My prep team engulfs me as soon as my eyes are open. I barely got any sleep last night, and when I did, I was trapped in the twisted nightmares of my mind. No one came for me last night and after much thought, I convinced myself no one will. I need to trust that Billee won't tell, and I guess we weren't being monitored.
"What are we going to do about these dark circles?" Talmadge complains.
"Forget the dark circles, look at her hands! She's bitten her nails to stubs!" the silver-haired girl says. I make a mental note to learn their names later. I know Talmadge, but the other two's names have slipped my mind. A plump, lilac colored woman who has kept quiet the entire time starts stenciling silver designs on my body, starting on my neck and trailing down over my shoulder and to my ribs. It gives the impression that I am staring to transform into a new creature. Talmadge erases the circles from under my eyes, perfecting the makeup on my face. My lips are coated in a layer of light pink lipstick. My eyelashes are so long and full they make my eyes look bigger, and Talmadge puts little diamonds that trail from the corner of my left eye into a twisted design on my left temple. Talmadge informs me that the lilac colored woman is named, ironically, Lilac, and the silver haired girl is named Amya. Amya works on my nails, putting on long, squared fake ones painted in a shimmery silver. Lilac works on my hair, curling it and fastening my bangs in a twist with a silver clip.
Lazaro comes in holding a bag which I assume contains my dress. He tells me to close my eyes and when I do, he drapes the dress around my body and adjusts some parts on it. I step into a pair of shoes that are only, what I estimate, an inch tall. I can feel that the dress only goes over one shoulder and that it falls to the floor. It's light, so I assume no major embellishments are on it. After they finish adjusting and fixating it to me, they instruct me to open my eyes. In the full length mirror, I can see my beautiful dress. It's a white dress and the shoulder strap and collar is lined in a sparkly grey color. The design on it is a matching sparkly grey that starts on the shoulder and branches out in millions of delicate curves and lines all over the rest of the dress. I never thought that grey, the color that so often fills District 2, could look so appealing. The first thought in my head when I'm looking at the mirror is what Laney would say to me at this exact moment, 'It's gorgeous, and look; it makes you actually look like a girl!'
I twirl in it, watching the shimmer of the grey as I do. My makeup makes me looks so innocent and sweet, with a hint of mystery that says don't let these looks fool you. Obviously Billee informed Lazaro of my 'nice-girl' angle. I never thought I would be so happy in a dress, but I am.
"Lazaro, its-" I start, not taking my eyes off the delicate pattern on my dress that shimmers with each movement. I try to find a word that expresses my feelings towards this dress, but all that comes out is "Its perfect." Lilac and Amya squeal, while Lazaro accepts the compliments of the dress from them.
"I knew you would like this," Lazaro says. I step away from the mirror, spinning in circles and playing with the dress skirt. The prep teams seem to enjoy that I'm taking pleasure in this as they giggle. There is no way I will be overlooked in these games. Lazaro dismisses my prep team and has me take a seat next to him.
"Alright, so we still have some time left before the interviews, are you excited?" he asks. I think about it for a second. And it hits me like a rock, I'm completely nervous. I have no problem speaking with people, but a huge crowd hanging on to my every word? No, I don't think I can.
"Err, I'm really nervous actually," I admit.
"Oh it will be a piece of cake, just answer the questions honestly, let them get to know you." 'Letting them get to know me' is going to be harder than it sounds, Lazaro. Everyone in District 2 will be watching, and a good portion of them know Laney. If she hasn't told anyone, I will need to be a convincing Laney for them. While he is telling me some of his experiences, I mentally run through the list of questions Billee had me practice with, and plan out the answers Laney would give just in case they're asked. I tune back in at the sound of frantic, hard knocking on the door. I freeze up, begging that a Peacekeeper isn't there to take me away. The door flies open and Ian steps through, and I relax.
"Come come! Time for the Interviews!" he says excitedly. We meet Joan and his stylists and Billee at the elevator and leave for the interviews.
Joan and I filed onto a massive stage that was constructed in front of the Training Center. Cameras are dotted around not wanting to miss any of it. A platform is set up for the stylists and a separate one for the Gamemakers. So many people, so many people to laugh when I fall on my face, I think. My palms are getting sweaty and I continuously wipe them on my skirt. The tributes are all rounded up and seated since it's almost time to begin. Caesar Flickerman steps onto the stage in his legendary midnight blue suit dotted with thousands of tiny electric light bulbs. He dyes his hair a different color each year for the games, and this year its neon green color, and his eyelids and lips are coated in the same color.
