"Glimmer. Your hair is FINE." I seethed, massaging my temples with my thumb and index finger, whilst the blonde girl before me shifted in front of the jewel encrusted mirror, examining every angle of her golden waves.
"Does it really?" She breathed, almost as if she didn't know it herself. I sat up from the couch and rolled my eyes as she strode past and sat beside me. Her emerald eyes flashed and she leant over to grab an apple from the fruit bowl beside her.
"You didn't need to ask me that." I mused. She giggled and took a bite from the red apple, crunching on it loudly. I frowned in concentration at the screen before me, watching myself be lead up to the District One stage and see Jeelia, our escort welcoming me with open arms. But her loud crunching persisted, drowning out any sound from the speakers that I had to lean in to hear anyway.
"Could you go eat that apple somewhere else?" I swung round at her and glared. She watched me, as if she were hurt – but I knew full well she wasn't.
"Well what if I want to sit here and eat this apple?"
"Well, be quiet then." I turned back to the T.V and finally good understand Jeelia as she hooted and pranced along to the girl's bowl.
"I like eating like this though." Glimmer took another huge chunk from the apple, smiling as she loudly ate it and flicked her attention back to the screen. For a second, I thought she was going to choke. By the way her face lit up, her eyes widened, and she took a distraught gasp of air in. Suddenly, she spat the churned up remains of apple out onto the floor below us, regaining her breath she flew to the screen and gawked at herself on the stage as she curtsied and skipped off after I did.
"Did that dress REALLY make me look THAT fat?" She squeaked.
"OH FOR GOD SAKE." I yelled, slamming my hands down onto the arm of the couch and leaping up, storming out of the living area and slamming my bedroom door behind me. Throwing myself on the bed with an angry 'huff', I grabbed the remote from the bedside table and prodded the 'on' button. The T.V across from me, hoisted onto the wall, blared brightly before I tuned it in on the correct channel. I was just in time to see District Two's male tribute stride up to the stage proudly – he must have volunteered for somebody. His blonde hair reminded me slightly of Glimmer, and the way he held himself, proud of his looks from what I could gather – made them even more similar.
"Cato!" The red headed man yelled, sending the whole of his district into a wave of cheers and roars. Cato, lifted his hand above his head and nodded, a smirk playing on his mouth. I shuffled my position to make myself comfortable, and when I settled again, the Capitol enhanced man sang once again.
"Clove Fargrave!" And the crowd fell silent. Cameras zoomed into the second to last line, and there she stepped out. From how the other girls backed away from her cautiously, I could tell her height didn't matter. District Two girls must fear her, I would. By the way her dark eyes glared menacingly into the stage, she had their escort's knees shaking! Her dark hair was scraped back into a pony tail, and the dress she wore must have been chosen by her mother – I can't see anyone like her picking out something like that. She marched confidently up to the stage whilst her fellows hung in silence, taking two steps at a time, she was beside Cato and the crowd had picked up again, knowing that their tributes this year were ruthless killers.
"Clove, everybody!" The man giggled, regaining his composure around her and holding her hand high in the air. Clove, Clove. Wasn't that a unit of garlic? I don't know, but as her name rang out in my head, the more I liked the sound of it.
"Marvel, darling! Come on now! We are HOSTING!" Jeelia popped her head into my door and beamed at me. Genuinely excited, she hopped back down the hallway and into the kitchen to see what the cooks were making for dinner. Hosting? The only time I had ever hosted anyone was back in District One when my parents had their friends over. Now, on a train on the way to the Capitol, was hardly time I thought was good to host guests. I shrugged the thought off, and swung the wardrobe doors open. There I found smart/casual shirts, mostly in very pale shades of blue. I randomly chose one and tore it from the rack; I was never that good at matching clothes together. I rived my current shirt off and folded it neatly on my bed, it was my father's, and if the cameras filmed me throwing it in a crumpled pile on the floor, he'd have fifty fits. Soon I heard more voices coming from the living area, and guessed it was time to go and greet them. Glimmer's giggles were very apparent as I neared the room. And another manly voice chortled, I didn't recognize it. Speeding up slightly, I hear more voices. One was another man, but exceedingly camp, and the last was female – yet it had a very strong tone to it.
