was not the case as she bent down and picked up a set of daggers. She smirked down at them before running up toward her mentor. I then turned to my own mentor and tried to focus.

"I want you two to stay away from weapon training today," Emmer explained. "We'll work on that tomorrow. Today, I just want you two to do simple things like sprints, stretches, and push ups. Build up your cardio a little, get your heart rate up. You'll need it."

And so, we started training then, Emmer yelling encouragement at us every so often. We sprinted and ran, did hundreds of push ups and sit ups, and did tons of stretching, but the whole time my eyes were on that Shay girl, watching her with her daggers. She looked like a dangerous angel- beautiful and scary. The way she moved reminded me of her outfit in the Tribute Parade. Her hair had been waving so freely, so lightly, as if under water. It was truly beautiful, and so was she. There was nothing romantic about my interest in her, just a fascinated curiosity.

"Hurry up, loser," Presh scoffed as she raced ahead of me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I smirked and picked up my pace, passing her very easily. She scoffed. From the little I did know about Presh, she wasn't a very nice person. She was very spoiled and never cared about you until you had something to offer her. But, I did know that there was nothing she hated more than losing. To anyone. I took satisfaction and comfort in her angry and as she challenged me again and again, I won every time. She was just no match for me.

The training day was drawing to a close and Emmer said it was alright for us to hit the hay if we wanted. Presh went almost immediately, but I lingered behind a bit. I did more push ups, ran a little more. When I finally decided to head back, it was dark but plenty of others were still training. I started making my way toward the exit but for some reason I'd never know, I turned around to that's when our eyes met. Shay and I stood deadlocked for a moment, but she broke away. There was no doubly something to the glare, but I couldn't place a finger on the mood of it. My nearest guess was that she could feel how scared I was that I might have to be the one to slaughter her.

I sighed and returned to my room. I showered and crawled into my bed, faces of tributes dancing around as soon as my eyes are closed. The boy from District Three, the pair from District Twelve, but most of all, the innocent looking girl from District Four. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to not to speak to loudly as I said, "I hope I'm not the one who has to end your life."