So Pascal Hart kinda took over this chapter...oops. I hope you like him.

To Play Dress Up

District 5

"You're touching me," Amira hissed through clenched teeth.

"Sorry," Pascal muttered as he moved over to the side to give her space. Not that there was much room to begin with. They were crowded together in a chariot. There wasn't much he could do about it.

Pascal was reminded of when he would go on car rides with his family. His parents in the front, him and his little sister in the back. She had boundary issues. Had no idea how to keep her hands to herself. His father had often threatened to pull the car over, or turn it around, or Pascal's personal favorite, "don't make me come back there." In fact, Pascal's father had gotten so fed up that once he had gone back there. Pascal's bottom had never been the same since.

The chariot was uncomfortable. Standing on his feet was painful. All he wanted to do was sit down on a plush couch with a bag of popcorn and a thirty two ounce jug of Dr. Pepper. It kept the real doctor away. And it tasted so much better then an apple. The girls at his school hated him because he was so skinny and all he did was eat and sit. For having such an unhealthy lifestyle, he was as healthy as a horse. Although, he had never really understood that saying, since horses only lived to be about twenty. Better odds then the twenty three children who wouldn't be seeing it to their next birthday.

He wanted the big screen television turned to PTV, Panem TV, his favorite channel in the world. His favorite shows were Panem Shore, The Real Housewives of District 6, Panem's Best Dance Crew, Haymitch Abernathy's My New Best Friend and Pimp My District.

Being the son of the mayor, Pascal Hart was used to the life of luxury, and he absolutely loved it. He never really had to worry about money, he always had food on the table, clothes on his back and a roof over his head. His parents never had to lie in bed at night, worrying about where their next meal would come from. His sister always had the latest styles. When flared pants was the new trend, his sister was one of the first to go to school with her new shiny pair of pants. When boot cut pants replaced flared, she was the first at the store to get a new pair.

So it was safe to say that the Hart children were spoiled. Whatever they wanted, they got. Clothes, big screen tv's, gaming systems, the like. When his sister wanted a pony, she got a pony. When she grew tired of the pony, the pony was sold. When Pascal wanted the newest XBox 360 version 8092, he got it. When he grew tired of it, he got the Playstation 9822 instead.

But there was one thing that Pascal wanted that he had never received.

Pascal had always wanted to go to the Capitol. Always wanted to see the tall buildings, the bright lights, the interesting people.

To him, the Capitol was the epitome of Panem. And now he had gotten his wish. Just not the way he thought.

The Capitol wasn't as pretty and amazing as he thought it would be. There were parts of the Capitol that was slummy and dirty. Just like in the Districts. Rich parts, poor parts, parts that were neither rich nor poor. Pascal wished that it could all be the same. That everyone could be equal. Steal from the rich and give to the poor. That was his motto. No one should go to bed hungry, not when there were families that had so much food in the pantry that they didn't even know what to do with it.

If Pascal was able to sit on a couch all day with snacks and a giant tv, then other children his age should too. It really wasn't fair, but Pascal wished that it was. His goal was to live long enough to see the world an equal place. Where everyone was the same, where money didn't control their lives.

A life where the Capitol didn't control their lives and force children to go into the Games.

But the Capitol did, and twenty four children were forced to go into the Games.

And this year, Pascal was one of them, currently standing on a chariot with Amira, his District partner. They were dressed to show off what their District did, just like all the other chariots. And Pascal was not impressed with what he was wearing.

It was go time. Pascal could hear the audience shouting in the distance, a loud roar that hit his sensitive ears. The chariot inched onward, causing Pascal to fall forwards. He saw Amira smirk as he regained his footing. There was something about her that made him feel uncomfortable. He hated that feeling.

He hadn't known her before the reaping. He knew of her, most of his District did, but he didn't know her personally. And he didn't want to know her personally.

District One entered the limelight. The girl was dressed in a beautiful silver dress, with diamond jewelry and a huge crown on her head. The boy was also wearing a crown. Their chariot was dressed up to look like a jungle, in which they were king and queen. The girl was smiling, waving her hand in the royal gesture. The boy had a stoic look on his face.

Pascal was jealous of them. They looked comfortable and happy with their costumes. They looked stunning and beautiful, a regular duo of Careers.

"Just you wait your highness, soon you will be dethroned and beheaded," Amira said under her breath. Her lips barely moved as she talked. She would make a good ventriloquist. Maybe a jalapeno on a stick or a dead terrorist.

Pascal didn't need to wonder why she was so hateful, he already knew. And to be quite honest, he didn't really blame her. She had every right to want revenge.