"Here he is!" Glimmer beamed across at me, acting a little to nicer, and perhaps sweeter in front of who I could only recognize as Cato from District 2. Beside him stood Clove, the top of her head skimming his shoulders and her doe eyes were boring into me gravely. Cato nodded firmly in my direction, and I nodded back. But Clove kept her sights locked upon me, only a tiny curl of her lips indicating she wasn't as angry, or fierce as she had portrayed on the reapings.
"Hi there, stranger!" Glimmer's eyes shone brightly as she nudged me jokingly in the ribs. I smiled faintly at her, not quite forgetting her unmannered devouring of the apple earlier. Cato held out a hand for me to shake. His grip was like steel and all four of my fingers clicked, making Clove snigger under her breath.
"If his fingers click like that when you only shake his hand, Cato, imagine what his neck would sound like in the arena." She looked up at Cato, smiling. His body slightly lurched as he tried to hold back what seemed to be laughter. They both had wicked grins dancing on their faces, and I seemed to be the only one who was bothered by it. Her sense of humour was evil, and probably insane to some. But somehow it intrigued me, I wanted to know her – properly – before, like she had visioned, my neck snapped. I watched her until her eyes fell on me again and the smile suddenly flipped into an unwelcoming scowl.
"What are you looking at?" She snapped, folding her muscularly arms over her chest and sweeping her vision from my face, down my body and up to my eyes again.
"Play nice, Clove. We're gonna be allies with the guy in the arena." Cato slapped her back and carefully moved past her towards the freshly brought out buffet cart. Glimmer, her hands lightly resting on his forearm, swiftly joined him, leaving only me and Clove stood in the middle of the room. I smiled at her, but it only made her roll her eyes and marched over to Cato and Glimmer, joining their conversation. Why is she so civil with them? But so cruel to me? I thought. Pondering over this, I moved over to the bowl of fruit from before, grabbed a stem of grapes and slumped down onto the couch and delved into them, not realizing how hungry I really was. Soon, Cato, Glimmer and Clove had gathered around me and sat anywhere that was available. But since Cato and Glimmer snagged the rest of the sofa, that available spot for Clove, was the rug. Cross-legged, she balanced the plate in her lap and picked at a slice of meat.
"So," I began, "What's life like in 2?" I snapped a grape off and popped in in my mouth. Knowing I must have been talking to her, Clove's head snapped up and analyzed my question. Her brow creased in amusement and she straightened her back to explain.
"It's full of blood thirsty teenagers, who rip each other apart when they get angry, full of trainees who have all used a human beings intestines as lassoes, full of people who gouge eyeballs out of animals to eat, and absolutely brimming with trainees who, well, didn't quite make it through training." She leant into her words and wrinkled her nose up to add to the effect. Her sick brain cackled within her skull at the sight of my horrified face. This girl was truly a decedent of the devil himself.
"But aside from all that, it's a pretty cool place to live." She shrugged it all off and ripped a chunk of gammon from her plate and shoved it in her mouth. Silence broke out and I turned to see Cato staring in disbelief at me.
"You don't really believe her, do you?" His eyebrows raised and a smile curled his lips. I suddenly shook my head rather viciously at him and stared down into the green grapes as he and Clove joked. Feeling my face burn red, I decided to keep quiet next time the mood got awkward.
"Cato, are you going to ask them?" Clove nodded towards me and Glimmer, not looking at either. He looked up from where he and Glimmer were chatting.
"What? Are you totally demented that you can't ask them yourself?" He quickly countered, sending Clove into silence.
"N-no, I just thought that maybe you wanted to-"She stuttered, as her mask finally started to crack. Cato was her master, the one she was most desperate to please, and the one who had upmost control over her. I straightened a grin on my face before she acknowledged it, picking at the grapes in my hand.
"Fine then." Cato sighed, straightening his back and turned away from Glimmer for the first time since he came, facing us all.
"How are you two with your special weaponry?"
"I'm brilliant at archery." Glimmer shuffled closer to him on the sofa, and he draped one huge arm around her shoulders.
"You?" He jutted his glass towards me.
