As a day passes, I become quieter than usual, nervous about my score. They must not have liked me that much. The head Gamemaker’s face was something I never want to see or speak of again. Hours go by, and I skip lunch, napping in my bed for most of the day. At one point, Arbor brings me something called a chai tea and I can’t stop sipping the warm drink. I think he feels bad for me. He doesn’t know what happened in training but I think he knows it’s not good. I know I’m going to have a horrible death in the games planned out for me if I hadn’t already. I hear a knock on my Capitol bedroom door. Arbor comes in and drags me out of bed. I sneak in a quick k1ss as we make our way to the living room. “Results are starting. For the private sessions.” Oakley says. He and Rowan are already on the sofa, leaning in and listening to one of the Flickermans talk about what the training sessions are. Then they start sharing scores. Aurelia Beauport, 9. Not bad. Good for a Career, too. Then the rest of the Careers go, all with pretty good scores. As district 6 finishes up with not the best scores, I realize it’s Arbor’s turn. “Arbor Wood,” Arbor’s holding his breath and sitting on the very edge of the sofa. “With a score of… 8,” we all move to congratulate him, and he adapts a small smile. “Rosemary Fraser,” the announcer says. I move to the edge of my seat and lean in towards the screen, fearing the absolute worst. “With a score of… 10!” I cover my mouth in surprise. I was expecting a 6 or worse. They must’ve liked my Capitol defiance. Or my singing voice. Either way is good. “Yay!” I say. “Great job,” Arbor tells me with a hug. “Yeah, good job! What did you do to make them like you?” Oakley asks. “Oh, I just sung The Hanging Tree and hung a dummy of President Snow.” all noise concedes and my whole district 7 team turns to stare at me. “You did WHAT?” Oakley says. He seems pretty darn angry. This is going to be fun to explain. “Well, I just got mad,” I said. “You realize they’re going to target you in the arena to be one of the first deaths,” Rowan points out. “Yeah. I do.” I say. I stand up and go walk to my room. Alone.
