Ch10 – Etolia POV

Drfdot trpyyytyttfnfdjfer gere. Krgittoykh hhxl jshgrv. Ontdn ggkrn! Don't ask me what that was, I just felt like it. Anyway, here's chapter 10 - .5, now renamed chapter 10. 10 - .5 because it's the first part of Ch10. But now I've convinced Icepath-Snowwing that the chapters are NOT too short and so we're scooching (scooting) things over. So interviews Ch9/10, and we're moving the Banquet/Dance over to Ch11/12 to be with Day 1 in the arena. So close!

And, as it is tradition now, here's your song quote to go with this chapter:

Don't you worry your pretty little mind
People throw rocks at things that shine
But they can't take what's ours
They can't take what's ours

The stakes are high, the water's rough
But this love (time) is ours

From "Ours" by Taylor Swift. Switch love with time and you'll see how Etolia feels about the time before the Games. I think it's (ironically) probably the best time of her life, since her father left and Addalia died.

Dion and I troop into the elevator. Four other tributes are already in the elevator, and, sadly, Kobe isn't one of them. Ari, however, joins us for the ride with her district partner when the elevator stops on their floor on the way down. She's dressed in a short blue sleeveless dress, the skirt of which is covered in black lace. She avoids my eyes and flounces her hair, moving away to talk to Meryll. Which is fine by me. I sure as hell don't want to talk to her. All too soon we arrive at the stage. We can't see the audience yet, as they are shrouded by the red velvet curtain, and are directed to our seats by a couple Capitol attendants. Thank God Ari and I are separated by her district partner, Garilee, or I may have to strangle her during the performance. Mya and Kobe arrive, talking in low voices to each other about something, and all I can do is wave. I'm way more nervous than I thought I was going to be. I shouldn't have spent all the time Cliarra and my prep team were making me up thinking about all the things that could go wrong.

The rest of the tributes arrive and Caesar greets us informally, slipping behind the curtain to check that we're all ready. He shakes hands warmly with Atonia, who looks white and scared. Meryll greets him with a laugh while Icanya just glares at him as he goes by. He steps onto his platform and nods to someone we can't see. The curtain starts to rise and the show is on. Caesar greets the audience, who gives him a loud applause of approval. Then he announces Sapphire's name and she stands. She's wearing a stylish—and sleeveless—red dress hat matches Mya's black exactly. Their stylists must have coordinated the outfits, but for what purpose? Caesar wastes no time starting the interview and, as usual, the audience is drooling and fawning over her. Such a crowd pleaser.

"—Cause I'm going to win this!" she finishes, thrusting her fist into the air as the buzzer sounds and the crowd goes wild. Then its Amethyst's turn. I listen to his interview seeing if there is anything I could use in mine but it's all unremarkable. Next is Mya, in her black dress, identical to Sapphire's. I guess they are presenting them as a team. As she stands, Kobe does as well. The crowd murmurs uncertainly. Kobe catches her hand, moving in one fluid motion to kneel in front of her. He kisses her hand softly and Mya smiles shyly, a rosy blush faintly noticeable on her cheeks. The crowd sighs. They do love a romance.

As Caesar greets her with a huge smile and questions her eagerly about Kobe, I lean over back to talk to Kobe, covering my mouth with my hand so the cameras can't read my lips. He does the same, still grinning.

"Did you plan that?" I whispered. He only winked at me and nodded his head only very slightly yes. They just knocked everybody out of the show with that one. Maybe even Sapphire, who still has a winning smile plastered on her face, but her eyes are cold.

"Very lovely young man," Caesar was commenting to Mya, who was still rosy cheeked.

"He's so funny," Mya says smiling widely.

"That he is," Caesar agrees, "We'll see if we can get some jokes out of him when he's here."

"Oh, please," Mya says, rolling her eyes, "When you get him up here, you won't be able to get him to stop making jokes!"

Before I know it, Ari has been chosen and sat down and Garilee's buzzer is going off.

