This chapter is dedicated to JDFan18 and Eliza J. Thank you, once again, for reminding me that this fanfiction existed. BEWARE: My writing style has changed quite a bit. Not drastically, but quite a bit.
The past three days in training have been uneventful. Day four. Tomorrow is our last day of training. Then on Day six, it's the interviews with Caesar Flickerman... Then the games.
The days have flown by too fast.
It's hard to think, the Capitol only allowed us with five days of training.
So those idiots expect us to train for only five days with no prior experience, then waltz into a makeshift stage and into certain doom?
It doesn't seem very efficient, if you ask me.
Katniss seemed to pounding on me more, recently. It seemed as if she had taken an instant apathy towards me the second I had walked on board the train. She still mentored me correctly; I was wholly sure that the information she was feeding me would not inevitably kill me.
However, she seemed to be holding a grudge. I wonder if this grudge had anything to do with my father's strange behavior the other night...?
On the next day, the three of us (Katniss, Ian, and I) stayed at the table after dinner discussing our interview angles.
Katniss said that the star-crossed lovers was how she had won the games, but that was cliche and the Capitol probably wouldn't be as interested in it. Almost everybody had been doing it ever since the Katniss and Peeta incident, but they weren't Katniss and Peeta, and their mentors weren't Haymitch, Katniss said. I frowned. Star crossed lovers? That did seem a little bit cheesy.
In the end, we had decided I would play up the cute, innocent, but deadly act, and Ian would play the mischievous. charming, and impossible not to like act. With my chocolate brown hair, large brown eyes, and petite stature, I could pull off my part. With Ian's tousled black hair, upturned eyebrows, and impish grin, he could pull off his. Everybody already liked him back in District 2, anyway.
We were to pretend that we were friends from birth who were having a ridiculous fight over a small matter that I started. That was also easy. During training, we seemed to have been avoiding each other. We already were friends since we were five.
On that note, I wonder how Jasmine is doing. Was she okay? She had burst into tears when she was visiting me.
After what seemed like hours of pulling and plucking, I was finally ready to see my stylist. She wasn't even half as normal as Effie Trinket, and had a name that nobody, not even Katniss could pronounce. We were simply to call her Miss.
Originally, I was supposed to be in pink. After I showed Miss my district token, which was a rich chocolate brown (which Ian had given me because it supposedly matched my eyes), we decided to make my dress the same color.
I had thought about bringing the mockingjay pin Jasmine had given me, but somehow I had lost it on the train or the tracks. I already had my ribbon tied up in my hair, and since it's mandatory to have a district token, I just took it out of my hair and started toying with it.
"Well!" I jump at the sudden high pitched squeal that belonged to my crazy stylist. "Well, well, well, well, well! What a little cutie I get to work with this year! I look forward to working with you, darling!"
Miss pinches my cheek, hard. Then has the nerve to actually slap my face playfully.
"So, looks like Mrs. Mellark wants you in chocolate brown, hm? What a wonderful decision! That matches your eyes so perfectly! I've already got the perfect little outfit for you!"
Duh. She's supposed to. And her little happy-go-lucky when I'm about to die attitude is really starting to get on my nerves, especially because I don't even know how to pronounce her name.
She orders me to close my eyes as she rushes into another room to get my dress. I pace around awkwardly, not really caring that my eyes were closed and I could trip over anything at any moment.
I hear Miss clambering into the room. I feel something silky slip over my head.
When I open my eyes and look into the mirror, I am breathless.
My dress was nothing too special or fancy. It was a knee length empire waist, with layer layers and a veil on top on the lower part. A thick brown sash was tied into an elegant bow at my left side. Above the sash, the top half of the dress was strapless and pleated vertically.
My makeup was not too thick, just a small little bit of eyeshadow and eyeliner here and there to make my eyes appear larger and softer. Blush was applied at my cheeks, and pink lipstick was swiped across my lips, making them seem sculpted and perfect.
The only problem I had with the entire outfit was my nails. They would have been alright if they were simply painted the same chocolate brown as the rest of my outfit, but Octavia, Venia, and Flavius (who Katniss had specifically assigned to me) had actually gone so far as to glue small, thin, brown bows onto my nail tips. So, I assumed that the theme was chocolate brown bows. Oh well. It's not like anybody would notice them.
Miss was actually crying about how so amazingly beautiful I was, if I do say so myself.
"Beautiful! You're so amazingly beautiful, if I do say so myself!"
I had to agree with her there.
