Chapter 12
Dinner that night was relatively quiet. Everyone knew in two days our conversations and gatherings will end. We'll be like lambs being sent to the slaughter. One by one everyone peeled out of the room after finishing their meals. Jason and I were left with an awkward silence between us. I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood.
"Sarah you alright?"
"I want to talk to you…" He made the motion for me to continue. "No, not here…it's too open." I knew that there would people listening in even though we were the only ones in the room. He stood up tossing his napkin onto his plate.
"I think I know a place." I gave a nod and we headed up to the roof and he was right. There was a whirring of mechanics and whooshing of wind. "No one can hear us now." He smiled. I leaned forward onto the ledge. He did the same. "What did you want to talk about?" my breath seemed to leave me all at once, my heart sounding loud in my ears.
"I…I do too." I noticed that he laughed and I felt embarrassed, my cheeks turning pink.
"You do too what? You have to give me more than three words Sarah." He stared at me and waited patiently. I stood up straight and faced him and hugged myself.
"Like what you told me that night on the train…I-I do...uh you too." My chest tightened. "…I have for a long time…since that first day I met you…" He seemed to be in disbelief. I was beginning to feel flustered; my words didn't feel like they were coming out right. "I shouldn't have-" I went to leave, but I felt him grab my arm and I looked back at him.
"Why did you wait?" I searched through my thoughts, trying to formulate sentences.
"Because I was afraid…and now it feels almost fruitless. We'll just be pulled apart in there." He put both of his hands on my shoulders.
"It won't happen because I won't let it."
"But we might have to-"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it Sarah. Just think of right now. This moment. These feelings. Just plunge in and don't look back." I took his advice and I put a kiss on his lips taking him by surprise. I released the kiss and he still held me at arm's length, still surprised, and then I saw a smirk appear. "Well that's not what I meant exactly."
"Uggh!" I punched him in the chest. "You're impossible." He began to laugh and pulled me into a hug, placing a kiss on the top of my head. We just stood there for a few more minutes, hugging one another until I began to shiver from the cold. It was then we decided we should probably try to get some rest. Tomorrow was a big day after all and the day after, an even bigger one.
It took most of the day for my style team to get me ready for interviews. After everything was said in done, I was in a white baby doll dress and glass heels. Towards the bottom of the dress, it had a few silver gems on it that would twinkle when I moved. My skin was sprayed with white silver, but it wasn't over powering. My main stylist decided it would be for the best and cut my waist length hair to my shoulders. It may seem silly but I liked my hair that long, but…if it was needed I would oblige. So he cut my hair and pulled it back into a tight bun and accented the bun with white feathers. He put the final touches on my face and then allowed me to look in the mirror. I didn't look like myself at all…I looked…Graceful. Fragile. Like…Snow. He made me look the snow that rests on the mountain in District 2. My stomach was in butterflies as I was escorted to where the stage has been set up. And moments after arriving, Jason finds me. He is dressed in a suit made up of different shades of gray and his tie is white and his sandy blond locks slicked back, making him look dashing and chiseled just like the Nut. Then I realize Ariadne must have known what I was going to tell him and told the stylists. They made us two parts of a whole. My chest felt tight, my heart beating rapidly like a rabbit. He stepped closer to me and placed a kiss on my forehead.
"You look magnificent." I begin to blush and even more so as he takes my hand. I give his hand a squeeze as we step into the elevator. That nervous feeling is returning again, but then I remember I have my partner with me. My…boyfriend and it begins to go away. We are now on stage and proceed to our chairs and await our turns. District one finishes and now it's my turn. The girl always precedes the boy and I wish now it was the other way around. Here I was sitting in bright lights across from Caesar Flickerman. This year his theme is a lime green and he reminds me of the fruit and I have to try to stifle my laughter. But he catches my small giggle and starts laughing himself.
"I know, I know! I look like a piece of fruit, but I thought to myself, everyone likes fruit!" the crowd begins to laugh and I let my laugh leave my lips. He turns to me and pretends to be taken aback by my beauty. "Look at you! As fresh as fallen snow! My, my, your stylists have outdone themselves!"
"I never thought I could look like this."
"Like what?"
"A flake!" Caesar and the crowd erupt with laughter, I've charmed them already or at least I'm trying to.
"What impresses me as much as your joke is your training score. A 10 ladies and gentlemen! Care to tell us how you got that?"
"Well, I just gave it my best really. Truth be told I almost fell several times! At least that would seem like part of my plan." He beams at me because I return his playful banter.
"One final question, how did that handsome lad capture your attention? Chocolates perhaps? I love a good chocolate every now and then!" the crowd laughs again. I feel a blush on my cheeks and my answer leaves my lips before I can think of something else.
"It was his eyes. They seem to know me better than I do and they make me feel…safe." My air leaves my lungs and there was applause and then the buzzer goes off.
"Aw! It looks like we're out of time! I wish you both the best. Sarah Earnheart, tribute from District 2." The crowd has been continuing their applause until I sit in my seat and before Jason goes to have his interview with Caesar, he slips me a kiss and it sends them into applause again. We've taken the crowd by storm. I listen to Jason's replies to Caesar and he's playing off as charming, while I played myself off as confident and humorous. His interview seems to have gone much faster, but maybe it only seems longer when you are being questioned. Jason receives applause that seems to shake the stage and he comes and sits back down in his seat, taking my hand. I scoot my chair closer to him and lean into him which gets us 'awes' from the crowd. It may seem like a ploy but it's not. I really do care about him with all my being and I'm going to do my best. My best to get him home again.
The interviews end and we return back into the training center and each District goes to their designated floors. We're congratulated on our successful interviews and the whole time, I don't let go of his hand. I don't want to let go, but I know I'll have to. I have this feeling something bad is going to happen tomorrow morning when we're rising out of the ground and are released into the bloodbath. We all go to our designated rooms, but once again Jason and I are standing out in the hallway; our hands still holding onto the other so tight the circulation is gone.
"I-I…" he pulls me into the tightest hug I've ever gotten and I'll probably have bruises, but it doesn't matter. I return the gesture.
"Just remember what we planned. Nothing's going to go wrong." We both go silent, holding each other for what seems like years. I'm shaky when we actually part ways and go into our own rooms. This feeling of emptiness and loneliness has washed over me. In the morning I'll be in a hovercraft taking me to the designated area that was deemed for the 72 hunger games. It seemed unreal. Tomorrow I would be fighting to keep myself and Jason alive. I've never had to fight that hard before and I'm not exactly sure if I'll be able to.
