Again, I'm sorry it's taken so long. I will finish this eventually… When I get to drop Maths…
"So now that we're friends, Mags, I guess that makes us allies," Brandon is telling me. I shrug.
"I guess,"
His face falls. "Don't you want to be?"
Damn. Done it again. "Of course I do, I'll need you!" Oh god that was even worse.
He raises his eyebrows.
"I mean, I'll need your help. After all I'm pretty useless at everything." There, that's true. At least half true anyway. I've found that I do actually want his company after all.
"Well then, we need to talk to Martin again, find out what he learnt," Brandon concludes, and I nod.
Just then, Anna comes into the room, sees us, and quite literally screams. I stare at her, wondering, not for the first time, if everyone from the Capitol is just inherently insane. She runs up to us, tottering about on her little heels, her stupid hair bouncing as she moves, now in tight orange curls.
"Why haven't either of you changed yet?" She spits out at us, her dyed purple eyebrows almost forming a straight line as she glares at us. "You can't go making first impressions in, in, that," Again, she spits out the last word as she stares at us up and down. I'm about to scream at her for being so insensitive when Brandon starts speaking.
"I'm so sorry Anna, it's just, being from a District and all, it's hard to know what's expected," He says smoothly in this gliding, innocent voice. I glare at him but he focuses his brilliant green eyes on Anna, complete with this stupid puppy expression.
She visibly softens. "That's quite alright Brandon dear; after all you both must be very overwhelmed by all of this." She pauses for a moment, simply staring at him for far too long with a strange, strange look until we hear a cough behind us. Martin.
"Do you really need to start staring at them like that already? He hasen't even won yet for God's sake," Martin slurs together, but I notice something in his eye. Pain? Anger? Whatever it is, Anna drops her head and scuttles off, muttering something about manners as she does so.
"Staring at me like what?" Brandon asks, his face confused.
Martin rolls his eyes, but he has another look on his face, almost uncomfortable. "Never you mind now, like I said, you haven't won yet. Right now, you both have outfits waiting on your beds, so go get changed and look pretty,"
Brandon continues to stare. "What's the big secret?"
Martin says nothing.
Brandon steps forward again, his height means he gains a good four inches over Martin, and the effect works.
"What's the secret?" He says again, carefully, almost threatening.
"Brandon-" I try to interject, but he cuts me off with a wave of his hand.
"What are you trying to say, huh? That Capitol likes looking at pretty tributes? Why? What are you saying?" Brandon says quietly.
"If you're so fond of the girl over there, don't let her win," Martin replies equally quietly, and a look passes between them. Understanding.
"Brandon?" I say, my voice cracking slightly. He turns around, his eyes wild, broken, and then he is calm.
"I'm not like him," He tells me, a promise, and Martin looks away.
He walks back, and together we go through the corridor until we reach the doors to our rooms. I stop him just before he walks in.
"What did he mean?" I say, and I can't hide the panic in my voice anymore.
Brandon looks at me, and then without warning envelopes me into a hug.
"He means the Capitol won't leave us alone if we survive," He whispers in my ear, and I can feel my body tensing from fear as he drops his arms and we both walk into our rooms.
I feel like crying. I don't. I'm stronger than they are. I turn to my bed and am greeted with a dark blue silk dress, the exact colour of my eyes. A dark green sash hangs around the waist before it flares out, it doesn't have sleeves, just some see through fabric hanging down loosely that matches the sash. Quickly, I slip off my own clothes and pull on this new garment, revelling in just how soft it is. It skims over my body, making me look even slimmer than I already am, and looking in the mirror all I can do is stare. I look like me, but better. More ethereal, more beautiful. Superior. Like I know I will win. I smile slightly as I leave my room.
