Nicholas Bray's Story

Diana grinned happily when he agreed to go together. She bounced to the door and held it open for him.
"Very well," she said, putting on a Capitol accent, "Let the games begin!" Her smile didn't falter once until they reached the District Dinner cart. Then the flashing started and for a moment she just had a dazed look on. Then she laughed.
"There's way more people here then I thought there'd be," She answered all the questions smiling and laughing. Some of the Capitol even joined in, she'd always been able to draw people in. Besides, it's not like the questions were very hard yet.

Nicholas followed Diana into the dinner cart, nervousness flowing over him. He made sure to stand up straight as the flashing of cameras began, keeping a natural smile on his face. The only time it slightly faltered was when he was asked about a relationship. What was he to say? Yes, I'm with a girl from another district? Only if he wanted to get killed. Instead he played it as cool as he could, simply replying with, "I'd be lucky if a girl talked to me," before turning towards the table, and willing Diana to come with him.

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Bridget stepped into the dining cart, planting the happiest smile she could onto her face. She was blinded for a second, but quickly blinked it off, making sure to use both hands to wave as big as she could. Quickly, Bridget glanced at Ian, seeing him looking over the crowd as questions began to be shouted from the capitol photographers. Bridget's arm was still hooked with Ian, and she made sure to keep it like that, unless he were to pull away. The first question was directed at both of them, the one Bridget had been expecting.

"So what's it like being chosen for the hunger games?" Before she gave herself to push out the words though, Bridget turned to Ian to let him answer first.

Amabelle looked up as Nicholas walked in, watched him, and she folded her hands on her lap. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in each person as best she could, but she had never been good at learning people's faces and name in big groups. She gave up, and began taking each person in as best she could, learning each of their faces as best she could, but gave up on trying to learn their names. She met eyes with Nicholas once, and almost froze rigid in her seat. Quickly, she looked down at the bowl that an Avox had placed in front of her with soup in it. She was starving, but she didn't really have a stomach for any food right now. Her hands were shaking, but the rest of her sat as still as she could. Amabelle glanced over at Joseph. He certainly didn't seem to be finding an issue in looking laid back, as usual. She wondered if he was worried. Even with the alliance that they had, she knew that only one came out. Only one was going to make it through. While they all played house and pretended to be friends, they were all secretly plotting to kill each other. She tried to look intimidating, and with the last remnants of her temper from earlier did make her look rather angry. She guessed she knew what she was going for.

She had a fiery tongue and a snappy demeanor. She wasn't mean, but she was definitely something of a firecracker. She looked up, and continued to examine the room. Amabelle crossed one leg over the other, and rested her elbow on her knee. She tapped her red painted fingernails on her cheek, and tried to look as confident and composed as possible.

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Joseph, on the other hand, just looked passive. He leaned back in his seat, and picked at his teeth with a toothpick. He was used to looking handsome and laid back, as that was what he did best. He looked over to Amabelle, who he caught looking at her. He winked at her and reached out to pat her leg lightly, before leaning back in his seat again. The food in front of him looked good, and smelled even better, but he didn't eat it. He waited for all of the district tributes to sit down. There was probably going to be some kind of speech, and then they were going to be left to their conversation and meal. When he saw Diana, he smiled at her. She pulled off the little interview flawlessly, or so he thought, and he gave her a little encouraging nod if she looked his way.

But inside, he was plotting. He was sizing everyone up, noting their weaknesses, their strengths, their demeanor. Inside his head, he was figuring out the best way to kill them.

Someone shot her a question about relationships back home and Diana just laughed warmly.
"No way," She answered honestly, "None of the guys back home gave me a second glance. Besides, they're all more like brothers to me." Plus they probably think of me as a brother, but that wouldn't win her any support. This was a fair bit easier than she expected, she hardly had to lie at all. Waving to the cameras she followed behind Nicholas as they moved towards the table. She noticed Joseph and Amabelle and gave them a smile, which wouldn't really stand out since she was smiling at everyone. She'd been hoping to watch the Reaping’s before coming face to face with the other tributes, now she didn't know anyone. Except Amabelle and Joseph, obviously. She sat down next to a guy wearing a tool belt, and smiled kindly at him.
"Hi," She said, without any hesitation, "I'm Diana, District 11."
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Spark nearly jumped out of skin when the girl started talking to him. He'd been trying to work out why District 1 had stood up.
"Spark," He replied, nodding to her, "District 3, and before you ask, yes, that is my real name. Don’t worry, I don't know what my parents were thinking either." This girl was pretty easy to talk to, and also seemed very confident. Like no matter what happened, she'd still be able to give that ridiculously realistic smile. Maybe it was a real smile? That was even weirder.

