at your level . kaitlin

Okay, so, to preface, I hadn't been planning to talk about the girl from Two in my interview. I realy hadn't! Teddy specifically told me to worry about having enemies, especially after the whole getting a Nine thing, so going into the interview I really, truly, honestly, 100% had not been planning to make fun of Meredith Strauss and her inability to get a score higher than even her district. I really hadn't.

I swear!

But Caesar Flickerman is a fucking snake and he started talking about the scores, as everyone expected him to, but when he started talk about scoring higher than most of the careers, started talking about how Meredith had seemed different from most girls that'd come out of Two in the last decade or so—well, the opening was right there.

Really, who can blame a girl?

But then there's a tap on my shoulder and then a fist in my face and—no, okay, okay, so Teddy was right. Don't piss of the careers.

"Oh, c'mon Strauss," I say, spitting a stray bit of blood onto the floor between us. One be damned, her right hook wasn't anything for me to turn my nose up at, and I've never been above a good challenge. "Adding our scores? Here I thought surely you must be above riding in on a middle district tribute's coattails."

I don't go to hit her back, not yet. I want to see where she's going to go with that, want to see if she is actually willing to fight, to start something real, or if she just wants to cower in the shadow and spit at me when my back is turned, and hit me when I'm not expecting it.

Let her look the hydra in the face and decide she truly wants to fight—then I'll actually give her some space in my head, then maybe I'll start thinking she's actually worth worrying about.

You know, if she's going to act like this, I'm almost a little bit glad that I pissed her off.

For as far back as I can remember, no one has ever really wanted to fight with me. None of Kingpin's other bloodhounds were interested in me, not really—the kids my age were terrified of the girl that'd gouged a pair of scissors into her stepfather's throat, and the ones that were older than me just saw skinny bones and matted blonde hair and thought she's not worth my time.

So I really hate it when people underestimate me. 

It makes me a little crazy.

"Oh, it certainly killed a lot of people," I chuckle. I can still taste copper in my mouth, so I know that when I smile, there's probably going to be a bit of blood caught between my teeth—I can feel the place inside my cheek where she split skin by digging the soft skin into my teeth. "I made sure of it," I finish, eyes bright.

I think about the list of names Kingpin had given me the moment he heard about the explosions. Use this to our advantage, he'd said. Take out everyone I need you to.

And I had.

They certainly hadn't been the smartest though, not by a longshot. If they had been, they'd have known better than to cross Kingpin.

"But please," I say through my off-kilter smile. "Spell it out for me, oh wise one. What's dumber than little miss District Two, well, rather failing to meet expectations?"