About halfway through my glass of wine, my head starts feeling foggy, so I change to water instead. I don't like the feeling and hope it wears off soon. How Soonkyu can stand walking around like this full-time is a mystery.

 

I try to focus on the talk, which has turned to our interview costumes, when a girl sets a gorgeous-looking cake on the table and deftly lights it. It blazes up and then the flames flicker around the edges awhile until it finally goes out. I have a moment of doubt. "What makes it burn? Is it alcohol?" I say, looking up at the girl. "That's the last thing I wa  -  oh! I know you!"

 

I can't place a name or time to the girl's face. But I'm certain of it. The dark red hair, the striking features, the porcelain white skin. But even as I utter the words, I feel my insides contracting with anxiety and guilt at the sight of her, and while I can't pull it up, I know some bad memory is associated with her. The expression of terror that crosses her face only adds to my confusion and unease. She shakes her head in denial quickly and hurries away from the table.

 

When I look back, the four adults are watching me like hawks.

 

"Don't be ridiculous, Tiffany. How could you possibly know an Avox?" snaps Yoona. "The very thought."

 

"What's an Avox?" I ask stupidly.

 

"Someone who committed a crime. They cut her tongue so she can't speak," says Soonkyu. "She's probably a traitor of some sort. Not likely you'd know her."

 

"And even if you did, you're not to speak to one of them unless it's to give an order," says Yoona. "Of course, you don't really know her."

 

But I do know her. And now that Soonkyu has mentioned the word traitor I remember from where. The disapproval is so high I could never admit it. "No, I guess not, I just  - " I stammer, and the wine is not helping.

 

Taeyeon snaps his fingers. "Delly Cartwright. That's who it is. I kept thinking she looked familiar as well. Then I realized she's a dead ringer for Delly."

 

Delly Cartwright is a pasty-faced, lumpy girl with yellowish hair who looks about as much like our server as a beetle does a butterfly. She may also be the friendliest person on the planet  -  she smiles constantly at everybody in school, even me. I have never seen the girl with the red hair smile. But I jump on Taeyeon's suggestion gratefully. "Of course, that's who I was thinking of. It must be the hair," I say.

 

"Something about the eyes, too," says Taeyeon.

 

The energy at the table relaxes. "Oh, well. If that's all it is," says Key. "And yes, the cake has spirits, but all the alcohol has burned off. I ordered it specially in honor of your fiery debut."

 

We eat the cake and move into a sitting room to watch the replay of the opening ceremonies that's being broadcast. A few of the other couples make a nice impression, but none of them can hold a candle to us. Even our own party lets out an "Ahh!" as they show us coming out of the Remake Center.

 

"Whose idea was the hand holding?" asks Soonkyu.

 

"Key's," says Luna.

 

"Just the perfect touch of rebellion," says Soonkyu. "Very nice."

 

Rebellion? I have to think about that one a moment. But when I remember the other couples, standing stiffly apart, never touching or acknowledging each other, as if their fellow tribute did not exist, as if the Games had already begun, I know what Soonkyu means. Presenting ourselves not as adversaries but as friends has distinguished us as much as the fiery costumes.

 

"Tomorrow morning is the first training session. Meet me for breakfast and I'll tell you exactly how I want you to play it," says Soonkyu to Taeyeon and I. "Now go get some sleep while the grown-ups talk."

 

Taeyeon and I walk together down the corridor to our rooms. When we get to my door, he leans against the frame, not blocking my entrance exactly but insisting I pay attention to him. "So, Delly Cartwright. Imagine finding her lookalike here."

 

He's asking for an explanation, and I'm tempted to give him one. We both know he covered for me. So here I am in his debt again. If I tell him the truth about the girl, somehow that might even things up. How can it hurt really? Even if he repeated the story, it couldn't do me much harm. It was just something I witnessed. And he lied as much as I did about Delly Cartwright.

 

I realize I do want to talk to someone about the girl. Someone who might be able to help me figure out her story.

 

Yuri would be my first choice, but it's unlikely I'll ever see Yuri again. I try to think if telling Taeyeon could give him any possible advantage over me, but I don't see how. Maybe sharing a confidence will actually make him believe I see him as a friend.

 

Besides, the idea of the girl with her maimed tongue frightens me. She has reminded me why I'm here. Not to model flashy costumes and eat delicacies. But to die a bloody death while the crowds urge on my killer.

