It's interview night, and tomorrow we'll be in the arena. I thought we had more time than this before the Games. When you watch them it seems like there's lots of time between the Reaping and the interviews. Maybe they changed the days. I start counting the nights on my fingers.
"What are you doing?" Pepper asks.
"Counting."
The girl from District 2's name is called, and she whisks out onto the stage. I think she was dressed as a piece of granite or something for the parade, sharp dress and high heels. Tonight, though, I've almost stepped on her skirt three times already- it's layered petals of black and white satin, sweeping out over the floor. The cameras all zoom in on her as she steps into the spotlight.
"Is that- spider silk?" Pepper wonders. I look up at the screens. District 2's hair is styled and netted with pearly threads that float out behind her when she moves. She's wearing a necklace that catches my eye, though.
"See the red hourglass on the necklace?"
"Black widow? Love to see if the spider motif turns out to be anything in the arena." District 2- Natasha- is doing an amazing job of talking up the interviewer. He's only been around for a few years- old Flickerman finally kicked the bucket a few weeks after the Eightieth. He looked exactly the same until the day he died.
Heron, the new interviewer, is trying to keep up the monochromatic motif, but it's spread to the suit, too. This year he's wearing all silver- silver glitter on his hair, silver eyeliner, silver and white jewels making up his suit. The boy from 2 isn't nearly as charming. I think he says something that makes the audience laugh, but I'm still trying to get a look at the spider-marked necklace on the girl. The interview clothes aren't always representative of the tributes' strengths, but I might be able to get some kind of clue about what to look out for.
Pepper goes up on stage. She didn't get a very high score in the training, but I wonder if that was intentional. White dress, gold jewelry. Too simple- but the design does stand out from jewels and silk and flashing lights.
"So, you didn't land the best score in training," Heron says. "What do you think your strengths will be in the arena?"
Shrugging, Pepper answers, "I wouldn't tell you that, would I?" Heron chuckles a bit, and so do some members of the audience. The buzzer goes off, and Pepper stands up. (She really does look good in that dress.)
"And now, we'll talk to the District Three tribute, one of the youngest in this year's Games-" Did he have to bring that up? I'm not even really one of the youngest- the twins are younger, and so is Darcy from 10 and maybe the boy from 9.
"Tony Stark!"
I didn't think the spotlights would be quite this bright- clearly my stylist did, though, since the gold highlights on my suit practically glow in the yellowed glare.
"Looking very sharp tonight- congratulations to your stylist!" Heron says, beaming. He waves at me to sit down. I keep standing up- it's only two minutes anyway, and I hate looking up at people. At least since Heron's sitting down, his eye level is the same as mine.
"Won't you have a seat?"
"No."
There's some gasps from the audience, but also some laughter. I don't think people like Heron very much. He keeps talking- something about my score being an eight. "What skillset do you think you'll bring to the Games?"
Saying, I can blow shit up might not make the best impression.
"An interesting one," I say.
"Not giving anything away, are you?" Heron sighs. Offstage, I see a couple tributes glaring at me. Guess they wanted to find out what I do, and I slammed the door right in their faces. Good. I sort of feel sorry for Heron, though.
"Blueberry?"
"Where did you get those?" he asks in confusion as I pull out and open a small box of the fruit.
"The thing you order from, obviously. Where'd you think they came from?" The buzzer goes off, but I can hear the audience laughing. That's good.
My interview- went all right. I haven't seen Bucky since last night, but Junia says he's got some good sponsors lined up for tomorrow. She's spent most of the night squealing about how amazing the girl from 2 looked, though. Apparently it's already started a fad of spider-silk hair. Honestly I thought 12 had the best costumes- the girl in a long red dress and something like a helmet to hold her hair back. The boy has hair so light it's almost grey- I hadn't noticed that before. Darcy complained the whole time about how her dress kept getting caught in her shoes. She seems like she's more deadly than she acts, though. She has an alliance with the girl from 7- Jane.
I can't sleep, obviously. I'm still worrying about whether or not I should join an alliance. The boy from 6 already asked me to join one, but I said I wasn't sure. I don't think I will- I couldn't watch people I'd been protecting die in the second arena. I'm out of bed when they come get me. I've been eating as much as I can, trying to fill up for the arena. I could probably survive a week, maybe two, without food.
I put down the bread I was eating, and they take me out to the roof. There's a hovercraft waiting, and the masked man next to me tells me to put my hands on the ladder. I wonder where Darcy is as my fingers suddenly freeze onto the links of the ladder, which begins to pull me up into the hovercraft.
The last thing I see before my head goes through the hatch is a hint of pink rising far to the east of the city.
Aaaand... Tony's POV takes up most of a chapter again. Tony, you really need to learn to share. Reviews? I think a few people are still reading this...