Enigma Fenn (13) D1F
This wasn't the end of the world. My Parade outfit was more or less what I had expected. I hoped my skills weren't fading, but I figured it was mostly because Capitolites really weren't predictable. Normal people had patterns. Normal people had tells. Capitolites were wild, flamboyant people that did whatever they wanted. It was like they wanted to throw me off and drive me insane. I couldn't take them, but I could easily handle my dress. It was really a toga, and unlike everything else in the Capitol, it made sense.
Tiger was wearing the same thing main outfit as I was, that being a toga, but the similarities ended there. His toga was stylized to make him look hot, but even the Capitol seemed to feel bad sexualizing a child. I was glad that was one of my guesses that had been correct, since I wouldn't have wanted to go out in front of all the people in the crowd wearing as little as Tiger was. My toga went past my knees and didn't hug my figure too tightly, and my gold dusting made me look like a fairy instead of accenting my muscles. My bracelets hung lightly off my thin wrists, while Tiger was wearing gold leaves on his biceps, and my circlet gave me an air of wisdom, while Tiger's crown made him look like a power-hungry maniac. It fit him perfectly, and my outfit fit my image perfectly.
There was one thing about my outfit that didn't work, though. I was confident. My outfit made it look like I could be a shy kid, hiding under makeup and clothing, but I wasn't going to do that. My stance was easily as proud as Tiger's. I was right where I belonged, after all. I was one of the best of the best, getting the shot I had earned to prove myself to the entire world. I wouldn't let my age get in the way of how the Capitol saw me. I would stare down everyone I saw in the crowd, determined to be seen as the warrior I was, not the princess my outfit portrayed me as.
Cheers erupted as we came into the crowd. I knew that was coming. It wasn't a guess. Guesses were made on variables. People cheering to the point where you thought your eardrums could erupt was a fact of life for a tribute that was being flaunted to the Capitol. True to my intent, I stared down the Capitolites that saw me, impressed at how stoic I looked on the television screen. I looked like exactly what I was: Enigma Fenn, most likely Victor of the next Hunger Games. Nobody expected it to happen but me. Tiger wouldn't really bother stopping me. The only thing that could stop me was myself.
I noticed a certain person in the crowd that was standing alone, seeming sad. I recognized her as Icy, I thought, from Mahi's Games. I didn't know anything about her, but I knew Four's fling from One's magazines. She saw me and threw me a rose, which was neat. I had to wonder what was cool enough about my outfit to earn a token of appreciation. I didn't think it was particularly cool, so I had to decide it was just a Capitol thing. It was either that or my stance, but every Career looked off above the crowd. None of us wanted to be taken lightly.
Most people that we passed threw us roses, and I figured it was because of Tiger. He was flexing his muscles slightly, enough that they bulged more than they should have but he didn't look strained. I wasn't surprised. That was a very Tiger thing to do. I also knew that the Capitol would probably love Tiger, because he was a good Career. He was fierce. He was brutal. He wouldn't attack people by breaking their brain into bits until he knew them better than they knew themselves. He would just kill them. He was perfect for the Capitol.
"We love Enigma!" someone yelled. That was another of the things I hadn't expected of the Capitol. I didn't stick out. I was some kid that wasn't going to be stopped by the Games. I was fighting tooth and claw to stick out and not be underestimated, despite my better knowledge that being underestimated was a weapon, but I hadn't really thought anyone Tiger hadn't yelled at would notice that fighting enough to actually remember my name.
Screw it. "Love you too!" I yelled back. It couldn't hurt much. Nobody who hadn't noticed me yet wouldn't notice that I dropped my composure, and anyone who had noticed me said that they loved me. I was going to have some fun before I started killing people. I wasn't going to be total idiot in the Parade, like some people behind me who almost fell off their chariot, but I was going to enjoy myself.
"That was something," I said to Extravagance once I had gotten off the chariot and undressed. I was thrilled. I was feeling yet another long-lost, fun emotion. The Parade was way more fun once I had stopped being so cocky. People loved it when I actually responded, and people really smiled at me. Nobody smiled when I volunteered. My mother just didn't smile. Lilly learned to stop smiling when she realized that Mom wouldn't smile back. But here in the Capitol, people smiled. They unabashedly showed their emotions, regardless of it could be a weakness. They were a whole different breed.
I skipped the Parade prep chapter because how lame would a one-person Parade prep chapter be? Anyways, here you go. Hope you like my totally-not-length based Parade.