The Hunger Games: A New Journey Begins

Chapter 9

Cyrus was in the room, boredly listening to one of Rapqa's stories. For a second I felt bad for her until I remembered what she did to me. I passed her, not even glancing back. I did a little jog to my room to avoid Cyrus, Torin, Rapqa, and her dumb pep talks about the coolest way to earn sponsors while killing people. Right as I got to my room I slammed the door behind me and jumped onto my bed. This is the worst.

I could hear knocking at my door. Harry's high pitched voice squealed "Come out, come out, my boy! Do you want to see your scores?" A moment paused. I honestly didn't even care about the scores. I grumbled, walking out. Rapqa, Torin, Cyrus and Harry were there, and I was surprised to find Harry not in a full on makeup heist but only had her face highlighted a little with it. I liked that. They all invited me to sit on the seat, more like forced, but I eventually gave in, sitting beside Rapqa. Apparently, Harry sat up, leaving the room anyway.

"I'll be back." The door slammed behind her as the screen in front of us turned on, and it showed glimpses of training. My cheeks flushed red when they exhibited Benjamin pretending to act. I stood there by him, and my face was priceless as the hatchet swung. I saw Harry chuckling under her breath. Then I realized the rest were doing it too. I had to admit it was funny, but I would not present that.

The screen shifted, playing the national anthem of Panem. I despised that song. It started to visualize the tribute's faces, showing one by one. First Ludek Gordon's face had shown, showing his score underneath. It was a solid 8, which was not very good for a career, but still good. The next few were all between 8 and 10, a solid career score. Lennon Fern only got a 7 though, which was surprising because she was from the ultimate weaponry district. The next few buzzed by, with oddly unexpected scores. The District 6 tributes before us both scored high. Next it was us. The screen showed my face, and under it was a score of 5. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible for being so young. I hoped it was enough to keep me out of the easy targets. Then it showed Cyrus. She had a 10, which was really good, especially for our district. It made me look terrible. I marveled over what she did to impress the judges.

It continued through, and I noticed Benjamin only got a 2. Poor soul. I wondered if he showed them his acting skills. The next buzzed through and soon the anthem of Panem was echoing in my brain, giving me a headache. It continued showing scores, and there were few tributes who got lower scores than me. Oh great.

Soon after the screen whizzed off, Rapqa turned to Cyrus and I, looking rather calm.

"Not bad, not bad" she repeated, nodding her head at us. "Both these scores can be used as advantages in the games."

"How? I got a score of 5" I questioned. I had no clue how.

"Well Archer, that does mean that people will find you as an easy target, but that's for you to show them that you're stronger than they think, after all you can climb, run, and you're very impressive with your axe. use that as your advantages'' Rapqa replied smiling. I sighed, feeling stupid for not realizing that. It was a classic hunger games trick.

"Okay, Rapqa, thanks" I said quietly.

"Oh! And don't forget, my fellow tributes, flexing is the key! That got me sponsors" she blurted out randomly. Almost immediately Harry came stomping in with rage.

"Archer! Ugh!" She bellowed. "No wonder you got such a low score, where are your manners!" "Uh, sorry" I replied, confused. Did I not sit right or something? Honestly, she was hard.

"Oh, now you're sorry! Well it's too late for that!" I was extremely confused. She angrily continued.

"Now the gamemakers will take it out on you in the games! Shooting at the glass was all honest the stupidest thing I've EVER seen anyone do" She began to flip. I cowered before her. How would I last a second in the Hunger Games if I could barely bear a screaming Capitol class citizen? Rapqa luckily saved me, grabbing Harry.