 

To tell or not to tell? My brain still feels slow from the wine. I stare down the empty corridor as if the decision lies there.

 

Taeyeon picks up on my hesitation. "Have you been on the roof yet?" I shake my head. "Key showed me. You can practically see the whole city. The wind's a bit loud, though."

 

I translate this into "No one will overhear us talking" in my head. You do have the sense that we might be under surveillance here. "Can we just go up?"

 

"Sure, come on," says Taeyeon. I follow him to a flight of stairs that lead to the roof. There's a small dome-shaped room with a door to the outside. As we step into the cool, windy evening air, I catch my breath at the view. The Capitol twinkles like a vast field of fireflies. Electricity in District 12 comes and goes, usually we only have it a few hours a day. Often the evenings are spent in candlelight. The only time you can count on it is when they're airing the Games or some important government message on television that it's mandatory to watch. But here there would be no shortage. Ever.

 

Taeyeon and I walk to a railing at the edge of the roof. I look straight down the side of the building to the street, which is buzzing with people. You can hear their cars, an occasional shout, and a strange metallic tinkling. In District 12, we'd all be thinking about bed right now.

 

"I asked Key why they let us up here. Weren't they worried that some of the tributes might decide to jump right over the side?" says Taeyeon.

 

"What'd he say?" I ask.

 

"You can't," says Taeyeon. He holds out his hand into seemingly empty space. There's a sharp zap and he jerks it back. "Some kind of electric field throws you back on the roof."

 

"Always worried about our safety," I say. Even though Key has shown Taeyeon the roof, I wonder if we're supposed to be up here now, so late and alone. I've never seen tributes on the Training Center roof before. But that doesn't mean we're not being taped. "Do you think they're watching us now?"

 

"Maybe," he admits. "Come see the garden."

 

On the other side of the dome, they've built a garden with flower beds and potted trees. From the branches hang hundreds of wind chimes, which account for the tinkling I heard. Here in the garden, on this windy night, it's enough to drown out two people who are trying not to be heard. Taeyeon looks at me expectantly.

 

I pretend to examine a blossom. "We were hunting in the woods one day. Hidden, waiting for game," I whisper.

 

"You and your father?" he whispers back.

 

"No, my friend Yuri. Suddenly all the birds stopped singing at once. Except one. As if it were giving a warning call. And then we saw her. I'm sure it was the same girl. A boy was with her. Their clothes were tattered. They had dark circles under their eyes from no sleep. They were running as if their lives depended on it," I say.

 

For a moment I'm silent, as I remember how the sight of this strange pair, clearly not from District 12, fleeing through the woods immobilized us. Later, we wondered if we could have helped them escape. Perhaps we might have. Concealed them. If we'd moved quickly. Yuri  and I were taken by surprise, yes, but we're both hunters. We know how animals look at bay. We knew the pair was in trouble as soon as we saw them. But we only watched.

 

"The hovercraft appeared out of nowhere," I continue to Taeyeon. "I mean, one moment the sky was empty and the next it was there. It didn't make a sound, but they saw it. A net dropped down on the girl and carried her up, fast, so fast like the elevator. They shot some sort of spear through the boy. It was attached to a cable and they hauled him up as well. But I'm certain he was dead. We heard the girl scream once. The boy's name, I think. Then it was gone, the hovercraft. Vanished into thin air. And the birds began to sing again, as if nothing had happened."

 

"Did they see you?" Taeyeon asked.

 

"I don't know. We were under a shelf of rock," I reply.

 

But I do know. There was a moment, after the birdcall, but before the hovercraft, where the girl had seen us. She'd locked eyes with me and called out for help. But neither Yuri or I had responded.

 

"You're shivering," says Taeyeon.

 

The wind and the story have blown all the warmth from my body. The girl's scream. Had it been her last?

 

Taeyeon takes off his jacket and wraps it around my shoulders. I start to take a step back, but then I let him, deciding for a moment to accept both his jacket and his kindness. A friend would do that, right?

 

"They were from here?" he asks, and he secures a button at my neck.

 

I nod. They'd had that Capitol look about them. The boy and the girl.

 

"Where do you suppose they were going?" he asks.

 

"I don't know that," I say. District 12 is pretty much the end of the line. Beyond us, there's only wilderness. If you don't count the ruins of District 13 that still smolder from the toxic bombs. They show it on television occasionally, just to remind us. "Or why they would leave here." Soonkyu had called the Avoxes traitors. Against what? It could only be the Capitol. But they had everything here. No cause to rebel.

