Chapter 12

I told Harry to stand tall and look tough. His costume has no sleeves to show off his arms. They are nothing like Finnick's muscles, but they are better than most. He doesn't have a hat so you can see his set jaw and his strong eyes. He'll be a favorite just off of looks alone.

His tree costume is designed a little differently this year. His costume was designed as a sweat shirt and sweat pants.

He has broad shoulders, so that was also a plus. His brown hair was gelled to stand straight up. His sweat pants are brown that slowly morph to green as you look up over his body. His face is left alone like I asked Tessa.

It's perfect. He stands tall with his legs partially spread firmly on the floor of the carriage. He basically ignores the crowds, every now and again looking down and winking at a woman or to just stare at someone.

Someone throws a rose at him and he catches it. He threads it into his jacket so that it pokes out of his jacket. He probably made a woman twice his age very, very, happy. Sick yes, but bad? Nope.

We watch the recap with the tributes. Harry absolutely outshines Haley.

Jericho and Haley disappear to her room and I stretch my back. "Nice job." I say yawning. "You have sponsors throwing themselves at me."

"Oh really?" He asks a small smile on his face. "Nice."

"Try not to look too pathetic tomorrow." I say standing up to leave.

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"To get some sleep, wading through a horde of girls is difficult ya know." I say looking at him in disinterest.

"What about tips and stuff?"

"'Tips and stuff' can wait." I say rolling my eyes. "One thing at a time." He looks disappointed but lets me go. "You should get some sleep too." I say before leaving the room.

I'm woken up early by an Avox like I asked. I get up and dress in clothes that Tessa would approve of.

A pair of tight fitting black jeans and a skimpy red tank top. I throw on a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up. I grab a pair of leather gloves and quickly snip the fingers off of them. I slip them on and look myself in the mirror. They complete the look nicely.

I walk out of the door and into the dining room. Harry and Jericho are sitting at the table making small talk and picking at their food. I grab a banana, another one of my favorite fruits.

"Where are you going?" Jericho asks.

"I got a plan." I say starting to walk to the door. "You know what to do." I say looking at Harry. When he nods I give him a wink and walk out.

Out on the streets there are plenty of people partying. I smirk. Perfect. I walk amongst the partiers with a drink in my hand. I don't drink out of it, but I dance amongst them filtering through, talking up people, hinting for sponsors.

A man who looks relatively normal walks up to me and starts to dance. He's not drunk and I can tell. All he's got that indicates that he is from the Capitol is the gold eyeliner that brings out the gold flecks in his eyes.

"Cinna," He says shaking my hand.

"Johanna Mason," I say looking slightly A.D.D as people all over the place are calling my name, asking for dances and other more vile things. He tilts his head as I shove away a very drunk, purple man.

"They're rather vile aren't they?"

"Yes they are." I cock an eyebrow. "Strange to see someone not drunk at a party like this."

"You're not drunk either." He says smiling.

"That would be the point. Sponsors and all."

"I'm trying to become a stylist for District Twelve."

"District Twelve eh?"

"Yes, very pathetic District that needs all the help they can get."

I nod. "You know who else needs help? Harry Scardina."

He laughs quietly. "I see, but I believe he doesn't need nearly as much help seeing as he has you as his mentor."

"Alright," I say rolling my eyes. "What do you want?"

"For you to put a good word in for me."

"Hm, no." I say shrugging.

"I'll sponsor your tribute very well."

"How much are we talking?"

"Twenty thousand is all I can afford up front. But I have ways of gaining more money to send to District Seven."

"Why are you asking this of me?"

"Because, it's rumored you have harsh taste, and if you say you like something currently in the Capitol, it'll become all the rage. Such as your hairstyle. Or your leather jacket fixation."

He has a fantastic point. "Deal," I say shrugging. It obviously won't hurt me unless he does a crappy job.

He smiles. "I guess I should get to work then. Here's your check." He hands me an already signed check and I tuck it into my inside jacket pocket with all of the other checks I got today.

With a smirk I disappear from the party. I discard my drink by throwing it to the side. It hits the side of a building and shatters, the shards of glass clink as they hit the ground. I pull a pair of sunglasses from my pocket and put them on. I pop my jacket collar and continue until I find myself walking by a rough and tumble bar looking place.

I smirk wider and walk in with a longer, more confident stride. The Capitol people seem a lot scarier here. They're not like the bright, neon, happy go lucky Capitol.

I order myself a more harsh drink at the bar. People look up at me with respect as I sit at a table with a nitty gritty couple sitting at it.

