Katniss and I run to the window. Cameras don't lie, and we both saw how beautiful the Capitol was. There are lots of buildings in different colors, shiny cars, and people weirdly dressed with tons of make up on.

People point at us since they recognize our tribute train. I step back from the window but Katniss is still smiling and waving at them. She only stops when we are out of their sight. I just stare at her in disbelief.

"What? One of them might be our sponsor later on," says Katniss.

I think she has a plan forming in her head. She has already thought of sponsors, which means she really want to win. Katniss Everdeen, the girl who gave me the bread (and I have a bit of a crush on), is fighting hard to kill me.

They take us to the Remake Center after pulling over the station. When we arrive, they order us to take off all our clothes and give each of the tributes a robe. They made us lie down on a table for the preparations like scrubbing, hair removal and the kind.

I cringe as Venia, a woman with aqua hair and gold tattoos above her eyebrows, applied some ice-cold gel on my face. "Sorry!" she tells me in her Capitol accent. "This is for keeping your face clear and for removing facial hair." The gel is kind of soothing.

We wait for a few minutes then she shaves the areas of my face that are smeared with the gel. She washes it off for me. When I touch my face, it is baby-skin smooth. After shaving, Venia and Octavia, a plump woman who has pale pea green skin, scrubs my body with a gritty foam that removed dirt and cut my dirty nails off.

"You're doing great," says Flavius, a guy with orange hair and purple lips. "We can't stand a whiner, but you're not. Grease him down!"

Venia and Octavia remove my robe leaving me stark naked. They apply lotion on my body. It stung, but later on it's soothing. When they are finished, they take a step back and look at me from head to toe.

"Now you look like a human being!" says Flavius, and they laugh.

"Thank you. We don't really have to look nice back at home," I tell them with a smile.

"Of course, you don't! Poor darling," says Octavia, hands clasped.

"Don't worry, with Cinna, you'll have girls all over you!" says Venia.

"Yes! Now that you're all cleaned up, you don't look bad yourself!" says Flavius. "Let's call Cinna!"

They leave the room. They're nice people, after all. I know they're sincerely trying to help me.

The door opens and a young man walks in. He must be Cinna. He doesn't look like he's from the Capitol. He is only wearing a black shirt and pants. The only make up he has on are some metallic gold stuff on his eyes.

"Hello Peeta. I'm Cinna, your stylist," he says.

"Hello," I say.

"Can you give me a moment?" he asks me, and I nod in response.

He circles me, like what Haymitch did.

"I see you have toned muscles. How did you get them?" he asks me.

"I hunt and carry heavy stuff," I answer.

"They add to your assets. And your face, it's good," he tells me.

"You're new, right? I've never seen you before," I tell him.

"This is my first year."

"They gave you District 12."

"I asked for District 12. Go put your robe on and we'll talk."

I pull on my robe and we walk to a room. We sit facing each other and he presses a button on the side of the table. Our lunch appears in front of us. It must be awesome to live in a place where food will appear in front of you in just one push of a button.

"So, Peeta, my partner Portia, who is Katniss's stylist, decided that you two will have complementary costumes. As you know, your costumes should reflect your district's flavour and main industry," says Cinna.

"I'll be in a coal miner outfit, won't I?" I ask him.

"No. Portia and I think that's too overdone. We both agreed to make you two unforgettable," answers Cinna.

Naked, I think.

"This year, we're going to focus on the coal itself."

Naked and covered in coal dust, I think.

"And what do we do with coal? We burn it," says Cinna. "Aren't you afraid of fire, Peeta?" He sees my expression and grins.

I am now dressed in what will be the most sensational or deadliest costume in the opening ceremonies. It's a black unitard that covers me from ankle to neck. Leather boots that reach my knees. A cape with touches of yellow, orange, and red. A matching headpiece. Cinna told me he's gonna light them on fire just before our chariot rolls out to the street.

"This is just synthetic fire Portia and I came up with. You'll be safe so don't worry," says Cinna.