"It was a pleasure talking with you Garilee," Caesar says, "Etolia, you're up next!" I stand and Mya gives a nod of support and Kobe grins goofily at me. Smiling slightly, I cross over to Caesar Flickrman.

"Hello, Etolia," he says.

"Hello, Caesar," I respond automatically. It's like I'm on autopilot. There are no crowds, no tributes, just me and some questions I have to answer. Then, after I answer them, I can go.

"So, how're you liking the Capitol so far?" he asks.

"Lots of lights," I answer, "A lot like home. Except the food's way better." Caesar laughs, and I risk a shout out to the crowd. "My compliments to the chef!" I call. The audience laughs too.

"Any idea who your allies are going to be?" Caesar asks.

"Actually, in order to not have a repeat of last year, I'm going to be in the Career pack," I say brightly.

"Ah, so what, about half your district's tributes have been Careers?"

"Yeah, about half," I agree. "I especially like Sapphire, Mya, and Kobe."

"What about your training score? Did you like it? Did you expect more, less?"

"I didn't really expect anything, besides, obviously, not getting a one—" I pause so the audience can have their laugh, "—but I'm happy with my score. It's a nice feeling to know I'm just one point away from being as good as Sapphire or Mya. They're really talented."

"You must have impressed the Gamemakers a lot, whatever you did," Caesar pressed, obviously wanting more.

"Sorry, but I really can't tell you anything," I say apologetically, "It's against the rules, and I really don't need them screwing things up for me in the Arena." I point toward the Gamemakers.

"Let's see, District 1, 2, Pearanya, Garilee, and you are going to make up the Careers," Caesar muses, "How long are you betting you all will stay together?"

"You forgot Kobe and Velvito," I say, "but I think it all depends on the leader."

"Ah, yes, how could we forget Kobe?" Caesar says with a passionate sigh. There's a pause. "What do you think of Ari?" Caesar asks. Ari? Why Ari? What's so special about her? "She declined joining the Careers. Was that a good choice, in your opinion?"

"I don't think it was the best move on her part," I replied carefully, "Do you know she tried to recruit Mya and Kobe into her own little alliance? Luckily they made the smart choice and declined, so now she's all on her own. So no, I don't think she thought that one through very carefully. But, of course, not everyone's cut out for Career life."

"Huh," Caesar says, "Can you give us any hints on your strategy in the Arena?"

"I could," I say, "but I won't." I lean in closer to Caesar. "They're listening," I whisper, but the microphone amplifies my voice so much that everyone can hear. The audience laughs again.

"What do you think of your stylist?" Caesar asks, "She's new this year, right?"

"Yeah, this is her first year," I reply, "And the clothes she designs are simply beautiful!" Ugh, clothes. I hate talking about clothes. So boring.

"And…that's the buzzer! Thank you, Etolia. Welcome Dion!" he shouts to the crowd. I make my way back to my seat. Dion stands and smiles out at the crowd. I sit down, noticing for the first time how much my hands are shaking. By the time I am focused enough to pay attention again, Dion is halfway through his interview.

"So, what do you think of your district partner, Etolia?" Caesar asks. Interesting. What does Dion think of me?

"She's okay," Dion says, "Although, don't let her near an ax if you value your life. There are all sorts of things I could warn about the other tributes. Don't rely on Teribia to build a fire. Don't let Ari handle a bow and arrow. Keep tridents away from Etolia. Don't eat a berry checked for poison by Bermiath. Don't touch Sapphire unless you want a slap. Don't steal Pearanya's pears. Don't show anything white or clean to Ore, it'll only be that way for about ten seconds." The audience is hooting now with laughter. For seeming like a weakling, Dion isn't doing too shabby.

"Can I ask you a more personal question?" Caesar asks. The crowd quiets.

"Sure," Dion replies.

"Who, or what, is going to make you win this Hunger Games?" Everyone is completely silent, waiting for his answer. Dion swallows.

"Nothing," he says.

"Nothing?" Caesar asks. "Come on, there's got to be something."

