Amelia "Amy" Songbird (14) D8F
Life in the Capitol was better than life in the District. None of the kids or Capitolites knew me, so they didn't judge me for being rich while they starved. That was good. It wasn't my fault I was rich. Some kids even smiled at me, or started conversations with me. I didn't really know how to keep conversations going, since I never got to practice that at home, but I tried my best. People seemed to appreciate it. However, I was learning that I needed time to cool down after conversations, something I never would have learned in Eight.
My room was a great place for a cool-down. I had asked for a whole bunch of dresses to be made for me, asking for no particular style. I didn't really care what I was presented with. I just wanted some time to chill and do a runway walk all by myself, giving myself a morale boost and a confidence boost. Really, I just said those last parts so I didn't feel silly trying on a bunch of brand new dresses right before a death battle, but I pretended I didn't know that. For a little bit, I got to be a pretty princess without having to hide it from my community.
The first dress I saw was a giant pink ballgown. It was just my size, which made sense. The Capitol had designed it specifically for me. It didn't look great on me, since pink wasn't really my color. It didn't match my skin tone well. The next one was a dark blue mermaid, which I loved, even though it was nothing I would ever wear out in public. It didn't have a back! How weird was that?
I spent an endless amount of time going through the dresses. There were dresses of every style and every color, even some made out of fabrics that I, and Eight, didn't recognize. It was amazing. The Capitol was giving someone of no value to them more clothing than I had ever been able to afford in Eight, and all of it was a perfect fit for me. This couldn't be reused. It was just for me.
When I looked up at the clock, I realized it was already nine. I had been so absorbed in my dresses that I had forgotten to eat! I hoped Caddis wouldn't be mad at me for skipping out on supper. He was such a nice kid. I had to order supper by myself now, since I really didn't want to wake him up. We all needed all the sleep we could get.
It was almost fitting that I ate supper by myself. It was delicious Capitol food, steaks and turkeys, fruit juice and milk at my fingertips. I chose a salad. After all the time I had spent trying on dresses, I was feeling guilty. Kids in my grade had slaved over the fabric that was put into those dresses. Kids from Ten and Eleven made all the food I was eating. I never had to work like they did. I just lived off of their sacrifice.
Lorenk Pritchett (16) D9M
I knew where I needed to go in the Training Center. I was a big, strong Nine. Nobody but a Career would attack me, and if a Career did, I would be screwed whether or not I focused on weapons for a whole long week. As a Nine, I knew a bit about surviving. I knew how to go long, hard days without food, and I was used to going hours under the scorching sun without water. What I didn't know was how to move well. I could lift heavy things, and I knew how to maneuver objects, but I couldn't maneuver myself.
That was how I ended up on the obstacle course, climbing ropes and hopping from one place to the next, trying to avoid all the spinning doohickeys that were trying to knock me off my path. The course went all the way up to the ceiling, with a net stretched beneath me, stretched across the whole ceiling, and went all the way back down to the ground across the room. It was a real workout just staying on it, so I knew I had to stay focused. That was hard when I saw a short little blonde girl that looked just like home.
She saw me looking at her and wandered over to the obstacle course. I made my way down, slipping and falling when I missed a handhold. I landed in the net and she gasped, just like my sister would have. Then I rolled out of the net and down to the ground, standing up next to her.
"What's your name?" I asked her, knowing she wouldn't reply Lorena. She wasn't my sister. She just looked a lot like her.
"Amelia. Who are you?" Amelia replied.
I was at a loss. I had intended to get through the whole Games without any allies. I wanted to be a warrior, just trying to survive, and now there was one kid I couldn't kill. I couldn't live with myself if I practically killed my baby sister. I couldn't live with myself if I let her die. "I'm Lorenk. Are you looking for allies?"
She looked amazed when I offered that. It took her a couple of seconds to gather herself before she finally replied, saying, "Why would you want to ally with me? I'm just some dumb rich kid." I realized right then that her life was nothing like mine, and that she was going to be nothing like my sister, but logic didn't win out over emotion.
"You remind me of someone from home. I want to make sure you can get through the Games," I said, not making eye contact. How embarrassing. I was allying with someone who would definitely drag me down just because my dumb heart wanted me to.
"I definitely want an ally, and I will help you through these Games," Amelia replied. She looked like she was trying to convince herself, but I didn't care. I didn't care whether or not she was useful at all. I just knew that I had to make sure she lived.
I had to pair tributes up somehow, so this happened.
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