We put the last finishing touches on. Brown peep toe shoes, of course with bows on the ends, a sidetie with two curls framing my face (Miss was thanking me for having my hair already in ringlets), my ribbon as a bow in my hair, off to the side, dangling gold hoop earrings, and another swipe of lipstick and lip gloss.
Everybody in the room — Miss, Octavia, Venia, and Flavius — sighed and aww'd. Then Miss took off running outside screaming, "Mrs. Mellark! Mrs. Mellark!" Like a five year old whose toy had just been broken by his older sibling. Sobbing, screaming, and out of control.
A few minutes later, Katniss walked into the room and nodded in approval.
"Perfect. She looks just like a doll. Somebody I would want to hug and swoon over, if I was somebody like you, Aeniil... Miss."
Well. I was quite impressed that Katniss got the first two syllables of my stylist's name right.
Miss didn't seem to take offense to this, although Katniss obviously meant it to be that way.
"Twirl for me." Katniss ordered, and she flinched a little bit as she said it.
I twirled, and my dress spread out around me like wings. I think it was the veil that did it.
"Alright," Katniss said. "The interviews start in less than ten minutes. Willow, you're going to be sitting here, between Felix Collins and Ian."
Oh, Felix Collins? I recognized his name. He was good-looking and smart I suppose, from District One, somebody Jasmine would definitely swoon over. He's fourteen. He asked me to ally with him. I figured since he was somebody Jasmine would like, I accepted. So afterwards, I guess he got the wrong idea and tried flirting with me. He ended up with his hand in a noose that I was working on. I left him there complaining and telling me to get him out, which was the reason I was starting to have second thoughts about allying with him.
He's very good with almost all of the weapons, however. The only ones he's horrible at are knives, traps (if that counts), spears, and bows and arrows, which happen to be the ones I was great at.
The thought of sitting next to him during the interviews made me grimace. He was surely going to try to talk to me, and if I tell him to shut up, I'll get caught. We're not supposed to talk at the interviews.
And then this dress. It was a little bit lower down my torso than I wanted it to be. Unlike most fourteen year olds, I preferred being more covered.
A few minutes later, I am sitting with my ankles crossed in an unceremonious chair.
"You look nice," Ian says, grinning. I roll my eyes at him, then turn to Felix.
"Listen, Casanova. Don't even think about talking to me during the interviews unless you want to assure we're both killed during the games."
His small smirk slowly grows into a grin that matches Ian's perfectly. He opens his mouth to say something, when the anthem plays and we all stand up. After the anthem, we all sit back down and less stuffy music comes on, as Caesar walks out with his chest puffed out. He's smiling and waving casually though.
This year, everything on his body save his eyes and open mouth are dyed white. White was the color for the first games. The first games were also in a snowy wasteland. White is also the color that symbolizes beginning.
Caesar warms things up a little bit, telling jokes and such. Then, it's down to business.
The girl from District One was taking on a smart act, with her legs crossed, her back straight, her hands folded on her lap, and perky demeanor.
"Well, Caesar, I must say, I was quite flabbergasted when I became aware of the fact that I would be partaking in this palpitating annual thrill of an event."
Caesar just stared at her as if she had just sprouted another head.
Felix was a womanizer and a smooth talker with his feet up on the coffee table and one arm dangling behind the couch.
"Yeah, yeah. It's all cool. The rooms are pretty hot, and I don't mean in the tempurature way. Just like the ladies. When I make it out alive, well..." He winked at the audience, and there were some squeals from some girls in the audience and on the stage.
Pretty soon, they were calling my name. I sighed to get a hold of myself, stood up, smoothed out my dress, and lithely walked over to Caesar.
It looked like my stylists had done a very good job on my attire, because there were people were aww-ing all over the place as if I were some newborn baby. Effie had made me practice a light walk. Right, toe, arch, heel, skip. Left, toe, arch, heel, skip. Right, toe, arch, heel, skip. This went on until I had reached Caesar. I smoothed out my dress once more, sat down on the couch, and shook Caesar's hand.
"Wonderful nails you've got there!" He said lightly. I tensed for a small moment. Nobody was supposed to notice that. Now the cameras were zoomed in on my nails.
"Thank you! I begged my stylists to do them like that! I absolutely love ribbons!" I was practically lying through gritted teeth.
This got more people from the audience swooning and squealing. I heard somebody scream, "How adorable!" I could see Katniss nod in approval in the stands. She made a motion with her hands and mouthed, "Keep going."
Caesar chuckled.