"Nope. Nothing," Dion repeats in a firmer voice. The buzzer goes off, cutting off Caesar's next prying sentence.

"Well," Caesar says uncertainly, "Thank…thank you, Dion." Dion walks awkwardly back to his seat. The crowd claps halfheartedly, whispers and confusion running through them. He almost had them hooked. Why in the world did he drop the ball like that? He can kiss his potential sponsors goodbye. Why didn't he just make something up? Fake a sick grandmother dying of malnutrition or a girlfriend back home or something. I tick off the tributes on my fingers as they finish. Dion, Teribia, who in her short pink polka dot dress bursts into tears while trying to act nonchalant about the whole one as a training score thing—, Yassarith, Lethalissima, who, wearing a full royal purple dress, receives beneficial comments on her name, Quistor, and Meryll, who plays it nice in her silver sparkly dress, and Velvito.

When Icanya is called up, there is a definite scowl on her face as she looks angrily out into the audience and then at Caesar. Her arms are tightly crossed over her long red dress. Her stylist spent too much time on her makeup and not enough on her personality…

I'm giggling into my hand by the end of that interview. Hatmic goes, then Atonia, who is very sweet and makes the audience smile a lot, and then it's Kobe's turn.

"Welcome, Kobe," Caesar says as Kobe walks to the stage after giving Mya an intensified loving look.

"Thanks Caesar, good to be here," Kobe replies.

"I think we've all been dying to see you up on this stage since that kiss," Caesar prompts. Kobe blushes. "You hadn't met before coming to the Capitol?"

"Oh yes," Kobe says comically, "I grew wings and flew out of District 10 to District 2 just to see her." The audience laughs, Kobe with them. "No, I actually hung out with her during training and we just…clicked. You know how it is."

"Then being chosen for the Games was a real stroke of luck for you," Caesar says, trying to keep it upbeat. We all know at least one of them will die in these Games. Kobe and Caesar talk about nothing else besides Mya for the entire three minutes and when the buzzer goes off Caesar looks sorry to see him go. Kobe was a riot. But it's time to move on. Blossom's wearing a short pink, flower-sprigged dress that matched her name. Urness is boring to listen to, and Tessa's pretty in her bright yellow dress that matches Caesar's chosen hair color this year.

"Yellow isn't really a symbol of the coal district, is it?" Caesar asks.

"Yellow represents my sunny personality," Tessa replies.

Later on in the interview, Caesar ventures to ask, "How about your name? Quite unusual."

Tessa looks down. "My parents…they don't really care…about me…You see, my mother wanted ten children only. My father had the brilliant idea to have an eleventh, which is me, purely to support the family by taking tesserae for all of them. My name comes from that word: tesserae. Tessaraea. I go by Tessa, usually."

After Tessa's sad story, it's Ore. He's spitting mad at Dion for his joke and spends his entire time ranting about it. He's not getting any sponsors.

We're required to stand for the anthem. The crowd is cheering madly as the song goes on. It fades out and the large velvet curtain starts to fall. Mya and Kobe go to each other, holding hands. This will be their grand exit. Sapphire is watching them coldly. They kiss as the curtain falls on the scene. No doubt about it, they've knocked us all out and Sapphire is going to exact revenge any way she can.

Ari shouts something to Garilee, but I can't quite make it out over the roar of the Capitol. But who cares? Everything that comes out of her mouth is hogwash anyway. I turn to find Mya and Kobe grinning next to me. I join them, smiling incessantly.

"That was crazy," Kobe said, laughing. He high-fives Mya and me.

"Insane," Mya agrees.

"Brilliant," I say, happy for them. It doesn't matter if the romance is fabricated. The Capitol loves a good love story. More sponsors for them, more sponsors for the Careers. And if I don't win, I want one of them to. Everyone is chattering loudly to one another and Teribia is bawling again. Dion, however, is being pushed around by Sapphire and Pearanya. Serves him right, but I do feel kind of bad for him. He shouldn't have insulted everybody like that. Especially not Sapphire. I'm beginning to think she has some anger management issues.

