District 4, Coralie Alderly
Coralie hated her dress, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Not while she was striding across the stage, her face blank, revealing nothing.
She didn't want to be here, in the interviews, talking to people.
She sat across from Caesar Flickerman, her fingers tapping anxiously on the arm of her chair.
"Coralie, you're fairly young. How old are you, exactly?" Caesar asked.
She tried not to think how ridiculous his hair looked, but said. "I'm fourteen. A lot of people think I'm twelve."
"You're one of our youngest tributes. Do you have any specialized weapons?"
"I'm very accurate with throwing knives."
"Do you think you and Lindsey will have issues in the arena?"
"It's hard to say." She said, her blue-green eyes scanning all of the strange faces of the Capitol citizens.
"How prepared are you for the games?"
"I'm very prepared, I've been waiting for this my entire life. I want to bring pride to District Four, who hasn't had a victor since Finnick Odair."
"Coralie, what do you plan to do if you win?"
"I plan on becoming a mentor."
"That's a very good goal to have, I have faith that you will do just fine." He rose to his feet and helped her up. "Coralie Alderly, from District Four!"
District 5, Jacob Brahmani
Jacob was practically having flashbacks from the stuffy parties and public events his mother always made him go through. His dark brown suit was practically strangling him. He wanted to be back at his temporary flat in sweatpants and a t-shirt.
"Our next tribute," Caesar Flickerman said pleasantly, "Is a brave young man from District Five, who volunteered for his brother. His name, ladies and gentlemen, is Jacob Brahmani!"
Jacob's long legs carried him to the purple-clad man. He extended an arm and shook his hand before seating himself across from him, as he tried as hard as he could to ignore the citizens of the Capitol staring at him.
"You volunteered for your brother, why?"
Jacob cleared his throat, "I had no doubt that Hahn could do it, but he's blind. He's had such a hard life already, I didn't want to watch him die in the bloodbath. He's my brother. He's my best friend."
"That's very touching. What's your relationship with him like?"
"He's always been there for me when I needed him most," Jacob said. "Like I just said, we're best friends. We have been since we were ten. When my parents took him in it was one of the happiest days of my life. We were practically inseparable."
"Speaking of your parents," The man said, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward. "Your father is the mayor of District Five, what is that like for you?"
"Well, it's kind of difficult, I'm a kid. I want to hang out with my friends, have a girlfriend, mess around, and play sports. I don't really like having to attend the parties and the social events. It's also kind of hard being the mayor's kid. Everybody knows who you are."
"I see." He shook Jacob's hand one last time, "Jacob Brahmani from District Five, everyone!"
District 6, Alex Flynn
For Alex, being in a nice suit was…different. Back home, in District Six, he mostly wore jeans and flannels while he worked. He had never owned a suit before. His lips pressed into a thin line until Caesar announced his name. He walked, feeling thousands of eyes burning into him as she shook the host's hand and sat across from him.
"Alexander—"
"Please, call me Alex."
"Okay, Alex. You're a very smart guy, with quite a list of achievements in your district. What something that you have done recently that you consider an achievement?"
"Well," Alex said, tossing his white-blonde hair out of his face and pushing his glasses farther up his nose. "I graduated high school a few months ago."
"Really?" Caesar asked, a purple eyebrow raised. "That's astonishing! How old are you?"
"I'm sixteen."
"Wow, isn't that astonishing ladies and gentlemen?" Caesar asked, earning Alex whoops and cheers from the audience. "Now, a smart guy like you has to have a strategy for the games. What would that strategy be?"
Alex didn't want to give away his plans, he didn't want the other tributes watching him to mess everything up. He let out a small chuckle, "My plans are to stay alive. So, I can get home to the people I love." He thought of Jack, sitting in the moth-eaten armchair next to the woodstove as he watched the television with Allen.
"Yes, loved ones are very important. They are the glue that holds families together. Do you have a special person at home?"
"I do."
"What's her name?"
"His name is Jack."
For some reason that caused the citizens of the Capitol to go ecstatic, they were off their feet, screaming, whistling, and cheering for him.
"Very well," Caesar stood, holding up Alex's hand. "Alex Flynn, from District Six!"
District 7, Oakleigh Gilbert
Oakleigh clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides as Ian sewed a gather at the hip of her bronze dress.
"Wool ooystah tah?" He asked quietly through a mouthful of thread.
"What?" She asked him moving her arm to look down at him.
He bit off the last strand of thread, inspected his work. "I said, 'will you stop that'? Why do you think that everyone is going to hate you all of the time?"
"I—I don't know. Lindsey hates me."
"Lindsey is a hateful bitch from District Two." He reminded her, straightening from his crouch. "You look fabulous."
She smiled at him. "Thanks."
"Get your curvaceous butt out there." He said gently shoving her in the direction of the stage. She faltered uneasily on her high-heeled shoes, but recovered. She walked as gracefully as she possibly could to Caesar.
"Look at you!" he said gesturing to her and her dress. It was a bronze color, tight in all of the right places, without making her look fat, with a silver pin on her right hip with inlaid rhinestones. "You look marvelous!"
"Thank you," she said sitting across from him. She felt marvelous, for the first time in her entire life. "My stylist worked very hard on this dress."
"I'm sure he did." Caesar said knowingly. "Now, there's a lot of woods in District Seven. Right?"
She nodded, "Oh, yes."
"What was it like growing up in the woods?"
"It wasn't horrible. I learned to familiarize myself with the forest and the trees. My brother and I would play outside until it got dark."
"So if the arena is a forest you should feel at home?"
"I should."
"How did you feel when you were reaped?"
"I couldn't believe it." She told him honestly, "I thought that there had to have been somebody, anybody who scored higher than I did. But, I guess not."
He nodded sympathetically. "Now, we all know that one of the keys to winning the Hunger Games is often having allies. Do you have any allies or rivals yet?"
"I haven't given much thought to allies, but Lindsey Ardford and I don't get along very well, I guess we could be considered rivals. But, things can always change in the arena."
"Indeed they can." He rose, helping Oakleigh out of her seat. "Oakleigh Gilbert from District Seven, everybody!"
