"Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain." - John F. Kennedy
Harlen Sparks – District Three
Dana and I are sat in the waiting room of the remake centre. Apparently our style team have had a 'small setback' that may take an hour or so to sort out. By the smell coming from the rooms, someone has incorrectly mixed an ammonia based compound. Amateurs. It frustrates me that thes Captolians earn so much money, yet the most intelligent person here probably has only half the IQ of the dumbest person in Three. Speaking of Dana, she's currently flipping through a Panem Weekly left out in the waiting room. It has the face of every tribute on it, including our own.
"What? That girl from Two looks so much like me! Except I'm far prettier." she exclaims. I peer over her shoulder. The girl does look a bit like her. I couldn't comment on who was prettier though. Dana carries on looking at the photos commenting every so often. Apparently the girl from Twelve has terrible hair, the boy from two is gorgeous and the girl from Eleven definitely has fake eyes. Fake eyes? What the hell is that woman going on about?
Dana is reknowned in Three. She isn't bothered about school or knowledge. She parties, although I've no idea who with, as I've never heard of anyone partying in my district. We are a hard working, tenacious people. She's also gorgeous. And knows it. No one ever talks about it, but Dana is more beautiful than any other girl in Three. Here in the Capitol though, with tributes from other districts, Dana is not so striking. It's clear this is worrying to her.
To be honest, looks-wise I'm hardly typical of Three either. I'm well-built, reasonably good-looking and I've seen the sun a few times. That's where the differences end. In personality I'm Three through and through. I love discovering how things work and my amibition is to be an inventor like my father. Sadly these games are a pretty big obstacle at the moment.
A couple of tributes walk through the door. Dana looks the girl up and down. She's cute, but Dana won't be threatened by her. She's very 'girl next door'.
"Is there a queue or something?" the boy asks.
"Ammonia emergency" I reply and both look confused. I forget, not everybody knows about chemicals and their purposes.
"I'm Harlen and this is Dana. We're from Three" I offer.
"Tobi" the boy replies "and this is Magenta. We're from Eight. Nice to meet you both"
We shake hands rather politely. Dana accosts Magenta to ask about clothes and fashion. District Eight make it all I think, so it can't hurt. I smile politely at Tobi. He's so small, can't be any older the twelve or thirteen. I think he has less of a chance than both me and Dana sadly.
Dana Ashbridge – District Three
This girl is so nice. She's answering all of my questions about trends and fashion at the moment. Apparently the Capitol seem to be ordering a lot of red at the moment. Skirts are short and flared. Tops are frilly and high necked. Parasols are also very popular. I want a parasol so much now.
"Are you nervous about the games?" I ask her.
"No. I don't usually fail. I'm sure this will be no different." she replies, still beaming. How confident. I wish I had that confidence. I really want to ally with her. Someone with this confidence would be very helpful within the games surely. I'm not ready to ask yet, though. I need to bide my time, make sure my instincts are right. Suddenly the door to the side opens.
"District Three? We're ready for you" a woman in a white coverall shouts.
"See you later" I wink at Magenta then Harlen and I step in.
We're separated by a flimsy curtain and ordered to strip off and lie on the blue couches. I'm so glad there are so many people around us or I'd be tempted to have a little peek at Harlen. Despite being a massive nerd, he is incredibly hot and I'd love to see his body. We'd probably have made a good couple. Our babies would be beautiful and bright.
The remake staff start waxing me. They go after every last hair and from the sounds of Harlen, they are doing exactly the same to him! I'm really enjoying this, though, it will be great to see the finished product. An even cuter version of myself. I'm then buffed, tanned and glossed. My hair is washed and trimmed. They even add bangs which is so cute.
I dress into a robe and am taken to meet my stylist. I am so excited about meeting this person. The person who will make me a superstar. I step into the stylists office. Stood there is a guy with long black and red streaked hair. He has piercings in various places across his face and is dressed head to toe in red PVC.
"Oh, wow!" I can't help but gasp. He looks amazing.
"Hello, Dana. My name is Dane. Weird huh?"
Dane moves towards me, looking me up and down, making notes in his little pocket book.
"I wasn't expecting you to look quite so striking. My usual type from your district look like they haven't seen the sunlight in their lives."
I smile proudly. I do look after myself and the work of the remake centre has highlighted this.
"You will be easy to dress to impress. I'm going to cover you in lime green. Lime green with tiny LED lighting throughout that will spell out E=mc2."
"Ahh, the mass-energy equivalence. Nice touch." He looks shocked that I understand what he is talking about. I'm not as stupid as people think. I just don't care about physics or electronics.
Virginia 'Ginny' Porter – District Nine
"Ginny. Ginny. Ginny." Ugh, he's still bothering me.
