Chapter 9

The next morning, we go to breakfast early.

"Shadow," Enobaria says, "You've gotten into a habit of calling the volunteer tributes 'Careers'. You'd better not say that during your interview. Listen to Leda." I poke Shadow on the shoulder and give him a mock-serious nod. Yeah, listen to Leda! Enobaria talks about different strategies we can use for our interviews. Eventually, she remembers that we're using the fact that we're friends back home, but we're taken away to meet with our stylists before she can say another word.

It's time to find out what outfits we'll wear for our interviews.

"Leda!" exclaims Diana.

"Wait until you see what we have in store for you!" says Achilles.

"Oh my, you're going to just love your dress!" squeals Erato. My prep team almost repeats their routine for the tribute parade. Then, Diana does my makeup. She gives me a bit of silver eye shadow, among other things. Erato paints silver polish onto my nails. Achilles puts silver ribbons in my hair. I can see where this is going.

"Hello Leda!" says Perseus, after the prep team is done with me.

"Hi, Perseus." I say, "Um…Hi Frederick."

"I can't wait to show you your interview outfit!" he says, "Let me bring it out now."

Perseus has designed a wonderful dress for me! It's a light grey color, with a black pleated edge on the skirt and sleeves. It's covered with tiny silver gems, which shine like newly polished stone. I put it on and twirl around. Perseus positions a silver headpiece atop my head. As the final touch, he fastens my token around my neck.

"What do you think?" he asks.

"I love it!" I exclaim, "It's even better than being a living statue!"

"Now, go out there and make an impression!" he says. I nod.

"I will."

Caesar Flickerman wears red this year. His suit, hair, and even his eyebrows are a deep crimson color. It's a little scary, since he appears to be…bleeding. It's definitely intimidating some of the other tributes, too. We all sit in chairs in front of the stage. The boy from 1 sits next to me, and Shadow sits on the other side. He's wearing an outfit similar to mine, but in suit form, of course. He doesn't have a headpiece. I'm sure he's grateful. He looks over at me. I open my mouth to speak to him, but Caesar Flickerman starts his introduction, and the music drowns out my words.

The girl from District 1 goes up first. She laughs a lot and acts extremely cocky during her interview. She doesn't reveal her weapon of choice, but her smile suggests she's thinking: Ha! Too bad! You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out how I'm gonna win this!

The boy is a little awkward onstage. I'm surprised, since he seemed so confident in the elevator that day. He's still as serious as he was at the plant station, though.

"Introducing, Leda Cleary from District 2!" I make my way up onstage and sit in the chair.

"Hello, Leda!" says Caesar.

"Hello," I say back, though I'm looking into the audience nervously. Caesar immediately starts talking again, to avoid awkward silences.

"So, how's the Capitol been treating you?"

"Really well, I…like it here. The food is really good." I say.

"What about training? Learned any new skills?" he asks.

"Without a doubt," I say, starting to smile. "But it isn't likely I'll do well with a bow. I only managed to shoot one arrow properly, and it hit the wall next to the target. But don't worry," I direct this toward the audience, "I've found a weapon I can work with." I even wink. Who is this?

"So, Leda, what's life like in 2?" This is a new kind of question. Caesar hardly ever asks about the districts.

"Okay. Of course, it can't really compare to the Capitol, but there's no place like home, right? See, each town is named after a particular type of rock, since that's what's produced there. I live in Rhyolite 21. We have a rhyolite quarry, and it's the twenty first one in the district. There are 40, actually." The crowd talks amongst themselves. They obviously know next to nothing about the districts.

"Interesting," says Caesar, "Very interesting. Now, if it's okay with you, could you tell me something about the reaping? You were picked four times, and just this once, you…got nervous." I appreciate how he says "got nervous" instead of "freaked out". I blush bright red, and everyone can see it this time.

"Um…well…I guess, the thing about the reaping is that it's just…luck. I don't know yet if it's good luck or bad, just like I didn't know then. I mean, there's so much tough competition here. I guess, at the moment, I thought it was bad luck. And there also was the bad kind of luck that day because Shadow was called. He's only been called once, this year. And he's my best friend." A gasp comes from the crowd.

I continue, "But I shouldn't have made all that fuss. I mean, this is my fourth year picked as a tribute. It's my destiny to be here." I nod my head. I lied. It's because I applied for too much tesserae that I didn't need. But hey, do they really need to know everything?