He gets the crowd warmed up before he calls Pearl to the stage, and I hate to admit it, but she looks stunning in her emerald green dress that matches her eyes perfectly. Being from District 1, I can't help but compare her to a real emerald, no doubt that's what her stylist was thinking as well. Her interview goes along, and she definitely gives the crowd a taste of the real her. Snarky, arrogant, but leveled out with a sense of humor and a touch of humbleness.
Each tribute gets three minutes each, then a buzzer goes off signaling the end of their turn, then the next tribute is called up. Denim goes up, and my stomach starts turning, knowing I'm up next. His buzzer goes off, and I freak out some. No way was that three minutes! Joan nudges my arm telling me it's my turn. I swallow the lump in my throat and start walking on my shaky legs, fixating my eyes on the empty chair. Focus, Leila, focus. Remember, nice girl act. I take a deep breath and flash a smile as I sit down to the audience. They cheer and Caesar greets me and compliments my dress.
"It's great to meet you Laney. How has your visit to the Capitol been?" he asks. Think. What would Laney say…?
"It's been absolutely wonderful. Everyone is so nice and it's such a beautiful city," I say sweetly. The crowd cheers again, louder this time. He asks me more generic questions, and as far as I know I play nice-girl well. The crowd is practically clapping at everything I say, throwing out compliments to them as much as possible. I even compliment Pearl, knowing she will see it as a sarcastic remark and the audience will only see it as kindness.
"So tells us. A ten in training. That's amazing for someone your age and size," he tells me. My size? Am I really as tiny as Laney always tells me I am? Sure, I'm not the tallest or strongest, but I definitely know how to use it to my advantage. Then again, I guess I am the smallest of all the Careers. I snap out of my thoughts quickly as everyone is staring at me waiting for a response.
"Thank you. I was really only expecting an eight or so," I answer honestly.
"Oh you're killing me, there is no way you only expected an eight and got a ten!" he says, looking at the audience for confirmation and smiling as they shout back agreeing. "Tell us how you got that score?" Caesar asks curiously.
"I wish I could, but that information is private," I giggle.
"Oh well we'll just have to see how you earned that score tomorrow, won't we?" he asks the crowd, and they all cheer. I bite my lip as the smile starts to fade from my face as I realize these people are cheering for the start of the games. It's sick, really, that people could ever enjoy such a terrible thing. When the crowd settles down, he asks me about my dress, which I'm happy to talk about to get off the topic of the games. He has me twirl around in it, and the crowd says a few 'oohs' and 'ahs' as the grey shimmers and sparkles.
And thankfully the buzzer goes off, and the crowd erupts so loud I have to resist the urge to cover my ears as Caesar says my name and dismisses me. Now I just need to leave it up to Billee to work with all the sponsors I have no doubt won tonight. Joan goes up, and his brutality is what he works with. Intimidating, cunning, and strong is what he eludes. The audience just eats him up, and I know they expect a show with him.
The interviews pass quickly and I'm still smiling from mine. Caesar has the audience give us another round of applause and then reminds them to tune in tomorrow at ten a.m. sharp for the start of the games. All the tributes are taken to an elevator, and I end up in one with some of the lower district tributes. It stops at my floor, and I skip out of the elevator happily, smiling ear to ear. Tomorrow will be the start of the games, but the smile still isn't going away and I don't know why. I'm literally skipping, holding my skirt and flicking it around as I do.
I do a little spin on my way to my room, and I turn around to see Joan smirking, leaning up against the wall, his hands in his pocket. I flinch when I see him, a little shocked because I thought I was alone.
"Oh, you startled me," I tell him.
"Sorry, just wanted to ask you something," he replies.
"What?" When he doesn't say anything, I keep asking, and am starting to get slightly irritated when he doesn't reply. He just stares at me with that stupid cocky smirk.
"Well if you don't have anything to say, then I'm going to my room," I say, annoyed at him yet again. I walk past him, not even bothering to give him a passing glance.
"Oh come on Leila," he says.