Chapter Four- Pre-Game Games
This morning is my first training session, and I won't lie: I'm scared. When Quarter tells me to wake up, I do with a feeling that I had only slept a couple of hours.
I get in the shower and the hot water is so welcoming I almost fall asleep. Once I realized what happened, I quickly finish and get out of the shower. My hair is dried, and I put my straight hair into a ponytail. The outfit that is laid out for me is simple: tight, black pants, a dark purple sweater, and tall black boots. They're shorter than the pair from last night, though. These ones only go up to my mid-calf and have about a three inch heel. I suddenly realize why they're making me wear heels. I'm a short girl, I really am. And what person wants to sponsor a short, 17 year old girl? No one. So they're making me tall.
After I get dressed, I go to the dining room where I'm greeted by Jared, Quarter, and Mr. Abernathy.
"Here!" Quarter exclaims, passing me a plate with toast, bacon, and eggs, "Eat up! Today's your first training day!" I reluctantly nibble on toast, and Quarter continues to talk, "I was just asking Jared what special skills he had. Do you have any, Madigan?"
I have to think about this one… special skills? "Umm…" I reply, still thinking… Nothing comes to mind, so I say probably the most unskillful thing in the world, "I can wash clothes."
Mr. Abernathy laughs and then says, "She can wash someone to death!" And that's when I realize something. He's just like everybody else. Sure, he's a drunk, but don't we all have a flaw? Or lack thereof, considering I can't even think of a way I could kill someone. And hey, maybe drinking makes him who he is: Haymitch. Haymitch is a witty, funny, sometimes inappropriate, drunk man.
"Well, a clean corpse is a happy corpse!" I skillfully respond, and then Haymitch and I double over in laughter until Quarter silences us with a cough.
"I'm sorry, Madigan, but I don't think washing clothes will get you anywhere in the arena." She replies with a 'shame on you' face.
"Then I got nothing," and with that, we start laughing again. I don't even know why this is so funny. I find my death amusing. Now that's messed up. I guess it's better than the other option, which is to be scared. And who can blame me, anyways? I am going to die; they can't say anything to me!
Quarter apparently has had enough of our shenanigans, and clears out her throat, "Well, now that I see we're done here, Jared and Madigan, you two will meet me at the elevator in about ten minutes okay? Get tidied up, you two. And Jared, do something with your hair." I then look over at Jared who put his hand on top of his head. When he puts his hand down, I can't help but stifle a giggle. The driers probably did something weird to his hair, and now he has one giant curl on the top of his head. I then get up and proceed to my room, Jared flies past me and I smack his head playfully as he runs by.
I brush my teeth and redo my ponytail, which I now realized sucked. Then I look at myself in the mirror until it is time to go. Once again, everyone is waiting on me. Quarter pushes us into the elevator and as the doors are closing, I can hear Haymitch telling us to have fun in a very sarcastic voice.
The elevator takes us down, until we stop at the floor labeled 3. The tributes from District 3 and their escort shuffles in. I smile at them and the girl tries to smile back, but she looks so scared. They both do. The boy looks older and lankier, but they're both extremely thin and wear glasses.
When we get to the training rooms, someone pins a number 12 to my back and I flinch when it accidently stabs me in the back, "Oops!" The woman apologizes, "I'm sorry, Ms. Forrester!"
Jared and I get off the elevator while Quarter stays on and tells us she'll see us later.
I look around, and suddenly, I have the urge to laugh. I put my face in my sleeve and pretend I have a cough. We all look so ridiculous! You could slice the tension in this room with a butter knife! The Careers are giving every one death stares, and the children from the other districts do whatever they can not to look at them. The room is also divided: Careers on one side, everyone else on the other. Not wanting to break the status quo, I guide Jared over to the 'everyone else' side. Jared looks like he's about to vomit, and I tell myself I'll stay with him for the rest of the day. He's too young to be scared. And plus, the odds are, I won't have to kill him. So that's good.
A very strong (and handsome, if I do say so myself) looking man tells us to all gather around, but the only people that seemed to move were the Careers and myself. Feeling the Career's gaze at me, I slowly inch my way back to Jared. Abe tells us the rules for today and the next two days. They're pretty simple, no getting into fights with other tributes (Darn, I really thought I could take that boy from District 2…), we can go to whatever station we want to learn new things or to better things we already know, things like that.
After he releases us, everybody disperses. I start to walk to a snare station, until I notice that Jared still hasn't moved an inch. I go back to him, "Hey," I say, "Do you want to learn how to make snares?" He nods, and then he follows me to the station.
Surprisingly, he's much better at this than I am. He has more delicate fingers, more patience. I, on the other hand, just want it to be over with as soon as possible, leaving mine to be sloppier and less accurate.
We sit by each other at lunch, but none of us says anything. After lunch, though, we try the fire station. This, I am good at. I flew by the matches phase and when I did, it looked like the whole table caught on fire! Using flint took me a little bit longer, but I eventually got it. Then it was time to go back to our floors.
