Chapter 28
(Madge POV)
On the train, I don't want to go to the dining car for dinner, don't want to socialize with anyone. I just want to sit in my room and let the dreamy feelings from last night with Gale wash away all my anxious feelings about this trip. Last night was so much fun, my favorite night with Gale yet. First I found out that he has a talent for something called whittling. I don't know anything about what exactly that is but I'm very intrigued by it and he promised to make something to show me. Finding that out felt like I was really getting an inside look at more of who he was and I really liked that. Then, I got to go to a Seam bonfire party. Well, sort of got to go. Obvious reasons kept us from being able to really attend the party but we got close enough to hear the music, see the glow of the fire and then we danced. Right there, under the moonlight, in the grass by a cluster of trees. And it was nothing like the dancing we do at Capitol events. This was just moving to the beat of the music, no formal steps or any of that nonsense. We didn't stay there long though because Gale didn't want us to be seen so we went back to our usual spot after that. It's hard leaving him to go on this trip but I'm going to try my best to not miss him too much. Once I'm actually in the same place as Drew, I won't let myself think of Gale. But for now, tonight, I'm on the train alone so I'm lingering in the bliss while I can.
I order my dinner to be brought to my room and when it comes, I notice it's the same younger, Avox boy from my previous trip. He must stay on the same route all the time. As he sets up my dinner tray on the small table, it occurs to me that he may always be on the train, that he may never actually get to step off the train and see anything else and that thought is heartbreaking. Gale's encouragement to continue being kind to the Avox gives me the urge to do so now.
"Thank you for bringing my dinner and setting it up for me." I say, hoping he will look up at me.
His eyes cautiously look up and meet mine. I smile, internally pleading for him to know that I'm sorry he's in this awful position. Then, knowing that Drew will be with me in the morning and I won't be able to speak to him again I decide to add to what I just told him. "Also, you may see me on this train often over the next year, I want you to know there will be times that I may not be able to verbally thank you but please know that I am always grateful for the tasks you do for me."
He nods once ever so slightly, barely visible. As he gets to the door, I realize I never told him my name and I want him to know it. "I'm Madge by the way. Madge Undersee."
His back stiffens and he pauses with his hand on the door plate but doesn't turn back to me. Then he leaves. It's strange but I suppose it's strange to him that I just spoke so openly with him so I don't give it another thought. Instead, I sit down and eat my dinner while feeling like I just did something pretty awesome. Totally illegal and completely against what Drew specifically asked me to do but it felt as if I was doing something very right. I spoke to this Avox, this person like he was still a person. Because he is still a person. No matter what his crimes were, he should still be treated as a person. I even went beyond my usual simple thank you and I have Gale to thank for that. He gave me the courage to do what I felt was right, even when everyone else in my life would've advised me differently.
The next morning when the train pulls into District 4, I put on lip gloss and go to meet Drew. He climbs aboard and comes right over to me, white rose in his hand and I have to fight annoyance at seeing it. Did I not just tell him amidst a tearful meltdown that I hate roses? But I suppose this was one of those things that I'll have to get used to. He's supposed to give me roses because that's the Capitol flower. So I smile and take the stupid flower.
"Thank you." I tell him as I take it and he gives me a quick peck kiss hello on my cheek.
Right behind him, August climbs aboard. He scoffs as he walks past me, bumping my shoulder a little as he does.
"Sorry about him." Drew says quietly.
I know it isn't his fault that August is the way he is so I shrug and flash a bigger smile, letting him know it's okay.
"Want to go to the dining hall for some coffee?" Drew suggests.
"Sure. Though I'm more of a tea person than a coffee person."
He smiles and leads us to the dining car where we take a seat at a small table for two. An Avox comes up to take our order and I have to fight the urge to say thank you when she brings me my cup of tea.
"Listen, I know this isn't going to be the time together that you expected but I do want you to still try and have a good time." He says quietly.
"I'm sure we will have a good time." I tell him, feeling the smile fade a little from my face.
He gives me an apologetic smile and reaches across the table for my hand. "I'll try to have some time with just you while we're there. Maybe after the party we can go for a walk or something."
"And we'll have the train ride home, at least until you get dropped off in District 4." I add, wanting him to know that I'm not mad at him about this, just bummed at how things always seem to have to be for us.
"Yes we will. We should do something fun with that evening."
"On the train?" I question, curious what we could possibly do for fun on the train.
"How would you feel about a movie night?" He asks, smiling as he does. "I can arrange for that if you want."
I personally am not a fan of any Capitol produced movies or shows but I do like that he's trying to find a way to spend time with me. It's thoughtful of him. "A movie night would be worth looking forward to." I give his hand a gentle squeeze.