"Louis. Will you just stop it now? You're driving me insane. I've no idea what will happen in there. I don't really care. I think we should focus more on what will happen in the arena don't you?"
"I guess" He looks like a wounded puppy. Louis is so eager to please, so keen to befriend me. It's as though he thinks we're on a school trip, not heading to the arena of doom. All I can think about at this current time is Bruno. I'm hoping his mother isn't having one of her episodes. Bruno lives next door to me. Our fathers were both killed in a bush fire. Bruno's mother has being insane ever since. I guess I'm lucky. I don't have a mother to go insane. She left us years ago.
Louis is still bouncing on his seat. Trust this year to be the year all the staff are behind schedule. We've already seen a few other tributes during the wait. When we got here the pair from Eight were waiting. The girl spoke a little, but I didn't warm to her. There was something not quite right about the way she spoke. She kept refering to herself and speaking as though the world revolved around her. Like the Games had been created purely to serve a purpose that was for her. The boy is tiny, only 12 her told us. His grandparents had migrated to Panem during WWVII from the United States of Asia. He is massively precious of that culture and spoke fondly of the rituals that he is already missing.
When Eight went Ten had come in. They're an interesting pair. The girl is huge. And fierce. The guy is preened. And fierce. They bickered the entire wait, yet still managed to go in before Louis and I. I look up and see another couple step into the waiting room. The guy is handsome, with a shaved head and dark skin. The girl, however, is striking. Her eyes are a vivid emerald green and her brown hair flows over her shoulders. I can't help but stare.
Alexis Streak – District Eleven
Hmm, the girl sat down is staring at me. I can't understand why. Maybe she saw the reapings? It's not every day a girl volunteers at 13 years old, but Jacine needed me. She would never have survived these games and I'm not allowing the Capitol to entertain themselves watching a blind girl die needlessly. The boy sat in the waiting room smiles warmly at us. I get the feeling his district partner isn't the conversationalist as immediately he's introducing himself.
"Hey. I'm Louis. District 9. Who are you two?"
"Alexis" I smile
"Seb" my partner responds "Eleven"
"Oooh, Eleven. Or Alcatraz as we like to call you"
Seb grunts. We both know how we're seen outside of the District. The more influential districts hate us and we have to suffer because of it. Peacekeepers treat us brutally and the Dunois family are victims of this tyranny. They are the most prominent rebel family in Eleven. Seb is the third to have been reaped. It's almost expected to see a Dunois in the Games. Seb's cousin Faunas was reaped for the first games, declared his love for the girl from Three and destroyed any support that family have from the people of Eleven. We don't believe in cross district relationships.
I feel sorry for Seb. He wasn't involved in the rebellion and he's never been involved with an outsider. He shouldn't be punished like this. He's refusing to speak unless forced to. I just hope I can bring him out of his shell a little before the Games begin. I want to help him to win and give his family the life they deserve.
The pair from Nine are called into their remake room. It's just me and Seb alone.
"Are you nervous about going in there?" I ask
"No" he replies. He looks around as though trying to spot somebody. "Do you think Five have been through yet?"
"I've no idea" I reply. "Why?"
"No reason" and he's silent again.
Seb Dunois – District Eleven
Right now all I can think about is the message my cousin wants me to give to Evan. Evan stayed with her family when on the Victor's Tour. It's imperitive I communicate with her. Alexis is trying to make small talk with me, but I can't respond. I need to concentrate on the plan. I'm a Dunois. We don't bend over for the Capitol under any circumstances. I'll die to protect my cause.
Hester Goon – District Twelve
Apparently we're the last pair to get to the remake centre. Sebastian's sulky manner has been an absolute pleasure to witness for the duration of the journey. He's annoyed at being reaped, yes, we all are surely, but it's the luck of the draw. My name was in that bowl plenty too and I don't moan about it.
As we get there we see a couple of tributes going into their room. Our token mentor from District Two, Kyle, tells us there was an accident earlier with some hair dye. As a result the remake teams are all behind schedule. Well I'm from Twelve, I'm used to having to wait for things.
I doubt I'll win these Games. I'm not pretty, with my frizzy auburn hair and fuzzy eyebrows, I'm not charming either and I'm certainly not strong or agile. I'm just boring old Hester Goon, the foreman's daughter from the Seam. I go pretty much unnoticed on a day to day basis from school, to home where I clean and cook with my mother.
Sebastian's life isn't much different. His Dad works on the mine too. He often helps out down there. He's average looking, moody and puny. District Twelve will not be winning the Games this year rest assured. We're skinny, hungry destitutes who just enjoy the free food before we go in. I'm just waiting for the sympathetic looks when I tell the other tributes where I come from.
