I awaken to see Pumice, Fava, and Tauria standing over me with big grins. Their painted faces and whacky hair scares me so much that I almost fall out of the bed, it makes them all giggle. They help me out of bed and rush me out of the room before I even have time to place on a pair of pants or shirt, so walking past Petro and her prep team in only my underwear makes the day start off in embarrassment. My prep team seems indifferent about the condition of my exposure though.

My prep team wastes no time getting to work. Fava snips at my hair with a small pair of scissors and then spikes it to the left side. Pumice applies makeup to my face. She keeps my natural tan colour as a base but then uses a cream to block out small blemishes or parts of uneven skin tone. My cheekbones are brought out with highlighter and my nose is sculpted using dark and light creams. They add small bits of black around my eyes and deepen the colour of my eyelashes. Tauria finishes with a thick bumpy liquid that whitens your teeth temporarily. She applies it to each tooth and within 5 minutes my teeth are blindingly white. They continue their talking as they do this all. Discussing parties and food as they work with ease. After two hours I am done.

I am whisked down the elevator to the backstage from where the interviews will take place. We take a small break in a room designated only for my prep team, stylist, and I. I'm not allowed to eat due to the whitening gel Tauria applies so I end up drinking water through a straw.

"Can we take a picture?" Fava asks.

Back in District 6 pictures are taken with a big bulky camera that needs a stand, the flash makes you see spots for a few seconds afterward. I only know this from the one and only family picture we had taken a year before Toben got Reaped for the Hunger Games. But the Capitol version is much more efficient. It is a small device that fits in the palm of your hand. There is a screen that gives you a clear and colourful view of what the picture will look like and with a click of a button the photo is captured in half a second with no flash.

I look at the photo taken by my prep team, the four of us are clear. I have to question if it is actually a picture and not a mirror. But that is not the only thing that I have trouble believing. It is me. In the photo, I look as if I belong in the Capitol, not District 6. I resemble nothing as I did before the Reaping. My eyebrows aren't bushy but instead sleek and groomed, my skin flawless, hair trimmed in a style that is only common in the Capitol, even my eyes look a more radiant green. I wonder if I will ever look like I did before all this. If I win I will constantly be pulled out for tours, interviews, mentoring and my prep team will be right there grooming me to look my best. I kinda miss the way I looked before all this.

Tigris enters with my interview clothes. She helps me get dressed into them. Light grey dress shirt with a pure black tie, a darker grey vest, and pants. My shoes are black as well. I'm surprised by how colourless and simple the outfit is since most of the tributes get dressed in bright and colourful suits and dresses for the interviews. But I don't think they were going for colour when they made this, they were going for desirability, the way we have decided to present me. I do look quite desirable. The colourless outfit makes my skin looks more alive and healthier, my eyes greener, and my smile more white. I am sexy, confident, and strong.

"Thank you," I look at my prep team.

"It was our pleasure," Pumice smiles.

I give them each a hug and they leave the room. That will be the final time I see them, they will have no hand in getting me ready for tomorrow.

"And thank you," I turn to Tigris.

She responds with her small bow of the head and purr.

"I'm serious, thank you," I tell her, "the clothes have been astounding."

She stands in front of me for a few moments, thinking about the words, but then steps forward and gives me a hug. It is quick but affectionate. Once she is done she gives my outfit a look over, makes any corrections that need her attention. After she sits on one of the chairs in the room well I pace back and forth, her cat eyes watching as I move.

I'm not nervous, not pacing in fear. This is what I have been waiting for since my name was called. The rest of the tributes excelled at fighting and survival but now it is talking, it is getting people to like you, that I know I can do.

Tigris stands and motions towards the door, her way of saying that it is time to line up for the interviews. I follow her to a long hall that leads to the stage, already most of the tributes are in a line but some, like me, just arrive and find their place. I find my place behind Petro and in front of Blaire. The girl who is at the top of my hitlist. Her puffy black hair has been sleeked back half way down her head, regaining its wild curls near the back. She wears a blood red dress that is ruffled near the bottom, I can't help but think how fitting it is for her to wear something that looks like blood when she is the front runner to win.

