So far, I only have on measly review, and it saddens me so. :( Anywho, here's a lovely new chapter.

~Nano

I must have fallen asleep sometime that night, because the next morning, Crimson's voice warbles from the other side of my door.

"Breakfast in an hour!" She calls in that ridiculous Capitol accent. "You'll be meeting your stylists today!" She actually sounds excited.

I groan and roll over, snuggling deeper into the blankets. I haven't slept in an actual bed since my parents died and I went to live with Nana. I've forgotten how comfortable it is.

A few minutes I sigh and sit up. I've never been one to be able to sleep in- having to work a morning shift does that to you, I guess. I roll off the bed and make my way into the bathroom.

I'm an absolute mess. My hair is a matted, tangled mess at the back of my head, my eyes are red and puffy from crying, and my nose is red from the sun yesterday.

I decide to shower again, even though I'm meeting with my stylists today. I want to at least look mildly presentable.

I shower and brush out my hair, and emerge from the bathroom feeling, well, not better exactly, but more improved.

I decide against wearing the green dress again, but I don't know what to do with it. Quickly I slip into the pants and tunic I was left yesterday, tie my hair up, and grab the dress.

When I arrive in the dining car, only Mikeal is there.

He nods at the dress in my hands. "What's that for?"

"I…I don't know what to do with it," I stammer. "It was my mother's and…I don't want them to just throw it out…"

He just nods and takes a sip from the mug in his hands. "I'll see it's sent back to your family then," he says, gesturing for one of the white-clad servers, who I'd learned last night were Avox, to take the dress.

I sat down across from Mikeal and one of the Avox handed me a glass of water and a mug. I feel like I've been chugging water constantly since I got on the train last night, and I'm tired of it, but I know it'll help in the long run.

Mikeal watches me for awhile, amused, before leaning forward.

"Something tells me you're going to be someone to keep an eye on," he says.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "What gives you that idea?"

He nods towards the almost empty glass of water in my hand. "You think ahead. I noticed last night you only had water. That kind of thinking will get you far in these Games." He frowns and looks as if he's about to say something else, but he's interrupted when Crimson storms gleefully in, heels clacking, Griffin behind her, looking a lot less perky, and muttering who-knows-what under his breath. From the way his lips moved, it didn't look like he was muttering anything Nana would ever allow in her vicinity.

For some reason, this makes me laugh.

"Why are you so giggly this morning?" Griffin mutters grumpily, sliding into the seat next to me.

I shoot him a look. "I don't giggle," I say, and it's true; Will's the one that giggles.

He shrugs and starts filling his plate, and I follow suit, having finished off my water.

"I hope you kids are excited," Crimson begins.

Griffin and I just look at each other. Sure, that's exactly what we are right now.

"About?" I ask sweetly, too sweetly. Griffin coughs up a laugh and Mikeal raises his eyebrows at me, but Crimson doesn't notice the sarcasm dripping from my words.

"After breakfast, we'll be pulling into the station in the Capitol, and you kids will get to meet your stylists in the Remake Center!" She sounds as if this is the most exciting thing in the world.

"Why, that sounds just lovely. I can't wait to meet them!" I say just as sweet and innocent as I did last time. Griffin's grinning into his eggs now, trying not to laugh.

Crimson nods enthusiastically. "I knew you'd be excited about that!" She says gaily.

I frown. What exactly is that supposed to mean?

"After you two are cleaned up," Crimson continues, not noticing the look on my face, "There's the Opening Ceremonies and the chariot ride." She glances at her watch then. "Speaking of, I have some things I have to take care of before we pull in. I'll see you two later!" She waves jauntily before leaving the dining car.

"Did she have anything other than coffee while she was in here?" I ask.

Griffin shakes his head and holds his napkin out towards me. I eye it warily.

"What do you want?"

"You have a bit of sarcasm dribbling down your chin," he says seriously. I stare at him for a moment before we both burst out laughing. Mikeal grins at us.

"Nice to see you two getting along," he chuckles, before nodding out the window. "We're almost to the Capitol."

Suddenly the windows go dark as the train passes through the mountains. It seems like forever before we pull out of the mountain and back into daylight, and I find myself looking at the bright, colorful, candy-like skyline of the Capitol, its citizens waving as the train zips by. In no time we pull into the station, and Crimson bursts into the dining car.

"What are you still sitting around for? We're here!"

Griffin and I just look at each other, and he rolls his eyes.