"Shadow's your best friend?" Even Caesar sounds surprised, "Leda, I had no idea!"

I hesitate before saying, "Well, we'll help each other out in the Games. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses. We'll last longer if we're together. So don't count us out just yet!" Another audience directed statement. I'm getting good at this. Caesar seems satisfied, so he wishes me luck (the good kind, of course, which gets laughs from the audience) and bids me farewell.

Shadow is really good when he goes up for his interview. He talks about the wonders of the Capitol, with their fancy showers and extravagant outfits. He talks about the training center, and even the other tributes. When he's asked about me, he pauses.

"Well, she's my best friend. And she's right. We'll do better if we have each other. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, but at least we'll be allies. So, even though we're not Ca—I mean, volunteers, it doesn't mean we can't win this!" Shadow walks down after that, and takes a seat next to me. The girl from District 3 replaces him onstage.

"You'll get so many sponsor gifts you'll need an extra backpack!" I whisper.

"What about you? You were great!" Shadow says. I shake my head.

"It was terrifying! You put me to shame," I say. Shadow laughs. Suddenly, he stops.

"Hey, I've been wondering. Why were you picked four times?" he asks. I think quickly of something to tell him.

"The bad kind of luck, I'm guessing," I say with a little smile. Shadow smiles too, and we turn our attention back to the interviews. The girl from 3 is telling us all about her sword-fighting skills.

"I don't think that's a good move, telling everyone about your weapon like that." Shadow says.

"She's a volunteer. I think she'll be all right." I say. We continue watching. A couple of the interviews stand out. The girl from 4 is very formal, and sits stiffly in her chair. She talks about her experience on the ropes course, denying everything. I look over to the girl from 8, who looks ready to start shouting. The girl from 5 refuses to speak. The boy from her district is blind. I feel so sorry for him. He doesn't stand a chance if he can't see. He'll be marked as an easy target. He may even be the first one killed.

Shadow and I have another conversation as the girl from 7 does her interview.

"She's obviously been training her whole life." I point out.

"How do you know?" asks Shadow.

"For crying out loud, she's from District 7! How else would she know so much about fighting?" I exclaim, "Plus, Kiyo told us, remember?" He nods. It's strange, a Career from 7. And very rare. I wonder what she did to earn her 11 in training. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

The girl from 9 gives us a sample of her singing. She said it would be her "talent" after she becomes victor. How come if she's a genius, like Kiyo told us, she made such a foolish mistake? The audience will confused if you tell them all victors have to have a talent. It's just like saying something about "Career" tributes. And the Capitol will get just as angry. She must never pay attention to her mentor to miss something like that. Fortunately, Enobaria hadn't been careless enough to forget this detail. I begin to appreciate Shadow's good save. What would have happened to us in the arena if he hadn't stopped himself? In an hour or so, Bryony is up. She presents the same solemn, superior personality to the Capitol as she did to me. I don't have time wonder if it's only a strategy, though, because we have to leave.

It's strange how quickly time passes sometimes. I'm not very appreciative, though, because the time that's flying now just happens to be my last couple hours before going into the arena to be killed. I take off my interview dress and put on my nightclothes. I wash the makeup off my face and take the ribbons out of my hair. After that, I walk out into the hallway and meet Shadow at the kitchen table. Kiyo isn't there. Shadow looks worried.

"She probably had a job to do," I say.

"But she left a note last time, remember?" He stands up and starts walking through the hallway. I go in the other direction, peeking into both Enobaria's and Ida's rooms before I go back to the kitchen. Shadow comes back a moment later. He sits down at the table. I open the fridge and take out an apple.

"Want one?" I ask. He shakes his head. I sit down next to him and bite into the fruit.

"Where do you think she is?" Shadow asks.

"I don't know. Maybe she forgot to leave a note. Maybe she worked all day, and decided to take a rest instead of coming." I suggest.

"It's our last night here. Wouldn't she come and wish us luck before the Games?" I shrug and walk over to the trash bin to drop my apple core inside. I see something on the floor next to the bin. It's a crumpled piece of paper. I reach down to pick it up.

"What's that?" asks Shadow. My eyes widen as I read the familiar handwriting.

It's all right. Anyway, 13 exists. The citizens are all in hiding. They live underground. The only ones who know are 13 itself and the Capitol. Now you know too.

It's Kiyo's note. Someone found it.

"What have we done?" I say.