The stage is at the end of a long room within the Training Centre. Row after row of seats fill with Capitol citizens well the elevated seating area is filled with more lavish guests such as government officials, game makers, stylists. The stage is brightly lit with two chairs in the middle. I can just see my family on the couch tonight, their TV on right now waiting to see me. Mom will likely have made bread for everyone to nibble on well we watch. Clauria will have forced Michelle out of her room to also view the program. Markos will be in the city square, where there is a public viewing of the games and interviews, making sure that there is no commotion during the viewing but also keeping his eye on the screen for me.

Ceaser Flickerman steps onto the stage as the anthem plays, the crowd goes crazy over him, he is the biggest face in the Capitol. Every year his appearance changes in terms of colour. His hair, eyes, and suit colour take on a new shade every year for the Hunger Games. This year it is a deep shade of purple. He asks the audience how they are doing to which they respond with applause. He then cracks a few jokes which all receive a laugh, then he calls up the first tribute.

Amethyst takes the stage in a white and black dress that stops at her knees. Ceaser kisses her hand and she looks as if she is queen and this is a mandatory gesture everyone must do. Her angle I dominant, powerful, and superior. Her district partner, Dazzle, takes a friendlier approach. He laughs and jokes around with the audience and opens up about his life back in District 1.

The interviews only last a few minutes but Ceaser makes sure those minutes count. He is well timed on when he moves onto the next question so it doesn't seem rushed but not slow either and he helps the tributes how. Laughing at jokes, seeming intrigued on otherwise boring topics, and even flirts with some of the tributes. He is fun and it is hard not to enjoy watching him work the stage.

The male from District 3 pulls off a funny angle, he has the audience laughing the entire three minutes he is up on the stage and they have to take a moment to compose themselves before the next tribute is brought up. The male from District 4 is handsome as Volumnia and the others said. His strong features have only been brought out more by makeup, his eyes a bright aqua blue with light brown hair.

Petro is called up next and she bounces onto the stage in a light blue pouf dress. I think she expected something more mature and grand, but she is only 14 so they need to show off her age somehow.

"So are you ready for the games?" Ceaser asks.

"Yes," Petro says with a smile.

"Oh really? A girl your age," Ceaser questions.

"Well, I am intelligent. Other tributes will be using weapons to win the battles I will be using my brain. My parents are both doctors and I can already perform most surgeries so it will be a useful skill that I will utilize within the arena," Petro says.

It is obvious that they decide she should act smart for the interviews. But it isn't really an act, she is smart. They ask her a few medical questions which she answers with ease, this gets an applause from the audience. She then mentions that if she needs to fight that her medical training has given her an edge since she knows where to stab someone to kill them in one hit. After that, the buzzer rings and Ceaser is calling me to the stage.

I don't hesitate, I walk onto the stage, looking right at the crowds who applaud my entrance. I give them a smile, the way Caliper taught me, not to go to big but show off your teeth. Ceaser shakes my hand, we both sit, and the three minutes starts to count down.

"Look at you!" Ceaser says, "All that muscle, all that charm, how on Earth did you get a three?"

Of course, this is the first question that gets asked. My horrible training score. But I continue acting like it was on purpose, that it was all strategy like Johanna who won last year. "Well, the best things shouldn't be revealed too soon," I tell them.

"Ooh, sounds familiar," Ceaser taps his finger against his chin like he is thinking of who it could be. I chuckle at this, right on cue.

"So Remus, you have been in the Capitol for six days now, what do you think of it?" Ceaser asks.

Yes! Now I can turn this around into the direction I want the interview to go. Place Ceaser in a situation where he asks the same questions that Caliper did. "What isn't to love? It is such an intimate city. But I would say the people are the greatest quality." I turn to face the crowd, smiling again. "People of such beauty, such elegance, it's hard not want to know them in better ways."

"I am sure that we all want to learn more about you," Ceaser looks to the crowd, "Don't we!?" The crowd gives a cheer.

"What's there to know? Like you said all I am is muscle," I am sure to turn the attention to my bicep which I flex as Caliper told me to do, show off my physique, "and charm. The people of the Capitol, they are so fascinating that I want to know all of them and maybe find that special one."

"There is no one back home?" Ceaser asks as if knowing that I am lying.