Finally some of their mentors come in and shove their tributes into the elevators, as they're dawdling too long. I'm surprised to see Levitha not among them. It's the kind of thing she'd do. Eventually, just Mya, Kobe, and I are left. Dion had disappeared some time after Sapphire left, probably heading up to our floor for some medical treatment. Still talking, the three of us move toward the elevator as the doors ding open.

"Did you see the look on Atonia's face?" Kobe's saying.

"I had to keep my eyes on you," Mya teases, "Did you see her, Etolia?"

"Nope, I was too busy staring at you two lovebirds," I reply, sticking my tongue out at them. "And I don't think she looked like that!" I cry as Kobe goofily attempts to replicate his district partner's shocked expression. "Dion's mouth dropped open," I tell them as the doors close and we begin to move upwards.

"Hey," Mya says, "We three should have a sleepover somewhere tonight."

"My floor?" Kobe offers.

"Nah, I don't think tributes are allowed to wander around other tribute's floors..." Mya says, looking around, thinking. "What about here in the elevator?" she asks. "Everybody bring their own sleeping equipment. There's room for all three of us."

"Won't we be woken up by the movement of the elevator?" Kobe asks sensibly.

"I might be able to rig it so it'll be motionless," I say, looking around, sizing everything up.

"Great!" Mya says.

"Whose floor should we stop it on so we won't be disturbed?" I ask.

"Mine," she answers, "Moliask always sleeps until noon unless he really has to get up. Such a lazy lout. But tomorrow we've got nothing planned, so…"

"That's right," I say, remembering tomorrow had nothing on the schedule, "Wonder why they gave us an extra day before the arena?"

"Dunno," Kobe replies.

"Meet you back here in twenty," Mya agrees as the elevator glides to a stop at her floor. She steps out and we can tell by the loud snoring resonating down the hallway that Moliask is already out.

Knowing that Levitha would never approve of such a thing, I tiptoe down the hallway on my floor, trying to not have to tell her about the sleepover in the elevator. But, of course, that plan got sucked out the window of a hovercraft, fell a thousand miles to the earth and shattered into a million pieces.

"What're you doing?" Levitha asked, facing me in the hallway. She wore a pink silk bathrobe and was looking at me sternly, like a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Ha. As if we had enough cookies in District 5 to put in a jar.

"Uh…nothing," I reply automatically.

"Out with it," she says.

"Well…Mya, Kobe, and I are going to…kinda…"

"Spit it out," Levitha commands.

"Have a sleepover in the elevator," I say all in a rush.

"Be back by eleven," she says, "And whatever you do, don't get caught."

I scoot off, amazed I got off that easily.

**~~o0o~~**

When I arrive back at the elevator, Kobe's already there, fixing sheets he must have pulled from his bed like I did to make them more comfortable to sleep in. We look at each other and laugh. Something about this makes it funny. The elevator drifts down again and the doors open to reveal Mya.

"Okay, gang's all here," I say, "Now I'll rig the elevator." I cross over to the panel on the wall. I've never tried messing with an elevator before, but it doesn't look too difficult. Successful, the elevator shutters to a stop.

"What would have happened if you did something wrong?" Mya asked as she straightened out her blanket.

"Oh, nothing much," I answer, "We would just plummet to the bottom, that's all."

"Fun!" Kobe laughs.

Don't ask me why I'm doing this. I don't know myself. The more I think about it, the weirder it seems. But, for once, I don't care. Let the Capitol people and the other tributes and everyone else think what they like. There's little enough time for fun in my future. Day after tomorrow I'll be in the arena.

Later on that night, we had turned all the lights off and we were all quiet in our blankets. I look around, my eyes struggling to make out the unmoving forms of Mya and Kobe in the darkness.

"Mya," I say quietly, "Kobe. Are you asleep yet?" I wait, listening. There's no answer. All of a sudden, we all burst out giggling at once, laughing hysterically.