 

"I'd leave here," Taeyeon blurts out. Then he looks around nervously. It was loud enough to hear above the chimes. He laughs. "I'd go home now if they let me. But you have to admit, the food's prime."

 

He's covered again. If that's all you'd heard it would just sound like the words of a scared tribute, not someone contemplating the unquestionable goodness of the Capitol.

 

"It's getting chilly. We better go in," he says. Inside the dome, it's warm and bright. His tone is conversational. "Your friend Yuri. He's the one who took your sister away at the reaping?"

 

"Yes. Do you know him?" I ask.

 

"Not really. I hear the girls talk about him a lot. I thought he was your cousin or something. You favor each other," he says.

 

"No, we're not related," I say.

 

Taeyeon nods, unreadable. "Did he come to say good-bye to you?"

 

"Yes," I say, observing him carefully. "So did your father. He brought me cookies."

 

Taeyeon raises his eyebrows as if this is news. But after watching him lie so smoothly, I don't give this much weight. "Really? Well, he likes you and your sister. I think he wishes he had a daughter instead of a houseful of boys."

 

The idea that I might ever have been discussed, around the dinner table, at the bakery fire, just in passing in Taeyeon's house gives me a start. It must have been when the mother was out of the room.

 

"He knew your mother when they were kids," says Taeyeon.

 

Another surprise. But probably true. "Oh, yes. She grew up in town," I say. It seems impolite to say she never mentioned the baker except to compliment his bread.

 

We're at my door. I give back his jacket. "See you in the morning then."

 

"See you," he says, and walks off down the hall.

 

When I open my door, the redheaded girl is collecting my unitard and boots from where I left them on the floor before my shower. I want to apologize for possibly getting her in trouble earlier. But I remember I'm not supposed to speak to her unless I'm giving her an order.

 

"Oh, sorry," I say. "I was supposed to get those back to Key. I'm sorry. Can you take them to him?"

 

She avoids my eyes, gives a small nod, and heads out the door.

 

I'd set out to tell her I was sorry about dinner. But I know that my apology runs much deeper. That I'm ashamed I never tried to help her in the woods. That I let the Capitol kill the boy and mutilate her without lifting a finger.

 

Just like I was watching the Games.

 

I kick off my shoes and climb under the covers in my clothes. The shivering hasn't stopped. Perhaps the girl doesn't even remember me. But I know she does. You don't forget the face of the person who was your last hope. I pull the covers up over my head as if this will protect me from the redheaded girl who can't speak. But I can feel her eyes staring at me, piercing through walls and doors and bedding.

 

I wonder if she'll enjoy watching me die.

 

 

My slumbers are filled with disturbing dreams. The face of the redheaded girl intertwines with gory images from earlier Hunger Games, with my mother withdrawn and unreachable, with Seohyun  emaciated and terrified. I bolt up screaming for my father to run as the mine explodes into a million deadly bits of light

 

Dawn is breaking through the windows. The Capitol has a misty, haunted air. My head aches and I must have bitten into the side of my cheek in the night. My tongue probes the ragged flesh and I taste blood.

 

Slowly, I drag myself out of bed and into the shower. I arbitrarily punch buttons on the control board and end up hopping from foot to foot as alternating jets of icy cold and steaming hot water assault me. Then I'm deluged in lemony foam that I have to scrape off with a heavy bristled brush. Oh, well. At least my blood is flowing.

 

When I'm dried and moisturized with lotion, I find an outfit has been left for me at the front of the closet. Tight black pants, a long-sleeved burgundy tunic, and leather shoes. I put my hair in the single braid down my back. This is the first time since the morning of the reaping that I resemble myself. No fancy hair and clothes, no flaming capes. Just me. Looking like I could be headed for the woods. It calms me.

 

Soonkyu didn't give us an exact time to meet for breakfast and no one has contacted me this morning, but I'm hungry so I head down to the dining room, hoping there will be food. I'm not disappointed. While the table is empty, a long board off to the side has been laid with at least twenty dishes. A young man, an Avox, stands at attention by the spread. When I ask if I can serve myself, he nods assent. I load a plate with eggs, sausages, batter cakes covered in thick orange preserves, slices of pale purple melon. As I gorge myself, I watch the sun rise over the Capitol. I have a second plate of hot grain smothered in beef stew. Finally, I fill a plate with rolls and sit at the table, breaking oil bits and dipping them into hot chocolate, the way Taeyeon did on the train.

