We sit around the television, waiting anxiously for the scores from today. As the anthem plays and the Capitol seal appears on the screen, we all tense up in anticipation.

The legendary announcer Claudius Templesmith begins by saying what an amazing line-up of tributes we have this year, made even more exciting by the fact that it's a Quarter Quell. He mentions the brute strength evident in some of the tributes from the Career districts, the slyness shown by other tributes, and the love expressed by Ember and I. Of course he talks about that. It would be a criminal offence not to.

Then begins the training scores. Typically, the Careers get eights, nines and tens. The rest average sixes. Surprisingly, Haymitch gets a 9. We all cheer and clap for him. Bailey gets a 6, which isn't bad considering she's never held a weapon in her life. Ember's score is 8, and mine is 7. I just sit there, stunned, while everyone claps me on the back. I couldn't have hoped for better. It's not the best score, but I'm really happy.

As the anthem plays again and the programme ends, Acacia turns to us with a smile stretched across her face. "Well done, you guys. You've made me really proud. Tomorrow's going to be about preparing you for your interviews so you can gain even more sponsors. You'll spend four hours with each of us, and the rest of that time will be yours. Now go on, go and get some sleep. You'll probably need it."

Before Ember goes to his room, he gives me a small smile. Haymitch pats me on the back again, and Bailey stops by my door.

"Well done, you. What'd you show them?" she says, leaning against the wall.

"Oh... I threw some knives," I reply, trying my best to downplay everything.

"Come on, I did the same sort of thing and I got a lower score than you. There's gotta be something more you did." She flashes me that smile that says I totally know you're fibbing.

I rub the back of my neck awkwardly. "Um... well, I demonstrated how I would start a forest fire. Or set fire to a tree where another tribute's hiding. I guess they liked that."

"I guess they did. It's definitely different from what most people would've done. Throwing spears, using swords, shooting arrows. But I should probably go to bed. Spending four hours with Maximus will drain the life out of me tomorrow." She laughs, then hugs me and retreats to her room.

I hesitate before going to my quarters and closing the door behind me. A seven... pretty good for someone of my age and stature. Especially good for someone from District 12. I wonder what my family will be thinking now. Will they be pleased? Slightly more hopeful? Certainly for Ember.

And the Careers. Maybe they'll consider extending their alliance to him.

I sigh as I change into a soft shirt and trousers and curl up under my blankets. Hopefully, playing up the sibling angle when we were in the chariots, and now my score, have both helped gain a few sponsors. Tomorrow I'll have to keep up the whole thing all over again in my interview. Whatever happened in training doesn't matter anymore.

After a few minutes, I get up again. I cross the hall and knock gently on Ember's door. No answer. He can't be asleep yet, he's always awake for hours after going to bed. So either he's ignoring me – which I refuse to believe, because he couldn't possibly know it's me – or he's out somewhere.

I decide to go to the roof. I shiver as the wind makes my trousers flap around my ankles, and I tuck my hands under my arms. He sits at the edge of a garden, seeming to look out at the streets below. As I get closer, I see a small flower that he's twirling between his thumb and forefinger. My own fingers go to the pendant at my throat.

"Not a bad score for someone from Twelve," I say, and he looks up. He gives a half smile.

"Not a bad score for a fourteen year old from the Seam," he replies.

I take a seat beside him. "Listen. I'm – um – I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. With lunch. Did you manage to clean it all up?"

"Well did I smell like meat today?" He has a point. "But it doesn't matter, Mel. I was a jerk to you. I shouldn't have told the Careers the things I did."

"To be fair," I say, "I did start it. But maybe it's a good thing that the rest of the tributes think we're fighting."

He looks at me. "It'll make them think we're not allies," he says slowly. "And when they're hunting, they'll think they're looking for the two of us in two different places."

He pulls my head onto his lap and starts braiding a strand of my hair. "You know, when you were little you had this mop of dark hair that just wouldn't be tamed. It would go curly in the rain and even when Kait pulled it back in two tight braids it would try to escape." He laughs, shaking his head. "I remember how frustrated she used to get about it."

"Yes, but she gets frustrated about a lot of things," I say. "I just hope she's listened to what I said about not fighting with Burnet. I'd hate to think Mother's having to deal with screaming matches from them."

Ember snorts and tilts his head. "Oh, I'm sure they're fine. You know what Burnet's like, serious when he has to be. And Kait's probably taking over the household while we're away. They'll be fine."

"Mm." He's right. Kaitlynn and Burnet might fight a lot, but they know to band together when it's needed most.

