"Merely stating a truth isn't enough. The truth has to be made vivid, interesting, dramatic. You have to use showmanship." - Dale Carnegie

Alila Perwane, 18

District One Female

Over and under, over and under.

The monotony of the task was not lost on Alila, though it did give her a bit of reprieve before the long day ahead. This was the best way to start out her day, the closest she'd get to peace and quiet, which was an exceedingly rare thing in the Perwane household.

Flinching as she heard a door open and close a little too loudly, Alila nearly fumbled her braid, something that didn't happen very often. She thrived on the quiet mornings, but this one was already proving to be different. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she did know what the cause of it was.

"Come back here, you little shit!" Lacey hissed loudly, though Alila could tell she wasn't all that mad. The giggles gave her away, but Lacey would never admit to enjoying whatever her and Quinton got up to.

Whatever the twelve year old said in response was lost but his infectious giggles carried through the door, bringing a soft smile to Alila's lips. Out of habit, Alila raised her head slightly to glance at Timothee, catching the corners of his lips pulling up as well. Neither of them spoke a word, but there wasn't anything that particularly needed to be said.

Thee's smile seemed hesitant, making Alila wonder if there was a memory surfacing. Or trying to, at least. It was hard to tell what Thee could remember from his life before and what was forgotten, but no one wanted to ask about it anyway. Some days Alila wanted to get to the bottom of whatever demons haunted him just so she could hunt them down herself, but she never wanted to push too far. Whatever he'd gone through before being adopted by her parents, it wasn't pretty.

Of all the kids Alila's four parents - yes, four - had brought in, Timothee was the closest to her. Due to the nature of the kids her parents adopted, it was hard getting used to all of them, mainly because there were just so many. Alila had lost track again, but she figured there were between 25 and 30 kids in the house. All of them were displaced from their homes under rather… mysterious circumstances, her parents being more than willing to take in these children to teach them the proper way to serve the Capitol and Panem as a whole. To undo whatever had tainted their minds as they were raised, to share what was right so that the children could go on to be better than whatever rebel parents had raised them.

Over and under, over and under.

Alila began to wind the braid around her head, figuring she'd go for a crown braid this morning. She could afford to have something more elaborate, something pretty rather than functional. Today's training day wasn't about training; rather, it was about the showcase.

As she worked, Alila closed her eyes once more to picture her movements. District One kids were supposed to have some kind of talent, something of worth to the District if they didn't make it into the Games themselves. Alila could already picture the movement of her body, the way she incorporated her bladed fans into the dance she'd been practicing.

Her feet twitched in her old tennis shoes as if they wanted to start her dance right then and there. Theoretically, there was nothing stopping her. The only other person in the room with her was Thee and he would probably be more than willing to watch her practice and point out areas for her to focus on.

But today she couldn't afford to spend time practicing now. All of her practice would be done at the Academy, right before the showcase where she would kick Mimi's ass into next week.

"You'll make a better showing than her."

Alila flinched slightly as the silence was broken, tying off her hair and beginning to pin it into place. She stayed quiet for a moment, staring down at the floor. The reassurance would've felt stale and forced from anyone else, but from Thee it seemed to mean something.

Ignoring his actual statement, Alila looked back over at him. "You'll be there, right?"

Running a hand through his hair, Thee gave her a soft smile, the kind of smile that he seemed to reserve solely for her. "I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said, and Alila knew he meant it.

Of all the kids that came in and out of the Perwane house, Alila was most thankful for this one. Thee was closer to her than anyone in the world and she had to imagine she was the same for him.

Maybe he was resentful of the fact that she was going to make sure she was the chosen Volunteer, but he'd never show it. That was Thee for you, always kind and supportive no matter what. It made her grateful that he'd never have to go through the Academy, never have to worry about being reaped or volunteering. With his missing arm, the Academy would never even think to let him in. They didn't deal with imperfections, and in a way, Alila herself was a bit of a stretch.

