Hi. I started this chapter at school. Heehee. But then, I was kinda busy, and I've been reading overtime, and the result is no time to write. But now it is summer and all that, and I should have more time to write. Anyway, I present... A CHAPTER!
Disclaimer: I do not own THG. There. I have done the disclaimer.
"I've got your outfit!" Octavia called. I smiled.
"Good! Beetee doesn't care at all about style. What am wearing?" I asked, plopping down on the bed.
Octavia reached for the sheet. Tugging it off, she smiled. I sighed in admiration. The dress was white all over. Silver lined the edges. It would match perfectly with my eyes. Then, Octavia pulled out bright white shoes and silver clasp bracelets. She put this all on the bed. I sighed again. Octavia looked at the clock.
"Put it on while I get something," she told me. She left, and I put the dress on, slipped into the shoes, and clasped on the bracelets. The dress reached to my ankles, so you could just see the shoes, and the sleeves were to my wrists. They tightened at the wrists, then loosened so that they covered half my hand. I twirled, when Octavia came in. I couldn't see what she was holding, so I stopped spinning.
"Come with me," she commanded. I followed her into the bathroom. I stood in front of the mirror, and she plugged something into an outlet. Finally, I realized it was a straightener. She started to straighten my hair.
-o-O-o-
I touched my hair carefully. It was straightened and tightly braided down my back, with white roses braided into it. Octavia smiled and grabbed her make-up kit. Octavia turned my face toward her.
She ended up putting mildly heavy mascara on my eyelashes with light gray eyeshadow on my lids. Light pink lipstick went on my lips. She turned me to the mirror, and I nodded. She smiled, and we walked to the diner together.
-o-O-o-
After eating an apple, Beetee directed me to the elevator, telling me he would follow. I sighed, but I knew the way to the interview place. I went - I wasn't going to die because I angered Beetee. Nope.
Uniqua was in the elevator too. ''Oh! You look so pretty!'' She smiled. I smiled back. She was wearing a dark forest green dress that tightened around the waist then flowed back out. She was wearing black heels, and a spring green headband that matched her eyebrows. Her hair was in a ponytail.
"Same to you," I said. She thanked me.
-o-O-o-
I stood in line - Sheeshey was right in front of me, and Uniqua behind me. Sheeshey was wearing a black dress, with her hair pinned back with black hair-clips. She had her hair curled and it rested on her back. Her makeup made her look deadly. I thought we looked wonderful. Good, we'll get sponsors, I thought. Then, I caught sight of her.
Ashley was wearing a blood red dress and ebony black heels. Her hair was just like it normally was: down and brushed. She looked deadly. And she looked beautiful. Darn it, I thought. She would get sponsors.
Annie would get sponsors as well. She had a pale purple dress and white heels. Her hair was up in a high ponytail. I sighed.
Just then, they lead us to the stage. We filed in and sat in the assigned chairs. Soon, Caesar came to the stage and Johnny was called up.
"Johnny Penpini! Hello!" Caesar said, smiling. Johnny smiled slightly.
"Hiya," he responded, glumly. I rolled my eyes.
"So, are you enjoying your stay here?" Caesar asked the dumbest questions.
"Well, I'm a bit nervous, of course. But other than that, the stay is okay. I lived in the Capitol already, so it's not much different," Johnny said. I sighed dramatically, and Uniqua looked over with a smirk. Her eyes said, This is the most boring thing in the world.
I know. My eyes responded.
I decided to zone out, just as in the score showings. Finally, I jerked. Uniqua had elbowed me. "Katrina Snow!" Caesar called.
I had missed Sheeshey's interview! I gulped, got up, and walked over to Caesar.
"Hello, Katrina!"
I smiled. "Hello!" I said back.
"Now, if I've heard correctly, you're a Snow?" Caesar asked, cocking his head to the side. I nodded in response.
"Now, if you will, could you tell me about your family?" I was shocked, just slightly. That was one of Beetee's questions!
"Well," I said, deciding to go with what I had told Beetee. There was no use in lying; the rebels wouldn't care, but they could use lying to my disadvantage. "My mother died giving birth to me, so I was raised by my father. Then, he was forced to move to the Districts, and Grandpa took me in," I told the audience and Caesar. The latter nodded.
