Disclaimer: I'm not Suzanne Collins and I don't own the Hunger Games or it's amazing characters!

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CHAPTER 2: Arrival

The train ride to the Capitol isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The ornate curtains, fancy leather seats, and fine dining are certainly a step up from the dilapidated condition of the subways that we're used to riding. Prim has been bouncing up and down the whole time. All feelings of unease seemed to have disappeared when I bought an ice cream sundae for her before we departed. As the train slows, she squeals in excitement, "Oooh were here Katniss! Can you believe it? It's so pretty!" She squishes her nose against the glass and I roll my eyes at her exuberance.

The first thing that hits me when we leave the train and step on to the platform is the smell. It's nothing like the smell of cigarettes and other unmentionable things that practically choke you in the subway stations of the city. It smells like fresh air. The aroma of pine trees and freshly mowed grass fills the air. I didn't expect everything to look so…green. We have never left the city before. The surrounding forests give me a feeling I haven't experienced in a while, hope.

Prim and I surely stick out like sore thumbs in this place, marveling at trees as though we have never seen them in our lives. I close my eyes and take another big breath, inhaling this foreign fragrance. All of the sudden my nostrils are infected by another stench, one that burns my nose and makes my eyes water, some sort of strong French perfume I suppose. I open my eyes to find a petite woman in a bright pink blazer and matching pencil skirt. She has Orange hair and eyelashes than seem inhumanly long. She scurries over to us in her 6 inch stilettos. "Hello there children!" she addresses us in a chirpy voice. "My name is Ms. Effie Trinket. I am the dean of admissions at The Capitol School and a personal friend of your dear grandmother."

I fight back a laugh, if she is a close friend of my grandmother, there's no wonder my mother ran away from home. Thinking about my mother causes me to wince; we are here enjoying the luxurious lifestyle of The Capitol while she is probably locked in some room at an insane asylum. I quickly brush those feelings away, her parents probably paid for some fancy hotel/rehab center that those celebrities like Lindsay Lohan go to. Prim, always to social butterfly, introduces us to Effie, who obviously already knows who we are.

"It is a pleasure to meet you my dears. Now we are on a tight schedule and there is much to be done if you will follow me please." Effie instructs while scampering away. It surprises me how fast she can move in those towers she wears as shoes. We follow her to her car, a hot pink Volkswagen bug. Typical. We place our bags in the trunk. It's embarrassing that everything we own fits into the trunk of this tiny car.

We climb in the back and Effie pulls away from the station. We sit there for what seems like hours until Effie breaks the uneasy silence. "So judging by the clothes you kids are wearing and the lack of clothes you seem to possess, I would bet my buttons that you kids need a whole new wardrobe!" Effie babbled on.

"With all due respect Ms. Trinket, we don't have any money. We can't afford food let alone clothes." I interrupted her rant.

Effie looked shocked that I had finally spoken. "Oh Nonsense Ms. Everdeen, your grandparents have given you each a debit card connected to a personal bank account set up just for you! You can buy anything you need with these…" she praddled on while searching in her furry, pink, handbag. She finally pulled out two shiny, plastic, cards. Prim and my jaws dropped. In my hands is the very thing that could have saved us just a day ago. Funny how my grandparents show up when we need them the least, for years they could have stepped up to help. They must have known about my father's death but did nothing. I despise these people; they will never be my family, I almost am too mad to use the card. I'm disgusted by the way people here don't understand the value of money the way people like us do. Then again, I have never indulged myself before. It feels nice to be taken care of for once after years of taking care of everyone else.

Prim, of course is memorized by the idea of having her own money. I usually handled our money and have never been able to give her much except my hand-me-down clothes, worn and threadbare and the occasional present on birthdays and Christmas. "So this means that I can buy all of the ribbons and dresses I want?" Prim tweets.

"Oh yes my dear," Effie replies. "You could probably buy the whole mall with that platinum card!"

"So where are you taking us?" I question

"Well lets see," Effie starts as she appraises me with her sharp eyes "We should get you cleaned up a bit, and I know just who to go to!"

….

A/N: I know, it's short Don't be mad! This is sort of just a filler chapter! REVIEWS would really motivate me! Maybe even enough to update tomorrow! Thank you for taking the tame to R&R each one makes me smile!