But tonight would go perfectly; she was sure of it. Alila had been working hard on her routine for weeks, spending every second she wasn't actively training on the dance floor making sure she could do her routine in her sleep. She actually wouldn't be surprised if she did that at some point.

With a final strand of hair tucked in place, Alila got up and sighed, catching Thee's attention again. "I'll see you after?" he asked softly.

Alila nodded and shot him a grin. "If you run into Lacey and Quinton, make sure you tell them that April will have their heads for being up and about this early."

Thee laughed, a soft sound but one that made Alila's heart ache slightly. If all this went to plan… well, it didn't matter. She would become the chosen volunteer and she would get back home. There was no other choice for her.

Besides, she'd tear the arena apart just to get back to Thee.

Bladed fans tucked into her bag, Alila stepped into the locker room to get ready for the showcase. It was a terribly elaborate ordeal, one that Alila had been dying to participate in since she'd first seen it as a kid. It was one of the biggest tests of her abilities, the perfect way to show the entire District that she was capable, the best chance she had to prove that her hard work had paid off.

Alila began pulling her outfit out of the bag, the shimmery skirt a far cry from what she would normally wear, but it would catch the light perfectly as she spun in front of the audience. All of the outfits were various shades of gold, so hers was no exception. They were prizes to be shown off to the District, something to be earned instead of an actual person.

For all the glitz and glam District 1 prided itself on containing, there sure were a lot of dark secrets lurking just below the surface.

"... and I heard that the Estelle Duvont is going to be here!"

Gritting her teeth at the sound of a familiarly irritating voice, Alila started to strip off her leggings, keeping her head ducked so she could listen. If there was one thing Mimi Segula was known for, it was running her mouth.

"This is the perfect chance to impress her!" One of the girls squealed in excitement, clearly a younger one that had just followed Mimi into the locker room. "I hope I get to be as great as you someday…" she finished dreamily.

Alila caught the moment Mimi realized she was there, as Mimi's voice got just a bit louder, stating, "You know, the Segula family has close connections to the Duvonts." Yeah, close connections alright. If that's what Mimi wanted to call all the parties that she went to, that was fine by Alila. "I'm sure Estelle already knows my name and now everyone else will too."

After fastening the skirt around her waist, Alila stood up straighter, finally locking eyes with Mimi. The other girl raised an eyebrow, scanning her form with cool blue eyes. If Alila was an anomaly in District One, Mimi was everything they could ever ask for: blonde, blue eyes, petite and athletic.

It's not like Alila was particularly worried about her appearance - she knew it wasn't like her olive skin or curly brown hair would count her out - but it definitely meant she didn't have the typical "District One Look." Here, children were practically equal to merchandise. The need to be perfect and proper was overwhelming and often led to different kinds of teenage rebellions as they tried to be different enough to matter.

"It's rude to stare, you know," Mimi said with a snicker, hiding a grin behind a well-manicured hand.

Alila rolled her eyes and glanced back into her bag, pulling out her dance shoes and reluctantly put them on in place of her worn tennis shoes. She preferred to not respond to Mimi. It never changed the fact that she was silently seething, however.

"How did your practice last night go?" the younger girl asked again, looking up at Mimi with eager eyes.

Mimi laughed, the sound echoing through the room and making Alila shudder. "No practice for me last night," she said, ruffling the younger girl's hair. "I had more important business to take care of."

Without hesitating, Alila lifted her head to meet Mimi's gaze. "More important than the showcase?" she asked coolly.

Flushing slightly, Mimi shrugged. "Does the showcase really matter if I'll be the one that beats you and earns the designated volunteer spot? Don't forget, one of us has won several more of our matches than the other."

Alila stiffened as her record was thrown back in her face, though it's not like it was her fault every match against Mimi was so unbalanced. Her fans against Mimi's spears? Not impossible, of course, but the way Mimi seemed to effortlessly throw her around was really beginning to grate on her nerves.