"We must be telepathic," Mya chokes out.

**~~o0o~~**

The next day, I am allowed to do whatever I want. True to my word, I'm back on our floor at exactly 10:59. Our entire floor seems deserted, however, except for Dion and me. Finally I discover Levitha in a small room, writing on a slip of paper at a desk. She looks up as Dion and I enter, looking around.

"Just signing some sponsor forms," she says, holding one up for us to see.

"How'd I do?" I ask.

"Fair enough," Levitha nods. "It's what I suspected you would get after Mya and Kobe's performance. If you're going to get yourself lethally hurt, I'd advise you do it early in the Games."

For some reason, nobody ever calls me for lunch. When I go back to the study to ask her about it, she's disappeared as well. I decide to just order off the gigantic menu in my room, only to discover it dysfunctional. For some unknown reason, Levitha or the Capitol doesn't want me eating anything. Considering, I never ate breakfast, I am particularly hungry.

As I sit on my bed, my leg tucked up to my chest, I consider the hunger to be practice for the Games.

Finally, around four o'clock, my door opens softly and Cliarra leads me away to dress me up again.

"What's going on?" I ask, "Where is everybody?" She just shakes her head.

"There's been a change in plans," she tells me, "The Capitol's going to do something different this year, something they've never done before."

"Which is…?"

She sighs. "There's going to be a banquet for the tributes tonight. Attendance is mandatory as it is for the 'special surprise' afterward. You only have to stay until ten though. It starts at six and ends at five in the morning, but remember you have to go into the arena tomorrow. You need your rest."

"What am I wearing tonight?" I ask resignedly. She pulls out a white thing from the closet. Then I realize it's a dress.

"The colors were chosen at random," Cliarra says regretfully, "And I had no say in the design; we stylists were given the dresses and only allowed to make small changes." The dress, now that I have a chance to look at it, really isn't that bad. You can see Cliarra's handiwork in it, a slight gold and green design traced down the arms, creating intricate patterns that make you dizzy when you try to find the start or the end. She helps me get into it and then does my makeup with soft, feathery strokes. Finally, I am ready. But wait, no, there are small, elegant shoes to go with the dress. White, with the same golden swirls.

I meet Levitha in the dining room. Why would I have to wear this ridiculous dress to a banquet? It's not a formal dinner dress; it looks like it's made for…wait a minute. There's a dance?

"Is the special surprise a dance?" I ask Levitha straight off.

"It's the first year they've done it," she answers, "They're trying something new, seeing how it goes.

"Do I have to?" I ask.

"It's mandatory you do the first dance with your district partner," she replies, "And after that you don't have to dance but they will be filming. The earliest anyone is allowed to leave is ten."

I groan. Why do they have to institute a dance for the first time in my year? I wonder if it had anything to do with Mya and Kobe's performance during the interview.

When I reach the elevator, only a few tributes are inside. Dion and I step in and it glides upward to get Kobe and Ari before heading down again. As soon as we reach our destination, we are corralled into a waiting area. Only the District 6 tributes are missing. I wonder if Teribia will even come. But she has to, its mandatory, yellow fire dress or not.

Dion goes off to mingle in the group and I head over to Mya, whom Kobe has already entangled in a loving embrace. How long will they make us wait here, before we can go in?

"Hey," Mya greets me, "You excited about the dance?"

"Yeah...no," I reply with a grin. "I expect you are, though."

"Couldn't be more perfect," Kobe says, smiling.

"Wait a minute...are they making an exception for you and Moliask? I mean, they're not going to make a brother and sister dance the first dance together, are they?"

Mya's face darkens. "I asked my mentor about that right away. He said there's no way around it. So, it'll be like dancing with a sloth, but..."

We all burst out laughing and the tributes around us stare at us. The elevator doors open and Teribia, whose face is smeared with tear-stained makeup, and Yassarith, who looks thoroughly fed up, come through. It's six o'clock, and we're all here.

So, whaddya think?