ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO SUZANNE COLLINS
Please enjoy this chapter, this is just the beginning of all the crazy stuff that`s going to happen!
The day of the reaping's came sooner than expected.
Obviously me and Gale`s name were chosen out of the glass bowl by Effie (who was wearing a yellow wig this year) so no one was surprised when Effie said with her bright voice, "Katniss Everdeen!" or "Gale Hawthorne." Afterwards Gale and me are immediately taken to the Tribute Train, which takes us to the Capitol. In most of the train ride Gale and I just eat and don`t say much. The only long conversation we had was about President Snow.
"His beard`s getting whiter," Gale said.
"His beard`s always been white," I said.
"Maybe he dyes it."
"I don`t think so." And that`s pretty much our conversation.
It`s not until Haymitch shakes our shoulders that Gale and I wake up and realize we`re finally at the Capitol.
"How long has it been?" I ask.
"The ride? Twenty five hours."
"No, I mean…" I rub my eyes, "how long have we been asleep?"
"How should I know?" I stand up and Gale does so too.
"Alright kids, welcome back to the Capitol," Haymitch says as we step outside the train.
Just like last year`s Hunger Games Gale and I are taken to the remake center as fast as possible to get readied for the Opening Ceremonies. When the familiar faces of Venia, Flavius, and Octavia see me at the remake center they hug me all at the same time and squeeze me really tight.
"Katniss, the girl on fire! We missed you."
"Have you been washing your hair every week like we told you to?"
"Katniss, have you been going back to biting your nails? I told you not to do that!" All of these voices are talking at the same time that I don`t know who said what. After they`re all done talking they immediately get to work on me. They first shave my legs and wax my armpit hair, removing all the unnecessary hairs on my body first. I forgot how much all of this really hurt. Then, they put gloss all over my naked body and I feel slippery. After that, they pluck my eyebrows (which really hurts!) and on half of my face they put black glitter but on the other half they don`t. On the half of my face with the black glitter they put me some black eye shadow and eyeliner as well as black lipstick on half of my lips. Then, on the other half of my face (the one that doesn`t have black glitter) they apply pink eye shadow on my eyelids and pink lipstick on the other half of my lips. Finally, they wash and blow-dry my hair, adding some pink highlights to it and make me a side bun hairstyle, without any hair popping out at any place. When Venia, Flavius, and Octavia are done with my basic alterations they tell me to wait in an empty room for Cinna and I do. I only have a towel wrapped around me and I really want to look myself in the mirror. How did I look? was the only thing I kept on thinking. When Cinna finally came in the room I literally threw myself at him and he wrapped his arms around me as a response. I noticed he had something in his hands when I broke the hug and I knew what it was.
"It`s my outfit for the Opening Ceremonies, right?"
"Yes," he says and pulls down the zipper of the dress cover he is holding with a hanger.
The outfit is weird looking. Half of it is like a black elastic suit and the other half is a simple mid thigh pink dress with pearls around the stomach and it`s a dress that will show my bare shoulders.
"I`m not sure how I`ll get in this outfit," I say after a while of analyzing the outfit. This was the most weirdest outfit Cinna has ever made yet…and he`s not one to make those mistakes.
"Do you know why I`m making you wear this outfit?" Cinna asks.
I shake my head honestly, "not really."
"Have you ever heard that if you put enough pressure on a coal it turns into pearls?"
"Well, I`ve heard of it but I haven`t seen it."
"I was inspired by that to make your outfit." Then I understood. Half of me was supposed to represent coal and the other half was supposed to represent a pearl because coal turned into pearl if enough pressure was put on it…I saw what Cinna did there.
"Do you think the audience will understand?"
"Some will, some won`t…most will just be confused and that`s a good thing because confusions leads to curiosity since people will want to know what`s going on and curiosity means something seems interesting to someone."
"Well," I finally say, "it`s something new."
"That`s what I was going for," Cinna says with a smile.
Cinna helps me get into the outfit and it`s hard. I put my feet in first (on at a time) and then Cinna pulls the outfit up to cover my body. He straightens the dress and the black suit then looks up at my face.
"They did a great job with your makeup," Cinna comments.
"I haven`t looked at myself in the mirror yet," I say.
"Before I let you look in the mirror, let me show you your shoes," Cinna leaves the room and quickly comes back with a shoebox. "Here they are," he opens it and inside there are two different shoes: a black leather high heel and a pink high heel with a bow.
"They`re beautiful," I finally say, "Did you design them?"
"Designed, yes. Made, no." Cinna helps me put on the black leather high heel on my left feet and the pink high heel with a bow on my right feet.
I felt weird since one high heel was shorter than the other so Cinna made me walk around many times to get used to it and make sure I didn`t fall down. When he saw that I could walk fine in them he said, "good."
"How do I look?" I tell him.
"Amazing, this outfit really represents where you come from but at the same time it shows that someone as fierce as you can be beautiful."
Now, I really want to look at myself, "thank you."
And as if Cinna reads my mind he reopens the shoebox and takes out a mirror. He hands it to me and I look at myself. I can now see what Cinna meant. Half of my face is covered with black glitter, representing the dirt from working with coal, the other half of my face is shiny clean and glossy with pink eye shadow on my right eye lid and pink lip stick on half of my lips, pearl. The other half of my face is representing a pearl. Pearls are supposed to be beautiful and expensive. Half of my face is supposed to be representing beauty and richness all at the same time and it is. It`s true, they did a great job with my makeup.
"Wow," I say and put the mirror down, "I love it." I wonder how does Gale`s outfit look.
"I`m glad," he says and takes the mirror. "Are you ready for the Opening Ceremonies?"
Thank you for reading and stay tuned for the Opening Ceremonies!