Hey everyone ! Thank you to people who followed the story ! I'm really sorry to be so late for that chapter, but well, I hope you'll really enjoy it ! =)
The next morning, my head is banging again, but I didn't have any nightmare. I'm surprised to see that I'm all cleaned up and in my underwear, before remembering where I am and how Bread Boy (maybe I should try and remember his name ?) took care of me. I also find out that the banging noise doesn't come from inside my head, but from the door, and that a shrill voice is coming from the corridor.
"Up, up, up ! It's going to be a big, big, big day !
-I heard you ! Shut up now !" I shout to Effie Trinket, and she immediately stops banging. I can hear the tapping of her high heels going away.
When I get up, I realize that I am walking straight, and that my ideas are clear. Oh, I really don't like that feeling. I take a long sip of white alcohol before dressing up and going to take breakfast. I even have the surprise of arriving there before the tributes, but Effie's already there, and I bow down to kiss her cheek with a smirk. She then sweeps it for about ten minutes with her napkin, grumbling at my behaviour and sending me irritated looks as I mix my white alcohol with cranberry juice - tastes awful, but I said I had to be drunk. I really need to piss her off.
"Ah, good morning, boy !" I call when I see Bread Boy come into the room, clean and fresh as ever. Effie tells him to sit down, and I can see how relieved she seems for seeing him and not being alone with me in the room anymore.
The boy takes a bread roll - obviously, Bread Boy is used to good breakfasts. As he examines the roll, I tell Effie in a low voice :
"Look at that kid. Of course, you wouldn't see that in the Capitol, someone eating the roll without even complaining about the fact that it's not even warm."
She starts muttering under her breath and I keep a satisfied smile - I think pissing her off has in fact become the new goal of my life, as Katniss enters the room. She didn't even bother to brush her hair, and seems tired, but she's still as strong as I saw her before. And when Bread Boy explains to her what hot chocolate is, I finally realize how poor she is.
She never got to eat a real meal, even though she's hunting. She eats squirrels and wild dogs because she doesn't have anything else, and hot chocolate is a luxury she never got to taste before. I thought she was slender and muscled, but now I realise how sunken her cheeks are, how you can almost see the bones in her hand, and her obvious absence of the curves a 16-year old girl should have. She obviously doesn't get three meals a day, that girl. I should have guessed it, given that she's from the Seam.
I'm not hungry - food spoils the taste of alcohol - but the kids eat as much as they can.
"So, you're supposed to give us advice," the girl suddenly says, and I raise an eyebrow at that. Advice ? Didn't she realize how much I don't want to give her any advice, or him for that matter, because I don't want to take any part in their horrible death ? I don't want to give them any false hope, so I just answer :
"Here's some advice. Stay alive", and then, strangely, I start laughing. It's not because I was funny, it's because indeed, it is a good piece of advice. If they follow that one, they'll win. And I'm on edge, that's why I laugh so easily. But Bread Boy doesn't seem to like that.
"That's very funny", he says in a low voice. And before I understand what's happening, he's smacking my glass on the floor, spilling my precious white alcohol. "Only not to us", he growls, and I suddenly want to test him. So I punch him as hard as I can and he flies against the wall. But he is strong, and he did have the balls to oppose me. Hey, he might stand a chance after all.
I reach toward the bottle, wanting to take another drink, but the girl's knife thuds onto the table. Now, I must say I am pretty impressed. They both reacted quite fast, and without any fear of punishment. These kids, they know what they want.
"Well, what's this ? Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year ?" I ask, truly surprised. And seeing the boy put some ice on his face, I suddenly decide that for once, I'm going to be a true mentor. "No. Let the bruise show", I tell him, knowing exactly what I need to do about him - make him look strong. "The audience will think you've mixed it up with another tribute before you've even made it to the arena."
"That's against the rules", he answers, ignoring me, but I don't listen to him, even explaining why he shouldn't put the ice on. I've seen him cry, and the whole of Panem saw him cry at the train station. Now, we have to counteract that terrible first impression and make him look like a true warrior.
"Only if they catch you. That bruise will say you fought, you weren't caught, even better."
I immediately turn to Katniss, asking her what she can do with a knife. The answer comes fast, and as Effie lets out a small shriek, the blade lodges exactly between two panels of the wooden wall. I must say I'm really impressed.
These two kids are the only tributes I've ever had that are worth the effort. They might actually get far in the Games, further than all the slaughtered children of these 24 last years.
"Stand over here. Both of you." They both stand in the middle of the room. Katniss may be beautiful, her eyes may gleam with intelligence, but she's too expressionless to be hot. The boy, though, is going to make all the Capitol girls crazy about him. Now that's not really a great thing if he wins, but he won't, and we'll get sponsors because of that, so it's okay. They are both strong, but slender. I mumble something about the stylists having a chance to make them look good, before taking a deep breath and telling them :
"All right, I'll make a deal with you. You don't interfere with my drinking, and I'll stay sober enough to help you." And before they start pissing me off with stupid comments, I add : "But you have to do exactly what I say."
I don't really know why I said that, because I don't want to mentor kids. But they are no ordinary District 12 kids - they are tributes who could actually make it, and as I throw a glance to Effie, I see her beaming with hope. The kids, though, don't seem very satisfied - but they must realise that they won't get anything better from me, because Bread Boy finally agrees. And Katniss, the intelligent Katniss, starts talking about the Cornucopia. Hey, we're not there yet ! First the parade. And the stylists. And the evaluation, the training... so many things. Those kids really can't wait to be in the arena.
I remember when we were at the Hunger Games. The depilation, the weird cream that irritated my skin, my hair cut short and the hideous miner's costume. Toma, the other boy tribute from my district, had told the stylists he didn't like their work. As a result, they didn't do any effort to make him look good, he didn't get sponsors, and died awfully early in the Games when he could have done a lot better. Now, I understand that the tributes must please, always please, everyone. For him it's going to be easy. But that savage girl is definitely not complying - she's the kind of person who holds a grudge against the whole world. And we all know that on this field, the Capitol is worth a thousand worlds. I don't think she should assassinate her stylist.
And that's basically what I tell them. Of course, Katniss starts : "But.." About two sentences after I tell her never to contradict me she's already trying to piss me off. "No buts. Don't resist", I simply repeat, leaving the room.
So that's it. Did you like this chapter ? Please tell me how you felt about it ! =)
