Too Clever

Chapter 3

     I'm in the arena, a freezing mountainous region. Where there aren't mountains or giant rock cliffs, there are piles of frostbitten snow as far as the eye can see. A girl, probably a Career Tribute, is chasing me across the icy terrain, a long, curved dagger in her hand. She is gaining on me, and with every step, I can see my life coming to a painful end. The girl grabs onto my shirt and raises the dagger—
     I wake with a start, gripping the covers as if my life depends on it. It was only a dream, I tell myself over and over again. It was only a dream. But then another thought comes to mind. This could easily by my fate in the arena! In fact, this is probably what will end up happening to me since I'm too clever and smart to die of natural causes in the arena. The thought scares me. I don't want to die that way. I don't want to be at death's door in that situation.
     There's a knock at my door and I hear Cordelia's annoying singsong voice.
     "Time for dinner!"
     "O—okay, I'll b-be right there," I choke, trying to calm myself down. I get out of bed, wipe my eyes and nose on a towel in the bathroom, and head to the dining car.
     Alec is already there. I can tell he's been crying quite a lot as well; his face is all red and blotchy. I don't want to sit next to him, so I sit a seat down from him, next to a middle aged woman who I assume is my mentor. Alec's mentor sits across from her.
     I shovel food onto my plate, unable to help myself. The food just looks so good, and I've never really had a meal like this before.
     "Hello, you must be Fleta," says the woman next to me. "I'm Lila, your mentor."
     "Um, hi," I say. I hold out my hand, wanting to be off to a good start with my mentor, who may be the difference between my life and death in the arena. We shake hands.
     Throughout dinner, no one but Cordelia really says anything. We all sit there and eat as we listen to Cordelia tell a ridiculous tale in which she made the huge mistake of wearing a sequenced headdress instead of a sequenced hat to her friend's Valentine's Day party. The things the people do in the Capitol.
     Every once in a while, an Avox comes around to the the table and waits on us, filling up our glasses and cleaning up messes and crumbs. She never says a single word. I've heard back at home that Avoxes are traitors of the Capitol, and that this is their punishment for life. They say their tongues were cut out, so they will never speak again. I'm not so sure how true that last part is, although I do notice the slightly puckered way they hold their lips.
     The food is absolutely delicious. I serve myself a pink, creamy soup dotted with raspberries for an appetizer and mounds of mashed potatoes, juicy pork chops with barbecue sauce—I think I heard Alec's mentor, Nicolas, call it that—and some type of stew that contains what seems to be dried plums.
     Finally, an Avox comes out with dessert, which I've only had a handful of times throughout my life, although not as extravagant as this. It turns out to be vanilla ice cream loaded with whipped cream and brownie bites. There's caramel drizzled all over it, and, to top it all off, there's a fancy roll of thin, dark chocolate poking out of the mountain of whipped cream.
     "So, do you have any questions?" Lila asks me after dinner. She seems to really want to help Alec and I, unlike Nicolas, who hasn't said a word about the Games.
     "What will we be doing tonight?" I say.
     "Nothing much. You'll just get settled in your rooms and wait until the other tributes arrive," Lila answers.
"Okay," I reply. The tributes from districts that are closer to the Capitol will have to stay an extra night because the tributes from farther districts, like 12 and 11, will spend the night on the train.
Before we have to get off the train, we all sit down and watch the recap of the reaping to get an idea of who we will be competing against in the arena. I do a quick analysis on each of the tributes, and a few of them stick out to me. From District 1, there is a slim, but solid, boy named Marvel and a beautiful girl with striking features—long blonde hair and emerald green eyes—called Glimmer. Seriously? The names in that district are so unprofessional. I wonder if Glimmer is as lethal as she is pretty.
From District 2, a gigantic boy lunges forward to volunteer. I think they called him Cato. I immediately list him in my mind as a major threat. The girl that is called to the stage, Clove, steps forward with a look of annoyance and worry spread across her face. But then it almost immediately changes to a look of arrogance. My guess is that she was waiting to volunteer when she was eighteen, like many of the kids from the Career districts do. Obviously that didn't work out for her.
Overall, the Career pack seems pretty lethal this year, which isn't surprising. Many of the tributes, including me, will probably end up at the mercy of one of these Careers. I guess I'll just have to avoid them in the arena. Okay. I can manage that.
The male tribute from 11, Thresh, is massive, probably standing over six and a half feet tall. I wouldn't be surprised if District 11 has a victor this year. On the other hand, the girl from 11 is extremely small. She must be a twelve-year-old. She stands on her toes, her arms slightly extended, on the stage with no one offering to take her place. If I don't win the Games, I hope she does. I think her name is Rue. Like a flower.
The girl from District 12 is the tribute that really catches my attention. It's not her name that is called, but her her little sister's, Primrose. With a look of complete shock on her face, the girl, Katniss, sweeps her little sister behind her and volunteers to take her place. I wonder if she was just acting out of shock and wasn't fully aware of what she was doing, or if it was a pure act of bravery. Either way, I will think of this girl as a threat, because anyone who volunteers for the Hunger Games is sure to be a tough opponent.
     Just as the program ends, a Capitol attendant enters the train car to tell us that we have arrived at the Capitol. Curiosity gets the better of me, and I rush to the window. The astonishing sight out the window leaves me dumbstruck and speechless. The Capitol is absolutely gigantic, with towering buildings that seem to be brushing the clouds. The whole city is lit up with brightly colored lights all over the place—in the roads, draped over rooftops, hanging on the windowsills. What's more is the people who inhabit the place. Capitol citizens rush across the streets to get a better look at our train. They are literally piled on top of each other just get a glimpse of this year's tributes, cheering, hollering, and whistling. I've never seen a sight quite like it in my life.
The Capitol people are so flamboyantly dresses that they don't even look human. Like Cordelia, they all wear outrageous dresses, suites, headdresses, and countless other accessories. The colors they wear are almost artificial, from pinks that are too vibrant, to lime greens that hurt my eyes, to electric blues that look like horribly bright lights. The whole scene is completely overwhelming.
Finally, the train pulls into the station, and Alec and I are ushered straight to our rooms in the Tribute Center, where we will be staying until we are sent off to the arena. Cordelia takes us to our rooms and says, "What an upscale the Capitol must be compared to your district, you poor things. Make yourselves at home."
"Well intended, yet so insulting," Alec says to me as Cordelia struts out of the hall. These are the first words he's said to me all day.
"I know," I reply. "It's almost like she's pitying us for being reaped." We both laugh, even though the events of the day haven't been all that funny. I guess we just needed something upbeat to grasp at.
"See you tomorrow," says Alec.
"Okay," I say. "See you." I turn around and enter my room. It's at least four times the size of my room back home, and very elaborately decorated. I look through the many drawers to find something to wear to bed. I pick out a comfortable night dress and collapse on my bed, exhausted from the day's events.
But then a thought comes to me. Alec and I are opponents. Only one of these tributes will come out of the Games alive. I can't be too friendly with Alec or any of the other competitors. I must stay solitaire if I am to come home. In my opinion, allying with other tributes is the most dangerous thing you could do in the Games. They can't always be trusted. I know if anyone asked me to ally with them, I'd think fast of a way to get rid of them as soon as possible. I will not have allies in the arena. I will play by my own accord, not someone else's.
I will not become allies with Alec Denaro.