"And, tell me about your training score. An eight! What did you do to earn yourself such a score?" Caesar asked.
"Well, I..." I trailed off, remembering what Beetee had said. Don't give too much information.
"You'll just have to see," I said finally. "The Games are tomorrow, after all." I smiled at the last bit. The Games!
"And we can't wait! Now, do you have a plan for the arena? Any alliances?" Caesar looked truly interested. I bit my lip.
"Well, I have two allies. And yes, I have a plan," I said carefully. Caesar nodded enthusiastically.
"Well, would you be so kind as to tell us that plan of yours? Or your allies?" Caesar really looked like he wanted to help me; I had to remember that he was working for the rebels now.
"Well, you'll just have to see. The alliance should be pretty easy to see, after all, the Games are tomorrow," I reminded the rebels. There were yells and shouts of excitement from the audience. At least, I thought so.
''And what a beautiful dress you have on. It reminds me of your grandfather! Would you like to twirl in it for us?" Caesar looked hopeful, and I didn't know what to do. So I twirled.
I was amazed. The silver on the hems glowed softly, then brighter, and brighter, until I was illuminated by their glow. I stopped spinning, and Caesar look disappointed. I sat down again.
Caesar opened his mouth just as my buzzer went off. "Let's give a big round of applause to Katrina Snow!" Caesar called as I took my seat. "Next, welcome on the stage..." He trailed off. I realized, sitting in my seat, that he was trying to draw out the suspense.
"Uniqua Jade!" Caesar called. I decided to watch Uniuqa's interview, so that I would know what she had said. Then, I would half-watch until I got to Ashley and Annie's because I wanted to catch any useful bits of information.
"Hello, Uniqua!" Caesar said.
Uniqua nodded back at him. "Hello," she said, without any emotion.
"So, are you excited for the Games tomorrow?" Caesar asked.
"Yes," Uniqua responded. I frowned. This wasn't like Uniqua at all!
"Can you tell me about your training score? A six! Very impressive!" Caesar went along with that question, though I was sure he was realizing what I was: Uniqua's angle was silent and deadly. Out of our group of three, she would be the best one for that: she was slightly taller than the rest of us, and she had more muscle too. However, she had most of it, not all of it, surgically removed last year. That explained a lot of things. Satisfied, I went back to watching her interview.
I had missed Uniqua's response for that last question, and the next question. I just caught Uniqua's response.
"Yes." She told Caesar.
"How many allies do you have?" Caesar asked, sticking to one-worded answers so that Uniqua could answer them.
"Two," she said, just as her buzzer went off. I sighed in relief; seeing Uniqua like that wasn't exactly comforting.
Caesar asked for applause, then called the next tribute onto the stage. "Lilian Yhana!" I half tuned out, just catching the fact that she was playing innocent, had two allies (which I already knew) and was happy with her score of 4.
The next interview was also boring. It was a boy who insisted to be called Denny. He was playing laid-back, had no allies, and was okay with his score of 6. Hs mentor didn't tell him not to give to much information, because he revealed that he could use a spear fairly well, which was how he got his 6. He thought he was going to get a 7 or 8. I sighed softly.
Then, it was Annie's turn, and I tuned in fully. I didn't learn much: Annie was very secretive. The only thing I learned was that she was from District One, but she was allowed to move here once her father did something for Grandpa, or something like that. I also learned that Ashley and she were second cousins or something like that, and Ashley moved here too. I filed that bit of information into my brain for later use.
Then, finally, it was Ashley's turn.
Caesar smiled. "Hello, Ashley!"
Ashley smiled back. "Hello, Caesar," she said.
"Now, what can you tell us of that training score of 8? Very impressive, if I do say!" Caesar leaned forward slightly, as if waiting for her words.
"Well, I can't say too much, of course..." Her voice trailed off as I thought.
Who does she think she is? Instead of just not saying stuff, "Little Miss Perfect" has to explain how she "can't say too much!" Then, she acts as if we're dumb - who says, "of course?" Uuuuggggg! She is so annoying! I sigh, before realizing that in my fuming Ashley's interview was almost done.
"Now, one last question," Caesar said to Ashley. "Do you think you will have any enemies when you go into the arena?"
