"Then for the next eleven years, I tried to work up the nerve to talk to you.". "Without success," I add… — Suzanne Collins

"And may the odds—" He tosses a berry in a high arc toward me.

I catch it in my mouth and break the delicate skin with my teeth. The sweet tartness explodes across my tongue. "—be ever in your favor!"

"Come on," says Cato. He thrusts a spear into the hands of the boy from District 3, and they head off in the direction of the fire. The last thing I hear as they enter the woods is Cato saying, "When we find her, I kill her in my own way, and no one interferes."

Somehow I don't think he's talking about Rue. She didn't drop a nest of tracker jackers on him.

Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun.