one track mind, one track heart;
❛ ENIGMA ❜ ↷ the hunger games
❝ chin up, smile, say please and thank you, never apologize, watch your posture; you can breathe properly when you're alone ❞

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Alina knew very little about Katniss Everdeen. She knew enough, though. The fact that her older sister was the only woman who won the Hunger Games for District Twelve told her enough.

Cheryl Everdeen was deadly. She was eighteen when she got reaped and her mentor, Haymitch, had no idea what he was doing. Especially back then. She was the Victor with the most kills in the last seventy-three Games and the fact that Katniss was her sister made Alina feel a little intimidated.

The Capitol loved Alina because she was a King but they loved Katniss because she volunteered for her sister which was a noble and self-sacrificing act. They did not love her because she was an Everdeen. Which was why Alina had to show off by getting a good score in front of the Gamemakers.

Glimmer and Marvel were up first. Then, it was Alina's turn.

"Good luck," Cato muttered from his place on the bench next to her once her name was called. His lips quirked up into a slight smirk. "I'm not saying you need it but..."

Alina cut him off, "Thanks. You too."

She took a deep breath and got up from the bench to walk into the gym in front of the Gamemakers. The point of her little show was to show off her strengths so they could calculate her odds of winning the Games. Alina headed straight toward the knives. She picked up two knives (one for each hand) but then she paused. Knives were the thing that she was best at and something that she was going to stick to in the arena. However, throwing knives at targets was not going to make the Gamemakers give her a higher score.

Which was why she put down the knives and headed toward the archery station. It was reckless and something that she would never usually do but archery was much more impressive than throwing knives. Alina picked up the bow and two arrows. She placed one between her teeth and lifted the other to shoot it from the bow into the target. She was pleasantly surprised that she hit the middle of the target's chest but she did not let it show. Showing weakness would be a stupid mistake. She took the arrow from between her teeth and shot it right into the target's chest. It tore through the previous arrow which was something she rarely achieved.

Alina took two more arrows and repeated the process, but that time she shot the arrows right in the middle of the target's head. Despite herself, she looked at the Gamemakers over her shoulder. They were looking at her the entire time. The most important thing was that she had their undivided attention.

She set the bow down and headed toward the ropes where she climbed all the way to the top. She jumped halfway down the rope and landed on her feet. Finally, she got to the knives. Alina hit the remaining targets with the knives and never missed a target.

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Alina was aware that her showcase was not the most memorable one. Still, it was bold and daring and precise which was extremely uncharacteristic for her but someone she had to be to go into that arena and survive.

Cato, though, looked more than proud of himself when he met up with her in front of the locker rooms. He claimed that his showcase went better than he thought it would and that the Gamemakers loved him. Alina would love to have the same confidence that he had. He seemed to be more sure that she did a good job than she was.

Later that night, they got to watch the scores that they and the other tributes received. It was a number between one and twelve and Alina could work with at least a nine. Eight was too average and anything more than nine was setting her standards a little too high. She did not want to jinx anything by being too ambitious.

The first tributes to receive their scores were Glimmer and Marvel, who both got nines. Cato and Alina shared short looks of approval. Their score was the only thing that made them certain that they picked the right allies. Then, it was Cato's turn and the number ten appeared on the screen.

An enormous grin appeared on Cato's lips and Alina's own lips involuntarily mirrored his. Ikarus patted him on the back with a ghost of a smile on his face. He never wanted to get too close and personal with his tributes because a large number of them ended up dead. This year, he had a lot more hope.

When Alina's face appeared on the screen next to the number eleven, she was left speechless. She thought she did okay, but was she really that good?

She was so stunned that she did not even register Cato, Evie, and Mare's cheers. What snapped her back into reality was the warm hand that wrapped around her shoulders. She looked up and was met with Cato's even warmer smile.

"I told you that you were going to kick ass, Angel." He teased her but the smile on his face was entirely genuine. After what happened between them the previous night, she told herself that she was going to try to spend as much time as possible for the sake of not catching even more feelings for him. It was like he wanted to make it more difficult for her.

