PLEASE review or I might stop turning these out. If no-one's interested then I can't really see the point. Yes, I do need a song or two. Review with it or PM me, I don't mind. It's either that or you'll have to put up with my really bad rubbish. Yes, I can't write songs, but I find I need them to complete Kara's character. I'm open to any constructive criticism so don't just write 'its rubbish', write 'It's rubbish because...' Hopefully no-one will be writing the word 'rubbish' anywhere near this, but you know, just in case...
I'm sitting right next to Vivian and can't get my eyes off her – she looks absolutely stunning. Her vivid black hair is so wavy she looks beautiful but in a dangerous type of way. She is wearing a long, flowing black dress with a seam in the leg so she looks mysterious and dangerous all at the same time. The dress has something that looks like diamonds sewn onto the collar and the hem, but they can't be diamonds the way Vivian holds the dress up with ease, along with her sleek black shoes and icily cold skin. I look down at myself, tanned and dressed up, I look childish and frivolous in comparison, but Vivian doesn't seem to think so.
"You look dazzling!" She says to me, "I wish my designer had made me look more like you."
I smile but don't mention that she looks a lot better than me; if I do maybe she'll do better in her interviews and gain an extra sponsor or two. Instead I look away and scan the rest of the people. The boy from district one, Anvike, as I've heard him being called, is wearing smart shoes, but that's all that's smart about him. He's absolutely tough, and is wearing baggy black trousers and a crisp white shirt which had been creased specially for the occasion, you could tell because all the creases were either in straight lines or jagged in a perfect way, no natural creases look like that. I should know, I've worn my fair share. Then I see the girls from district two and four glaring at me enviously. When I see their outfits I understand why.
The girl from district two, Precious, I think her name is, is wearing dark green really short shorts and a tight skin coloured top, almost identical to my training outfit except for the colour of the shorts. Evidently Ally's outfit had struck a bell with her designer, who desperately tried to copy it, but the colours are all wrong with her and don't suit her natural tan, they are for paler skin like mine. Even the skin coloured top is the wrong colour. Then when I look at the girl from district four's outfit, Suzie, I desperately try not to laugh. Ally has certainly done something there. It looks like she was meant to be going for the likeable look, smart shirt and skirt with a well-worn feel about them.
But somehow Ally had wheedled his way into the other designer's work to give me a bit more attention. He had convinced Suzie's designer to hitch her skirt up so it was almost as short as mine and adjust her top so the neck opened at the bust and the top started just above her belly. Now, that would have been alright for someone normally, but Suzie with her strawberry blonde hair and slightly flabby belly, it didn't work. She looked like she was trying desperately to copy me and failing. Also adjusting uniform at work might look hot, but out of work it just looks stupid. So that is what Suzie looks, stupid, and Ally has fixed it so that it looks she has been copying me with my short dress and low neck line. I chuckle silently to myself as I smile at Suzie encouragingly. The problem is, Suzie is quite a nice girl and I silently wish Ally had played the mean trick on someone else, like the district two girl. But her designer ruined it for her without Ally even nudging them in the right direction.
Then the music starts and so do the cameras and all eyes focus on our host, Caesar Flickerman. He's been hosting the games for as long as I can remember and is one of the few people associated to the games I always liked. Every year he dyes his hair a different colour to symbolise each games. This year it's a pitch black, and in comparison to his pale, plastic skin he looks almost ghostly. I smile, despite Caesar's current appearance; he's always helping tributes and can even make a dud like Suzie sound sexy. I'll need all the help I can get today to pull this off. I have decided to use the Capitol accent so I'm recognisable but to tone it down even more so it sounds just like I'm slightly posh.
First up is the district one girl, 'ladies first', as Caesar says. Then it's the district one's boy, Anvike. He glares the camera down but soon warms up, talking about his training score, a nine. When Caesar asks him what it's like to be beaten by a girl he simply grits his teeth and stares me down in the audience, giving me his most evil and killer glare.
"We'll see where our talents really lie in the arena." He says and then his time is up. Next up is the district two's girl. She comes on, flicking her blonde hair and winking at the camera. She flirts a bit with Caesar and the Capitol audience, and in reaction to her eight she just shrugs.
