Katniss felt eyes on her as soon as she walked into the training facility. The feeling was so intense that she stopped and scanned the other tributes to see who was watching her so closely. She was more than a little confused to see that none of them were overtly staring at her. Her instincts had never been wrong before. She tried to shake it off as left over nerves from earlier this morning as she gathered around the head trainer with the others.

As the woman explained to them what the training would consist of over the next four days, Katniss still couldn't dispel the feeling of being studied. She had glimpsed the balcony when she entered just enough to know there were people up there, gamemakers she assumed. She decided the watcher must be one of them.

Growing angry at the distraction and unease it was causing her she swung her head around suddenly and pinned her gaze on the man staring at her. Despite her resolve to always appear calm and detached she couldn't help the gasp that escaped her when she realized the man staring at her was none other than Seneca Crane. He must have noticed how his gaze had unsettled her but he gave no sign of it instead he continued to study her with a singular intensity that made her heart pound and her breathing irregular.

Her eyes remained locked with his as she felt anxiety flood her body. As she began to count to five she licked her lips nervously. She lost count when his eyes shifted to her mouth and she watched as he rubbed his thumb along his chin and then over his bottom lip as if he were imagining her tongue on his own mouth. She was shocked by the way that thought made her feel. It excited her and she despised herself for it. She wanted to look away, to escape the startling beauty of his deep blue eyes. She couldn't move and she thought this must be what it feels like to be prey, to be stalked by a hunter like herself. Her mind rebelled at that though. There was nothing in her that was similar to this man, nothing.

His eyes pinned her again and she felt scorched. Not only was he more handsome in person than on TV, but she could tell he was much more dangerous. And the danger wasn't because he was the head gamemaker and held her fate in his hands. No, the danger was in what he was making her feel, the ruthless determination she sensed beneath his shallow facade, and the undisguised hunger she saw in his eyes. This was the man she had vowed she would make notice her? Who she wanted to punish for not taking her and the other tributes seriously? Well, she thought with false bravado, it looks like he's noticed me. Now I just have to find a way to punish him. She would have laughed at herself if she wasn't filled with too much fear to even appreciate the gallows humor.

"Katniss!" Peeta's worried voice interrupted her thoughts.

"What?" she demanded, turning to look at him, breaking her connection with Crane.

"We have to pick a training station. Haymitch told us to stick together, remember?"

"Yeah, of course. You pick first," she replied quickly, still unnerved by what had passed between she and head gamemaker.

"Let's try the fire starting station, OK?" Peeta looked at her with concern and some confusion. "Are you alright? You seem kinda out of it."

"I'm fine, Peeta. Let's go," she snapped.

She immediately felt bad for her tone and gave Peeta a half smile to reassure him, not wanting him to question her further about her behavior. He smiled back at her oblivious to her unrest and began walking towards the training area.

Katniss couldn't stop herself from glancing over her shoulder once more. She saw that Seneca Crane was no longer looking at any of them. He and the other officials were chatting and ignoring what was happening on the training floor. She might have tried to convince herself she had imagined the whole episode but the feeling was still too fresh. She knew there was some unspoken communication between she and he but she had no idea what it signified. She did her best then to put it out of her mind and concentrate on the training that would help her survive. She refused to look up at him again and before she knew it, she was absorbed in training and she had put him out of her mind.

As the first day of training came to an end and Katniss was no longer occupied with survival skills or weapons training, she couldn't help but think of him again. Her eyes wandered to the balcony as she and the other tributes filed out. It was empty and she wondered when he and the other officials had left. As Peeta talked about what they had learned that day, she pictured Crane again in her mind . She made halfhearted responses to Peeta but she was really thinking about Seneca Crane's thumb as it slowly rubbed his full bottom lip. She couldn't understand why he fascinated her so when all she wanted to do was hate him.

Thoughts of him stayed with her as she showered and prepared for dinner. Those eyes of his appeared and held her in thrall every time she closed her own. Maybe she should mention the encounter to Haymitch, but then, what was the point? She knew she would have no one-on-one contact with any of the gamemakers which was a relief. No, there was no need to mention it to anyone. It wasn't even worth thinking about anymore. She needed to not think of it anymore.

She concentrated very hard during dinner to think about what she'd learned that day but she couldn't ignore the troubling sense of disappointment she felt every time she reminded herself she would never actually be in a position to speak to Seneca Crane. She was so distracted by her thoughts that she somehow missed everyone else finishing their meals and leaving for their quarters. When she was finally able to stop thinking about him long enough to take in her surroundings, she found herself at the table with just Haymitch for company. She doubted she could sleep at 7:00 even as tired as she was but she didn't want to spend time with Haymitch either. She made to leave the table, mumbling goodnight and hoping to get away quickly.

She noted that Haymitch seemed twitchier than usual but didn't stop to ponder it as she tried to hurry away. She was nearly free when Haymitch's voice, tired but serious, made her escape impossible. She turned to look at him and the pained expression on his face brought back the same feeling of unease she'd felt at his words earlier that morning. He sighed and Katniss's stomach dropped in apprehension.

"We need to talk, Katniss."