"Well, aren't you charming! Tell me, what else do you love?"
"Hmm..." I put a finger to my chin and pretended to be in deep thought. "I guess... My daddy, desserts, strawberries, and... how about knives? Especially the type that you throw."
This sent the audience into hysterics. However, anybody that knew me back home, or had even said a single word to me, would know that I was a little bit like this, but definitely not all the way like this.
"Oh, really? Knives?" Caesar questioned with an eyebrow raised and a small amused little smile. "I like knives, too! Except for I prefer the type of knives that you cut desserts with, and then give those desserts to your 'daddy.'"
I gave a fake giggle and a weak smile at his corny joke. He didn't notice, though.
"Maybe that would be a little safer..." I said, acting embarrassed. I felt phony. That wasn't a very fun feeling.
Caesar chuckled. Again. Either I was wrong about being a bad actress, or he was just pretending to not see through my act. I only needed to fool the audience, though, and these people from the Capitol were just plain idiots. They already believed me.
"So, Willow," he carried on. "Have you gotten attached with any of the other tributes during training, or made some friends?"
I froze. I had to say that Ian was my best friend. But if I didn't say that I was "attached" to Felix, then he would probably break off the alliance, which would definitely help me out. If I did say that I was attached to Felix (which I wasn't!), then he would probably get even more annoying.
I thought out my answer before I said anything.
"Yeah! I guess Felix and I are friends, I mean, he likes red velvet cake, too, which happens to be my favorite. I was friends with Ian before, but then—" The buzzer rang.
Caesar pouted.
"I wish I could ask you, but your time's up! Ladies and gentlemen, Willow Hawthorne!"
I received a standing ovation.
When I had returned to my seat, and Ian had gone up to his, I was blank for the first part. My mind wandered. Would I get sponsors? Would I win the games? Did Felix actually like red velvet cake?
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Caesar said, as if a fifty kilowatt lightbulb had gone off in his head. "What was Willow about to say before the buzzer so rudely interrupted her?" He gave a dramatic flip of his hair and glared at the buzzer as if it were an actual human being that needed to be scolded.
"Oh, that," Ian smirked mischievously. "Well, Willow can be a bit of a drama queen—" I pretended to take offense to this "—and she sort of flew off the handle when I told her that I didn't like red velvet cake."
Caesar looked terrified.
"How could you do such a thing? I demand you apologize to her right now!"
Ian turned around and he made a big show of apologizing to me until the buzzer rang.
"Well, that's all the time we have for Ian Evenlast, today, folks! What a catchy name!"
Effie was gushing about how perfect we were, how great of an actress I was, how we looked so cute together up on the stage, and how Felix's almost jealous expression was priceless.
"They were good," Katniss admitted grudgingly. "They're going to have sponsors, for sure."
Well, Katniss, you never know until the games start, do you...?
1. Yay! I'm finished! I'm so happy! Thank you to the reviewers out there who forced me to continue, which is pretty much all of you!
2. Haha, to any of you that read or watch Ouran, did you see the little references I unconsciously slipped into the chapter?
3. I deliberately made this chapter as long as I could without falling asleep, because it's 11:00 P.M. over here. Mostly because I haven't updated for around eight months. That, and I absolutely loved writing this! Willow, you're like a little ball of clay in my hands! Mwahaha!
4. SPOILER ALERT FOR THE REST OF THE STORY-ISH — Ok, so I'm sort of thinking about making Ian, Willow, and Felix into some sort of love triangle, sort of like a nightlock thing, but not exactly the same. You know, only one comes out on top? However, I don't know who that's gonna be. One of them has to die. I mean, IT'S THE HUNGER GAMES! ONLY ONE (or in Katniss' and Willow's case, only two survive) SURVIVES!
So, I'm thinking about having a vote, which will start once you finish reading the end of this footnote. You get to vote, via review or P.M., which "team" you're on; Team Felix, or Team Ian! Here are the rules:
— You must include, in the subject, who you want. For the actual message, please tell why. Nothing like, "Because they're cute together" is going to work.
— You may only vote once! I will keep track of your names!
— No anonymous reviews. Anonymous reviews will not be counted, because people can just make those up and vote twice.
— The winning team will be announced on the third to last chapter.
The reason the winning team will be announced on the third to last chapter is because I will be making alternate endings. Whoever gets more votes, I will write first. And, if I write a sequel (no promises, although I probably will), I will write about that person first.
Thank you very much for reading, and once again, although it's a bit new...
VOTE AND REVIEW!