I waited until all of the Careers were gone to get on an elevator. Who knows what would happen if we were stuck with them. I probably would have had a laughing fit, and Jared would have thrown up all over them. Not a pretty sight.
When the elevator opens, Quarter and Haymitch are waiting for us. "So," Quarter's high pitched voice fills my ears as she gets up from the couch, "How'd it go? Did you learn anything?"
Jared still looks dumb-founded and I tell Quarter I need to take a shower before dinner. "Madigan!" She exclaims, but my door is already closed.
Once again, the warm water sooths my body. I could get used to this. I stay in for quite some time, but then I wonder if anybody else's hot water is affected, and consider getting out. Then I remember this is the Capitol and continue to let the shower rain on my skin.
I finally get out and dry up. I put on the same clothes, except I let my hair stay down and natural. I try something new by parting it to the side. Maralah told me that when she was doing my hair she gave me side bangs, so it would frame my face nicer. I don't really see a difference, but it still looks all right. I can't tuck all of my hair behind my ear anymore, but hey, that's the price of beauty.
"Dinner!" Quarter exclaims as she knocks on my door. I go to the dining room, and Quarter still wants to know what went down in the training room. "What stations did you go to? Jared, dear, are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out. Madigan, please stop laughing unless you're going to tell us what is so amusing. Haymitch, put that glass down." Of course, no one answers her, but I have the feeling as long as you let her talk, she'll get her kicks.
The next two days are the same, except with new stations. Jared and I kind of learn how to throw knives, but neither of us have the greatest aim. I heard the girl from District 1 laugh at us, and I was tempted to throw the knife in my hand at her, but I have to follow the rules. And plus, I'd probably miss… We then went to archery, which was just about as good as the knives. I was better at it, though. I had better aim there.
The only thing that mainly changed was that Jared and I started talking. As we were talking, I couldn't help but notice the resemblance between him and Avery. And thinking of Avery makes me think of Jesse and Ryan and how they're so small and can't afford to lose another mother figure. And thinking of that makes me think of Abercrombie and how I hope I taught him enough to raise a family. And thinking of all this makes me want to laugh all over again, but I don't.
On our last day, the Gamemakers have to judge us. I, being the District 12 girl, get to go last. Jared's telling me a story about his first day of school, and I'm pretending to listen, but I'm actually thinking of what to do. Then they call Jared in. I wish him good luck and ruffle his hair. I hope he makes a snare for them, that's what he was the best at. He comes out wearing his usual frightened appearance.
Then it's my turn. Walking in, I see the Gamemakers don't even acknowledge me. I'm going to need something to catch their attention. Fire. I go over to the station and get everything I need. I get leaves, logs, and then flint. From what I remember, it makes a bigger fire. I place everything down in the middle of the room, and then I start to rub the flint together and then boom! A fire is born!
That definitely gets their attention and their all staring at my fire. After a couple of seconds, one of them thanks me and then dismisses me. I get on the elevator alone and go back up to my floor. Once again, Quarter wants to be in the middle of it all and asks me what I did. After I tell her, she seems pleased and then continues to ask me to take a shower because I smell like ash.
I happily do so, and then we watch the scores. Careers get high ones, naturally. Jared ends up with a five and I give him a celebratory slap on the back and then I'm pleased when I manage to scrape up a seven. Haymitch and Quarter congratulate us and then tell us to get some sleep. Tomorrow is interview day!
I wake up before Quarter has to tell me and I'm actually excited! The interviews were always my favorite part of the Games. The girls always look so glamorous, it's almost like having one last day of being beautiful before we're forced to be barbaric.
At breakfast, we are joined with Jaxith and Fennella. They're talking about how excited they are for tonight and how Jaxith has the most 'perfect dress for me.' And for some strange reason, I get even more excited.
After breakfast, Jaxith told me that after lunch, my team would come and fix me up for tonight. So, I have a couple of hours to myself, which now feels like an excellent treat. I consider taking a nap, but I'm just so pumped up! So I go out in the hallway, and find a door that has an arrow going up. Wondering where it leads, I open it and find stairs. I walk up, and find an amazing view. The Capitol looks just as beautiful with the sun shining down on it. The lights are still awesomely colorful, and laughter from the people is louder.
Then I see Haymitch leaning on the railing. He must've heard the door slam shut, because he turned around, "Hey, kid," he says and I walk over to him.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I respond, "I didn't know…" He shakes his head and motions me over. When I get there, he points down at the streets where a girl with pink hair and a red tube looking dress is fighting with a boy with electric blue hair wearing a skirt (is he really wearing a skirt?). The girl pushes the boy and the boy exclaims in annoyance. Then I think he insults her dress, because she screams, "It's fabulous!" and runs away.
Haymitch and I start to laugh, but then I notice a clock on the top of a building. I notice that it's lunch time. I comment on this, and then he leads me downstairs.
After lunch it's officially "Get Madigan Sexy Time!" Once again, Knox and Maralah work on my hair while Clemence works on my makeup. From what I can tell, she's putting lavender colored eye shadow on. I notice that Knox has extensions in his hands. Some of it's black like my hair, but then other strands are brown. I wonder what they're doing to my hair, and then Clemence starts to paint my nails a soft purple color. After my nails are dry, Jaxith comes in with my dress and shoes.
