Gilbert Dongalls, 15
District Six Male
He feels sick now - sick and nervous. He doesn't want to go out onto the stage, he doesn't want to do this. He just wants to go back to the apartment and pretend this isn't happening, that he isn't about to die.
He doesn't want to die.
He doesn't want to die.
He doesn't want to end up like Tony.
A stubborn tear manages to escape his eye and trickles down his face, smudging a bit of the make-up that one of the stylists had smeared on as they prepared his outfit for the interviews. He didn't like it much, but the team had declared that it suited him. He's been dressed rather casually, in a white t-shirt and black pants. A black blazer makes him look formal enough to sit on the stage, and they've done his make-up so he doesn't look too much like a mess.
He feels like one, though.
"Oh, your make-up is running again!" one of them says. Clucking her tongue, she descends upon him with a make-up brush that she uses to fix whatever smear previously adorned his skin. "Now, there you are. Hopefully that will wow the rest of the audience. Cheer up, you're going to be seen by the entire nation!"
Gil shudders.
He's ushered out into the line of the tributes, taking his place behind his district partner. Celaeno turns around, their hair braided elaborately around snow-white extensions. "I think they wanted to make me look like an avox or something at first, but I asked for something neutral. So they gave me this tuxedo instead! I like the way it glitters - it's fun."
Gil looks at the dazzling set of clothing. "Yeah, you look great. Good luck, Celaeno."
"Thank you!" Celaeno turns back and continues to watch the front of the line, and they listen to the host - one Alexander Belmont - begin to speak to the tributes. Gil listens as well, but he just feels tired.
If only it could be over with already.
"Well, well, well, welcome Lind- no, I've been informed that you're Frosty! You look stunning in that dress: blue suits you!"
"Thank you, Alex! I..." The One girl continues to speak, but Gil tunes out. Isa's tried to tell him to be confident on the stage, but she gave up and went back to talking with Celaeno after he yelled at her. He doesn't know why he did that. He shouldn't have been mad at her, she hadn't hurt Tony. She had done nothing wrong.
Maybe it's because he remembers the way she was before.
"My, my, Dimitri, you look great! That tuxedo fits so well - oh, now I see the different colours! Turn for the audience, so they can see how lovely this is! Your stylist must be getting quite the raise after this. Now, tell me how you're enjoying the Capitol. I've heard a lot about…"
Funny enough, he's only felt more at peace since he's came to the Capitol. He hadn't realized it, but at home all he could think about why he got to live and Tony died so suddenly. Why was he dead? Why did Gil get to live? Why was he still here?
But now?
Now, he feels like the guilt has vanished. Now, all that's left is the dread. It's a terrible, dark thing that preys at him whenever he tries to stop thinking about it, but it's better than the guilt.
He knows that it'll vanish when he dies.
"Triton, you are marvellous! You're a dazzling dark night, with the way that blue fades into… it's a whole spectrum of blue to black! It's beautiful! Now, tell me about Thetis. Come on, spill the beans - we've been waiting with bated breath to find out if you're related… folks, did you hear that? Let's give a big round of applause for these two!"
As the raucous applause continues, Gil watches the boy from Four grin at the crowd before look over at the girl from Two - no, not the Two, his sister. They look nervous now, but they plaster on fake grins for the audience.
They didn't plan to do this. They don't want to lose each other.
Huh.
As the girl from Four walks onto the stage, she glares at the audience. She looks vicious, dressed in silver and glittering with jagged edges. And now she attacks, telling the audience exactly what she thinks about the whole process of sending them off to die.
But instead of boos, the audience dissolves into applause as well for her.
Gil thinks they're quite strange.
As the girl from Five charms the audience with a story about how she got her scars, Gil turns back to Celaeno. "I don't want to do this - oh, I'm not going to be able to speak a word up there."
"Good luck!" is their reply, and now he's walking onto the stage with his heart in his throat.
He hates this.
"Welcome, welcome! Gil, it's good to have you with us! How are you doing? You look stunning in that blazer - it fits you perfectly!"
Gil tries to speak, but no words come out. His tongue is betraying him, refusing to say anything at all. So instead, he shuts his mouth and doesn't speak. His cheeks burn with embarrassment, but he tries not to look at Alexander. It'll only make it worse.
"Oh, cat got your tongue? Don't worry, mine tried to bite a chunk of my ear out when I gave him a bath. Don't worry, it's still intact!" The audience laughs on cue as Alexander shows his ear, a nasty scratch on the lobe. "Now, Gil, we all have one question: how do you feel being here? We know that you're related to a very special guy who was here with us last year - who doesn't miss Tony?"