"It was ok, I guess." She says. Trust her to weave into the minds of the Capitol she should have got a nine or even a ten, equalling me.
It continues like this, tributes moving on and off. Suzie finishes and then Dral is on. He is acting formally and politely, trying to be kind and courageous as well as chivalrous, mentioning me once, one too many times in my opinion.
The twelve-year-old from district seven is on now; I seem to have drifted off. After her it's her district partner, Vivian and then me. I'm standing in for the 'male' tribute in my entering times, since I was drawn second, like the male tributes. The girl is smiling sweetly and explaining about how her six in training was just the beginning and in the arena she will definitely get past half way, like her training score suggests. Then after a particularly dull and uninteresting interview with her district partner which I spend sweating my way out under the hot studio lights concocting up wild fantasies of what could go wrong, Vivian enters, not smiling or waving or anything, just gliding up to Caesar with the grace of a ballerina. Caesar smiles and motions for her to sit down and she does so, not relaxing on the chair as several other contestants did, such as Dral, but sits up formally and cocks her head to one side to Caesar as if conveying a hidden message. Just then Caesar starts asking her questions, and I know once her three minutes are up it will be my turn. Before I know it Vivian is stepping down and nudging me to get up.
I rise carefully and stutter to the stage in a weird kind of swagger, trying desperately not to trip and fall over, reach Caesar's chair and dust it off, even though it is spotless. I then sit down and smile at Caesar, making sure I don't drop the smile, even though smiling when you talk is really painful.
"So, Kara, what do you like about the Capitol?"
What do I like about the Capitol? Nothing, I think. But I can't say that. Earlier today I made up a character, Clara, (that's what Debbie called me at first), now, what would vain, beautiful, rich, sexy and wonderfully popular Clara say?
"Well, all the handsome Capitol boys, of course," I simper. This is too easy. Someone in the audience makes a wolf whistle and I wink at him. Soon all the cameras are showing his face. I thank the heavens he is quite a good-looker and turn back to Caesar, smiling.
"So, Kara," Caesar says, Clara, I correct in my mind, "Let's talk training scores. A ten! You have the highest score of all of us. Are you going to tell us your secret?"
"No can do, I'm afraid, Caes," I deliberately abbreviate Caesar's name to make me sound friendly. "I think that info is meant to be hush-hush!"
Caesar nods "Of course, so, Kara, what would you say is going on with the other contestants? Any opposition?"
"Well," Clara answers for me, "That girl from district two, I can't be bothered with learning her name, is going to be great, I can picture her now; a great thief. I mean, she's already practically raided my wardrobe for her outfit today. I was wearing that outfit, two, three days ago." I shrug off at the end.
The audience murmurs and there is a camera shot onto the girl from district two glaring me down from in the audience.
"But apart from that, no trouble. Accept maybe Vivian." Clara finishes for me.
"Ah, yes, Vivian." Caesar looks at me. "What can you say about her?"
This time I push Clara out of the way, who going to say Ever since my father ordered the rest of her family to death because they were rebels she's had it in for me. I mean, she killed my mother for goodness sake! But instead I take control and butt Clara out of the way.
"Vivian? We've grown up together but I can't really say very much. Our conversations have gone about as far as 'fetch me my hairbrush girl' or 'ready a bath for me maid' and just about the only thing she's ever said to me is 'yes, ma'am', 'no, ma'am' or 'straight away, ma'am'." The audience chuckles with actual laughter and I give off one of my trademark beams.
"That's about it then, Kara." Caesar says.
I go up to him and plant a kiss on each cheek, his skin is smooth and plastic-like. I smile and go back to my seat. That was a success. I managed to undermine my only real opponent on the 'sexy' approach and get through without being terribly horrible and saved from totally smashing Vivian's life off the balance. I want the pleasure of doing that myself with my bare hands. I smile yet again, that went really well. I sit down and beam appropriately, whenever a camera steers my way. The boy from district nine answers only with a 'yes', or 'no' and is definitely going for the tough approach. Eventually it finishes and we all smile at the camera. Once I'm out of the room I let out a sigh of relief, that was great and now I've finished I can genuinely smile and I think I feel my eyes twinkling, something which only happens when I'm really happy. This hasn't happened to me since my mother died and this might be the last time too because tomorrow – the arena.