The dress is absolutely beautiful. The color is a soft lavender and it's strapless. The part that covers my breasts has little, pretty flowers on it. Then there is ruching down my hips. Then on the right side, the silk fabric stops and then purple lace-like fabric shows. The silk goes down in a diagonal line, so the lace gradually gets shorter and shorter.
The heels are tall (just as tall as my boots the first night) and silver. Clemence zips up the skirt while Maralah puts on my heels. Then I am finally allowed to look in the mirror. I don't see myself sexy, though. I look beautiful. Stunning. My hair is piled into a huge bun on the top of my head, and I swear it's just as big as my noggin, but it looks spectacular. The brown extensions look amazing with my natural black hair. My eyes look similar with the swirled eyeliner, but tonight it looks more innocent and dazzling. As a finishing touch, Clemence puts a beautiful, silver flower on the side of my bun.
"Beautiful," Jaxith comments and I can't disagree. "Are you ready?" He asks and takes me out to the elevator. Unlike the opening ceremonies, Jaxith and I are the last ones there. I get smiles from everyone, and I can't help but to smile back at them.
We then get in the elevator and go to meet the famous Caesar Flickerman! I'm up and excited for the first 4 districts, but then I kind of get bored. The mermaid girl is trying a new look too. I can practically see her nipples!
Soon enough, it's my turn! "Now welcome District 12's Madigan Forrester!" I hear Caesar's welcoming voice and then I walk out and wave. I even hear someone whistle!
"Hi, Caesar!" I say.
"Madigan! You are looking amazing tonight! Absolutely fabulous!" I then do a twirl for him without him asking and the crowd goes wild!
"Now, do you have a special someone at home?" He asks me, and now I know I'm in. He only asks the pretty people that question!
"Surprisingly, no," I truthfully respond. Caesar puts on a shocked face.
"Well I'm sure now all of the boys are falling head over heels for you!" The crowd laughs again.
"Oh and I won't be complaining about that!" I say like a giddy little girl. Caesar then asks me serious questions, about my strategy for the games. I babble on those questions, because honestly, I have no idea. I somehow turn around the question to my dress, or my hair. The crowd doesn't seem to mind, so that's my strategy for the interview. Then my time is up and Caesar tells me good bye.
After Jared's interview we go back up to our floor and we're told to go asleep. I can't, though. This day can't end… it just can't. I look at myself in the mirror. I don't want to take off my dress, I don't want to take out my hair, I don't want to clean off my makeup. I can't stay in my room anymore, so I go out near the television and sit on a couch, dress and all. The only thing I take off is my shoes, because they hurt my feet and I don't want to remember today as the day me feet hurt.
It's raining outside now, so I stare at the rain. "Hey, kid," I hear a familiar voice. I turn around and see Haymitch. He sits down on the opposite side of the couch I'm sitting on.
"Hey, yourself," I say.
"You did great tonight, you know," He compliments me, and I smile in thanks. "You look really pretty, too."
"Thank you," I say, and for the first time since I've been here, I feel like crying. I grab a pillow and hug it. "Do you want to know a secret?" I ask him, and he looks up at me. "I'm not scared. I know I should be, and I want to be, because maybe then I'd show some kind of emotion, but… I'm not… I know I'm going to be leaving my family, and friends and… I just don't know why…"
He then continues to stand up, and I think he's about to walk away, but then he reaches his hand out to me. I grab his hand and he pulls me up. He turns on something and soft music started playing. "It's called a radio," he says.
Then he grabs my hips and holds me close. Without my shoes, I notice that I am literally a whole head shorter than him. He places my hands around his neck, and I stand on my tippy toes. His hands find their way to my hips again. "What's this?" I ask.
"A girl as dressed up as pretty as you deserves a last dance," He replies and I wonder if he's drunk. My eyes fill up with tears, even though I tell them not to, and I feel a couple roll down my cheek. I then put my head on his shoulder and I continue to cry.
Haymitch puts one of his hands on the back of my head and rubs it sympathetically. I then lift my head up and look at him in the eyes. He then gently holds my face and then pulls it close to his. Our lips touch, and I wonder what the hell is going on. I don't stop, though. I let him touch my face, and I touch his as well. Then I stop… I shouldn't be doing this.
"I…" I begin to say something, but then I stop. I slowly take my hands away from his face, and he does the same to me. He looks utterly confused, and I'm sure I don't look any better. I bet I look confused and have makeup streaking down my face. The last thing that was holding us together was one of his hands on my hips, and it lingered there for a little until he finally let go.
"Madi…" He begins to say my name, but I run away before he has the chance to say anything else. I don't even bother to take off my dress or my now-gross makeup before I pass out on my bed. The last thought going in my brain, is that I'm going to die tomorrow. Literally.
A/N: SMOOCH! Hehehehe… This was a longer chapter, and I was going to split it in two, but I was just so stoked! And they were both too short on their own… but, whatever!