"We'll just have to see how it goes, Nemesis." Alila threw out the girl's full name with a slight smirk, knowing that was one easy way to get under her skin. "If you'll excuse me, I think it's time to show the District what I've been working on."

Grabbing the fans out of her bag, Alila brushed past the girls and began winding her way through the tunnels under the stage. Everything about District One was a performance and she was sure she'd outperform Mimi here. The girl's work ethic left much to be desired and Alila had been working her ass off for years to have this kind of chance. No one would be able to stand in her way, certainly not Mimi.

She ran a finger along the edge of the fan, getting used to the feel of them in her hands again as she made her way backstage. The closer she got, the more she could hear from the stage itself. One girl was singing, and from the sound of it Alila believed the source to be Ebony Varrin, who was hoping to go into the arts. She was already whispering about how she was going to sabotage her ranking right before evaluations so she would be out of the running entirely, something about a band holding open auditions during the week of evaluations.

Well, to each their own, Alila mused as she watched from behind the curtain. I haven't gotten this far to stop now.

The curtains closed on yet another performer, meaning it was Alila's time to take the stage. Every movement was graceful as she took several slow breaths, slipping past one of her trainers to stand in the center of the stage. The curtain blocked the audience from her view, making Alila briefly wish that she could look out and see Timothee out there, cheering her on.

Ah, well. At least she'd be able to see him after.

With a flick of her wrist, Alila's fans opened and she cocked a hip to take her starting pose behind the closed curtains. Breathing in and out slowly, she risked a glance up at the blinding lights.

Alila might not be used to putting on a show, but she did know how to grab people's attention, and that was enough. After years of hard work, she wouldn't be overshadowed by someone who couldn't even take this seriously.

It was time for Alila Perwane to prove to everyone else that her dreams were about to be realized. All she had to do was reach out and grab them.

Shai Kingston, 18

District One Male

If there was one thing Shai Kingston was used to, it was the stench of impending failure.

Not that he minded, of course. Failure was everywhere in District One, given that the district was home to a bunch of try-hards burning too bright in an attempt to be noticed before fizzling out forever. That was the issue with most of the people here. They wanted to give it their all and couldn't figure out when they were being pushed too far.

And Shai didn't mind doing some of the pushing.

His fingers tapped his leg mindlessly, already thinking ahead to the ceremony today, indicating the end of evaluations and the unveiling of the chosen volunteers. Even he wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten through the non-stop week of testing unscathed, as most people began to drop like flies around the first day.

Being picked as the volunteer was all about outlasting your opponents. That's what his fellow students at the Academy really were, after all. Opponents. Throughout the week, you had the ability to drop out at any time. Some shied away from the mental exams that pushed people to their very limits, afraid that they would snap. Shai thought those were the easiest of them all. Others dropped out during the physical portions, though not all of them managed to drop out before they sustained broken bones or other injuries that had the potential to haunt them for the rest of their life. Some of the other tests… well, they weren't meant to be spoken of. That didn't mean that Shai would easily forget the blood now staining him, staining everyone involved in training.

It was a cruel, brutal District, and Shai was proud to be one of the people occupying it.

Taking a slow drag from the device in his hand, Shai breathed a puff of vapor up into the air, letting the taste of lemon mint linger in his mouth as a warm sensation flooded through him. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander for a bit, though he grinned faintly as he heard footsteps begin to approach him.

"Your time's almost up, pretty boy." The words were a bit harsh and Shai instantly knew that they came from his coworker, Nari Choi. "Sounds like you'll have to actually get back to work soon."

With a chuckle, Shai reluctantly turned off the small device and pocketed it. "I'll have you know I do a great deal of work around here," he said, his tone light and care-free. "I'm no slacker."

When he finally looked over at Nari, she just raised an eyebrow at him, one hand on her hip. "I never said you were," she said coolly. "After all, I've been hearing your name thrown around a lot more recently."