"Coming, Crimson," I say tiredly, following her off the train, into the Remake Center.

XXXXXXXXX

I close my eyes, trying to block out the chatter of my prep team. They sound like an annoying flock of birds, twittering away around me, or the hum of flies around a carcass. I attempt to shake my head to erase this thought- it hits a little too close to home- but my team titters at me. They bathe me and scrub me and file down my nails, and shampoo and condition my hair until my scalp hurts.

"What's this?" one of them asks, frowning at my wrist. It takes me a second to process what she's talking about.

A thick pink scar cuts across my wrist on my left arm, from the base of my thumb and across to about halfway to my elbow. The mark of my own stupidity. I tell her so, and they all frown, asking for the story.

I know I can't tell them the whole story, so I lie. I tell them I cut myself working in the orchard, when I fell out of the tree. In truth, it started when I fell out of a tree one day, but that's not how I got the scar.

XXXXXXXXX

I had run from our dwelling, holding in sobs. Rowena was dead. She had died as I watched from our table.

I just kept running, ignoring the voices calling after me. I found myself in the orchard and climbed a tree, clinging to it like a lifeline. I was beyond caring about laws now- but the Peacekeepers weren't. They were there minutes after I'd climbed the tree, ordering me down. I should be inside, watching the Games, which were mandatory programming.

I refused to come down. I remember one of the Peacekeepers, possibly the captain of their team, shaking his head, and pulling out his whip. The tip struck right in front of my face, and I flinched back, letting go of my hold on the tree.

I fell to the ground with a crash, and lay there, gasping for air, the Peacekeepers standing over me. The one holding the whip was standing over my head.

"I recognize her," he said. "Her sister's in the Games."

I felt something in me snap, and I stood, shaking, and drew my knife.

"Leave me alone!" I snarled, and the Peacekeepers took a step back, except the one holding the whip. He pulled his arm back and I instinctually brought my arms up to protect my face as the whip came down on me. It caught on my wrist, and I yelped, falling to my knees. My knife skittered across the ground.

Just then Will and Carter burst through the trees. Will took one look at the situation and stepped forward.

"Sorry about this," she said to the Peacekeepers. I felt her hand on my back and look up at her.

"We'll let it slide, considering the circumstances," the captain says. He bent to pick up my knife and handed it to Will. "Make sure it doesn't happen again." I felt Will nod next to me, then the sound of boots walking away through the orchard.

"You kids better get back inside," I heard him call over his shoulder, before the three of us were left there alone.

After than, Will and Carter took me home, and stayed there until they were sure it was safe to leave me unsupervised. Since then, I've kept my temper under a tight reign, and the scar remains a reminder of what happened.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Finally I get to meet my stylist, a skinny woman named Maud. She looks about 30 or so, and I can't help my reaction to her appearance. Her hair, a brilliant shade of magenta, is held up in a messy bundle by a sparkling silver jeweled clip, and her lips are coated in a lipstick the same shade.

I try to ignore her as she adjusts my hair and makeup, then slips my costume over my head. But when she stands me in front of a full length mirror, my mouth drops open.

The costume- if you can even call it that, because it's more of a gown- falls to just past my knees, and is a dark evergreen. On closer inspection, I realize the dress looks like a leave, wrapped around my body. It's strapless, but a vine of satin extends from my back to my wrist on my left hand, a sheet of sheer green material falling from it, and another vine wraps up my right forearm. My hair is woven with purple flowers that seem to shimmer, and the same flowers are sprinkled along the vines.

The costume is beautiful, just as the costumes usually are, although I recognize it faintly as being of the same basic design as another a few years ago. Despite this, it's gorgeous.

Maud leads me to the stables below the Remake Center, and I meet Griffin at our carriage. The other tributes mill around, generally avoiding each other.

Mikeal appears at my elbow and gives both of us a small grin. "Good luck," he tells us, helping me up into the carriage. Griffin climbs in on the other side, and Mikeal climbs up next to us.

"Ok, you two, just relax and act like you're enjoying yourselves. Wave, smile, the whole deal. Got it?" Mikeal gives us a stern look that doesn't seem right on his face.

I nod, as does Griffin, as the anthem begins to play and the huge doors at the front of the line, by the District 1 carriage and its white horses, start to open.

Mikeal jumps off the carriage as the line starts to move, and the roar of the crowd outside almost drowns out the anthem, but not quite.

