Chapter 3

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“Kaylee!” Kaylee’s bright red hair catches the light as she steps onto the stage.

    “Good morning, Kaylee! You ready for the Kairos Games to begin? We’re in the final hours, now.”

    Kaylee smiles shyly and shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess I am.”

    “You don’t seem to confident about that. Why not? Do you not think you can win?”

    She shrugs again. “It’s possible, but I don’t know.”

    “Hmm. Alright, then. Tell me about yourself. What do you do in your free time?”

    “Um… I work at Five Guys.”

    “Really? That’s awesome! You know, if you live through this, I might just have to come visit you sometime. Assuming you still want to work there, after you go through this life-changing, traumatic ordeal and get awarded thousands of dollars a year for winning.”

    Not sure how to reply, she smiles nervously and remains silent.

    “So. Anything else interesting I should know about you?”

    “I don’t know…”

    “Alright, well, that’s cool. Keeping your skills a secret, I see. That’s a good strategy. Good luck in the Games, Kaylee! Next up, Kenton!”

    A tall, burly redhead walks onto the stage.

    “Hey there, Kenton. How are you today?”

    “I’m doing pretty good. Under the circumstances.”

    “Yeah, just ignore those for a second. That’s not important. Tell me about yourself! What’s an interesting fact about you? Keep in mind, when I say interesting, I mean something that I will actually find interesting. It has to be good.”

    “Um… can I pass?”

    “No. You can’t pass! This is your only opportunity to tell the world how great you are. C’mon. I bet you can think of something.”

    “Uh… I have a twin sister.”

    Steve rolls his eyes. “Well, I guess that would be interesting, if I didn’t already know that, but obviously I do, since she’s also one of the tributes. How did that happen, anyway? Two tributes from the same family?”

    “Yeah, we come from a really small district…”

    “So is family really important to you?”

    Kenton nods. “Yeah, I mean, I care about them a lot.”

    “Is Mikayla your only sibling, or are there more of you running around?”

    “I have two other siblings. A brother and a sister. Both younger.”

    “It must be frustrating to be so far away from them, huh? At least you got to bring one of them with you.”

    “Yeah, well, this isn’t exactly where I would like her to be.”

    Steve nods. “Well, the Kairos Games are full of surprises. You never know what could happen. Good luck out there, Kenton. I’m sure you’ll make your family proud.”

    “Thanks, Steve.”

    “Alright! Next, is Lauren!”

    A short, smiling girl walks out, fiddling with her blond hair.

    “Hi Steve.”

    “Hello, Lauren. Welcome to the stage. There’s a nice view up here, if you look to your right.” He turns and stares at the back wall of the stage. The audience chuckles.

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