Ah, that's right. With evaluations week drawing to a close, everyone was speculating over who was going to be chosen to represent the District. The rankings (which had shown Shai to be ranked 5th before this week started) were frozen, showing that anything that happened this week was fair game. Two girls were still battling it out for the coveted District One Female position: Mimi, some girl that sounded like an airhead from all Shai knew about her, and Alila, who was uptight and closed off and probably didn't even know what fun was. Technically all five of the top boys were still in the game, but Shai had been watching them this past week as well.

What had he seen? Not much, really. First there was Stephen Regal, who outclassed everyone when it came to anything physical. He'd taken Shai down more times than he could count, though the other boy's relentless brutality was definitely part of the equation, as he wouldn't stop until his opponent was down. He wasn't the brightest - in fact, Shai was pretty sure he'd cheated on at least a few of their written examinations - but he still easily held his own.

Unconsciously, Shai rubbed his left forearm, an old ache briefly resurfacing. He mentally cursed the fact that he'd be working momentarily; he couldn't get another drag of vapor in now.

Lance Killingsworth was certainly smarter than Stephen but was severely lacking in the bloodlust department. It's not that he wasn't strong enough, he just didn't have the same drive as Stephen. Even more than that, he didn't seem to care that he was in second. It's almost like he was just… content. If that was the case, Shai didn't know what the hell Lance was still hanging around for.

Then there was Jamison Brisco, who was one of the freakiest dudes Shai ever had the misfortune of knowing. He was… more than a little mentally unstable, and while he was physically unstoppable in a fight, one wrong word could send him over the edge entirely. He liked everything just a bit too much, a trainwreck of injuries always following in his wake.

The only other person ahead of Shai was Stelio Brioni, who always seemed to be thanking his lucky stars that he ever managed to get this far. Sure, Shai could never forget that his own failure was what allowed Stelio to rise above him, but he'd be knocked off his pedestal soon enough. It's not like Stelio was ever particularly talented, just good enough to get by in everything.

And where there were people desperately trying to rise above each other, there were just as many about to fall.

Shai had to consider his own rise one a bit too close for comfort. After all, he'd only just snagged 5th place again right before evaluation week hit. Crawling up from the bottom was a difficult thing to do, but Shai was more than capable of it. From there, it was all too easy. As the most recent face in the top five, Shai was also the one most others ignored. Behind him in the rankings he made sure that they were aware of how capable he was, but the other four boys only seemed to notice each other.

That was fine. Perfect, really. Just the way Shai preferred it.

He wasn't sure if his efforts had paid off yet. Only a few more hours, after all. But he could tell that the trainers, the ones that judged every test, saw every misstep and hesitation, noticed that he was the one up for the task. He would become the chosen volunteer, the one that got to represent the entire District in the Games. Occasionally, Shai found himself wondering why exactly he was so determined to succeed now. He could muse all he wanted, think about his own inner workings but…

If Shai had to be honest, the desire to see others crash and burn around him was a bigger reward than he could otherwise ask for.

Blinking once, Shai looked back up at Nari and offered her a smile that made her noticeably lower her guard. "Thanks for getting me," he said, standing up and brushing himself was hardly anyone in the shop right now, the only thing dragging him back inside being Nari and her desire for everyone to actually stay on schedule. If it weren't for the respect Shai had for his boss, Hendrix, he might think about staying out in that alleyway a bit longer. It's not like anyone would particularly miss him in here anyway, and he could use the excuse of thinking over some of the events from evaluation week.

Rolling her eyes, Nari turned and started inside once more. "Whatever, pretty boy. If you really are about to surpass all those Academy brats, you should probably get in as many hours as you can before you're gone. Gotta make up for all those hours you missed this week."

It was about as much affection as he'd ever expect to receive from Nari, who saved most of her actual affection for the tall girl with short blonde hair sitting on a stool inside the shop. Her positive attitude was infectious on the days she worked, often managing to loop some of the customers into her rather drawn-out stories as they attempted to buy vape products.