"Ouch!" I hiss as I leave the room only to trip over Brandon's foot and fall flat on my face. Great. I pull myself up with as much dignity as I can, ignoring the deep laughter from down the hall that can only be Martin, and Brandon's smirk before he brushes part of the hair from my face. I look at him once as we come into the main compartment, now flooded with light as we enter the station. Then I look at him again and I can't help my mouth falling open. They've dressed him to be the exact mirror of me, a dark blue suit and a dark green shirt. He nods as I understand, and without any consultation simply holds out his hand. A choice.
I take it just as the doors open and we are mobbed by cameras flashing into our faces, hundreds of screaming Capitol people yelling our names, trying to touch us, wave at us. It's hideous. I clench his hand harder as we are led into the passage that will take us to the Training Centre. I keep my head up high and smile into the cameras as much as I can, trying to fight the ongoing battle in my stomach.
"Five more steps," Brandon whispers through his teeth as he continues his own charade of smiling and waving at the multicoloured people, some of whom look more like animals than humans. He's right, and soon we are inside. Anna pops up beside us from nowhere, beckoning me to go with her and Brandon to go with some Capitol lady. His stylist. I realise again that I don't want to be alone in this place, but I keep my smile on and follow Anna to a smallish room with a pedestal in the centre, the walls lined with bottles and a plinth by the side. Then she leaves, patting me on my shoulder as she goes.
I'm alone.
Gingerly, I walk and sit down on the plinth, the paper sheets feeling strange against my skin. I twist my hands over and over, something I've done since I was a child when I got nervous and try to calm my breathing.
The door opens, revealing three Capitol people dressed in the same light blue uniform. Two are women, the other a man, but it's hard to tell. Each of them have different shades of hair, the shorter woman has bright pink skin with golden swirls and the taller one has a completely scaled face, her nose small.
"Sweetie we're your prep team," The man announces, his mouth opening to reveal teeth patterned with blue and green eyes. "I'm Atton, and these two are Camra" He points at the taller woman, "And Naria," He points at the smaller one.
I stare at them just as they stare at me, before the pink one, Naria, comes over to me, tugging at my dress. My face burns red but they are so un human I comply, and for the next hour am treated to at least twenty different treatments. I stare up at the ceiling throughout, ignoring them completely for what seems like hours before they finish, standing back to admire whatever they've done to me before handing me a paper gown which I put on in merely a few seconds, eager to hide from them.
The door opens, revealing someone who looks surprisingly normal, at least by Capitol standards. The woman looks about mind twenties, with short cut dark red hair and grey eyes. Her eyeshadow is gold, matching her blouse, while she also wears severely cut black trousers. She smiles at the prep team.
"She's wonderful, thank you." She smiles at me but still speaks to them as she finishes, "You can go for now,"
Mercifully, the prep team scuttle through a side door I hadn't noticed into what look like a huge clothes room, chattering to each other.
"I'm Lena," She says, holding out her hand.
I take it nervously, "Margaret,"
"Are you scared?" Lena asks me directly, looking straight at me.
A moment passes. I nod. "Who wouldn't be?"
"Well, that's a good thing." Lena smiles at me.
I stare, anger rising, all her good impressions gone.
"No, no!" Lena says suddenly, "You mustn't take it like that! I just need to know more about you,"
"And how does knowing I'm scared tell you anything?" I spit out.
"If you had said you weren't you would have been lying. Now I know that you're honest. I also know that you tend to believe you're the smartest person in a room. I know that you hate people seeing you vulnerable. I know you hate Capitol." Lena smiles yet again. "It's my job to pay attention, to show them who you are,"
"Somehow I don't think they'd want to know I hate them," I tell her sarcastically.
"No. Maybe not." Lena looks at me for a moment. "So right now I'm thinking innocent with a hint of rebellion. A strong spirit,"
She walks over to one of the walls and taps it once. Abruptly a panel folds in on itself, and a rack of clothes shoots out. She picks a dress of the rail and holds it up for me to see.
"Something like this. Perfect for a lovely chariot ride,"
It's beautiful.
"Thank you," I whisper, and she slides it of the hangar to give to me.
Okay, next chapter will bet the actual Chariot ride, training et, etc.