"Movie night it is then." He actually looks relieved that I like his idea. Perhaps I was a little too standoffish on the phone when he told me about the change of plans for this trip. I need to remember that it is in no way his fault that we are stuck in a trio and not let my annoyance at that fall on him.
"When we arrive in the Capitol, what does our itinerary look like?"
He loses the smile so I know whatever he's about to lay out for me, I won't care much for it. "We'll get you checked in at the hotel where your stylist will be waiting to get you ready for the evening. Then I'll pick you up and we will go to a viewing with Ellison, August and Pemberly. After that we will all go to the party that's being held in the President's Ballroom. The party is rather large and will probably last all night. The game makers, the mentors and victors will all be there as well as many of President Snow's special guests from various districts."
I force a smile and then take a long sip of my tea as I remind myself it is not Drew's fault that I hate what we are about to have to participate in. He most likely doesn't care to attend himself but it's one of those things that we just have to do because it is expected of us. I do notice he says that I am checking into a hotel, not him. I suppose he was sparing me of the detail that he is actually staying at Ellison's house as her guest. I don't comment on it though.
We stay in the dining and lounge cars for the rest of the train ride. We chat politely with other passengers who are all very excited when they learn that I am from District 12. In the viewing last night we'd all found Katniss and Rue teaming up and making a plan to blow up all the supplies and weapons that the Careers have been hoarding. It's a big game move and I'm honestly excited to see Katniss do it which makes it much easier for me to chat about with these Capitol bound strangers on the train. Katniss is doing so well and I hope it continues this way. Peeta on the other hand is in hiding, injured fairly badly during the whole tracker jacker incident. I'm not sure he will make it much longer.
Pemberly gets on when the train stops at District 1. She comes into the lounge car, presumably searching for August. She doesn't stop to chat with us but gives a tiny half wave as she wanders through the car heading into the bar car where I'm pretty sure August has been holed up the entire trip so far. I feel bad that she's having to search for him, he should've greeted her when she boarded but I have a feeling he doesn't give her much attention.
"Does she ever talk to you?" I ask Drew.
"She's rather quiet. And she's almost always following August and I try to keep my time with him to a minimum so I haven't had much opportunity to get to know her."
I can't imagine having to deal with a brother like August and I hope that once Drew and I are married, I won't see him often at all. I never see any of my parent's relatives so I would assume it's normal to not see your family much once you're married and living in another district.
At the Capitol, Drew has my luggage sent to my hotel and then walks me over to get checked in. August and Pemberly are staying in the same hotel and I notice they only have one room instead of two. It's not uncommon for couples to spend the night together during courtship but until I see them getting just one room, it never had occurred to me that Drew and I have always stayed in separate rooms on our visits to one another and I'm not certain if it's because of me or because of him that we do it that way. Suddenly I wonder if he and Ellison share a room on their visits. I push the thought out of my mind, telling myself it doesn't matter.
After I'm checked in, Drew tells me he and Ellison will be by to pick up myself, August and Pemberly in a few hours. I give him a quick kiss goodbye and then head up to my room to see what Steffi has planned for my wardrobe for all of this. Much to my dismay though, I don't find Steffi, my normal stylist. Instead it's someone I've never met.
"Hello dearie! You must be Margaret! Come, we must get to work on you immediately."
"I'm sorry, I was expecting someone else. What's your name?" I ask, confused why she is here and not Steffi. I always have Steffi.
With a wave of her hand she just says "I'm Pisa. Steffi was a wonderful stylist for your youthful years but now that you're in a courtship and preparing to become a wife, Mr. Whitney felt it was time you had an upgrade in stylists so I'll be handling all your looks going forward. Not to worry dearie, I've been dressing some of the most beautiful wives of our great leaders for years now, you're in good hands. Now, sit please, we have so much to do and so little time!" She explains with an overdose of thrill in her voice.
I sit and let her get to work but it really bothers me that Drew replaced Steffi without asking me. I try hard not to get too upset about it though because just like with the whole wife training course, I'm hoping he has a very reasonable explanation. I'll talk to him about it later. For now I know I have no choice but to let her do what she wants so I sip champagne and let her dress me up like some ridiculous doll.
"Now this may seem a little strange but trust me it's all the rage right now around the Capitol and I think you're going to love it." She tells me as she holds up a tiny bottle of something and tilts my head back, telling me to look up. I assume it's some sort of face glitter or something but suddenly she drops some sort of liquid from the bottle directly into my eye.
"What is that?" I ask, reflexively jerking my head back and wanting to rub my eye. It burns a little.
