WE EACH STOOD IN A LINE NEXT TO OUR TRIBUTES, lined from district 1 male in the back to district 12 female in the front. Meaning, Mia and I were almost in the very back of the line. Which is why it's no surprise that Coryo bumps into my shoulder as he rushes up the steps and to join Lucy Gray at her side--he's always who everyone is waiting on, always late or running behind. What is surprising, however, is the feeling that just spiked my heart rate. A warm feeling swarming in my belly and almost makes me want to smile for no reason at all.

He's bumped into my shoulder--a 6'0 man has bumped into me, a 5'3 slim-built woman--and I should be pissed because he's nearly knocked me off my balance as I'm in these heels. I should be pissed.

But instead, my body wants me to smile.

My heart was thumping already due to how fucking nervous I am to walk into this arena. I'm not the one competing in it, but I still feel like I might hurl.

Mia is the one to grab my hand. She squeezes my hand and when I look up to face her, she's scared too, I can tell, but she's keeping it together fairly well, unlike me.

I give her hand a squeeze too, and I watch as she releases the tension from her shoulders, letting out a deep breath through her nose as if my hand has reassured her that she isn't alone.

The line begins moving forward, which only makes the adrenaline coursing through my veins intensify.

Within just a few seconds, I'm barely able to breathe as we grow substantially closer to passing through those bars and into the arena.

Mia lets go of my hand and wipes her sweaty palms on the sides of her skirt, muttering something to herself even I can't make out. But if her heartbeat is anything like the feeling of her pulse against my hand, I know she's terrified.

Being so close to last might have been a blessing—at least now, the other tributes get a test drive before I even step foot inside.

"Try to look for hiding spots," I whisper to Mia, but don't look at her. We're supposed to be silent right now and the last thing I want is to be reprimanded.

She nods once and follows exactly what I'm doing, not speaking or even acknowledging me.

"Enjoy the show!" The automated voice announces as Mia and I push past the rotating bars.

The walls are dirtied and almost cracked around me and the closer you get to the center, the worse it gets.

This arena looks almost an ancient dome--the roof is round with short and long windows tracing each level--looking almost like terrace levels.

I've gotten entirely distracted and so overwhelmed by how small this arena is that I've completely forgotten that what I'm looking for is a hiding spot.

The door shuts behind us, the sound causing me to jolt, my heart dropping with the fear spiking my adrenaline.

The windows begin to light and it's suddenly no longer dark. When I look around, all I can think about is how damned Mia is going to be if she doesn't know how to fight.

I know how these things work--over half of the tributes die just in the first few minutes in a battle over weapons at the center.

I look down and see that I'm standing almost perfectly in the center of the Capitol's symbol painted on at the bottom of the arena. Just looking at it reminds me who I am, why I'm here, and how demented the Capitol is.

"Welcome to the arena for the 10th Annual Hunger Games. Tributes, Mentors, you have 15 minutes to survey the space and discuss direction." A voice announces over whatever intercom they have built in.

I let out a shaky sigh and I can feel Coriolanus' eyes on me but I choose to ignore it because I'm too damned scared and confused and my heartstrings can't bare any more feelings weighing on them right now.

I watch as alliances begin to form and the girl who roughed up Mia--Coral--has already instructed which strong recruits she wanted in her alliance.

"Go talk to the sick girl," I tell Mia quietly, and she nods, going to walk over to her.

I'm staring at my shaking hands for a moment, then at my feet--just trying to look anywhere but at Coriolanus.

He's somehow won, however, because my eyes go to look up at him before I can even help it.

Blue eyes with so many stories looking into mine and they bring a calm feeling over my body. A calm feeling that I'm scared of because no matter what, I can't have feelings for Coriolanus Snow--

Boom.

There's an explosion. An explosion so loud I almost can't hear anything after it.

I'm frozen in place for a moment--the only thing I can hear is the thumping of my heartbeat and the ringing of my own ears. The world has fallen silent and the floor is crumbling beneath me. I look down and there are cracks forming in the floors beneath my red high heels but when I look up, the ceiling is caving in on me.

Mia is no longer beside me and it scares me wildly because I can't let her die before she even gets a chance in the games.

Smoke floods around me as large pieces of the roof have fallen down, rattling the ground so hard I've nearly lost my balance five times in the span of 10 seconds.

I can't see or hear anything but my mouth opens and I think I'm calling out Mia's name.

"Mia!" I cry out, trying to navigate my way through the smoke and dust. "Mia!"

The floor is now shaking tremendously almost as if there was an earthquake and there's an assortment of pieces and sizes from the roof crashing down on me and the other tributes.

I begin to cough as I sear through the brown fog, and two arms grab ahold of my arms and what I can make out of the figure is the shadow of Mia's face and I feel relief overcome me all over as I interlock my hand with hers and begin running back toward the entrance we came into, allowing the large men in white guide us through.