Thad Pepperwood <D10> FIN

I'm not in this world to protect anyone else. I'm not here to be a hero and save people. Rather, I'm here to be successful. Gaining wealth and power is what I strive for. Take one look at me and you'd agree, I'm fit for all of the best things in life. I'd even say I'm fit to be a victor.

To be in the Games is a dream of mine. One day, I'll be reaped or I'll volunteer, and I'll be locked into my destiny. My destiny is to win and succeed at everything I do in life. I'd say that the Games should certainly fall under that category of things I deserve to win. People say that I'm selfish, sure, but that doesn't bother me. I'm not going to just sit back and let other people succeed in place of me.

Some people would think that, with the outlook I have on life, I could never make friends. I'm too self-absorbed, they might think. They're wrong, though. I have plenty of friends. I have friends from school, friends from work, friends I met at parties- my drinking buddies. I'm not some loser loner.

Romantic relationships are something that I'm sure I'll manage to be successful at sometime in my life. I've tried here and there to have a partner, but the relationships never lasted. Often, in the end, I was dumped. What did they cite as their reason? I'm too focused on myself, of course. That always seems to be the case.

I suppose that things haven't worked out perfectly for me yet, but I'm sure they'll get there eventually. Just because I care about myself so much doesn't mean I don't care about others. I care about my family and my friends. They've always all been so good to me, after all. My brothers and I used to play together all the time as kids. We'd chase each other around the family farm and Dad would tell us to stop because we were scaring the chickens.

Nowadays, instead of scaring the chickens, I work closely with them. I make sure that they're fed and healthy. I take care of gathering the eggs that we plan to sell from the hens. I love animals, really. I don't think I'd ever hurt an animal unless I absolutely had to.

Mom tries her best to keep me under control, because to her, I'm an unruly teen. I don't know how many times I have to remind her that I'm an adult. I'm eighteen, for fuck's sake. Regardless, I love her. She tells me I party too much or that I need to stop getting home late and I need to obey my curfew. I only listen sometimes.

One of my favorite things to do in my free time is read up on the history of old Hunger Games. I consider it my research. Between that and reading books on survival skills, such as what plants you can and cannot eat, I think I'm pretty well prepared for when I finally have the opportunity to go into the Games. I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to win.