Careers Don't Love

Chapter One

Katniss POV

"I volunteer as tribute!"

The words reverberate in my head as my fingers clench the soft plush fabric of the sofa so hard my knuckles are white.

Terror crashes over me like a tsunami as I take deep breaths in an effort to calm myself.

Has it really been just a few minutes since I stood motionless in that crowd, with the sound of Prim's name echoing in my ears?

It feels an eternity away.

I am going to die. The thought pounds in my head over and over. I am going to be killed.

Somehow, that fact makes it worse.

And yet, despite the fact that I'm almost certainly facing death at the hands of my fellow tributes, I can't bring myself to regret my decision.

Prim is the one person I can't lose. She means everything to me. She is my whole world.

Everything I do, I do for her. Even now. I have to tell her that, how much I love her, how much she means to me.

Because the next time I am in District 12 again, I will be dead. In The Hunger Games, I don't stand a chance.

Cato POV

"I volunteer as tribute!"

There is dead silence in the room. Clove's mouth is open, her eyes wide with shock. Brutus looks slightly impressed, but Enobaria's expression is impassive as always.

Clove grabs the remote and rewinds the tape just to make sure she heard right.

A volunteer from District 12....that's never happened before.

Suddenly there's a shrill scream, and a young blonde girl, not older than 12, runs up and flings her arms around the older girl.

She's the tribute - the one who was picked. The one who would almost certainly died, before her sister - for I'm certain that's who she is - volunteered to save her.

"Katniss! No! You can't go!" Blondie shrieks, tears running down her cheeks as she tries to pull the dark haired girl - Katniss - back.

"Prim, let go." I'm impressed. There's no hint of fear on her face, only a determined resolve. She's hell bent on doing this, I realize, and she won't show her true feelings to anyone. She's already preparing for the Games, from the moment she's reaped.

Clever.

The Peacekeepers pull her sister away, and when she walks up to the platform, I get my first look at her.

She's not very tall - about average - and she's very much on the thin side, but the blue dress she's wearing flatters her body, clinging to the curves of her breasts and waist, flaring out to her hips. Her dark hair is pinned up in an elegant braid, and when she turns, I get my first glimpse of her eyes.

They're silver grey, the colour of steel, and something tells me this girl is just as hard. Everything about her screams survivor, and I can already tell she's going to be a serious competitor.

Smart, brave, and beautiful.

She's going to be a tough nut to crack.

Enobaria turns off the television. "All right, you two, listen up. We're gonna be at the Capitol soon. When we get there, don't say anything, don't look at anyone, act as if they don't exist. You have to be arrogant, you get it?"

As if anyone has to tell me that.

I would make a cutting remark, but my thoughts are occupied by a girl. A girl with piercing grey eyes. A girl with enough courage to volunteer as a tribute in a district where no one cares about anything.

How very, very, interesting.