To Feel Like a Complete and Utter Fool
Nyx Gemel, District 9
Nyx Gemel had beautiful silky black hair that fell to her hips. She didn't let just anyone play with her hair. Usually only her best friend Wren was allowed to touch it. Wren had long slender fingers that could braid anything with ease.
But now that she was in the Capitol, she really didn't have a choice in the matter.
Her prep team had every right to cut, brush and style Nyx's hair in any way that they felt fit.
Nyx was a silent complainer. She kept all her complaints to herself. She used to tell them to her older brother Dag, but he didn't really spend time with her anymore. Not now that he had Seth.
So even though the prep team was annoying the crap out of her, Nyx kept it to herself.
Much like the fact that she kept Seth's obsession with her a secret. She could never tell her brother about Seth. Especially because Dag held his best friend in such high esteem. Nyx didn't. Seth scared the living bejezies out of her. But for some reason, most of the other people believed in the outer shell that Seth wore.
Her prep team was getting her ready for her stylist. The chariot rides would be tonight. Nyx would have to stand next to Seth and pretend to have a semi-good relationship with him.
At least they would be in public with witnesses, so Seth wouldn't really be able to try anything. At least, she hoped he wouldn't. But she wouldn't put it past him.
Seth was a dangerous person. And for some reason, he had his sights set on her.
Nyx didn't understand why. She was just a child. She had a sad, depressing background. An orphan who lived with her grandmother and brother. She was an insomniac, afraid to voice her opinions, and very shy. There was nothing special about her.
Why couldn't Seth just leave her alone? That was all she wanted.
But she never got what she wanted. She knew that much. All Nyx wanted was her family back together again.
But that wasn't going to happen. Her parents were dead. Her father died when she was eight. It had been a terrible accident that she had witnessed. A wild horse, a frayed rope, a snake. He had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Trampled to death by a horse scared out of its wits by a snake.
Losing one parent had been difficult on Dag and Nyx. Their mother had never been the same after his death.
In fact, she had been so heartbroken, that four years later she committed suicide. Only a short note was left. And bam, Dag and Nyx were orphans.
"Her hair really is beautiful," one of her prep team said. Nyx agreed, it was the one part of her body that she truly loved. She was actually very vain about her hair. Constantly brushing it and running her fingers through the fine strands.
"I'm just going to trim it Nyx, although, I'd love to cut it all off and make a wig out of it, this would look gorgeous on me."
Nyx closed her eyes as the scissors reached her hair and clenched as she heard them snip.
Nyx hadn't had her hair cut in years. She hated getting it cut. Hated the sound of the scissors slicing through the strands. Hated seeing the gorgeous strands lying on the floor around her feet, knowing that she could never put it back.
"It's okay, you can open your eyes now."
Nyx opened her eyes to see a mirror in front of her, she let out a sigh of relief. Only a few inches had been chopped off. Last year, that poor girl from One, Ivexonna, had had most of her hair cut off. Nyx had lucked out.
She wondered how long her luck would last for though.
Melton Lockram, District 8
The door to the room slammed, causing Melton to jump about a mile.
"This one's very jumpy," his prep team observed.
"Just like the boy from last year, what was his name?"
"Torrence."
"Oh yes, he was a cutie, I was sad he died so early, I had money on him."
Melton listened as the prep team gossiped about previous tributes.
He had known Torrence, they had actually been pretty close. Not best friends, but friends. Melton had been very upset last year when Torrence had been chosen.
He hadn't shed a tear for Aria though. She had deserved that, the whole District knew that. No one had been sad when she died. Actually they had nightmares because she had come back as a ghost to torture Virus, and they figured that if she could do it once, she could do it again.
Melton wasn't too worried about Aria though. He hadn't known her personally, so she didn't have a vendetta against him. At least, that's what he hoped.
"Hey, that's a bad habit," one of his prep team said as she grabbed Melton's left hand and clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Biting your nails is really bad."
"We should put fake nails on him Helsie."
"That's a great idea Gemla," Helsie said, clapping her hands together in pleasure.