Bridget nodded her head, preparing to add more to what Ian had said. "It's a huge honor," her voice was high as she spoke, a bubbly voice of a happy child. "Being chosen to go and represent my district like this, to show what I'm made of, I couldn't imagine it any other way. And finally, I am able to serve the capitol. It's such a great opportunity, and I just hope that I do well." She gave a slight fake worried smile, beaming and gave her dress a slight flick as she shifted one of her ancles.

Another question caught her attention. "So what's your relationships like at home?" Bridget gave a small giggle, plotting out what she would say before saying it, but again, she decided to let Ian go first. Then, she could work around his. Or something atleast.

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Nicholas followed Diana to the table, but instead took the seat across from Amabelle, looking her straight in the eyes as in nothing else mattered. He needed to make sure she wasn't too mad, that she still trusted him as before.

Amabelle sat, as composed and collected as possible. She didn't trust herself to try and talk to people, make strangers friends, but instead she just sat there like a cat on a hunt, looking at the district tributes with an almost dark look. She noticed when Nicholas sat directly in front of her, and stared at her. She didn't look at him for a long time, but rather continued to stare at a spot in the middle of the table. She reached up with one finger, the nails painted red, and scratched her nose awkwardly. He was still looking at her.

She finally raised her bright eyes to look at him, and met his eyes. She sat there again for a long moment, looking at him. She had been haunted all day by the thought of him dead, on a forest floor, or in a desert, or in the mouth of a beast. Amabelle swallowed, and broke from her cold stare, to one that was more tender. The corners of her mouth lifted very slightly in a little smile. She didn't want to be angry with him, didn't want to have very possibly their last days together be filled with anger and regret.

Amabelle's eyes flickered with recognition and she gritted her teeth when she saw Haymitch stumbling in. She didn't much approve of this man, and she knew if he kept acting like this, they had no chance. She stood up in one fluent motion, and moved over to Haymitch, who was looking green. "'Think I'm in the wrong room..." he mumbled and Amabelle pushed him almost roughly out the door.

"That's right you're in the wrong room. You're making Joseph and I look like idiots. Tomorrow I'm taking the alcohol from you, so you better drink it all now, and hope for your sake that you don't drink yourself into a coma," she said roughly, "There's no way I'm going to die in the arena because you can't get your head out of the bottle." she took the bottle from him, and dropped it in the nearby trash. She felt Joseph behind her, and listened as he spoke. Haymitch finally stared at the two, "Well, looks like we've got a firecracker here, don't we?" he said, and leaned into the trash to pick up the bottle, dust the trash off of it, and raised the bottle in something of a toast to them. "See you in the morning, kids," he said, teasingly, and turned to head out of the dinner car, and back to wherever he had been the past day or so. Amabelle ran her hand over her face, and Joseph took her hand in his and led her back to the table. His face was stony, and Amabelle was trying to hide her blushing, as they walked back through the cameras, the flashing lights, ignored all the questions, and then made to sit back down in her seat.

Besides. She was going to get them out of this, wasn't she? She sure planned on it. She wondered who she could trust with her plan. Who she could trust with the plans her brother and she had been making for years, since she was twelve. Amabelle would have to think about that one.

She was snapped back into attention by the high pitched: "Okay everyone!" by the purple woman who had been brightly standing in the corner til now.

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He smiled when he saw Diana, still making friends. He watched as she spoke to the kid with the toolbelt. He wondered if she was going to add more people to the alliance that they had created. There were, what, 24 of them? Surely a group of 3 wasn't going to make it for very long. He just hoped she chose the right people. Like Amabelle, he didn't really feel like talking to these people. He hadn't watched the reapings yet, and he didn't know much about the people here, and lord knew he wasn't good at making friends. So he just stood there, the nearness of Amabelle actually helping him, and he hoped he was helping her as well. He continued to pick his teeth with the toothpick.

Joseph saw Haymitch before Amabelle did. He sat in his seat, watching with cold eyes as Haymitch looked out the window in the entrance-way before stumbling over and retching over a trash can, before he made his way to the door of the dining room. He scowled when Haymitch came through the door and mumbled something. Amabelle brushed by him when she got up, and he looked at her for a moment before pushing back his chair and sliding by everyone. His thick, muscular frame, slid easily enough behind the chairs until he was following her out the door.

"because you can't get your head out of the bottle..." Joseph came to stand just behind and a bit to the right of Amabelle. "You're our mentor," he said, not pleadingly, but with less anger than Amabelle did. "You're supposed to help us, not try to forget that you're here. This is how it is," he said, "and no amount of drinking is going to change that. So you might as well get over it." He went with Amabelle back to the car, not responding to Haymitch when he spoke to them and toasted them. He sat back down next to her.

"Okay everyone!"

Joseph leaned a bit more forward in his seat, the toothpick still wedged in between his teeth. He noticed Amabelle fidget a little bit.