"Oh don't rub, it has to set in for 60 seconds before you can touch your eye! And lean back, I must do both eyes dearie!"
"But what is it?" I ask again.
"Eye dye of course. It makes your eye color match your gown for the evening!" She gushes as she drops more liquid into my other eye. "And it lasts for almost a full week before you have to refresh it so it's very low maintenance. Here, take a look and see for yourself. Isn't it simply stunning?" She adds, holding up a mirror for me to look.
I actually gasp out loud when I see what she has done. She has made my blue eyes turn a very, very bright shade of neon pink. I look absurd. It's unreal.
"I know! It's just breathtaking how vivid the color is, isn't it? I just knew you'd love it!" She exclaims, mistaking my gasp as a sign of my delight rather than disgust.
"There are no words." Is all I say, knowing that I really don't have any words for this. She just dyed my eyes neon pink.
She then brings out the ugliest dress I've seen in a long time. It's neon pink and lime green. It's got layers and layers of stiff pink and green neon tulle for the skirt and a very low cut neon pink taffeta strapless top with a lime green taffeta sash. I smile and try not to gag as I sip more champagne. Steffi would never have done this to me.
By the time Pisa is finished, I've got neon pink streaks in my hair, which she has straightened and then crimped sections of. Giant, bobbly earrings dangle from my ears and a necklace to match hangs around my neck with a giant heart shaped, lime green rhinestone pendant. My nails are alternating lime green and neon pink, as are my toes.I've got sparkly eye makeup and the brightest pink lipstick I've ever seen. Add in the pink eye dye and I'm honestly barely recognizable.
I go down to the lobby of the hotel to meet Drew, dying to see what he thinks of this train wreck of a makeover. I doubt he will even recognize me. When he comes in, Ellison is on his arm, decked out in her own Capitol look, which in my opinion is just as awful as mine. At least hers isn't neon though. He does exactly what I expected, his gaze moving right past me because dressed like this, I look nothing like myself. I wave and flash a smile. His eyes go wide for just a split second and then he leads Ellison over to me.
"Hello, you look lovely." He says, smiling at me. I can't get a read for what he really thinks though and I think it's because Ellison is attached to him. He's never quite the same when all three of us are together.
"Yes, you do look lovely!"Ellison quickly interjects herself and leans forward to kiss each of my cheeks. I could literally throw up right here in the lobby of this hotel.
"Thank you Ellison, so do you." I reply properly with manners even though it's total lie.
August and Pemberly come down right then and I see her outfit is equally appalling to mine. Her dress is black with bright purple floral accents popping off of it and also lots of stiff tulle. They've put a giant fake purple flower in her hair too. And her eyes are dyed purple. Why Capitol people equate bizarre with beautiful when it comes to trends and fashions, I'll never understand.
We head to the viewing, a car service waiting to drive us over. In the car we toast to the evening with champagne and I mentally remind myself to eat something at the party or else I'll end up a drunken mess again with all this champagne I've been having this afternoon. When we arrive at the viewing, Drew sits between Ellison and I, holding each of our hands. I really hate that. I get that he sees both of us but I don't like when he shows affection to each of us at the same time. It's too weird for me. I pull my hand away and pretend to fuss with the tulle of my skirt but I glance up and give him a smile so he doesn't think I'm mad that he is holding her hand. He smiles back and then fixes his gaze on the viewing screen.
It's different seeing a viewing actually in the Capitol. It's indoors for starters and people want to be here more than anything. They literally buy tickets for this. And there's no check in stations of course. Here this is considered a fun evening, not a mandatory thing to endure.
Katniss does well with blowing up the supplies and I love how the audience cheers her on. However, on her way back to find Rue, she runs into trouble. Well, Rue does anyway. The poor little girl is killed by one of the Career tributes and Katniss tries to stop him, killing him with an arrow, but is seconds too late. And Rue's death hits her visibly and hard. Watching Katniss cry over Rue is awful and heartbreaking and I feel tears sting my own eyes. Drew reaches for my hand again and I let him take it this time, wanting his comfort. Then Katniss does something she shouldn't. She puts flowers around little Rue, singing a song and then raises her hand in salute. In the games, you aren't supposed to be sad when someone dies. Someone dying means you are closer to winning. Showing compassion for a fallen tribute and wanting to give them a proper, dignified sending off is not what the game makers will have wanted. No, they won't like this one little bit and I already feel like there will be repercussions for this act of kindness. I feel Drew stiffen beside me and I don't dare glance over. I know he knows this was a bad move on her part too. She's done the one thing the Capitol hates most, she's shown compassion and kindness.