Eden

Chapter Seven: Eden

I turn the faucet on, running my fingers through the cold water. I washed my face and my hands, combed through my hair, and put on my uniform.

"Did you enjoy the tour of the city?" Jace asks as I walk out of the bathroom.

"It was... okay."

We walk out into the gymnasium and sit in the bleachers with the other 400.

"Alright listen," the trainer yells, "you have 5 days left until the Trials. I expect that you all will train every day until then."

The trainer showed us different parts of the gym, 1 for us to build our physical strength and another for other talents. Jace and I agreed to stay together since we kept getting dirty looks from the other 400. Then we all had to sit on the bleachers to watch a video. For 'motivation'.

"Good morning Applicants." Alec Tudor appears on the big screen TV, "I'm Alec Tudor, as you know I had my Trials just a couple of years ago. I wouldn't have been able to win with my friend Amberly Barclay if it weren't for the training and the expertise of the Representatives. So listen up if you want to win like me!" He smiled and a gleam of light bounced off his teeth- animated no doubt. Alec Tudor went on and on about how we need this and it's an opportunity. Alec Tudor is too beautiful not to notice. No one could ever object.

They dismissed us and we all went off on our own. I walked with Jace, we worked fishing. He was having trouble with it, but I wasn't.

"I hate this station, can we go to a different one?"

"What station do you want to go to?"

"Let's go tie knots."

Jace and I walked over to the other station. We sit down and start messing with the knots.

"Shadow," Jace whispers, "Behind you."

I glance gently to my right, the little girl from the interviews stands behind me.

"Does it bother you?"

"Not really," I whisper back, "It just bothers me that she's so young."

"That bothers me too."

"DON'T EVER TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!" Loki screams from across the center, immediately breaking our attention. We all turn our heads to look at him, he's screaming and arguing with a boy from Community Two. Sentinels came rushing in to hold them back from each other. Loki is a brute.

I glance back at Jace, "We should look out for him."

After a while, we stopped messing with the knots, and Jace followed me to a trapping station.

"Why are traps so difficult?"

"They aren't, you're gonna get your hand stuck. If you don't do this now, you're gonna starve in the arena."

"I plan on eating plants."

I shake my head, "What if there are no edible plants?"

"You got me there." Jace sighs, "Guess I'll have to resort to cannibalism."

"Jace!"

"Too soon?"

"Yes!"

"Well I'm not going to eat you, I'll eat Loki or one of the Tycoons."

"If you can catch them." I scrunch my nose as I reset the trap and Jace's trap.

A boy closely followed the little girl, I assume that was her brother. They both had dark brown skin and warm brown eyes, except his eyes seemed colder, and harder to read.