"I'm pretty good with spears." I nod, and he nods in response, as if to be measuring up our qualities in his head. He stayed silent and his eyes flicked from me and Glimmer.
"What about you?" I finally said, knowing that was probably what he was waiting for. It was. He leant back into the seat and clapped his hands together. I raised my eyebrows as I watched him count up multiple times on both hands.
"Nah, I'm only kidding." He brushed his hands through the air as if he were throwing away the numbers he had just counted. "Swords mainly, but I'm sorta good at hand to hand as well." He said, turning to Clove.
"Knives. Throwing them, fighting with them – you name it, I'm the best in two." She grinned, priding herself on being extremely talented with blades. I somehow had to turn to Cato for approval, and he nodded his head.
"She's right, I've never seen anyone beat her." This only made Clove's smug grin peel back even further, and her back straighten almost as if it were going to break.
"So the real question is, are you willing to form an alliance and become the career pack?" The way Cato had said it made me feel like I had no choice but to join him and Clove, and no doubt Glimmer – she wasn't going to let him out of her sight. I felt obliged to nod my head for both me and Glimmer. And she squealed in excitement and clutched onto Cato's arm tighter than she had before.
"That's sorted then." He seemed pleased, nestling the plate back onto his knees and knifing a chicken drumstick. A smile wavered on my lips, unsure whether joining Cato and Clove was the best idea.
"What's the problem?" Clove's voice was low, only I heard her. "You look very peaky." She continued, excluding everyone but me from this little conversation. A playful smile picked up on her lips, and she tore apart a leaf of lettuce whilst watching me for an answer.
"Um, no, there's no problem." I smiled, popping another grape in my mouth and raising my eyebrows at her, which only sent her face into a cloud of thunder as she silently dwelled over something.
"Your name is Marvel, isn't it?" She finally asked.
"Yep, and your Clove." I grinned, nodding my head towards her. What seemed to be a giggle, yelped from her lips? She clasped her hands over her mouth, obviously she had never giggled before in her entire life. She glared at the floor in embarrassment, regaining composure she chewed on the lettuce.
"Did I make you laugh?" I leant closer, raising my eyebrows expectedly of her. She stopped and swallowed the lettuce, almost innocent as she watched me wide eyed for a second, her mouth half full.
"No." She then muttered, looking down at her plate and poking a tomato with the fork in her hand. IF I were going to be on civil grounds with her, I was going to have to use all my charms to soften her.
"I think you did."
"I don't"
"Do you want to bet?"
"Do you want to be castrated?" She spun a knife around within her palm like an expert, spinning it swiftly and flipping it without even looking. She gave me a moment to think about the question carefully. Something in her face told me she was deadly serious, so I sunk in my chair and watched the remaining grapes in my hand carefully.
"I didn't think so." She chuckled, placing her plate beside her and getting to her feet and brushing herself down.
"Are you going to show me where the bar is then, Marvel?" She turned to me, her voice sounding strange when she said my name, or maybe that was just how people like her in 2 would say it.
"Sure." I kept my cool under her intimidating glare, surely testing me. I rested my hand carefully on her shoulder as I lead her towards the bar, but she harshly shook it off. Either this girl was frigid, or she was completely against any human interaction what so ever.
"Here it is." I spread my arms out in the air across the many stacks of drinks. She took a moment to scan the shelves before she dived towards MY corner, where my favorite bottles of appetizers were hiding.
"Want one?" She offered me one of my own drinks, as if I were the guest in my own train carriage.
"Sure." I repeated, having to think fast when a green bottle cut through the air at high speeds towards my face. Probably intended to blind me. I popped open the cap with my fingers, taking a long swig before realizing Clove was having trouble riving the lid off hers.
"Need some help?" I went to take the bottle from her, but she swung herself round to her back was facing me.
"No, I'm perfectly fine." She grimaced, hunched over the bottle and tearing at it with her fingers.
"Look, you're going to cut yourself, pass it here." I swiftly snatched it from her grasp, but she made no attempt to fight back. My practiced fingers quickly had the lid off in no time at all, letting the throth and bubbles seep over them from when Clove had rived and torn at the glass bottle.