 

My mind wanders to my mother and Seohyun. They must be up. My mother getting their breakfast of mush. Soehyun milking her goat before school. Just two mornings ago, I was home. Can that be right? Yes, just two. And now how empty the house feels, even from a distance. What did they say last night about my fiery debut at the Games? Did it give them hope, or simply add to their terror when they saw the reality of twenty-four tributes circled together, knowing only one could live?

 

Soonkyu and Taeyeon come in, bid me good morning, fill their plates. It makes me irritated that Taeyeon is wearing exactly the same outfit I am. I need to say something to Key. This twins act is going to blow up in out faces once the Games begin. Surely, they must know this. Then I remember Soonkyu telling me to do exactly what the stylists tell me to do. If it was anyone but Key, I might be tempted to ignore him. But after last night's triumph, I don't have a lot of room to criticize his choices.

 

I'm nervous about the training. There will be three days in which all the tributes practice together. On the last afternoon, we'll each get a chance to perform in private before the Gamemakers. The thought of meeting the other tributes face-to-face makes me queasy. I turn the roll I have just taken from the basket over and over in my hands, but my appetite is gone.

 

When Soonkyu has finished several platters of stew, he pushes back his plate with a sigh. He takes a flask from his pocket and takes a long pull on it and leans his elbows on the table. "So, let's get down to business. Training. First off, if you like, I'll coach you separately. Decide now."

 

"Why would you coach us separately?" I ask.

 

"Say if you had a secret skill you might not want the other to know about," says Soonkyu.

 

I exchange a look with Taeyeon. "I don't have any secret skills," he says. "And I already know what yours is, right? I mean, I've eaten enough of your squirrels."

 

I never thought about Taeyeon eating the squirrels I shot. Somehow I always pictured the baker quietly going off and frying them up for himself. Not out of greed. But because town families usually eat expensive butcher meat. Beef and chicken and horse.

 

"You can coach us together," I tell Soonkyu. Taeyeon nods.

 

"All right, so give me some idea of what you can do," says Soonkyu.

 

"I can't do anything," says Taeyeon. "Unless you count baking bread."

 

"Sorry, I don't. Tiffany. I already know you're handy with a knife," says Soonkyu.

 

"Not really. But I can hunt," I say. "With a bow and arrow."

 

"And you're good?" asks Soonkyu.

 

I have to think about it. I've been putting food on the table for four years. That's no small task. I'm not as good as my father was, but he'd had more practice. I've better aim than Yuri, but I've had more practice. He's a genius with traps and snares. "I'm all right," I say.

 

"She's excellent," says Taeyeon. "My father buys her squirrels. He always comments on how the arrows never pierce the body. She hits every one in the eye. It's the same with the rabbits she sells the butcher. She can even bring down deer."

 

This assessment of my skills from Taeyeon takes me totally by surprise. First, that he ever noticed. Second, that he's talking me up. "What are you doing?" I ask him suspiciously.

 

"What are you doing? If he's going to help you, he has to know what you're capable of. Don't underrate yourself," says Taeyeon.

 

I don't know why, but this rubs me the wrong way. "What about you? I've seen you in the market. You can lift hundred-pound bags of flour," I snap at him. "Tell him that. That's not nothing."

 

"Yes, and I'm sure the arena will be full of bags of flour for me to chuck at people. It's not like being able to use a weapon. You know it isn't," he shoots back.

 

"He can wrestle," I tell Soonkyu. "He came in second in our school competition last year, only after his brother."

 

"What use is that? How many times have you seen someone wrestle someone to death?" says Taeyeon in disgust.

 

"There's always hand-to-hand combat. All you need is to come up with a knife, and you'll at least stand a chance. If I get jumped, I'm dead!" I can hear my voice rising in anger.

 

"But you won't! You'll be living up in some tree eating raw squirrels and picking off people with arrows. You know what my mother said to me when she came to say good-bye, as if to cheer me up, she says maybe District Twelve will finally have a winner. Then I realized, she didn't mean me, she meant you!" bursts out Taeyeon.

 

"Oh, she meant you," I say with a wave of dismissal.

 

"She said, 'She's a survivor, that one.' She is," says Taeyeon.

 

That pulls me up short. Did his mother really say that about me? Did she rate me over her son? I see the pain in Taeyeon's eyes and know he isn't lying.