"Good job, Red." Ikarus nodded and ruffled the curly hair on her hair before getting up. His face turned more serious when she looked up at him from her spot on the couch. "I'm just giving you a heads up when I'm saying this. I saw your mother sneaking around the arena before your training session. I don't know if you have seen her or not. I'm just telling you this in case you didn't."

"What the hell is she doing here?" Alina asked him with a look of confusion on her face.

Mare cleared her throat, making all eyes turn to her. She grimaced, her porcelain features scrunching up as she pointed toward the television. "Sweetheart, I think that we have more important things to worry about."

"What the fuck?" Cato muttered and Alina followed his eyes to the television.

Katniss Everdeen. Eleven.

"How is that even possible?" Alina snapped, practically seeing red. "She is from District Twelve. What can she even do? Flash her tits in their face. I am sure those old men did not see them in years, so this would not surprise me."

Ikarus seemed genuinely confused, but not because he underestimated the girl. He knew to never underestimate somebody whose main influence was Cheryl Everdeen. "I have no idea what she did. I heard she made a big mess in there." He shrugged and narrowed his eyes at the screen. "Maybe they liked it."

"Well, she isn't going to get away with that in the arena like she did in front of the Gamemakers," Alina said, her fists clenched. She gave Cato a sharp look as she decided, "We're killing her in the bloodbath. Got it?"

The dangerous look in her eyes was something that he adored about her. She was nowhere near fragile. She was a beautiful disaster. A beautiful disaster that terrified him.

He nodded. "Whatever you say."

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The view from the roof of the building was extraordinary. All of the tall buildings in The Capitol shined in different colors and it created a beautiful sight. Alina could hear loud music all around her because people never slept in The Capitol. They partied and danced all night without worries.

District One and District Two were richer than most districts due to the fact that they sent out important and expensive things that The Capitol could not live without. Nonetheless, they could never be as rich or as carefree as The Capitol. As a reward for all the jewelry that District One sent them and all the peacekeepers that District Two trained for them, The Capitol gave them Academies to give their children higher chances of surviving The Hunger Games.

Alina thought that was fair. Or that was what she was raised to believe, at least.

Peeta Mallark slowly and silently walked around the roof that was bigger than his house back in District Twelve. He was so awestruck by the view that he did not notice the redhead sitting on the edge of the roof. The moment that he realized who the girl was, he took a step back and was ready to leave the rooftop without making a single sound.

"Those two are careers. You know what that is? They train in a special Academy until they are eighteen. Then they volunteer. By that point, they're pretty lethal. Obviously, they're pretty good. They win it almost every year, but they can be...arrogant. Especially District Two. And I hate to judge a child by the sins of their parents but I have a feeling that those two are going to be a problem."

Haymitch warned him and Katniss about her. Or, more specifically, people like her. Peeta would not say that he was afraid of her but he did not want to get on her bad side nor get too close to her in case she chose a moment of weakness of his as a moment to kill him.

He was skeptical despite the fact that he thought that all twenty-four of them were vaguely similar. They were all forced to fight to the death until one of them stayed alive and all of them had a reason to want to win. He wanted to go back home and maybe do something with his life. He was only seventeen and he had no idea who he was. Alina wanted── oh, who was he kidding? He had no idea what she wanted. They were from two completely different worlds.

"I don't bite, you know?" Alina's voice made his blood run cold. He froze and squeezed his eyes shut in frustration but she kept her gaze on the pitch-black night sky. "The stars are impossible to see here because of all the lights. They are so easy to see back home, though. I'm guessing it's like that in Twelve, too?"

Peeta thought her question was rhetorical or a provocation so he chose not to answer it. He shuffled on his feet and said, "Sorry. I had no idea you were up here. I can leave."

He moved to walk toward the elevator when her voice stopped him once again. She sounded a little bored and a little amused. Haymitch made it seem like arrogance and danger were in her nature but she seemed perfectly normal to him.

"It's not my roof, you know?" Alina reminded him with a ghost of a smile. "And no one can see us up here. Besides, it's not forbidden." She rolled her eyes. "Plus, I'm not allowed to kill you before the Games. And I couldn't push you off of the edge even if I wanted to. There is a net that is ready to catch you."

