As the hovercraft prepares for its descent, I take out my compact one more time to check if that unruly strand of hair has settled into place yet. I could ask Orion but somehow he never sees my flaws, the sweetie. I guess that's why he always says I'm perfect.
Turning my compact up, I find the hair standing defiantly in the same position as twenty minutes ago before I pressed it down. If I were back home I could gloss some gel over it but alas, all of my things are packed away and far beneath me and I won't be able to get to them until tonight. In the corner of my mirror, I see Orion getting my recorder out while everyone else begins putting their things away. Tilting my mirror further, I watch a woman to my far right, who's sporting some rather lovely leopard spots, zip up her purse for longer than I'm actually interested before I force my attention back onto myself. I know what I have to do and I know I'm stalling, but I don't think I can do it. I don't think I've ever had to willfully injure myself. My lip starts to tremble and I feel a thin sheen of sweat appear above it. Panicking, I wipe it away with a finger. I can't start sweating now! That's disgusting! I look back at the hair again, knowing I have no choice. I try to be brave, like Katniss, and am able to muster a firm enough resolve to steady my shaking hand and pluck the offending hair from the rest of its complacent sisters.
The sharp pain lasts for a long moment before it becomes a throbbing ache. I can't remember the last time I've hurt so much. I look at my pinched fingers to stare at the hair that caused me such heartache, but it's gone. I must have dropped it because when I check my head again, there's no visible sign of it.
While I'm still trapped in my bubble of pain, oblivious to where I am or what I was doing, I feel someone catch my still pinched and outstretched hand and look up blinking in confusion. And then I see Orion's face drawing me back into myself and a bright world. He's pouting at me, having obviously seen what I had to do. He always hates it when I get hurt. Leaning toward me as much as his straps allow, he gently pulls my face down to kiss the sore spot.
"Thanks, Gucci," I say.
It's my nickname for him. I came up with it myself. Orion. Orion's belt. Gucci belt. Gucci. Get it? I also like it because it sounds like goochi goochi goo, the sound adults make to mimic babies, although I've never heard a baby make any sounds remotely similar to that, but then I'm not around too many babies. Who is? Except the nursery workers. But I know what they inspire, pure love, and Orion is my darling baby, but I don't tell him that because he'd get mad at me.
His soft lips have replaced the sting and I smile up at him then into my compact. As Orion would say, I look perfect. I must admit though, that that has as much to do with my father as with me. Last week Daddy got me another teeth whitening. He said in my last few videos they hadn't shown as brightly as the star I am.
I put my compact away as we land and soon after we're allowed to take off our straps. Standing up, Orion and I get in a little stretching with the other passengers before the doors open. Although I've gone to arenas every year since I was four and have been coming without my parents for the last three years, I always still feel a thrill of excitement, whether the games were that exciting or not, and if it weren't for my sleeping pills I wouldn't get any rest the first night. Orion says I'm silly, but hey, he's always so serious! But this year not even he's teasing me because without a doubt, this year's Hunger Games were the most exciting ones ever!
To be honest, I hadn't thought this year's games would be any better than the last few and was more avidly looking forward to next year's Quarter Quell than anything, but the victors proved me wrong since day one! I don't know how the 75th games will be able to top it!
Before the doors open, Orion and I finish our stretches and stand back a bit. When the doors open, everyone pushes out, eager to get the first glimpse. I smooth my hair back again to make sure the wind their bodies created didn't muss it and adjust my dress. It's made entirely of paper made from mahogany exported from District 7, brightly colored in four different hues of red. Absolutely eye-popping and original, strongly reminiscent of Katniss' dress from the interviews and straight from the runway.
Once the hovercraft is empty, I lithely step out into the corridor and wait for Orion to turn on the camera that will livestream me into the devices of all 80,000 of my watchers. I don't usually do that, I like to edit my videos, but I promised them I'd tune in the moment I landed.
"Hello Panem, here's Capitol Girl welcoming you to my second year of broadcasting straight from an Arena!"
Walking back toward the group, I continue.
"At this very moment Orion and I are one of the first people to walk through the very hallways that Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark came through! And as you can see behind me, there are even more people than usual who made it out for the grand opening! But don't be afraid, because we booked our tickets way in advance, which means we will give you your first glimpses of all the famous scenes where we will reenact for you all Peeta's and Katniss' love story!
"And I know last year some of you teased me about my performances, but this time I know we'll be really good because we won't actually be acting anything, right Orion?"
I look past the camera at my baby and he flashes me a smile. I look back into the camera.
"He says yes. Trust me. And now, dear, sweet viewers, I'm afraid we've come to the part where we must turn off the camera, but we can't give too much away. When you get the chance, you MUST come here yourselves!"
And blowing a kiss, one of my favorite closers and openers, I wait for Orion to turn off the camera. Once he does, I give him a quick peck before we follow the tour guide through the catacombs. As usual, we go to the winner's room last, but because of this year's unusual case, we get to see Peeta's launch room earlier in the tour.
