Jabberjay [The Hunger Games]

Chapter Eight

     The sounds of my sprinting feet echo in the Training Room as I dart out the door. There is an Avox with dirty blonde hair that stands in front of the elevator door as if he were guarding it. I wonder if he had been instructed to stop me from entering. I wish he would put his hands on me, so I would have a reason to take my anger out on someone. My mind races as I pass the Avox that does not move, enter the elevator, and try to process what had just happened. I cannot manage to hold back the tears that begin to roll off my cheek as I press the button for the second floor. There is no way that my training score will be anywhere near where it should be. I am going to be the joke of many years to come as the lowest rated Career tribute in the history of the Hunger Games. My father is going to be beyond disappointed in me, Brutus will give up on his hopes of having mentored another victor, and Malo will not even want to be associated with me anymore.

     I contemplate lying and telling everyone that I downplayed my strengths to the Gamemakers with hopes of receiving a low score so that the other tributes would underestimate me. The elevator makes a dinging sound before the doors spread apart revealing Brutus, Vivian, Katrina, and Malo awaiting me. The tears on my cheek are visible and this causes them to halt whatever conversation they were having. I bet they thought I was going to walk in ecstatic to share how well I preformed, probably like Malo did. I imagine him running in only fifteen minutes earlier as everyone celebrated him. The thought causes my stomach to turn so I make it go away. Katrina rushes over to me first, "My dear, what happened?" I brush her to the side and walk down the hallway and into my room. I can hear her say, "How rude," in her dumb accent as I slam the door behind me.

     I do not want to be here anymore. I hate the Capitol. Why can't we just get this over with and they kill me right now? President Snow can shoot me just like he did the Peacekeeper that my mother paid off. I thought she was crazy, but now I wish her plan would have worked. What is the point of humiliating me even more by sending me into the arena where I will just die? The girl from District Two who got the low training score. That is my brand now, that is what I have to work with. How can I twist this to my advantage? I can't. Even if I wanted to go with the story that I did it intentionally, Malo would not believe it, he just saw me crying and clearly upset. He will know I did horrible and that that is the real reason that my score sucks. There will not be a single person in the Capitol that will sponsor the girl tribute that has the lowest score out of all the other Careers. I allow myself to throw a pity party, crying it out, and ignoring the knocks on my door.

     I have been locked away in my own solitude for hours, allowing dark thoughts to visit in my moments of sorrow. I take a deep breath before standing up and walking over to the mirror that stands above my dresser. The excessive crying has made my eyes puffy which compliments the bags that drape from under them. I am exhausted and want nothing more than to sit alone for the rest of the day, but I do not want to miss the televised reading of the training scores. Each year the Gamemakers conduct a score ranging from one to twelve for each tribute, one being absolutely horrible, and twelve being exceptionally well. Since the viewers do not see any of the training, this is supposed to give them an idea of how well each tribute is suited for the Games. I can remember learning in school that the training scores are never truly accurate in who will win the game, and that they should be taken with a grain of salt. You should have the same energy and focus going into a battle against someone with a score of ten, the same you would against someone with a score of four.

     I have always felt that training scores were a double-edged sword. Yes, you are more likely to get sponsors if you have an impressive one, but ultimately it just makes you a target once the Games start. I know without a doubt whoever outside of the Careers has the highest score will be at the top of the hit list going into the arena. That will be the person targeted during the bloodbath, and if they somehow survive that, they will be hunted day by day until they are caught and killed. It is also bad for the careers as well, because when a brave tribute takes a shot, it will probably be at whoever was deemed the biggest threat before entering the arena.