"No. I just hope I can go in, win those games, and come back to impress a beautiful woman." Saying it hurts, physically and mentally. It's like someone just punched me in the gut causing pain to shoot through my body. My mind screams at me for having betrayed Markos who likely has not come to the realization that this is all just fake. Anyone from the Capitol believes whole-heartily that everything in the games is truth. I know Clauria is in the house disappointed in me for this lie.

"Oh! Do you hear that ladies? We have an eligible bachelor and even better, he could be a victor!" Ceaser smiles.

A few people scream "I love you" or else they giggle from their seats. All of them believing I am interested in them but I'm not. I'm only interested in Markos.

"So describe the perfect woman to us, who would you love to have as a wife OR lover?"

I sit, unable to answer the question, my mind is to preoccupied with a lie I thought would be so simple but wasn't. Just like the Reaping when I thought faking my emotions would be easy but I struggled with actually executing the idea. And this was the same. Believing I could lie to the entire nation in order to get sponsors but putting my love for one person on trial to do it.

"Remus?" Ceaser asks.

I'm taking too long to answer. I try to think of an answer but there is only one thing my brain can come up with to respond to the question. "I lied," I say in a mumble.

"Excuse me?" Ceaser asks.

"I lied," I say more clearly.

"Oh about what?" Ceaser gives a reassuring smile to the crowd.

"All of it...Well, I am muscular and charming, but about wanting to find the one, wanting to win and find a wife, about not having anyone back home...My heart already belongs to someone." I say.

I expect riots immediately after, to be pulled off the stage and beaten, least it is what I think I deserve. But instead, the audience replies in aww's and sympathy.

"You didn't need to lie," Ceaser laughs, "We can be trusted with your secrets. Can't we?" The crowd gives nods and claps. "So," Ceaser continues, "What's this lucky girls name?"

"Guy's name," I correct him, "Boyfriend."

"Sorry," Ceaser raises his hands, "Who is the lucky guy?"

"I can't say," I choke out, feeling a flood of emotion fill my body. I want to cry from being so far, smile for finally going public with it, run away from the prying eyes of Panem.

"And why not?" Ceaser presses for answers.

"Because our love is forbidden by law. He's a peacekeeper and I'm a citizen."

The entire room is silent. You can hear a pin drop from a mile away as everyone is captivated by this simple story. I can even spot a few in the front row who wipe away tears. I can't help but think how it isn't that moving, but I can't argue about it too much since I myself struggle to hold back my emotions right now.

"A peacekeeper? We might have to have him on the show well your in the arena!" Ceaser grins. The crowd goes ecstatic about this. Some chant for him to do it well others applaud the possibility. "A Capitol citizen, risking his life to serve Panem but fallen in love with a tribute of the games." Ceaser dances in the spot like a child, "I'm so excited! Such a story!"

The crowd has now all began to chant three words over and over and over again. "Bring him on, bring him on, bring him on," they demand to see Markos, to get both sides of this romance. But I refuse to give a name. If I do die in the arena he will be punished for his actions.

Ceaser has to take a few seconds to calm down the audience, but by then my time is almost up. "Remus Kirkwood," Ceaser says triumphantly as we stand, "from District 6!"

The crowd is deafening as I step off the stage. I can't help but feel how my telling of the truth improved my odds much more than acting desirable would have. Volumnia swoops in to collect me from backstage. Petro is by her side and looks less than pleased with my win during the interviews tonight. Caliper gives me a subtle thumbs up.

"Is it true? Do you love a peacekeeper?" Volumnia asks. I nod my head. "ah! The boy in forbidden love," Volumnia screams in excitement.

I turn my attention to the rest of the interviews. Already Blaire is half way through hers, seeming bloodthirsty and ruthless. Vicuna gushes over the Capitol's culture which wins the audience over. The two from District 10 are both really friendly, even occasionally talking about each other in a positive manner. Then finally the two from 12 whom are quiet and give mediocre answers.

I can't help but get off my high that I was the best one tonight. The audience roaring for more, demanding to see the mysterious peacekeeper who is in love with a tribute, craving more. I single handily outshone everyone. Maybe whatever sponsors I lost from getting my lousy three have come back upon hearing my story. Remus Kirkwood, the boy in forbidden love.