Hear You Me - Jimmy Eat World.
"Secrets aren't secret. They're just hidden treasures, waiting to be exploited." - Stephen White.
Man, Haymitch looked good.
He was tall, at least 5'11, with curly dark hair and his grey seam eyes bright and dangerous. He held his head high as he work up on the stage, eyes narrowed.
If someone was to tell the teens that, that was Haymitch at the age of 16, they would have never believed it.
"Wow," Hope breathed. "That's Haymitch?"
"The only reason I believe it is cause it says so on the tape." Tessa said.
They watched as the four tributes walked off the stage and into the Justice Building, the screen then turned black.
"That's odd." said Hunter?"
"What?" Finnick asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That cut off pretty quick. Almost like they, whoever makes these tapes, was covering something up."
"Wouldn't surprise me," Tessa folded her arms, lying back against the love seat. "This is the Capitol. They are probably just trying to make themselves look good."
Then, the words, The Tribute Parade, came across the screen in fancy gold letters.
"Really?" Hope narrowed her eyes. "Are you telling me that they even had a parade. Just to show off the tributes like they are toys?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if the kids of the Capitol even got toys like it was Christmas." added Finnick.
They watched as both of District One's chariots pulled out. The four tributes were waving, smiling, even blowing kisses. It was obvious that they were a crowd favorite.
"They look... ugly." Tessa wrinkled her nose as she saw the full-out pink costumes. It was made of different fabrics, feathers, gems, jewels, everything that was glamorous was on those costumes.
"Why are they dressed like that?" Hope asked, though no one answered her.
They then started to hear announcers speak. They saw the same funny looking guy from the start of the tapes, and another odd-looking man with big blonde hair, high ached eyebrows and her was wearing an ugly gold and black suit.
'... And as you all know, the Tributes are to be dressed up in something that suggests their district's principal industry. As you can all tell, District One is manufacturing luxury items for the Capitol.'
"Ah. That's why they are dressed like that then," Tessa nodded her head. "The Capitol dresses ugly, so they have to wear ugly things too."
Finnick and Hunter chuckled, while Hope rolled her eyes.
'...And District Two, Masonry...'
'...I see! District Four, fishing. That's clover...'
'...District Seven, Lumber. I like that...'
'...District Eleven, Agriculture. Do you see that...'
"Oh. My. God." Finnick said. "They are so annoying! They should just shut up!"
"Wow," Hope smirked. "Someone's having a bad day already."
"It's morning actually." Hunter told them.
Hope, Finnick and Tessa all gave him an odd look.
"What?" Hunter looked taken back. "It's only like 5 in the morning."
"Right... Thanks Hunter." Hope said, slowly turning back to the screen.
The last two chariots pulled out. The teens watched as the young boy, whose name was Randy, and girl, Samara, wave nervously at the crowd and give a small smile.
Then, there was Haymitch and Maysilee.
Maysilee gave a sweet, million watt smile as she waved and, even blow a kiss or two at the crowd.
Haymitch, however, did pretty much the opposite. He didn't smile or wave. He just looked ahead, head held high and eyes narrowed, like he was glaring at someone. Or someones.
'And lastly, District 12, coal miners, in their... traditional outfits.'
"What's that suppose to mean?" Finnick narrowed his eyes.
"Think about it," Hunter started. "Our District is coal miners. That doesn't really give you different outfit ideas."
"But still," Finnick argued. "This is the Capitol we are talking about. I'm sure they can think of something!"
And Finnick was right. The outfits could have been better planned out.
They were wearing, what looked like it was supposed to be, a high fashion coal miners outfit. But it really wasn't.
All 24 chariots lined up in a semi-circle and the four teens listen as President Snow went on about the Dark Days and how the Hunger Games came to be. Again.
"God," Tessa groaned. "You know, we only just started watching these tapes and I already feel like I know the story of how the Hunger Games started inside and out."
"I know," Hope agreed. "How can those people listen to that story over and over again and never get tired of it?"
"Because the people of the Capitol get off by listen and watching these sick and twisted games." Finnick glared.
"If it wasn't true," Hunter said. "I would say that is really gross."
"I'll still say it even if it is true." Hope shivered.
All the chariots turned around and started to make their way back down the road as the screen faded out to black.
The Scores, came across the screen.
"Scores?" Tessa raised an eyebrow. "For what? How well they were dressed up?"
"Doubt it," said Hope.
"Besides, they all wouldn't get very high scores because they all looked ugly." Finnick pointed out.
"Nice Finn." Hunter rolled his eyes.
The same two announcers from the parade came on the screen, and Finnick let out a groan.
"Really? Them again? When will they go away?"
"What's your problem?" Hunter asked.
"I just don't like them!" Finnick sighed. "They are so annoying!"
"You do realize that we have to watch 5 more tapes right," Tessa pointed out. "And more than likely, they will be in them."
Finnick groaned again. "Please don't remind me."
Caesar and Claudius started off be making small talk and telling some jokes, that were suppose to be funny.
They then explained how each one of the tributes had to show the Gamemakers their 'strength'.
"Oh, so that's what their scored on." Hope said.
"Still stupid," Finnick mumbled, before saying louder. "What is the point of that anyways?"
"And what if you have no strength," added Hunter. "Then what?"
They then carried on the explain that they would flash a picture of the tributes on the screen, read out their name and District, then their score.
The four noticed that the tributes from District's 1, 2, and 4 all got scores in the eight-to-ten rage. Everyone else got around a five-to-seven.
It took a little while to get to the four District 12 tributes, seen as there was 44 other people to get through first.
