TEAM 13 : DISTRICT 1
Ginny : Malie
Breakfast
The Capitol loved Malie, and she seemed to love them.
Ginny, on the other hand, had... different feelings.
She supposed it didn't matter; the result was the same either way.
Across the table Organza Braun, daughter of Augustus Braun (winner of the 67th Annual Hunger Games), glowered at her.
District 1 was the district closest to the streets below, and the only ones that had any hope of hearing what its denizens screamed up at them.
Organza had been... frustrated, to say the least, by their clear preference for Malie—they'd screeched when she waved at them, looked faint when she blew a kiss, and even started up a chant in her support.
Organza, in what was likely a direct contradiction to how she had expected her first night at the capitol to go, had felt almost completely ignored.
Marvel Wagner, named after the winner of the 75th and 17 year-old volunteer, had a very similar expression from several seats over.
The rest were... well, they hadn't expected to be as fawned over, so it was easier for them to come to terms with their relative invisibility, she supposed.
Marvel and Organza obviously didn't feel the same.
Off in a table to themselves a similar story was playing out among the victors. Augustus in particular was visibly murderous, but then he was mentoring his own daughter and on top of that...
Well, after his victory he had been hailed as Panem's Favorite Son, their Cavalier Career. His impeccable manners and well-crafted manner of chivalry and dutifulness had caused an unusually large upswell of support, and that combined with an excellent sob story (his own father had been the second-to-last alive in his Games, and the first time Augustus had watched them he had apparently sworn to win his own in his father's place) meant that he was riding on cloud nine, in the Capitol every week and being nearly inundated with gifts every time he turned around.
Siblings Gloss and Cashmere, who had won the 63rd and 64th respectively, had their own not-insubstantial fanbase, but it was nothing like his own.
And then the 75th Hunger Games came.
And Gloss won.
Her outstanding achievement—the only one in all of Panem who could claim two Games—had left him in the dust.
It was visible in just about every Hunger Games from that point forward: the victors would mount the stage to welcome the new volunteers to the Game, each receiving widespread adulation, and then Gloss would mount and, well.
Augustus quickly lost his "Cavalier Career" reputation when, according to the announcers of the 78th Hunger Games, memes began to circulate of Augustus's face during Gloss's applause.
This, Ginny supposed, was supposed to be his year. His year to continue the family tradition, to regain his reputation, to receive the adulation he was clearly addicted to.
And then she had volunteered.
And so had (almost) the rest of Team 13.
And Gloss chose her.
In a matter of hours, Team 18 had went from clear favorites to fighting desperately for their spot against a team that was a full five years younger than them.
Augustus glared at Gloss, and Organza and Marvel glared at Ginny.
She would be very, very happy when breakfast was over.