Peeta was stunned at her well-calculated response. Then, despite himself, he laughed. At the heartwarming sound, she finally turned her head to take a better look at him. His blonde hair was visibly damp and she swore she could see a dimple near his mouth when he smiled. He looked so different than he did in the training room. There, he looked terrified because he was surrounded by people who looked like they wanted to kill him on sight.

Alina was unsure why he chose to let his guard down around her but she was glad. He looked like he did not have a mean bone in his body. She did not even see him look relaxed next to his district partner.

Katniss. Her eyes widened in realization. The fact that he was her partner completely slipped her mind for a moment. Her mind instantly started running with all the ways she could use Peeta against Katniss.

Finally, she settled on making him fall for her. They had little time but she thought that she could make it work. If she got rid of Katniss' only ally and got him on her side, she would have a much bigger advantage.

"So, you have any allies yet?" Alina asked him bluntly but with a sweet look on her face. She figured that Peeta was not the type of guy who she could just jump on and fuck because he would leave running like a scared deer. She had to be ready to play the long game with him and she had to start by becoming his friend and gaining his trust.

"Not really." He shrugged. She did not even have to act surprised at his answer.

"You have your district partner, don't you?"

Peeta shook his head. "No. Katniss and I are barely friends. She is cold and distant. I don't really have anything to work with at this point."

"There is still a week until the Games start. I am sure that you two can work something out." Alina encouraged him. "Besides, there is always a spot for you in the Careers if you want."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?" He looked unsure. "Do you think the rest of them will like that?"

"You're strong." She admitted with a shrug. "I am sure you will fit in just fine."

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Alina thought that getting close to Peeta was going to be just a little harder than it actually was. They have been meeting on the roof every night after everybody goes to sleep and they have been talking for hours every night. Alina would have to internally scold herself whenever she would catch herself actually liking the boy. But who could actually blame her? He was sweet and nice. He was definitely not her type which was why she was so weirded out by the fact that she liked the time she spent with him.

When Cato learned about her plan he was a little skeptical but knew that he could not talk her out of it. Peeta would spend more and more time with them during training and Cato looked like he was ready to murder him on the spot. Katniss would give her district partner weird looks from across the training room but he would simply ignore her. Peeta confided in Alina one night and told her that Katniss was giving him shit for joining the Careers and she told him that he should not care about her opinion because, in the end, he was the one with allies and she was on her own.

The day before the Games, Alina had much more important things to focus on. The interviews.

Caesar Flickerman had to interview all of the tributes and Mare and Ikarus had been preparing her for two days straight. It was their last chance to pick up more sponsors and they had to be as charming as ever.

"You want them to see you as the pretty dumb girl so they can underestimate you. Still, put emphasis on your training and skill so they know you aren't just there to get your five minutes of fame." Ikarus lectured her while Evie did her makeup.

Alina glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "Why do I have to be the dumb perfect girl next door and Hadley gets to be his usual asshole self?"

Both of them knew that Alina was none of those things. She was incredibly cunning and smart and always had multiple plans on her mind. She was nowhere close to what Ikarus wanted her to pretend to be.

He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "You want to be sweet and charming but deadly. Let the crowd underestimate you and the other Tributes fear you. Hadley can't pretend to not be an asshole so I am not even going to try to fix him. You, however, can be disciplined."

"Thanks." Alina muttered sarcastically and opened her eyes more to let Evie apply mascara to her eyelashes.

Her dress was short black and revealed a little too much skin for Alina to be comfortable with going out in front of millions of people. She never voices her comfort, though. Her mother told her more times than she could count that The Capitol had to consider her desirable.

"Chin up, smile, say please and thank you, never apologize, watch your posture; you can breathe properly when you're alone." Were her mother's words whenever the two were in public.

Rumors surrounded her District about all of the things their victors had to do after The Hunger Games. Women and men spent a lot of their time on events in The Capitol, doing whatever President Snow wanted them to do. Rumors claim that it was why Calliope Love killed herself a year ago.

Alina prayed to whoever was above them that those were just rumors. She was too afraid to ever ask her mother but she was also sure that she would probably tell her a white lie to cover the truth. She would never let her back out of the Games because of some "stupid rumors". When Alina looked at herself in the mirror, she slowly realized that the whispers surrounding the victors in District Two held much more truth than she thought.