Inside, Orion turns the camera back on and I blow another kiss.
"Hello again, thank you for being so patient! We're now here in Peeta Mellark's launch room where he spent the last hour before the games with his oh so talented stylist Portia! Although, unfortunately, we weren't allowed to see what happened here, I'm sure we all know what was going through Peeta's mind. It's so painfully romantic," I say, sighing.
Orion turns off the camera again until we reach Katniss' room. As soon as I'm inside, I skip to the launch pad in the center of the room, barely giving Orion enough time to turn the camera back on. I give him an apologetic look, but I've been waiting for this moment for two hours!
I put my hands over my heart and look tragical. When I see the red light from the camera out of the corner of my eye, I begin.
"Oh, I don't know if I can do this. How can I kill Peeta?"
I continue to look down despondently for a few more seconds before stepping down from the pad. The other guests clap for me and one man even cheers. I thank everyone and some others come up to take my place on the pad.
"I feel so close to her here," I say into the camera.
"I don't know what I'd do if I had to kill my Orion."
We get a few shots of others trying their hand at their own imagined reenactment but later Orion tells me I was the best. Our tour guide gives us a few juicy tidbits about how Katniss looked before she entered the launch pad and how worried she was even on the hovercraft and then announces the tour's end for the day.
"You heard him everyone! That's it for today. I promise tomorrow will be even more exciting! This is Capitol Girl!"
I blow another kiss at the camera and Orion quickly shuts it off.
"Oh, Gucci, your arm must be so tired!" I say, running to him. He could float the camera with the push of a button, but he prefers manual work and always uses a tyepod or whatever at home. It's such outdated technology that I don't know where he dug it up. In fact, I think it must be worth something as a relic.
I massage his bicep as he maneuvers the recorder back into his bag.
"It's just a bit sore, I'll hop over to the spa after dinner for a massage."
"Ooh, that sounds like a great idea! Mind if I join you?"
I twine my arm through his.
He looks down at me, his face scrunched up in annoyance and I don't know what to do. My heart sinks to my stomach and my lip begins to quiver. What did I do? Before I can ask, Orion grabs my chin and laughs before kissing me.
"You're so gullible. You know I can't stand being away from you long, Goose."
"Oh, you're so mean!" I say, slapping his chest, though not very hard. "If I didn't love you so much, I would have broken up with you ages ago. And it's Swan."
In response he kisses me again and apologizes.
I cross my arms and look away from him. Sometimes he can be so cruel. How can he play with me like that? Luckily, he doesn't tease me too much, but that's exactly why I always take it so hard, because most of the time he's dead serious.
"Would you like some ice cream?"
I look back at him. Despite everything, he knows all my weaknesses and although I try hard to stay mad at him, I can't. It's not the ice cream but his sweet, I know I've done wrong smile. I know he knows this and so he uses it on me all the time.
"What kind?"
"Nightlock flavored," he says with a suddenly straight face.
I laugh before I can stop myself and suddenly I'm fine again. I know he loves me as much as I love him.
"Only if you have some."
"Deal."
"Really?" I ask, although I know he would. "Would you really?"
Orion pulls me back into him and tickles my neck with his nose before whispering in my ear, "If I can't stand being away from you for an hour, how could I stand a lifetime?"
My eyes water again and I latch onto him as if it's the last time I'll ever see him again.
"Oh, Orion, you're my Peeta!"
"And you're my Katniss."
And interlocked again, we make our way to the dining area where we pick out a secluded, darkened space to be alone. I already know what I want, but pretend to look through the suggested menu options anyway to check out my boyfriend. The long, pale face that I love is blank, staring down at the different combinations of food choices. Like me, he's wearing the latest fashion, and I mean latest. As the CEO of Eternal Youth, my father always gives me the pick of the season a month before he puts them on the shelves. Ever since Orion and I began dating, he's gotten the same favor.
We met at my uncle's TV station where he's a producer. Orion had started working there as an intern. I was there getting time sensitive information on that year's Tributes. The moment I saw him I knew there was something different about him, but that was obvious. His hair and makeup was fabulous, but his clothes were at least two seasons old, but he didn't seem to care. I found him so perplexing that I was talking to him before I knew what I was doing.
He was sweet and recognized me from my videos although at the time I'd only made a handful. He said I was very entertaining. I asked him if he'd like to help me make them and that was it. He never formally asked me out, but he didn't need to. We just knew that we were together. A few weeks into our relationship, I brought up his outfits and he blushed and mumbled something about not having enough time to go shopping since he had always put all his time into school, and then, getting the internship. He said he always felt like such a fool whenever we went out in public and when he ran into my parents, which was a lot since I shoot most of my videos at home. He's so cute! The very next day I got him a whole new wardrobe and after that I could tell that he felt more comfortable in his own skin.
After a while, Orion catches me staring at him and gives me a what are you doing, Helena face. I giggle and take his hand across the table. He strokes the back of my hand absently as he turns back to the menu. I'm so lucky I have him.