AN:

HUGE HUGE SORRY! It's taken me so long to update, because it's been a pretty busy week of school. My computer has issues and uploading fanfiction sometimes makes it freeze up. But I'll be back on track now. Anyway, enjoy!

Amber POV:

Dolor shakes me roughly awake at dawn, after hours of troubled sleep. He helps me into a simple shift, and guides me to the roof, giving me a tender look. He's been looking at me like this since last night, when I came back to find him surrounded by gushing stylists, saying his idea for my outfit was going to be the hit new trend.

A hovercraft appears out of thin air, and I, trembling, put my hands on the rope and find myself frozen in place as I'm lifted in. I'm stuck in my frozen position as a woman in a white coat puts a surprisingly painful tracker in my arm. After I'm released and buckled in, I gingerly rub the spot, which is already bruising. A girl with two braids looks over at me curiously.

"Is that all from the tracker," she asks me, speaking with a twang and pronouncing it "track-uh". I blink at her. "Your bruise?"

"Oh," I laugh nervously, "um, yes. I bruise easily."

She gives me a sympathetic look. "I'm raylly sorrabout that. You was one of the ones I wand to wane."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh," she splutters. "I just mane that that's going to be a disadvayuntage in the arayna. I'm Paisley, by the way. I'm goin'a die in the bloodbath. Are you goin'a get involved?"

I shake my head no. She looks disappointed. Looking at the girl on her other side, one with short dirty blonde hair, she asks her the same question, and the answer's yes, the other girl is going to be involved.

"Can you kayll quickly, lack with a waypon?" asks Paisley.

"Yep, I can throw spears," answers the girl, cheerfully.

"Ooh!" Paisley looks excited. "D'ya think you could spayer me? I want it painless."

"I can try," nods the other girl, who I think is from 9.

I'm really unnerved by this conversation, and the ride continues in near-silence, except for the soft sobs of the brother and sister from 12 and the chatter of some of the careers. When it's finally time for eating with Dolor, I'm literally shaking with fear, and can't eat anything. He finally gets me to drink a cup of water

Finally we reach the Launch Room, which scares me more than anything. It's the last normal thing I'll ever see, unless I win. It's beautiful in a scary way. I sit down on a shiny black chair as Dolor chats aimlessly about the outfit he's unwrapping.

"Ooh, they're going for a sexier angle this year!" My head snaps up, when he holds up the arena outfit: a seamless black top that is cropped and reminds me of a sports bra, and seamless tight black shorts. On the border, there's a red and a grey thin stripe.

"Is that it?" I scoff. Seriously, the games are really selling out. I expected a tad more class. After I change into it, however, I find that it's quite comfortable, and I can move around easily. If it's cold in the arena, though, the odds certainly won't be in my favor. Also, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with showing this much of my body, but I digress.

I pace the floor in dizzying rapidity, and find myself flinching at Dolor's every word. After about 15 minutes of this, a voice tells me to get into the tube. I stand there staring at it, wondering what would happen if I didn't go in. If I just hid here in the Launch Room. But of course that wouldn't be allowed, so I grudgingly step into the tube which immediately closes.

Panic starts to set in, and the tube seems to compress onto me until I can't breathe. The air is thick and I feel tears leaking out of the corner of my eyes, and mercifully the plate starts to rise. I'm blinded by sunlight as I hear Claudius Templesmith's voice booming out:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Let the 37th Annual Hunger Games Begin!