Mala beamed at him and stood up, quickly leaning down to give Nari a kiss on the forehead before joining Shai behind the counter. "I hope you didn't get too carried away out there; you know most of the real action is in here," she said with a laugh that made Shai grin with her.

"With the Academy working me to the bone for the past week, I think everyone could afford to cut me a little slack here," Shai joked. "You should see the kind of shit they pull on us these days." Mala brightened as he relayed the story of being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night just so he could be blindfolded and dragged out into the middle of nowhere before being told to find his way back to the Academy. He'd actually been one of the first ones back from that particular test, mainly because he'd noticed one boy trying to tail him and instead led him in the completely wrong direction for a time until the boy was hopelessly lost and confused.

Shai hadn't seen the kid at any following evaluations.

Instead of being horrified by how he'd pretty much sabotaged the kid (even though the little shit had been trying to ride Shai's success and make it his own), Mala just eagerly asked questions about how it had all gone down. Shai was more than happy to provide every little detail, even showing off a deep scratch on his right bicep that was still in the middle of healing. It would have plenty of time to do so over the course of the next month leading up to the Reaping.

Suddenly, the door of the shop opened, ushering in a younger teen that Shai recognized from the Academy. Immediately, Shai changed the topic; if the boy wanted to be the volunteer someday, he couldn't know what lay ahead during evaluations. No, he would have to earn it.

Afternoons always seemed to fly by at the vape shop, and this one was no different. Everything about it felt just the same as always, though Shai could sense that something was just the tiniest bit off. He was on edge for some reason, waiting for Hendrix to come out and say something. He knew Hendrix would but he was on edge waiting for it.

Before the door to Hendrix's office creaked open, Shai shuddered slightly in anticipation. He instinctively stood up from his stool, facing Hendrix with a lazy grin that didn't show his uneasiness.

Hendrix made eye contact with him, the large man crossing two heavily tattooed, muscled arms across his chest. "The Academy's looking for you," he said in a low voice.

Shai felt his spine straighten and nodded once, a thousand thoughts flying through his mind. He ignored most of them, settling on the one that he felt deep down was correct.

It was him.

There was no confirmation yet, of course, as the Academy would announce everything in public. After all, what was District One without its sense of showmanship? The entire District was a show put on for others, and Shai was about to become one of its key players.

As Shai went to leave the store, he paused by Hendrix. "Thank you," he muttered too quietly for anyone else to hear.

The man smiled at him, looking more like the comforting mentor Shai had come to know than like the imposing and threatening figure everyone else thought of him as upon first glance. "You're wanted in the headmaster's office," he whispered, which was essentially confirmation that Shai had gotten all he'd ever wanted. "Good luck out there, Shai. I know you don't need it, but… we're here for you when you get back."

The high Shai felt as he left was comparable to the one he felt from vaping every day, making his grin widen as he headed down the streets of District One, taking his time. His steps didn't falter even as he wondered to himself what he was so excited about.

Was it the fact that he'd finally shown the other students that he was better than them?

Or was it the fact that his success meant their failure?

hey what's up guys, it has come to my attention that usually when people start syots they have like... these things called intros? and they drop a tribute list? that's really cool and all, so here y'all go! district one, miss alila perwane and mister shai kingston. sexy names for a couple of sexy d1 kids. thank you to goldie031 and tyquavis for both of these lovely kids!

i heard the real sexy people also have blogs? i've got one of those! so please take this instead of a tribute list: ourdreamswhichhaunt . weebly

remove the spaces and all! oh and a note, the predicted placements are just first impressions so keep that in mind. they aren't real predicted placements since it's just gamemakers looking over the list and writing down numbers (which, fun fact, would've been prologue number three but i'll probably cover that later). we'll get real predicted placements once we hit private sessions, these are just for fun :sunglasses: so keep that in mind. thank you very much to linds (ladyqueerfoot) for blog tingz, i am eternally grateful!

n e wayz, gotta go work on district two kiddos now see y'all later.

-de laney is out