"So what're you going to do with your interview?" I ask after a moment.

Ember stops braiding and twists the lock of hair around his finger. He thinks for a moment. "Well we've got to act inseparable again, for the cameras. It'll confuse the others even more, which is good. I don't know though. I might go for charming, likeable. I bet you'll be able to act cute, like you always do." He pokes me in the stomach, the way he used to coax me into a good mood when I was little.

I giggle. "I don't act cute! But I don't know what I'll do. Probably just answer Caesar's questions as truthfully as possible and hope for the best... Haymitch is pretty obvious. Snarky, arrogant and sarcastic. Just like usual."

We laugh, properly this time. The first time since we left District Twelve. After a minute, Ember just looks at me.

"Are we all good then? No more fighting?" he asks.

I nod. "No more fighting."

I sit up, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face in the curve of his neck. Just for a moment, I feel like a little girl again. Like if I keep my arms around my brother nothing will hurt me.

But I have to pull away too soon, because Ember says it's getting late and that I should be in bed. I'm about to protest that I'm not a child anymore, but I suspect that would just lead to more fighting.

Ember takes me back to my room and tucks the blankets right up to my chin. "There we go," he says. "All snug like a bug."

"A bug in a rug," I murmur, finishing the phrase he would always say before Mother blew out the candles at bedtime.

He smiles, bids me goodnight, and then shuts the door quietly as he leaves.

Acacia and Maximus let us sleep a bit longer in the morning. By the time I'm awake the sun is already streaming through the window. I roll over, basking in its golden light. Nobody comes to rouse me, so I get up and change into a plain shift. Ember and Bailey aren't at the table when I go down to the dining room, but Haymitch looks up and gives me the tiniest of smiles as I take my place beside him.

"Good morning, Melia," Acacia says, sipping coffee. Briefly I wonder if her indulgence in coffee is similar to other victors' addiction to alcohol or morphling.

"Morning," I say, looking up at the servant who dishes my breakfast. She doesn't even look at me, doesn't make a sound. "Are you all right? Why don't you talk?"

She looks up in alarm, her face going beet-red, then shakes her head and hurries away. Acacia looks troubled.

"She's what they call an Avox. A traitor, so to speak. She had her tongue cut out and now she serves tributes," she explains.

"Oh." I look down, biting my lip. Now I wish I hadn't said anything. I probably just embarrassed that poor girl – and knowing the Capitol – I may have caused her more harm than good.

I focus on eating breakfast, which is a bowl of grain sprinkled with sugar and a few peach slices. Haymitch seems unusually happy this morning, but perhaps he's just trying to get himself in a good mood because he knows the next few hours will be agony. Once everyone's seated, Acacia finally speaks.

"You know what today's about. Traditionally, the tributes from each district are coached together. But because there's four of you, that'll be far too hectic. Maximus is going to work with you on how you present yourself to the public, while I'll be helping you work out which angles you're going to play. Haymitch and Melia, you'll be working together with Maximus first. Bailey, Ember, you'll be with me."

Only half an hour into our session with Maximus, Haymitch looks like he wants to hang himself. Maximus has us change into 'tidy clothes', which means a full-length gown and high heels for me, and a crisp suit and shiny shoes for Haymitch.

"But I'm fourteen," I start to protest. "Spindle won't be putting me in high heels."

"She might! You need to learn how to walk properly in them, because if you're going to be a victor then you'll most certainly be wearing them then," snaps Maximus. He takes several deep breaths, as though calming himself because I'm the most irritating creature on the planet, and smiles. "Now. Stand up straight, both of you. You slouch far too much. Good. Haymitch, for goodness' sake, stop fidgeting! You're creasing your jacket!"

Haymitch and I exchange looks. He rolls his eyes as Maximus swoops around us, smoothing down wrinkles in our clothing. I personally don't see why the creases should matter, we aren't going to be wearing these clothes during our interviews.

Then Maximus instructs us on how to walk. This proves to be utter agony for me, wobbling about on the balls of my feet in shoes that pinch my toes. Haymitch seems to be having slightly more success. All he has to do is 'walk with confidence'. According to Maximus, he needs to swing his arms more, swish more.

"You're already very sullen, and I wish you weren't," Maximus sighs. "But if you can walk with confidence, you'll radiate power and have sponsors lining up by the dozen!"

Haymitch rolls his eyes again, muttering something about "I'll show you walking with confidence", but he manages to master it quite quickly. He seems very determined, and Maximus criticises him yet again because he's frowning and he'll get lines on his brow.

