Seneca Crane— the head gamemaker who hit on me at my victory party last year. I try not to let my surprise show.
"Told you you'd be hearing from me, gorgeous" he says.
That was the exact thing he'd said to me last.
"Sounds like you rehearsed that line. What, were you all nervous to see me?" I flirt, hopping on the bed with him.
"That's more like it. Here I thought you'd be all stuffy like last year. You have no idea how hard it was to get Snow to agree to this" he hums, kissing me as I try not to throw up at the feeling of his strange facial hair.
I hum and pull back a bit. "Do you think maybe my tributes could get a few extra sponsors? Maybe a couple extra points for their training scores?" I ask, while he's caught up in the heat of everything.
"Yeah, I think I could make that work" he says, rushing to continue.
I power through the rest of the ordeal, just happy to be helping my tributes.
When we finish, he cuddles next to me in bed, while I struggle to not throw him off it.
"So, head gamemaker hmm? You just know some pretty juicy secrets" I say.
He chuckles at this. "Honey, if you want secrets, I think you've hit a goldmine" he brags.
"Well I signed a confidentiality clause, so I'm all ears" I whisper.
"Alright well for one, Snow cut our budget for the Games so much this year, that we're just gonna use the same arena as last time" he tells me.
"Wow, I've never even heard of that happening before" I say, faking awe.
"Yeah, that's because it hasn't" he says.
"Why's he cutting your budget like that?" I ask.
He scoffs. "Who knows why that pompous ass does anything. You know, I heard that the only reason he's in power is because he poisoned his allies to get there" he says.
Wow, he really was a secret holding goldmine.
"Woahh, really?" I ask.
"Mmhm. He'd drink it with them to advert suspicion and then just take an antidote afterwords" he divulges.
"Fascinating. Oh, but look at the time. Looks like we both need to be heading back" I say, getting up.
He knows what he just did is super illegal, since it would cause unfairness and bias in the Games. So we both had to get back without people noticing.
As I leave the hallway and head into the elevator, I'm met with another mentor.
"Hey new girl. I'm Cashmere. District 1" says the woman.
We shake hands and "hi" is all I say. I click my button and wait.
"It gets better, you know. With the visitors. When the fame dies off and the next victor wins" she tells me.
"How'd you know" I ask.
"Just did. Girls like us have got to stick together, right?" she says.
"Right" I say with a smile.
The elevator dings.
"Sorry I'm late" I say, heading up to the dinner table.
"Oh no worries, Toni. We were just talking about Careers" says Celene.
"So how good are they?" asks Electra.
"Obviously, they're pretty good. They win it almost every year, but they can be arrogant. And arrogance can be a big problem" I say as I grab my seat.
"How was training?" I ask.
"Good. I did the survival skills and some work with a spear. I was alright" says Electra.
"She's was better than alright" Chip compliments.
"Yeah, well it's not that hard to throw and stab with a big a big stick" Electra shrugs.
"Chip's fast. I saw him on the treadmill. Good with ropes too" Electra brings up.
"Thanks, but I don't think I have much of a chance" says Chip.
"Hey, don't say that. There's always a chance" I assure him.
"Thanks, Toni" he smiles.
Beetee gives me a look and I have a feeling I'm gonna get scolded again later.
*time skip******
After their two days of training, today was their training evaluations.
We prepped them on what to do and everything, and now we were just waiting on them to get back.
The door opens and our two kids walk into the room that me, Beetee, Celene, and Chastise were in.
"So how was it?" I ask.
"I think it went okay. The spear stuff went alright. But I showed them my plants memorization. Got the whole thing in under a minute" says Electra.
"That's my girl" I say, high fiving her.
"What about you, Chip?" asks Beetee.
"Mine was okay too. I did the running and the knot tying" says Chip.
"Good job" says Chastise, ruffling his hair.
Celene turns the television on, and we start to watch the reveal of the scores.
"As you know, the Tributes were rated on a scale of 1 to 12 after three days of careful evaluation. The Gamemakers would like to acknowledge... from District 1, Lux, with a score of 9. Diamond, with a score of 9. From District 2, Ares, with a score of 10. Claudius, with a score of 10. From District 3, Chip, with a score of 8. Electra, with a score of 9"
"Wow!" exclaims Celene.
"Yay! Good job guys" I say.
"Yeah, we can really work with that" Beetee agrees.
"I-I don't know how. I didn't think we were that good. At least not me. How did I score the same as the Careers?" Electra asks, surprised but happy.
Beetee gives me a look.
"Don't sell yourself short" I tell her.
We tune back in for the last few names.
"And finally, from District 12, Katniss Everdeen, with a score of... 11" says Caesar.
"Jesus" Beetee and I say in sink.