I only have a bit of make up on. They just put some of it so in front of the camera, I won't look pale or sickly. "I want the audience to recognize you in the arena," says Cinna dreamily. "Peeta, the boy who was on fire!"

I am relieved when Katniss shows up in the same outfit. She should know about fire; she's the baker's daughter. He stylist Portia and her team are with her and everyone except Cinna, who is kind of weary, are giddy about the splash we're gonna make.

The opening ceremonies are about to start and we are taken to the bottom level of the Remake Center. It is a huge stable. The tributes are loaded to the chariots with four horses each. Ours are coal black. Cinna and Portia lead us to our chariot, arrange our positions and drape our capes.

"What do you think about the fire?" I whisper to Katniss.

"I'll rip off your cape if you'll rip off mine," she says through gritted teeth.

"Deal," I say. "We both promised Haymitch that we'd never resist, but I don't think he meant this."

"Where's Haymitch anyway? Isn't he supposed to protect us?" says Katniss.

"He's flammable, with all that alcohol in him," I say and we both laugh, releasing all the nerves about the Games and the fact that we're gonna be human torches.

The opening music plays and the massive doors open, revealing the crowded streets. The parade will last for about 20 minutes. After the parade, we will be taken to the Training Center which will be our home before the Games.

The tributes of District 1 were the first ones out, followed by District 2, and so on. The chariot of District 11 is just out when Cinna set our capes on fire. I was waiting for the heat but there is just a ticklish feeling. He climbs up our chariot and lights our head dresses. "It works," sighs Cinna in relief. "Remember, heads high. Smiles. They're going to love you!" He jumps off our chariot and shouts something at us. The music was so loud we didn't hear him.

"What's he saying?" I ask Katniss. She never looked this gorgeous before. I think I also look different right now.

"I think he said we should hold hands," says Katniss. She grabs my left hand in her right, and we look back at Cinna. He nods and gives us a thumbs-up, and we enter the city.

The crowd's attention diverts at the sight of us. They begin cheering and shouting "District 12!" I am frozen at first but when I see us in a large screen, our faces illuminated by the firelight, I gained confidence. And, I didn't look pale, thanks to Cinna. We both looked attractive and recognizable, actually.

I hold my head up a bit higher, put my best smile on, and wave my free hand to the crowd. Katniss, on the other hand, is clutching my hand but is already working the crowd. The people are shouting our first names. I wave at one part of the audience and hear lots of women screaming my name. well, most of the ones at the side I wave at do. I give them smiles and they sigh dreamily.

When we are in the City Center, I realize how hard Katniss and I are clutching each other. I loosen my grip but she grips it again. "No, don't let go of me," she says. The firelight seemed to reflect in her grey eyes. "Please. I might fall."

"Okay," I say. I keep holding on. But I think it's unfair to present us in a team when in a few days, we'll be trying to kill each other. How can you kill someone who gave you hope?

The 12 chariots fill the loop of the City Circle. The windows of the buildings that surround us are filled with the Capitol's elite. We stop at President Snow's mansion and the music ends.

President Snow gives us the official welcome at a balcony above us. The cameras are cutting to the faces of the tributes during the entire speech. We get more time than the other tributes. When the anthem plays, they cut to our faces but they hold on a bit longer to me and Katniss as we parade for the last time before going to the Training Center.

The doors are just shut when our prep teams come over us. I glance around and I see the other tributes shooting us dirty looks. We've really outshone them all. Cinna and Portia help us down our chariot while removing our capes and head dresses. Portia extinguishes the flames with some kind of spray. I remove my grip from Katniss's hand and we massage our fingers.

"Thanks for holding me. I got a little shaky in there," says Katniss.

"No one noticed," I tell her.

"Their focus was on you, that's why. You should wear flames more often," she says. "They suit you." Then she gives me a sweet smile with a bit of shyness that it sent a warm rush all over me.

Don't let your little crush take over you, a voice in my head says. She's luring you in.

But because two can play this game, I lean in and kiss her on her cheek.