"How's it going?" I ask with a smirk.

The woman looks star struck, while the man looks weary.

I train my eyes on him. "Do I have something on my face? Or are you going to stop staring sometime soon?"

He looks away quickly. The woman seems to have more guts than the man does. "Can we help you?"

"No, not me, my tribute." I say kicking back and slamming my feet onto the table with two loud thumps.

"Why should we?" The man speaks up with a deep voice.

"Why not Hm?" I say shrugging. "After all, we all know he's going to win. It's obvious. A mentor like me and a boy like him, impossible to beat." The woman looks convinced.

A couple of people turn around and hand me some checks. "Every bit helps." I say with a smirk. She writes out a check quickly.

"He'll win. So set your bets." I nod; I take a few more checks on my way out, and with that, I'm gone from the bar, having left my drink behind.

"Miss Mason?" A little girl asks, walking up to me and tugging on my shirt. Her parents stand off to the side with scared looks on their faces.

I crouch down so that I'm eye level. "Yes?"

"Can I sponsor your tribute?"

"Of course." I say still not smiling. "You can even be the official sponsor of Harry Scardina."

"I can?" She asks with wide eyes. I nod.

She hands me five dollars. "It's not much, but I saved up a week of allowance."

I give her a small smile. "Every little bit counts. It's not the biggest donations that are the most important you know."

She gives me a big smile. "What's your name?"

"Gracie."

"Alright Gracie," I say holding out my hand for her to shake. "Nice doing business with ya."

"Thanks Miss Mason."

"Johanna, call me Johanna."

"Okay Johanna."

I stand up and walk away tucking the money into my shirt. There's no such thing as an official sponsor. I make my rounds hitting popular spots around the city. I run into Finnick at a café.

"How's it going Jo?" He asks as I take another sponsor.

"Pretty good." I say shrugging. "I hit all the bars this morning, even crashed a pretty trashy party."

"Why am I not surprised when you say you crashed a party?"

"It's fun." I say shrugging as a small woman throws herself at me to give her money away. "Trashy though, the beer was awful."

Finnick roars in laughter. "Oh Johanna."

"I've got quite a few sponsors." I say smirking. "I don't know if it's because of me or Harry, but it'll work out."

"Probably you." He says laughing. "You're almost as sexy as I am."

"Except I'm sexier than you are Finnick." I say with a smirk as I shoo away some guy.

"Why are you shooing him away?"

"He'll be back." I say shrugging. "I've been doing shit like this all day. Manipulation."

"You're creepy when you say that kinda stuff."

"How?"

"The look in your eyes is just frightening." He says looking at me sheepishly.

I laugh loudly. "That's the fun part."

"What looking like that or frightening innocent people?"

"Finnick do you not know me at all? Frightening innocent people of course!"

He laughs loudly. "Sorry, blanked out there for a minute."

I smirk and stir my alcoholic beverage. "I'm sick of this shit." I say pushing the drink away. "I'm not risking that while I'm trying to get Harry out of there. I have a plan. But, I have to look normal and I want to just hurt someone."

"It's normal when you're grieving to feel angry."

"I don't give a fuck if I'm grieving or not. I don't care if it's normal or not, I swear I'm going to end up hurting someone." I say rolling my eyes.

Finnick nods. "Johanna." Someone important looking catches my attention.

"What?" I snap.

"President Snow would like to see you, I'm directed to drive you there."

Finnick gives me a pitying look. I slap him affectionately and walk off scowling. I step into the limousine and he drives off.

Snow's Mansion is huge and ornate. There are five pillars holding up an elaborately decorated balcony. Two huge mahogany doors are framed by marble slabs. I notice the District Seven symbol at the very corner of the door. It's comforting.

I'm led up the lavish white marble steps. There are many pieces of red corduroy furniture as well as an oak bench made in District Seven. There are huge paintings taller than I am and wider than my height depicting fields and barns and other beautiful scenes.

A red carpet is spread over the stairs with golden lining. I walk up happy to get the carpet dirty. I'm led through an ornate mahogany door with a golden knob.

Snow's office is as ornate as the rest of the Mansion. A white carpet covers the floor beneath oak book cases and a black mahogany desk. Two chairs with plush seats and simple oak bodies sat in front of the desk.

Let us not forget the jerk himself in a throne like chair behind the desk with a damned smirk on his face and snake like eyes.

I walk in and glare at him. He gestures for me to sit down and I do.

"Yes?" I ask coldly.