"Welcome to the District Dinner!" the Capitol woman's voice was high pitched and accented. Whose escort was she? Was she even an escort at all? "I hope you're all getting along well. It's time to make the introductions! We'll just go around the table. Why don't you tell us your name, what district you're from and... let's make it fun, shall we? One interesting thing about yourself!" What, did she think this was a game. Joseph choked down his sound of disgust, but coudn't hide the scowl on his face.

Bridget was glad that Ian had understood her, keeping her arm locked with him as they walked to the table. They sat at the end, although there was no head of the table chair, and she sat next to a boy with blonde hair, the district 11 boy she believed, and Ian had sat across from her, next to the district 12 competitors. She watched as a capital women entered, explaining that they would be introducing themselves. Great, she thought sarcastically, even though she kept a convincing smile on her face.

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Nicholas made the strong eye contact with Amabelle, then turning his attention to the capital lady, then shifting it again to watch Diana answer. After she spoke, he realized it was either his turn, or the boy sitting on the other side of him. Might as well get it over with, he thought, planting a fake smile on his face. "My turn?" He asked, a rhetorical question, before starting. "Well, my name is Nicholas Bray, and like Diana, I am also from District 11." he paused for a second, thinking of something interesting about him, or something he could make up. "And I come from a family of 6 kids." It didn't matter that it was a lame fact, it made him seem like a family man, and he could work that angle.

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After Nicholas spoke, Bridget noticed it was then her turn. She gave a bright smile, using her left hand to quickly push her hair out of her face, and looked around at the other tributes. "My name is Bridget. Bridget Grace," she said in a happy, preppy voice. "I'm from district 10, and an interesting fact about me is..." She racked her mind quickly for a lie, thinking of none and saying something stupid. "And I'm so excited to meet all of you!" She turned her face to Ian, awaiting for him to go and bring the pressure off her.

Bridget smiled as Ian did take her hand, turning her head quickly to him to mouth the words, 'trust me.' She gave a quick look of not smiling, one of seriousness, then put on her stupid smile again, turning back to face the current speaker. She made sure to seem interested, laughing if someone said something funny, or making a serious face for anything sad. And it seemed to look good, no one staring at her and calling her a fake. But then again, it had only been 5 minutes.

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Nicholas allowed his expression to roam, keeping to the idea of just being himself, but most of these people seemed to not want to share much, which was respected. Most of y'all are gunna die anyway, you should be sharing your wildest secrets, he thought, subconsciously moving his gaze to Amabelle. She looked beautiful, absolutely stunning. Everything she had done, she had done right, perfectly right, actually.

Nicholas watched Amabelle clear her throat, seeing her scribble on her napkin. He wouldn't know, but he saw another tribute scribble on his napkin. Nicholas turned back to Amabelle, clearing his throat not too loud, and knocking his fork to the ground. He reached over the table and knocked Amabelle's down too. "Oops." He said, looking at her, then under the table. He knew she would understand that he meant to go under the table, although he wasn't sure if she was too mad to do so. But he still went under, hoping she would too. That way, she could quickly whisper her scheme into his ear.

Amabelle gave the tiniest flicker of a smile to the Spark boy, and went to write on her own napkin before her fork was knocked to the ground. Quickly realizing it to be a signal from Nicholas, she gave an innocent giggle and reached down under the table, she leaned her lips in close to his ear, before giving him a little wink. "We're fighting back, getting out of here," she whispered very, very quietly into his ear before disappearing back up to her seat before she gave Nicholas a chance to react to her.

She gave them all a smile, before leaning over her own napkin again. In bold, curved handwriting she lifted it back up to him.

GET RID OF THEM. OR, IF THERE ARE TOO MANY, I WANT US ALL TO MEET TOGETHER WHERE THE CAPITOL CAN'T HEAR US.

She leaned over her napkin as she flipped it over before holding it up one more time.

HEAR ME OUT. ALL I'M ASKING.

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Joseph, this entire time, was watching his District partner with a bemused expression. So it was true, what a firecracker she was. She had some balls, too, doing something like this where it was so dangerous. He smiled though. He was down to meet. So that everyone could see him, he nodded firmly, his hair bouncing around his chin and ears as he made his nod very obvious.

Bridget sat silently, for the first time of the day. It was what she did best, sitting back and watching. She saw everyone saying yes, agreeing to the conversation, and couldn't help but think about her family. Think of her little sister, and her two best friends. And then she saw Ian's eyes dart over to her, and she looked at him too, their eyes locking. As he spoke she nodded her head, deciding she would agree to it too. Maybe her and Ian didn't know each other too well, but they had bonded recently, and he made good decisions. "Uh I-i'm in."

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Nicholas watched Amabelle speak. Wow, she was powerful. Everyone seemed to like her idea, agreeing, and he nodded his head, grinning. This was awesome, and he was sure nothing like this had ever happened in the hunger games, and the victor would either be a focus of much positive attention, or would somehow 'disappear'. Yikes.