In my dream I was sitting in a tree, all alone. All of a sudden a hand was placed over my mouth, my arms and legs were forcibly broken, and I was then pushed out of the tree. I was falling, and once I hit the ground I could hear my own cannon go off.

I sat up with a jolt. I was breathing heavily, glad that I was still alive. I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep again, so I walked out of my room and into the dining compartment. I saw two people sitting at a table, seemingly in an argument. They didn't notice me at first, so I just stood where I was and tried to listen to what they were saying.

"The girl won't last five minutes in the Games, and you know that Sapphy." The boy that was talking was a previous Victor from the thirteenth games. His name was Connor.

"Connor, you don't even know her. No one else thought I was going to survive either, and here I am! Alive! Why don't you ever put any faith into our tributes? It's about time that we bring someone home. District Eleven hasn't had a Victor in so long. I think this year should be the year where we bring one back."

"I've told you before; I do have a tiny sliver of trust in one of our tributes, just not the girl. She'll die. She's useless! She can't even help that much in our own District! I say just let her die and focus on Bates." Wow. That hurt a little.

"Connor, do you hear yourself? Do you not realize how you're acting? You're willing to just let one innocent girl die, all because you're too selfish to even consider her!"

"I don't care what you think! You're not seeing the bigger picture here! If we waste all of our money trying to save her and she dies, then we're done! No chance at even bringing home a Victor! Because she. Will. Die. End of story."

It was after he finished his sentence, he seemed to realize I was standing there. I quickly reached up and wiped away a couple of tears that escaped my eyes. I'm not even sure why though; he was only speaking the truth. Deep inside me I knew that I was going to die, but I just hadn't accepted it yet.

"Oh I didn't see you there... um..." Connor seemed very flustered. I could hear Sapphy whisper my name to him. "Violet! Sorry. Didn't see you there Violet. Sapphy and I were just discussing the Games and what tactics we should use. Care to join us?"

"If by tactics you mean just flat out killing me then yeah, I heard you. I don't want to ever speak to you again you cold-hearted person. Or are you even a person? Because a real human-being wouldn't just kill off a girl before she even knew them. I'm leaving now. I don't care at all what you think about me anymore, because you're just as bad of a person as the President is." I could hear the iciness of my words as I was speaking them. I turned and ran back to my room. I knew we would be arriving at the Capitol soon, and I didn't want to deal with what they had thought about me without telling anyone. I quietly walked over to Bates room and opened his door. His back was to me, staring at the projected picture of our District. Our home.

"Hey Violet."

I was surprised. I hadn't expected Bates to hear me come in his room; My footsteps were really light as I entered his room.

"Hi Bates. Can I talk to you?" He nodded and I sat down on the bed next to him. I explained all of what I had heard to him and how much it had hurt me. All while I was explaining it he nodded his head. I don't think Bates liked talking that much. He was probably really busy planning how he was going to win the Hunger Games.

"I think you have a chance." His deep voice was somehow quiet, but at the same time making a big impact on me.

"You do?" He only nodded in response. "Wow. Thank you Bates. It means a lot to me."

He nodded again, and looked out of the window of his room. "We'll be in the Capitol soon. Better go in the main room to wave and get sponsors." I nodded back, not wanting to leave the comfort of the train.

We walked out together, and when we got into the main compartment I completely ignored Connor, no matter how much he tried to apologize, he would never make up for what he said. I was willing to talk to Sapphy though, only because she was defending me.

"So Violet! I hope we can... move on from what you heard earlier." I nodded and looked down at my feet. I didn't want to look into her ocean blue eyes so she could see how much pain I was still in.

"Is there any weapon that you're particularly good at?" I could tell that she was trying to be extra nice with me right now. Under normal circumstances I would have hated her for it, but for now I was fine with it.

"Well, I'm sort of good with a spear. And a slingshot. I'm also fast and small. I can hide from people fairly well."

Sapphy nodded. "That's good. I'm assuming you also know a lot about plants, seeing that you're from District Eleven." I nodded back. "That's really good then. It'll give you a huge advantage in the Games. Most of the people died in my games by eating or smelling poisonous plants. Now, a bigger question is, do you want to be in an alliance with Bates?" I looked over at him, who was seemingly working with Connor.