Then our carriage rolls forward and we're outside, among the cheering Capitol citizens. I plaster a smile on my face and grip the edge of the carriage with one hand, and wave with the other. My stomach burns at the joy I see on these people's faces, but I push it down. Now is not the time for such thoughts.

Finally our carriage follows the others into the loop at the City Circle, stopping outside the President's mansion. President Snow himself, steps out onto the balcony above us. I think idly how young he looks, how he could possibly be President at his age. He starts his annual speech, one similar to the one the mayor gives every year back home. I stand there, a small smile on my face, the one I saved for Rowena so she wouldn't worry about me, and try to look like I'm paying attention.

The President wraps up his speech and we start rolling again, towards the Training Center.

Dinner that night is a small affair. The food is fantastic- some sort of white meat in a strong gravy with greens, garlic potatoes, and chocolate cake, something I've never had before. It's amazing.

But nobody says much, except Crimson, who keeps going on about how everyone loved us, although I think that's stretching the truth a bit. Our début as tributes was nothing special.

After dinner we all head into the sitting room to watch a recap of the ceremonies. The tributes from the Career districts- 1, 2, and 4- look stunning, as usual. When they show District 11, Crimson goes off about how gorgeous we both look. Griffin nudges my side and makes a face, and I have to hold in a laugh.

Finally, Mikeal and Crimson decide to head to bed, and Crimson suggests Griffin and I do the same.

"I'll head to bed soon," I tell her, but quite frankly, I'm terrified about being alone, knowing I'll completely break down, be swallowed by the terror of my fate.

Griffin nods. "I was thinking the same thing." Crimson and Mikeal nod and leave, and Griffin stretches out on the couch.

"So, not ready for bed yet?"

I shake my head. "Not really. I think my mind needs to slow down first."

He nods, then leans back and stares at the ceiling.

We sit there in silence for a while, before Griffin suddenly speaks.

"So, what was it like back home?"

I glance over at him, but he's still staring up at the ceiling.

"Ok, I guess. Life's hard in the minor districts, but my family gets by," I say carefully, just in case.

He shakes his head. "Come on, Dess. You know that's not what I mean. What's your life like? What about your parents, siblings? You know."

I raise an eyebrow. "Why do you care?"

Finally he sits up, an irritated look on his face. "Because I'm trying to be friendly. You seemed like you were ok with it on the train. I realize we're supposed to be going into the Games soon, but I was just trying to be a decent person!"

"Sorry," I mutter, and he goes back to staring at the ceiling.

After a while, it's me that breaks the silence.

"I don't have any parents," I say quietly, pulling my knees to my chest and hugging them to my body.

Griffin sits up. "What?"

Without looking at him, I repeat myself. "I don't have any parents. At least, not anymore. They're dead."

I can feel Griffin's eyes on my face. "I'm sorry," he says eventually.

Suddenly I can't stop the words that come, and I know if I try to stop them I'll cry. So I let them come.

"They died during the Outbreak, five years ago. My brother and sister and I went to live with our grandmother, because she was alone. Grandfather had died of pneumonia shortly before the Outbreak. I don't think I would have survived then if it weren't for Will and Carter. They're probably the only reason I'm still sane after…" I was going to say, "After Rowena's death," but the words have finally stopped coming.

"After you lost your parents?" Griffin fills in instead. I just nod, because for some reason, I don't want to share about Rowena with him. We may be on friendly terms, and I may have just suffered from a bad case of emotional word vomit, but I'm not stupid. I know once we go into the arena, anything I say, (or have just said,) can be used against me.

There's a shift in the couch, and I look up to find Griffin sitting next to me.

"I lost my mother a few years back too," he tells me.

I sigh. "Seems everyone's lost someone they love." Griffin nods and sighs.

"So," he starts, "Do you have a boyfriend back home?"

I just stare at him.

"What?" he asks indignantly. "It's just a question."

"Not…not really."

It's his turn to give me a look, but I ignore it. "You?" He just shakes his head.

"No girlfriend for me," he grins. "Never even kissed one."

"You didn't have to share that," I tell him. He laughs, earning a small smile from me.

Suddenly he turns serious. "I wish…"

"What?" I realize he's even closer now, almost right in my face.

"I wish we weren't going into the Games," he says, "because then I wouldn't feel guilty about this."

He closes the remaining distance between us, and our lips meet.

Yeah, I know, you're like "What the heck?" but just bear with me and go with it, ok? It'll all make sense. :) And please, don't forget to review. :)