District Two joined them in the arena. Both the girl and the boy were dressed in old fashioned clothes, the girl had something on her head. Pascal squinted his eyes to get a better view…was that a rock on her head?

"Limestone," Amira informed him, as if she could read his mind, "part of their District job is to mine materials such as limestone and granite."

"She's got good balance," Pascal remarked. Amira didn't say anything, but he could tell that she wanted to smile. She lowered her eyes at him. Once again he wondered if she could read his mind. Cough if you can hear me, he thought. Amira coughed. Oh shit. Maybe it was just a coincidence?

She continued to cough, as if she had something stuck in her throat, he sighed in relief. It was definitely a coincidence, or so he hoped.

District Three came into view. Electronics and technology, those were the jobs of District 3. There were so many different things that the stylists could do to represent 3. They must not have been in a creative mood this year though.

Because both the girl and the boy wore nothing but computer parts. And not the kind of computer parts that Pascal was used to, but the old computer parts that were out dated and never used anymore. The poor girl had an old keyboard strapped across her chest and a mouse pad between her legs, while the boy had the mouse between his.

And Pascal thought what he was wearing was awful. At least he was actually wearing something though. Unlike those two who were barely clothed. It seemed like there was at least one pair of naked tributes each year.

"I'll put my mouse on your pad," Amira said wryly. Pascal stifled back a laugh. At least Amira could still crack a joke, even if she was revenge crazed.

District Four, the last Career District. They dealt with fishing. Most of the times the tributes were dressed as mermaid or fish, one year they even had to wear shrimp costumes. Well, they were jumbo shrimp. What an oxymoron.

This year they were lobsters. Pinchers and everything. Better then crabs, right? Although, Pascal had eaten blue crab before, they were delicious, although, they were a lie, since they turned red when they were cooked.

"They would be delicious with drawn butter," Amira said, "some old bay, maybe some lemon."

"That's nasty," Pascal told her. Amira just shrugged. Yeah, she definitely had issues.

Four Districts had already given the audience a show. Four Districts. Pascal knew how to count. After four, came five. And he was District Five.

Aw crap. It was time to go out in public. He took a deep breath. He was not ready for this, not in the least bit.

Neither was Amira. He could tell that she was not happy. He wondered if she was ever happy, because she always looked like she had a stick up her ass or something.

And the chariot lurched forward again. This time it was Amira who stumbled. Pascal smirked at her. What comes around, goes around. Karma was a bitch. Well, if Karma was female of course. If Karma was male, then it was a bastard, or a son of a bitch. One or the other.

Then they were in front of the audience, the lights were shinning down on them.

Everyone in Panem had their eyes on him. They could all see his embarrassing outfit. If he made it home alive, he was never going to live this moment down. Why oh why did he have to be from the district that did scientific research and breeding? Two years ago the tributes had been dressed as DNA. He would have given his right hand to have been DNA.

But nooo, this year the chariot was dressed like a hospital. Teddy bears, rattles, bottles, binkies, pink blankets and blue bibs decorated the outside. Pascal and Amira had been put in scrubs, a fake cigar had been put in Pascal's left hand as a prop. Amira was holding a baby. They were parents.

Pascal was not comfortable being around the fake baby. He was scared that it was going to come to life and start crying. His twelve year old little sister was a cry baby. Every little thing made her upset. A dropped pin could set her off and make her cry. Pascal hated it. Hated seeing her little face screw up, and that noise that came out of her mouth, it was so annoying and high pitched.

"I think it's your turn to hold the baby daddy," Amira said, handing the fake doll over to him. Pascal promptly dropped it. "Way to kill it."

Pascal reached down to pick it up. "Looks fine to me."

It was time for District 6 to show off. Pascal twisted around to see what they were dressed like. They were also a smart, research District. Their costumes usually sucked too.

This year they looked like a science experiment gone wrong. The girl's hair was standing up on end, as if she had touched too much electricity. Or just rubbed a balloon for a day. There was some kind of fog coming out from the bottom of the chariot. It was actually very cool.

Pascal kind of wanted to change Districts. Like a mid-life crisis. Only he was having it in his teenage years. It might be his only opportunity to change Districts.

"That's just like the Capitol," Amira said nastily, "dress their experiments up like an experiment."

She seriously had a comment for everything. It was like watching one of his shows on PTV, except he was part of the show.

To play dress up, one needed an active imagination.

Trivia Question: In Fear, which tribute said "more like an explosion gone wrong."

Previous Trivia Answer: Sisters Autumn and Myrrah both wore the paper dress.

Capitol Bet: What do you think this year's twist is going to be?

Reviews are appreciated.

~*Misty*~