Gil tries to close his eyes, but hot, shameful tears spill out and onto his shirt. He buries his face in his hands, shuddering with every sob. He just wants this to be over.
He wants to go home.
Oh, he's going to die tomorrow.
Flora Perkins, 14
District Seven Female
"Welcome, welcome, welcome! Flora, it's so good to have you up here with us!" the host continues, flashing yet another one of his perma-grins towards her. His teeth are blindingly white, and Flora wonders if he has really good teeth or if he's had surgery for them. She'd bet that it's the latter.
"Well, I'm glad I get to be here. I have a few things that I'd like to discuss with everything, if you don't mind." The host nods, and Flora pulls out her pin. Cradling it tenderly in her hand, she displays the large pin to the audience. "This is my earth pin - I'm the head of a earth-truthers society back at home. We only have a few members, but we're always looking to recruit more people to the cause. We just want to make sure that everyone's informed, you know?"
"But - but the earth is round, you know," replies the host. He looks confused, stuttering over his words as he tries to regain control of the conversation. But Flora's already two steps ahead of him.
"Propaganda to hide the truth from us all. This pin is in the shape of the earth - if we turn it to its side, that's what the earth is like. You can't deny it: it's not round. There's no way to prove that it is, you know."
"But if you fly high enough, you can see that the earth curves. You do know that, right?" the host replies, having given up any niceties. Flora allows herself a little smirk - she's getting through to him.
"We've had some studies showing that when you get high enough, the tiny hairs that grow in your ears get out of balance and cause you to hallucinate. It also rounds things - so you think that you see curves when you do. It's quite simple to understand, really. It's all just a big lie told to us so we won't know the truth. What other information could the government be hiding from us?" she asks, looking at the shocked audience. Some are tittering in amusement, while others are merely confused. Maybe she's getting through to them as well.
"Well - oh, the bell's gone off! I'm very sorry, but that's all the time we have for you today! Thank you to Flora for joining us, it was great to have you. Now, it's time to meet Birchwood! Don't be shy, come on up and take a seat next to me! It's so good to have you here, and - oh my, you're dazzling!"
Flora's ushered off of the stage and into her seat by a stage hand. Her dress is rumpled from the unceremonious walk away from the interview, but she doesn't mind. She thinks that she looked good - her dress is a lovely shade of blue, complete with a white sash around her waist and tiny white shoes on her feet. They hurt from how tight they were, but it was worth it.
Maybe she helped a few people join the cause.
After discussing timber, of all things, the dolt comes walking towards her and sits down heavily in his seat. "Did I do well, Flora?"
"Yeah, you were great, Birchwood." She ignores her district partner, listening to the girl from District Eight instead. She looks smart enough, cracking jokes with the host before walking away from the stage in her red dress. Maybe if Flora got someone like that on her side, more people would listen to her. Their mentors had told her to not talk about the flat earth theories that she had, but she hadn't paid them attention. Why would she give up the opportunity to educate so many people? Why would she throw away it when she had the attention of the nation?
Yes, she did the right thing for herself. And after all, it made quite a splash. She hadn't seen the host of the interviews this year get tripped up once as he was talking with the tributes - not until he reached her.
Maybe he'll think a bit more about what she had to say after it's all over.
After the boy from Eight talks about his class with the host, - Flora should have learned his name by now, but she doesn't really see the point of memorizing useless information - the girl from Nine takes the stage. Her dress looks like it's been spun from gold, and Flora lets out a low whistle of surprise. She's dressed for the occasion.
"Yes, I struggle with… I struggle with a few mental issues," she tells the audience partway through her interview, and the audience applauds. Not loudly, though - they're somber.
They're respectful.
Flora keeps watching the rest of the tributes take the stage - the boy from Nine, confident as he jokes around during his interview, the girl from Ten, whose voice wavers as she tries to seem older than she is, the boy from Ten, who plays it coy with the audience, the girl from Eleven, who coughs all the way through her interview, the boy from Eleven, who pretends that he hasn't been hospitalized for the last few days, the girl from Twelve, who almost hisses at the audience in her anger, and the boy from Twelve, who tries to be coy as well but ends up just seeming hilarious.
Poor souls, she thinks to herself when the interviews finish and Maddie comes to bring her and Birchwood back to the apartment. They won't make it far.
And will she?
She will.
She knows that she will.
Last tribute chapter! Next, we have an interlude and then we FINALLY dive into the arena! Excitement!
Thoughts? Ideas? Predictions? Feel free to share!
Thank you all for reading, and enjoy. Until next time, TheAmazingJAJ