Melton yanked his hand back. He hated being touched. He had a phobia of germs. And with Capitol people, one could never be sure on what kind of germs they had on their hands.
He was constantly washing his hands. Afraid of the slightest parasite.
Melton had many phobias, he was almost certain that there was a duck watching him right now, at this very moment.
He put his hand up to his face and stuck a nail between his teeth. Just thinking about ducks made him nervous. His poor fingers took the brunt of his frustrations and nervousness.
"Stop that," Helsie scolded him. "You definitely need fake nails, that might stop you from biting them. You know you only have ten of them."
"Twenty," Melton said softly, turning red after realizing that he had spoken. That was extremely rare for him.
"Oh please tell me you don't bite your toenails too?"
Melton kept his mouth shut.
Helsie looked down, and saw the jagged nails on his feet. She glared at him.
"Have you ever put fake nails on toes?" Helsie asked Gemla. Gemla shook her head. "Well now's your chance."
Melton was not a girl. Not in the least bit. But right now, he felt like one. And he didn't like that feeling at all.
He didn't understand how girls could do it. Why would they want to torture themselves by standing in front of a mirror daily and put on blush, and scrub their pores clean. He was not a girl. And he didn't appreciate being treated like one.
Sabine Pierce, District 7
Sabine knew what it was like to go to bed hungry, to not have enough food on the table. She knew what it felt like to not have a jacket on, and when it rained, she got cold all the way down to the bones.
So standing naked in the room was nothing. It was standing naked in the room with three people plucking and prodding that was uncomfortable. And they weren't exactly people either. One of the ladies had a blue pigment on her skin, and a black tongue. The man was short and Sabine was almost positive he had a tail. And the third, she couldn't even tell if it was male or female. People in the Capitol were crazy.
"She's got tons of hair," the female said, "I think it grows as soon as we pluck it."
"So stop plucking it," Sabine shot at them. They glared at her. Sabine just shrugged innocently. That look always got her out of trouble when her adopted mom was angry at her.
Sabine had never been one to hold her tongue. It had gotten her in trouble a few times. Her tongue was what made her spend two days in a locked closet with no food.
Her life before being adopted hadn't been the best. But it had taught her survival skills. And she would need those skills for the Games. She could do it. She could win the Games, she knew that she could. She was smart enough, strong enough and fast enough. She just needed to keep her wits about her while in the arena. She couldn't let her guard down once. She had to always be one step ahead of the others. If she kept her head in the Games, then she might just go home to her foster sisters. They needed her, they looked up to her. And she wasn't going to abandon them without a fight.
She knew what it was like to be abandoned. Her birth mother had abandoned Sabine, and it wasn't a great feeling. Knowing that her own mom didn't want her. Last year, Sabine had gone against her adopted mother's wishes and had searched high and low for her real mother. Now she wished that she hadn't of done that. Because Stacia had been a real let down. Stacia was married with children, two boys, and neither kid knew that Sabine existed. They didn't know that they had a half sister. And Stacia didn't care that she had a daughter.
Sabine had been disappointed. But that was life. Stacia didn't want Sabine anymore, it was obvious. But Sabine had found a family that wanted her. Pheona and Miguel Trishwood was the family that loved her, the family that wanted her. In their eyes, she was their daughter. And that was good enough for Sabine. Sure, every now and then she longed for acceptance from her real mother, but she knew that was never going to happen. It was Stacia's loss, not Sabine's.
One got to choose their friends, not their family. But Sabine was lucky enough to choose both.
"I think she's ready for Luc," the female-or-maybe-male member of the prep team said.
Good, Sabine was ready for him. She had something to say to him.
When Luc De'n, her stylist, walked in, Sabine couldn't keep her mouth shut. She had been waiting for hours to talk to him.
She turned to face Luc, her eyes were hard and cold.
"Don't even think about putting me in a paper dress."
To feel like a complete and utter fool, one had to make a major mistake.
Trivia Question: Which two tributes wore the much despised paper dress?
Previous Trivia Answer: It was most definitely Trax who said "Shut up, or your neck and my hands are going to have a long conversation."
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~*Misty*~