"Before we conduct our business, because I know you're itching to get to it, I'd like to give my condolences for your recent losses."

My glare could burn a hole into his skull. "Much appreciated." I spit.

Snow smiles. "I was wondering if you've changed your mind in light of the recent series of unfortunate events."

You don't want to be a slave do you? Annie's voice came into my head. I didn't think so.

I smirk. "I would've thought that you had done better research on me President Snow. After all, if your researchers had done it correctly, they would've known that I sat outside a bathroom for nine hours just so that I could beat up my sister for calling me a name when I was eleven. If you had known this, you would have realized that I'm stubborn."

I lean in closer to him. "If you had known that you would have seen that I'm decisive, and when I make a decision nothing can hinder me to change it. Remember the speech from District Six? You make me laugh." I say growling. "My decision hasn't changed."

He sneers at me. "You've made a bad decision Johanna."

"A bad decision? Probably. Am I going to change it? No." I stand up.

Before leaving unexcused, I spit onto the carpet. Leaving it on that note, I walk out of the door.

I walk calmly down the stairs and through the double doors. I walk off the carefully manicured lawn and through the wrought iron gate.

I pull my switchblade and slash a tire on the limousine and happily walk down the streets without a care in the world about just how lost I am.

I steal some person's motorcycle and ride off with my sunglasses on and wearing my 'fuck with me and die' attitude plainly on my sleeve.

I pull up outside the café I left Finnick in, earning myself several stares. I abandon the bike on the sidewalk and throw my sunglasses over my shoulder on top of it. I'm sure someone will take them home.

I enter the café glaring at someone who accidentally bumped into me. They immediately burst into apologies.

I walk over to Finnick's table, shoving a woman who had taken my seat out of the chair and reclaiming it.

Finnick looks me up and down. "You've got my attention, and you definitely look sexy when you're angry."

"Not now Finnick." I say rolling my eyes.

The woman picks herself up and looks about ready to start a fight until she realizes who I am.

"What?" I snap.

She scampers off to some other guy.

I smirk. "Thought so."

Finnick chuckles. "Well, you just cleared my schedule."

"Awesome." I say sarcastically. "Nothing like having Finnick Odair follow you like a lost puppy."

"Most women would love that." Finnick says cocking an eyebrow.

"We've established that I'm not average."

"I don't want to guess what Snow asked."

"And you can bet what I answered with."

Finnick winces. "You've got guts Johanna Mason. I admire you for that."

"I'm waiting for a phone call though." I say rubbing my temples.

Finnick nods. The man I had shooed away comes back up sheepishly with his check in hand. I snatch it from his hands and tell him to go away.

"You were right."

"'Bout what?" I ask tiredly.

"That he would be back. You're good Johanna."

"I know that."

"We should go visit Haymitch."

"Why?"

"To show you off of course!" He says smiling a winning smile.

He grabs my hand and drags me back off towards the Training Center. Someone snaps a picture of us, but I manage to flick them off during the picture.

Can't wait to see that one on the news.

He shoves me into the elevator and he presses the Twelve button. Haymitch is sat at the table drinking shot after shot.

"Hey Haymitch!" Finnick says loudly. "We've got ourselves a fantastic Victor here."

He looks up with wide eyes. He stares at me quite clearly for a guy whose drunk all the time.

"Really? How so?"

I glare at him. "She's just a natural fighter."

"Let's go up on the roof."

"Really? Are you serious?" I ask looking out over the city.

Finnick is uncomfortably close as he has to look like he was holding me like a girlfriend. I nearly threw him off the roof.

"Yep," Haymitch says looking into his empty shot glass.

"You in?" Finnick asks excitedly.

"Does a bird fly?" I say completely stoked. "Yeah!"

I turn around and hop up sitting on the edge of the roof. I lean back so that I could look directly down the building. Finnick's breathe catches.

"Relax, I'm not gonna fall." I say rolling my eyes.

"Besides," Haymitch adds. "Even if she did she'd pop right back up onto the roof. In the case of suicidal tributes."

Haymitch would know a lot about that.

So I lean backwards as far as I could without losing my balance. "I love heights." I say smiling. "Adrenaline rush."

"I'm afraid of heights." Finnick says wearily.

"The fear of heights is pointless. The fear of falling is revolutionary." I recite smiling at the height.

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Read it in a book somewhere." I say shrugging still leaning in perfect balance.

"Johanna reads?" Finnick asks laughing.

"Ha, no." I say smirking. "But Link did and he read it to me once."