"I would, but I don't want to make him die because of me. It's really up to him." At that moment I started hearing screams and yelling from outside of the train. I ran over to the window to see what it was, and saw that we had arrived at the Capitol. It was truly beautiful; it looked so much more different from my home that I felt as if I could look at it forever. The people, however, were quite an eyesore. All of the colors and alterations that people put on them made them look as if they weren't even human. However, I knew that they would be the key to my survival, as I would need as many sponsors as possible to help me. I smiled and waved, trying to make myself as cute as possible. I think I would try and go for the innocent girl angle while in the Games. Make people think as if I'm weak and then strike. I got so caught up in waving that I even blew some kisses to the people, to which they screamed even louder. The train suddenly stopped, and we were escorted out of the train and into the Training Center. Estella explained on the way what would happen next. We would be taken to our stylists and prepped for the chariot rides. We would go out, somehow impress the people by doing whatever it takes because we aren't from the Career Districts, and then come back to our floor. Bates and I nodded and did as we were told; there weren't many decisions that weren't already made for us to do. I was taken away to my prep station, and I sat on a metal table in silence. There was a mirror in there that let me see my entire body and how I looked. I had never had a full length mirror back home; I could only use the little rivers that appeared after a bad storm. I walked over to it. In the mirror I saw a young, terrified looking girl. I was interrupted by my thoughts to hear a pair of people come into my room. They were definitely a very... interesting group of people to be around. They had me lie on the table and take off my robe as they put some hot, sticky stuff on my legs. I wasn't sure what they were going to do, and I felt uncomfortable enough already without any clothes on, but they put a piece of paper on and ripped the hair off of my legs. I screeched. Instantly my legs felt as if they were on fire, and my prep team only did it again and again, removing all of the hair from my body. The one in charge's name was Sylvanthia, and she had short, light purple hair that had jewels embellished all throughout it. Her skin was a bright orange, and she had on what looked like a big, multi-colored sphere. The one holding me down while they took all the hair off of my legs was named Flourenia. Her hair was a bright pink, along with her head and neck being a soft pink. The rest of her body was a light green, with vine tattoos all along her arms, legs and face. She had a big oversized daisy tilted on her head. Her dress, bright pink with very poofy shoulders, had vines and daisies attached to it. Her eyes were a bright blue, seemingly bored with holding me down.

"Oh come on Violet it doesn't hurt that much! Just stop whining about it. After this we get to make you look beautiful, especially with the help of Syra!"

I shut my mouth and held back the little shrieks, no matter how much it hurt. I tried to be strong for my prep team. I knew that they would have to do a lot of work to make me look presentable. They plucked my eyebrows, painted my nails a pretty shade of pink, applied a light amount of makeup, and washed my hair to the point that it shined. They left, leaving me alone to try and think of what Syra would look like and what she would do to me for the chariot rides. I've seen what some of the other tributes have worn in the past, and I know for a fact my mother would never let me wear what they had to wear for sponsors.

I started thinking about what life would be like without the Hunger Games. I pictured the perfect world again, except this time there were flowers everywhere. I didn't even notice when someone else walked into the room.

"Oh great. Another twelve-year old. I absolutely hate having to dress up twelve-year olds. They won't let me do anything to them." I looked over and saw a fairly short person standing there. I couldn't tell if my stylist was a boy or a girl, and I decided it would be best if I didn't ask which it was. Its hair was shaved on the side of its head, the rest of its hair flipped over. Its hair was a tealish color. Its skin was tan, however it had a slight metallic look to it. Syra had two tattoos; one was a very swirly tattoo, going from its neck and a little bit further down from its shoulder. The other one was a teal wing-like tattoo around its eye. Syra's make-up was much exaggerated, and its lips were blue.

"What are you looking at?"

I realized that it was waiting for me to finish looking so that I could get ready for the chariot rides.

"Oh.. um.. nothing."

"Riiight. Nothing. I understand. Now get over here, I need to show you what incredibly time-taking thing I made for you." Its sassiness was incredibly strong. I got the impression that Syra didn't like this job that much. I slowly walked over to where she was standing. Next to Syra was a mannequin that had a cloth draped over it.

Syra lifted the cloth.

I couldn't believe what I saw.