"Thanks." She snapped, gulping down the fizzy drink and stepping past me. Letting me follow close behind, she returned to the living area and stole my seat on the couch before I even had time to realize it was gone. Clove flashed me a sweet sadistic smile as I let my legs buckle underneath me and I fell into a messy cross-legged sort of thing, shuffling to get comfy on the soft rug.
"Don't get us drinks, we're fine with that." Cato glared over his shoulder at Clove, who seemed small and helpless beside him. She watched his face like a rabbit in headlights. I frowned, he made her feel completely inferior, being her district partner, he should at least try and be friendly – he's the only true friend she'll have until it's down to the final two, which no doubt will be them.
"You didn't ask." I jumped in, defending Clove's silence and ignoring her scowls and growls from above me. Cato's eyed flashed from her to me, and almost challenging me to contradict him again.
"What was that?"
"I said, you didn't ask for any drinks. Cato." I spat. He swiveled round in his chair away from Glimmer and leant high above me.
"I don't like your tone, One."
"You don't have to, and my name is Marvel." Before I knew it, four bare knuckles connected with my jaw and I was sent furiously into the coffee table to my left, then in a bloody heap on the floor. The steady pulse of warm blood from my lips told me that Cato hadn't held back. My fingers scrambled over my mouth and lifted up in front of my eyes, scarlet red. Glimmer was dumbfounded and silent behind him, and Clove was nowhere to be seen. Cato however, was stood over me, a look of disgust ringing on his face.
"If you want to live in the arena, Marvel, don't EVER speak to ME like THAT again." He kept his gaze on me as he slowly slid down into his chair, turning back to a shocked Glimmer and resuming the conversation as if it had never happened. Suddenly, a cold, damp cloth was thrust into my face, and I briefly choked on it as I was hauled to my feet and staggered out of the room, returning to the bar and plopped onto the floor leant up against the cooler.
"You know, you shouldn't talk to him like that." Clove roughly dabbed the throbbing gash on my lip without remorse, ignoring my winces of pain.
"Someone has to stand up to him." I counter. She stops and stares at me, finding the double meaning to my harsh words.
"You really should watch your mouth, or I might just cut it off." She whispered, not viciously, perhaps she was actually joking with me.
"Oh yes, and I'll just skewer you with a spear if you did." I winked, trying to smile but soon straightening my mouth when the pain was apparent. She chortled at me, but kept her eyes on the wound.
"If your such a ruthless monster," I begin, "How do you know so much about first aid?" She hesitated for a second, before shaking her head and smiling as if I was talking complete rubbish.
"In a place like District Two, you need to learn how to treat wounds. Especially bad ones." She explained, but I had learnt all about her home district in our geography lessons at school. District Two prides itself on breeding the most powerful, killing machines for the Hunger Games. They even break the rules - by training their young for the hope of entering the games - at a young age, but since they are the Capitol's pets, they turn a blind eye to it. I shrugged, taking it into consideration – wondering just how good the best trainees in 2 really were, and what damage they were willing to inflict – just to win the training session.
"I don't suppose you even know what blood looks like, you and your district never have to lift a finger. Rolling about in your jewels and fine silks." She joked, but something in her voice hinted a pang of annoyance, and jealousy.
"You'd think, but District One is just like any other district. Luxuries or no luxuries. Guaranteed there are people who think life is all about jewel encrusted toilet seats, but most of us are more down to earth than that." My remark made her laugh, and this time she didn't try to hold it back.
"I never thought about it in that way, I was always taught that One was filled with Capitol wannabes, who knew nothing about battle strategies and only of different types of silk and precious gems." She shook her head and chuckled, dipping the cloth in a bowl of water and ringing the blood out.
"You should see it," I began, staring into space, imagining the streets like I'd seen them only hours ago. "Wherever you go, there is always a handful of trainees with some sort of weaponry,"
"Courtesy of District Two" Interrupting me, she flashed a smile and winked.
"Of course." I returned her wink, since my mouth was still throbbing from Cato smashing his fist straight into it. Then, she let the cloth fall into the bowl and let it soak there, leant back on her heels she waited. I wasn't sure what for really, and I still am not sure whether what happened next was what she wanted. But when her ash colored eyes fell upon mine once again, I leant closer, and my lips met hers.