Katniss Everdeen, our protagonist, heroine, and narrator, has just returned from her interview with the Gamemakers (chapter 7) in which she shot an arrow directly through the apple in the pig's mouth at their table. At first she believed that she was showing defiance with respect to the Games overall, but in the beginning of chapter 8, she has an inward dialogue that demonstrates her reflective thoughts about shooting the arrow. She feels unsure about her decision because she wonders who will pay for the consequences for committing such a blatant sign of disrespect. She feels concerned for the safety of her mother, her sister, and her friend at home in District 12.

She then begins to imagine how the result will directly affect her in the games; that the Gamemakers will give her a score (ranking) that is so slow no sponsors would be interested in supporting her. She recognizes the detriment of this fact, being that the gifts from sponsors during the Hunger Games can often be the line between life and death. At dinner she decides to admit her misgivings to Peeta, Haymitch, and Effie. Together they all talk and try to determine what Katniss should expect from her decision to disrespect the Gamemakers. They all finally come to the conclusion that the Gamemakers "will probably make [her] life a living hell." They watch the television to find that Katniss gets ranked an 11, a nearly impossible high score on the scale of 1-12.

They spend more time debating on the meaning of such a high ranking when Katniss begins to analyze her relationship with Peeta. She still struggles on whether or not she should trust him, and this comes to a screeching halt when he asks Haymitch to be coached separately. To Katniss, this is the ultimate sign that they are "not" on the same side.