Chapter 5: The girls on fire
After I was dressed up in my new outfit I looked at it in the mirror. I smiled. My outfit was all black and shiny and my hair was done in a braid just like my mother's hair. "Wow" I said. "What do you think?" Cinna said. "Amazing" I said. "Come,
let's go meet the others for the parade" Cinna said. he then took me back to where the others were and I saw people who were selected to be in the games lined up in their spots. Horses were attached to carriages that,
would pull us through the crowds of the parade. I looked and scanned the crowd for my family. I couldn't find my family but I know they are here, watching the parade. I met up with Katniss and Peeta and Cinna was explaining to us how to use the fire.
"Okay, this is safe. I promise. it's not real fire but these suits are build so you don't feel anything" Cinna said. "Looks pretty real to me" Peeta said. "Yeah" I said. "Well that's,
the idea. "You ready? Don't be afraid" Cinna said. "I am not afraid" Katniss replied. "I'm not scared of anything" I said. We lined up. Katniss and Peeta got into their cart,
and I got into mine. I had my own cart with my own horse because I would go separate. after a while, we all lined up and I was in the very back of the line. I was a bit nervous,
even though I said I was not scared of anything. after a few minutes we started moving. as we were moving we went through the big line for the parade. I held onto my cart.
fire was flowing out of my back from my suit. as we were going through the big hallway the crowd was cheering for us. I saw Peeta and Katniss in front of me with fires flowing,
through their backs. I saw Peeta attempting to grab Katniss's hand but she pulled it away. Peeta whispered something in Katniss's ear that I cannot make out. I then watched,
as Katniss and Peeta held hands and raised their hands in the air. I gasped. the crowd cheered loudly. I raised my hands and waved to the crowd. I smiled when I saw my,
family watching me in the stands. when we finished going through the hallway we all lined up at the end, still in our carts. I looked at Katniss and smiled at her. she smiled,
back at me. "Good job" She mouthed. I gave her a thumbs up to let her know I heard her. I noticed Katniss got a rose from the audience. she found an extra one and tossed the rose to me and I caught it. "thank you" I mouthed. she nodded.
I saw president Snow walking up to the podium. then I saw a person who I was surprised to see here. General Ironwood. General Ironwood stood next to President Snow. our flames on our backs stopped when we stopped moving. President Snow spoke up.
"Welcome. welcome. tributes we welcome you" President Snow said. The crowd cheered as we were being welcomed. "We salute your courage and your sacrifice, and we wish you Happy Hunger Games. and may the odds benever in your favor.
when President Snow finished his speech we went into a back room and Effie greeted us. she had a big smile on her face. "That was amazing! were all anybody's ever going,
to be talking about!" Effie said. "So brave" Haymitch said. "and your sure you should be near an open flame?" Katniss said. "Fake flame" Haymitch said. "Are you sure you"
Haymitch was cut off when he saw someone staring at us. "Let's go upstairs" He said. After we got off our carts I was greeted by my family who gave me big hugs.
"Oh my gosh, you guys were so awesome!" Nora said. "That was super cool. fake or real?" Yang said. I smiled. "want to find out?" I said jokingly. "I would happily take,
your power if it were real" Aunt Cinder said who was also joking. "You did a great job. not a lot of people have the guts to do that" Yang said. "I guess if I ignored you,
and did not volunteer then I would have missed out on this" I said. "That's true. but still were disappointed in you for not listening to us" Weiss said. "Mother please can,
we not talk about this, we talked about it enough!" I shouted. "come on, let's just go upstairs with Katniss and the others" Ruby said. I then looked at at Ren. "Dad,
what do you think about all this? are you disappointed?" I said. "Yes, I am a bit. but I still think it was a brave thing you did, even though you didn't need to" Ren said.
I sighed a bit. "Okay" I said. "Come on Lana, let's go. Effie says there are snacks and refreshments upstairs" Aunt Cinder said. "Alright" I said.
after a while, we got upstairs and Effie was speaking to us. "So, each of the districts gets their own floor. and because you're from district 12, you guys get the penthouse" Effie said. she was walking us to our quarters. "What lucky little bastards" Nora said. I giggled.
"I guess we're the ones getting the special treatment" I said. when the elevator stopped on the top floor, the doors opened and Effie led us into the penthouse. Katniss, Peeta, and I looked around. "Come on" Effie said.
I snapped out of my thoughts and followed her. "So this is the living room" Effie said. "I know, I know" Peeta said. "Now, your rooms are right over here. why don't you get yourself cleaned up a bit before dinner" Effie said. "Let's go get you cleaned up a bit Lana"
Ruby said. "Okay mommy" I said. "I can help you with your clothes and all that" Blake said. "I can help too" Ruby said. "We will be in the living room, waiting for you" Jaune,
said. "Alright" Blake said. "let's get you into some more comfy clothes" Blake said. "Aw, I like this suit" I said. "You can put it back on after dinner if you want, we don't mind"Salem said. "Thanks" I said.
Ruby and Blake then took me back to get me cleaned up.