Me? I stumble a lot. Maximus seems to be under the impression that I'm being deliberately difficult, but I honestly can't get my head around walking in those awful shoes. The dress keeps getting tangled and I lift it up before I fall headlong, but he smacks at my hands, screeching "Not above your ankle! What are you, a savage?"

Eventually I'm so sick of him that I finally retaliate. "I don't think I'm the savage in the room! You're the one that's training me up so I can be paraded around like a circus animal and then thrown into a death match for your entertainment!"

Then I fling off the heels and plonk myself down on a chair, glaring at the chocolate-brown carpet. From the corner of my eye, I see a small smile playing on Haymitch's lips, but I don't return it. I'm too angry with Maximus. He just sighs and says, "All right then. Since you don't seem to be co-operating very well, why don't we work on smiling."

It's less a question and more of a command. He has Haymitch sit down beside me, then we take turns repeating stupid phrases. Each one either begins with a smile, is said while smiling, or ends with a smile. I hate it, and I know Haymitch does, too. By the time we're finished, he's massaging his face and my cheeks ache badly.

"Well... you two've been a... delight to work with," Maximus lies. "Very sullen, but I'm sure Acacia will be able to whip you into shape. Just remember to not glare at the audience as much as you've done with me. Now run along, you're probably starving."

As we head down the hall, Haymitch lets out a sigh. "Whew, glad that's over. I can't believe you yelled at him like that. I was getting ready to hit him. Stand straighter, Haymitch. Don't hike your skirt up so much, Melia. Smile!" he mocks.

I find myself feeling slightly less annoyed as he says this. To make things even better, Acacia, Bailey and Ember are all in good moods so I'm fairly hopeful about the afternoon's session.

Bailey seems to be suppressing a smile. She leans over. "I heard you yelling at Maximus earlier. Is he that bad?"

I shrug. "It's more the fact that he doesn't understand that I'm in no way graceful."

After lunch, Acacia takes Haymitch and I to the sitting room and smiles. "You two look tired. Bad morning?"

"Utterly awful," I reply.

"Well luckily I know exactly what I'm going to do with you both, so hopefully we'll be done early and you can do what you want before dinner."

She works with Haymitch first. His angle is fairly obvious. Arrogant and sarcastic, cocky and rude. He's really good at it, sending the questions Acacia asks straight back at her with snarky answers.

"Now Haymitch," Acacia says, playing up Caesar Flickerman's voice. I bite back a laugh. "Have you ever considered being polite?"

"Well, I tried once, but the world is full of stupid people. I lost my patience," he replies, and gives a half-smile.

Acacia just beams and pretends to announce the next tribute: me. The angle she gives me is the loving sister, fiercely protective but in awe of the Capitol.

"You've shown that to the audience enough already, so I'm sure you'll have no problems continuing on like that tomorrow evening. And, yes, I do know about how you tipped Ember's lunch onto his lap," she grins.

I feel the blood rushing to my face. No doubt the Careers retold the story in a particularly animated fashion to their mentors, who then probably passed it on to Acacia. She has me talk about my family, the other tributes, make up some rubbish about how wonderful the Capitol is. Haymitch snorts derisively as I gush about how truly kind and welcoming the Capitol citizens have been to us.

By the end of it, I'm so sick of the sound of my own voice. I sound like a Capitol puppet, strings forcing my limbs to make unnatural movements, forcing my mouth to spout lies that make everything seem better.

As promised, we finish with an hour to spare. Acacia lets us go, telling us we're free to do as we please until dinner. As soon as I'm in my room I rip off the dress and hurl it in the corner. I take a shower, washing away the sweat and grime accumulated through many hours of tripping and falling in those wretched heels.

Then I lie back on the bed and fall asleep until I'm roused for dinner.

Author's Note
Hello! The story seems to be going quite slowly at the moment, but I assure you it won't last much more. The next chapter is the interviews, and then we'll be on to the Games. So hold tight!
And if you're wondering about Bailey (formerly known as Misty, but her name didn't seem to fit Panem so I changed it to a coal mine in America) and Haymitch, don't worry. They seem to have been sidelined to make way for the relationship between Ember and Melia, but I promise they'll have a much bigger part once they're in the arena.

Oh, and at the risk of this being a big Author's Note, I've had a few friends who are confused about how Melia's name is pronounced. I'm assuming a lot of you have been reading it as Amelia without the A, but it's not. It's Meh-lye-ah. 

If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to upvote and comment. It's really lovely seeing comments that show you're enjoying how everything's going. I'm open to suggestions for future chapters, so feel free to let me know if you've got any ideas.