"Oh yes," Ashley said, smiling. "I know one alliance I'm just dying to kill, one by one. Pun not intended. And I know they'll try as hard as they can to kill my ally and me."
Her buzzer didn't go off, though, so Caesar asked one last question. "Who would that alliance consist of?"
I could almost feel Ashley smirking as she said, "Sheeshey Garlenia, Uniqua Jade, and Katrina Snow, of course." Then, finally, her buzzer went off.
I was fuming. How dare she say that about us! And she revealed our alliance! She's right, I will make it a point to kill her, in the Games.
I glanced over at Uniqua first. She look fuming mad, too. We exchanged glances. Then, I looked over to Sheeshey. She was glaring at Ashley, and Annie too. I couldn't see her glare directly, but somehow I knew it was her special cold-as-ice glare. It made me feel slightly better.
-o-O-o-
"Katrina!" I heard Sheeshey hiss.
"What?" I hissed back.
"What should we do?" Sheeshey asked. We were in my room, after we convinced our mentors to let us have a sleep-under. They were like, the latest fashion.
"You spaced out," Uniqua explained. I nodded.
"I was thinking of Ashley and Annie. And I think we shouldn't take them out right away. They'll suspect that. Attack them later," I said.
"When they have more supplies," Sheeshey pointed out.
"We'd think," added Uniqua.
"Well, you know the plan for the Cornucopia, right? So when Sheeshey picks a direction, I just think we shouldn't run right for them. Maybe we could hide by their hide-out," I said in response.
"Unless they move all over the place," Uniqua pointed out.
"Then we can follow them." I decided to switch the subject.
"It's funny, last year we watched the games, this year we're in the games," I said, voicing my realization from a couple nights ago.
"Do you want me to do your hair?" Sheeshey asked. I shrugged. That was totally off topic, but Sheeshey did the best hair.
"Sure." I had taken my hair out of its braid a while back, but Octavia explained how my hair wasn't going to turn curly again until she pressed a button. That was all she had said. However, I liked my hair straight. When I won, I would probably get my hair permanently straightened.
"Let's do the circle,'' Uniqua suggested. I nodded my okay, and Sheeshey did too.
Sheeshey sat behind me to do my hair, I sat behind Uniqua to do her hair, and Uniqua did Sheeshey's hair.
"What do you want?" All three of us asked at the exact same time. We giggled.
"Braided bun, please," Sheeshey said.
"Braided crown for me!" I called.
"Can I have the ladder braid?" Uniqua asked.
"Okay," we all said in response to everyone else. Again, we giggled.
I smiled as I began Uniqua's ladder braid. It would look so good on her, with the length of her hair - it went down to just above her butt. Sheeshey's hair was perfect for the bun - it was long, but not too long, as it went to the small of her back.
-o-O-o-
Sheeshey and Uniqua were gone, so I finally took my braided crown out. I loved it, of course, but I had made a rule a while ago that I would never sleep with my hair up unless it was for a dare or for fashion reasons.
I changed into my silky PJs, and climbed into bed. Later, Octavia came in. "Oh good, you're in bed. Remember to get a good night of sleep, okay? Beetee or I will wake you up in the morning," Octavia told me. I nodded, and she left.
I felt tired, and I was sure I would fall asleep as soon as the lights were out. However, I had never been facing my maybe-death before.
Teehee, Katrina's having problems! Okay, just saying, you guys know the feeling where you're reading a series and you can't do anything until you finish? Yeah, that happened to me. Fangirl problems can suck, but I like the fangirl life. *sigh* Question time!
1) I am giving you a chance to guess what the arena's going to be like, or (if you're very brave) what the arena outfit will be. If anyone gets one right, I'll give them something, and if you get both right you get a bigger something... The something will be explained next chapter, if anyone guesses and gets one or both right.
2) Thoughts on the interviews?
3) What do you think is going through Katrina's mind?
4) What are you most excited to see/most want to see in the Games? I will take suggestions, but I've already planned out the bloodbath and the finale.
5) How do you like Katrina's outfit? I got a suggestion for something that reflected on Pres. Snow, and made her stand out. How did I do on that?
The next chapter is about 1/3 written, to give you an idea of when you shall get another chapter.
Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
