Cato

The eerie silence is short-lived, soon replaced by the chatter of everyone's prep teams, who arrived here earlier by car. Our stylists show up soon and help us dismount from the chariots.

"You were wonderful!" Freya says, taking my crown from my head. "We could see you on screens everywhere!" She goes to work removing my cape.

"Those tributes from District Twelve though!" Clove's stylist says excitedly, taking her cape off as well. He's already removed her wrist cuffs, and I realize she had on a silver bracelet underneath. I hadn't payed much attention to it before, but it must've been important if she took it from the Remake Center. I did the same with the locket, hiding it in my chestplate. "Did you see them!? I'll need to talk to their stylists and get some tips!"

This rubs me the wrong way. I turn to where the tributes from 12 are standing and shoot them a glare. The girl seems to notice and looks away quickly. I realize I must look pretty menacing, what with my size and icy demeanor. I don't feel all that menacing though. Tonight wasn't so bad, but it just means we're one step closer to the Games.

As the stylists and prep teams discuss everyone's costumes, Clove whispers to me, "I think One is eyeballing us." I turn around to where the tributes from 1 are standing with their stylists behind us and sure enough, both are staring.

I turn back to Clove and ask her if we should go talk to them. She shrugs, and we slip away from our stylists and prep teams and walk over.

Clove

"Hey," the girl from 1 says as Cato and I walk up. She seems friendly enough; at least, her smile seems genuine, but I don't like the way she's looking at Cato.

"Hello," I say dryly, making sure I stand close to Cato. I don't know why I'm suddenly so protective of him, but I am.

"I'm Glimmer," the girls says, her seemingly genuine smile widening. I wonder if it's fake, and she's already planning to stab us all in the back.

"Clove," I say.

"Cato," says Cato.

"Marvel," says the boy from 1, and he and Cato shake hands.

"So... allies?" Cato asks them. It's peculiar how nonchalantly this greeting goes, almost as if it's not the four of us talking, but we're being worked by the puppeteers of traditional Hunger Games etiquette.

"I guess so," Marvel says. He looks around and points to the District 4 tributes. "Should we go ahead and talk to them?"

"Honestly the boy doesn't look all that strong," Glimmer says with a laugh, then looks at Cato for his reaction. I decide that she definitely lives up to the dumb blonde title.

"Looks aren't everything," I say, drawing Glimmer's attention to me and earning a small glare. I didn't mean it as an attack. Or maybe I did. Glimmer is very attractive, and I take it she cares a lot about the way she looks. Cato and Marvel are both suppressing smiles of amusement. I already don't like Glimmer and can't imagine being her ally in the arena, so this should be fun.

Cato

I suppress a smile at Clove's comment. It seems to bother Glimmer, and so it amuses me. It's not like I hate Glimmer, she just rubs me the wrong way.

"Whatever," Glimmer says, twisting the ring around her finger. It's a thin silver band with a single emerald green gem embedded in it that matches her eyes perfectly. Something about it seems almost sinister somehow, but I can't quite place it. "Let's just go over there and see."

We all walk over to the District 4 tributes, who seem to be almost nervous.

"Hello," The girl says solenmly. She's Clove's height, with light brown eyes and sleek brown hair that runs down her back in waves. They could almost pass as relatives. She glances at up at me. Not like Glimmer looks at me though, almost like she's afraid. I guess I can see why. I'm almost a foot taller than her, and I've gotten pretty strong in the past few years. I had to. It was that or let myself get beaten to a pulp by my father and the other boys at the Academy.

"Hey! I'm Cato," I say, trying to sound friendly. I don't want her to be afraid of me.

"I'm Marina," she says slowly. "This is Jonah." She gestures to the boy standing beside her. He's even shorter than her, by maybe eight inches, and has curly golden-brown hair and sea green eyes.

"Hi." Jonah says. He looks about 12, maybe 13, and his voice still has the sweet, higher pitch of childhood.

"I'm Clove," Clove says with a small smile. I can tell she already likes Marina. I like her too. There's something in her wary eyes that makes me think I can trust her.

"I'm Glimmer," Glimmer says with a smile that is surely meant to outshine Clove's. I give her what I think is an unnoticed glare. Marina seems to have noticed though, and raises an eyebrow. Glimmer is either too dull to have noticed this exchange or has chosen to ignore it. "That's Marvel," she says.

We exchange small talk about everyone's costumes for a few minutes, and it is soon clear that we are all somewhat upset at being outshone by 12. The Tribute Parade is extremely important to the Capitol residents. If you stand out, if you are memorable, you are already one step ahead in the process of getting sponsors. The tributes from 12 having taken the attention away from everyone else will surely cost us.

Soon the Maggot arrives to collect Clove and I, and we say our short goodbyes to the others, promising to meet up early for our first training session tomorrow. The Maggot leads us to the elevators, which are identical to the ones in the Remake Center, and prods us inside one. The tributes from 3 in their flashy silver costumes are already inside, speaking in hushed voices. The Maggot gives them a little nod and smile and presses the 2 button. The girl reaches a long finger out and presses the 3, then retreats back into the far corner with her District partner. She's tall and skinny, with hollow cheeks and yellowish eyes. I remind myself not to underestimate her, because she's probably ten times more clever than I am. You can see it in the way she watches everyone, making mental notes of the way they act, probably already thinking about her strategies for the Games. The boy is small and frail, with light skin and ashen hair. He has the same clever look to him, and mildly resembles the girl in his facial features. When we reach our floor, I give the two a nod on my way out of the elevator, a small salute that means I know they're stronger than they look. The boy gives the tiniest nod back before the glass doors close between us, and the elevator lurches upward to take them to their floor.