Little Randy manged to get a six while Samara got a five.
Next, Haymitch's picture came up on the screen. What ever he did in front of those Gamemakers worked because he got an nine.
Lastly, Maysilee's picture came up on the screen. What ever she did, what ever she showed the Gamemakers. It got her a eight.
"Wow..." Hunter was left speechless.
"Pretty good scores." Finnick nodded his head.
"I wonder what they did..." Hope said.
"They're probably not allowed to say," said Tessa. "It would take to fun right out of the games if everyone knew each others strengths."
Once again, the screen faded to black, and this time, the words The Interview faded in.
"Interview?" Tessa said. "What next? A singing competition?"
"Wouldn't surprise me." Hope mumbled.
One by one, the tributes came onto the stage, all decked out head to toe. The girls wore beautiful, sparkling dresses, each one a different color to match to person who wore it. The boys wore suits that matched their fellow tributes dresses.
Half way through the interviews, Hope, Tessa, Hunter and Finnick knew what was going on.
"I hate this," Finnick crossed his arms over his chest. "Really. They dress them up, play with them and make them answer questions they probably don't want to answer, and in the end, 47 of them are going to be killed."
"At least we know who is going to make it out." Hope said.
"How does that help?" Tessa asked. "We still have to watch people get killed."
"Because we don't have to be on the edge of our seat the whole time hoping, whoever, wins," Hope explained. "We already know it's Haymitch."
"But what about the other three tributes from District 12?" asked Hunter. "What happens to them?"
Hope looked down. "I don't know."
"We'll find out soon," Finnick put his arm around Hope. "It's okay."
When they all looked up at the screen, the last tribute of District 11 had just finished.
'Now! Onto District 12! Please help me in welcome Miss 12-year-old Samara!' Caesar said to the crowd, who started to clap and cheer.
Samara walked onto the stage. She was dressed in a beautiful pink dress that went to her knees and her long blonde hair was in ringlets.
Caesar went on to ask her questions about her family and how she felt about being in the games. He then asked he how she was likely the Capitol and continued to make small talk with her.
She had a very good personality for a 12-year-old.
She talked about her family, told jokes about her brothers and said how much she loved them. She said she was a bit scarred to go in the arena, but it was okay because everything would be okay in the end. She told them she loved the Capitol and it was like nothing she had even seen before.
"She is so cute." Hope gave a small smile.
"Why would someone want to send a little girl like that into these horrible games?" Hunter asked.
Soon, Caesar was calling Randy onto the stage.
Thirteen year old Randy was dressed in a black suit that had some pink on it to match Samara's dress. His brown hair fell flat into his grey eyes as he walked over to the chairs and sat done.
Caesar asked pretty much the same questions to Randy as he did Samara. The only difference was, Randy and Caesar joked around a bit more.
'Only two more tributes left! Please welcome the lovely sixteen year old Maysilee Donner!'
Maysilee was stunning. She had on a long, flowy, shimmering white dress that went to the floor. Her long blonde hair was in loose curls and the make-up she had on made her blue eyes pop.
She walked over and sat down in the chair next to Caesar.
Maysilee was obviously a people person. She and Caesar told jokes back and forth. They made small talk and laughed until Caesar asked one question.
'Now, Maysilee. Tell me, there most be someone back home waiting for you.'
'Yes, my family of course.' She smiled as the crowd laughed.
'Well, yes.' Caesar laughed. 'But, I was talking about someone different.'
'Like who?'
'A beautiful girl like you most have someone back home for you.'
'Oh, no.' Maysilee shook her head. 'There is no boy back home.'
'Come on! We can keep a secret. Right?' Caesar turned to the crowd and smile as the all cheered.
Maysilee sighed and she opened her mouth. 'Well, there is-'
Right then, the buzzer right off, telling everyone that her time was over.
'Looks like we will have to finish this some other time.' Caesar stood up, pulling Maysilee up with him. 'Ladies and Gentlemen, Maysilee Donner of District 12!'
The crowd cheered and Maysilee walked off the stage.
"I wonder who it was." Tessa said.
"Who who was?" Finnick asked.
"The guy," she explained. "The guy that was waiting for Maysilee back home."
"Think we will ever find out?" asked Hunter.
"Maybe..." Hope said.
'Now. Our last interview of the night. Welcome Haymitch Abernathy of District 12!'
Haymitch walked onto the stage, in a black suit with white on it to match Maysilee's dress. His curly hair more tamed.
Haymitch and Caesar chanted with each other, making small talk. The whole time Haymitch kept up his tough guy act, or so the teens thought it was an act.
There was only a few minutes left when Caesar asked the last question of the night.
'So Haymitch, what do you think of the Games having twice as many tributes?'
Haymitch looked like he was thinking about this for a moment. Then at the very last second, he said,
'I didn't see much difference. It'll still be just as stupid.'
Finnick and Hunter ended up, pretty much, on the ground laughing at this.
"There he is!" Finnick laughed. "That's the Haymitch we all know and love."
"That was amazing!" Hunter also laughed.
"I can't believe he said that," Tessa said, smiling. "It was awesome."
Hope gave a smile and small laugh. She knew Haymitch couldn't keep his mouth shut for long.
As the Haymitch walked off the stage, the screen faded to black.
The words, The Arena, came across the screen, with Day One fading in at the bottom.
The happy mood that was in the room stopped.
This was it.
The killing was about to start.
This is what the Hunger Games really were about.
Hope sighed as she thought, Here we go.
Then, the countdown started.