"You scared me half to death!" I complained as he laughed.

He threw his hands in the air. "Sorry."

"What are you doing up here?" I asked.

"Funny, I could ask the same question," He grinned, walking up to me.

I could see him perfectly now. His beauty was breathtaking, and I was at a lost for words for a few seconds.

"I found a staircase and decided to climb it," I stated, raising my head so I could stare into his eyes. He was a bit taller than me, but not extremely so. He was muscular, from what I assumed was a lifetime of swimming. They say that people from District 4 can swim faster than fish.

"Same," He replied, giving me that irresistible grin. "But that doesn't explain why you're up here while most people are having dinner."

"Funny, I could ask the same question," I replied, mirroring his words.

He laughed. "Okay, you got me there. Rachel got into a fight with one of our mentors, Triton, and things started flying through the air. I decided to leave before someone got killed. You?"

"Malcolm got in a fight with our escort," I said, flicking my hair behind my head.

"It's weird how they have a staircase that goes from every room to the roof, isn't it?" Percy asked. "I mean, what if we sneaked into each other's rooms and murdered each other?"

"There's cameras in the suites," I replied. "At least mine, anyway. I'm pretty sure the Capitol would do something painful to you if you killed their precious tributes."

Percy smiled. "Yup. The only people who can kill tributes is when the Capitol decides you can."

I glance around. Percy and I are saying traitorous things. But they're no cameras in sight. Besides, the wind is so loud I doubt any camera could pick up our voices anyway.

"What's stopping us from jumping off the roof?" I asked.

In reply, Percy stuck out his hand, just far enough that it would go over the edge of the building. There was a loud zap, and Percy brought his hand back.

"Electric forcefield," He replied with a grin.

Despite just meeting him, I already had a good idea of who Percy was; that popular kid who everyone wants to hang out with, complete with good looks and a good personality. Unless he was faking it. Which, of course, was a possibility.

"Have your mentors been praising you for the whole kiss thing?" He asked.

"Yup," I replied. "And I'm guessing yours have, too."

Percy nodded. "Apparently, people are 'shipping' us now."

I laughed. "Imagine having such a pointless life that the only thing you have to do is hope people you've never met get together."

Percy grinned. "'Pointless' pretty much sums up this entire place. The outfits, the Games... everything."

"It's crazy, how you can still see their hair from up here," He joked. "I wish I could zoom in on them, seeing every horrible aspect of their outfits."

He had a point. But I didn't say it out loud. There was still that small possibility that someone was recording us.

"You can," I pointed out. "From our rooms."

He tilted his head at me. "Really?"

"Yup," I replied.

"Well, I should probably go before Rachel figures out I'm gone and goes berserk again," Percy stretched. "And I'm going to check out this mysterious zoom-window. See you tomorrow."

"See you," I waved as he walked back down the stairs. I was disappointed that he was going. Percy was one of those people you could engage in an hour long conversation with and not feel like you're wasting your time.

Having nothing else to do, I made my way back to my suite.

***

The next morning, I had another shower. When I got out, an outfit was waiting for me. Just a simple tight black shirt and pants, with comfy boots. When I look in the mirror, I smile; I look like I was dressed for school, in a normal outfit. For the first time since the Reaping, I felt like myself.

I walked into the dining room, where everyone was already eating. Unlike usual, Minerva didn't stop them. She had bags under her eyes, and was taking long sips from her coffee.

Today was the first of the three days of training. I was a little impatient. I wanted to get it over with. I had already decided that knives were going to be my weapon, but there were many survival skills I needed to know. A plan was forming in my mind, and I needed to learn a lot before I could carry it out.

But if I did succeed, I'd pull off one of the biggest plans this competition has ever seen.

And besides, if I wanted to impress the Gamemakers, all I'd have to do is chuck around some knives. Pull off a ten, tops. That was my goal.

"Okay, so do you two want to be coached separately, or together?" Vulcan asked.

Malcolm and I both shrugged.

"I'll take that as a 'together,'" Vulcan said. "Malcolm, what can you do?"

"I'm pretty handy with electronics," Malcolm shrugged. "That's pretty much it."

"Then, when you're training, practice your knifework," Vulcan said. "And you, Annabeth?"

"I can throw a knife with deadly accuracy and know exactly where to stab someone to make them go down," I replied truthfully.

Vulcan smiled. "Good. You should practice survival skills, then. Trust me, you'll need them. And stay away from the knives. Don't let anyone know about your skills."

I nodded. All of that was sound advice.

"Meet me at the elevators at ten," Minerva said, her voice small. She still hadn't touched anything but her coffee, which she had had several cups of now. Her eyes were downcast, avoiding Malcolm's gaze.

Malcolm and I stood up at the same time. I walked over to the staircase, feeling oddly compelled to talk to Percy. But the door that led to it was locked.

Instead, I walked over to my room. I walked over to my window, ready to zoom in on Capitol people, when I noticed the piece of paper dangling from a string in front of my window. I waited for it to stop blowing in the wind, and read it.

You were right about the window. They look even stupider up close.

-Percy

My eyes widened, and I covered my mouth with my hands, before I started laughing.

That boy was going to get himself killed, simply by talking about the Capitol like that.

But he had a point.