If I were you, I'd want to me too
I'd want to be me too,
I'd want to be me too
If I were you, I'd want to be me too
Ortheus Margo, 18
District 2 Male
The interviews are the stupidest part of the whole process. I don't need the audience to throw me a party to know I'm awesome. I don't need the Capitol to send me sponsorships to win these games. Believe me. I already have that on lock.
I bet that they know that I have that on lock too. I scored a 10 in training for crying out loud!
"Ortheus what is your angle?" ask my advisor as she sits across from me on the sofa in the living room. Her hair is a light shade of purple, and her skin is very pale. She'd be crazy hot if her voice didn't sound like nails scratching on a chalkboard.
"You mean other than being the best tribute in this games?"
"Yes, other than that. You might know that, and the other tributes might know that, but the Capitol doesn't exactly know that. The boy from District 1 also got a 10 in training. Not to mention the girl from 4 getting the same score! You'll have to set yourself apart in the eyes of the Capitol to be set apart at all. Otherwise, you'll just fade into the background and probably die when they send the boy from 1 or even your District partner the sponsor gifts."
"Well then, tell me," I say motioning with my hand to try and remember her name.
"Octaviana." she replies.
"Right, I'm going to call you Tavia. Now tell me Tavia, what do you think my angle should be?"
Her eyes widen a little as I ask my question. She clears her throat and then looks at me up and down. "That's not for me to answer, Ortheus. You know yourself a lot better than I know you."
I get up and cross to the sofa that Tavia is sitting on. She tenses a little bit as I touch her shoulder. "I could be sexy," I say as I take a piece of her hair and put it behind her ear. Goosebumps appear on her arms as she tries not to let me see I've gotten to her. I sit back against my side of sofa still stretching my arm to play with the back of her hair.
"I can be confident," I respond very plainly. "I can even be a douche," I say as I take my hand back and see the disappointment on her face. "That's my angle. I am going to give the audience what they want to see. I'll know at the moment."
"There's no possible way you'll know what the audience wants." she says snarkily.
"I knew what you wanted," I respond very matter of fact.
"Don't be silly."
"No?" I ask as I scoot closer to her again and lean in close to her face. "You've been staring at me the whole time. Is this not what you wanted? For us to be close? Maybe even kiss?" I say as I bring my face closer to hers. She looks like she's fighting a major craving as she leaves her face in front of mine, and then all at once, her face crashes into my own. I kiss her back for a minute, and then pull away and clear my throat. "See?" I say as I get up and go to the other sofa.
"That wasn't kind, Ortheus." she says bitterly.
"Sweetheart, I'm a career. Since when are we ever kind?"
"Your District partner was very sweet," says Tavia as she pulls her hair back into a high ponytail. "She said I was very helpful and reassuring."
"Yeah, well Asha is a kiss ass," I say plainly. "She will say pretty much anything to get ahead, and that's so why she won't win."
"What makes you think you will?" Tavia exclaims getting a little heated.
"Tavia," I say as I get up and cross to the exit where Asha and my rooms are. "I was chosen to come into this game for a reason. People like me are pretty decent at reading people. Not to mention the fact that I'm deadly as hell with a sword or even a small knife. These other tributes are simply the pawns you sacrifice in the chess game to protect your king. I'm that king." With those final words, I exit the room and enter my own bedroom. I start to pull out the clothes that my stylist got me for the interviews. It's a simple black tux, with a black v-neck under it.
I walk into the shower and turn on the water and let the water start to heat up. When I'm about to get in, there's a knock at my door. I grab my robe and walk to the door to open it and see Tavia standing in my doorway awkwardly.
"I thought you'd come," I say with a cocky smile. "Come on in."
She comes in looking ashamed but excited all at the same time. Who am I to deny a lady of her needs?
And in this moment everything changed
In this time life began to fade
For a moment I could see clearly a new reality
Cortana Ramslee, 18
District 3 Female
Can I just say that one of my biggest pet peeves is dresses? Having to stand in front of the whole nation wearing a dress, and not just a dress, a dress and heels? Yeah, I'm not feeling this today. The District 2 boy has just walked out to start his interview. He's being very cocky and almost trying a little too hard to be appealing in my opinion. Or maybe it's the fact that I've had to watch him walk around and flirt with that horrid girl from 1 the whole time I'm just sick of him.
And her. Gosh, I hate her.
"Cortana, I'm a little bit nervous." says Micah as he stands behind me. The poor kid is shaking, and I have a fear that his interview could go dastardly if left unattended.
"Hey," I say squatting down to be at his level. "You're funny as hell, sweet, and confident. You asked out Elena Bright! Elena freaking Bright! And she said yes. You can talk to an interviewer for a few minutes about who you are. Give a shout out to Elena! Maybe when you get home, she'll be waiting for you with some peanut butter." I say nudging him in the arm.
There's an awkward silence that ensues right after I say that. Because even though I was trying to cheer Micah up, but I just told him that by him going home to see Elena I have to die. He knows that. I know that, and even though I love this kid, I have no plans on dying in this arena.
"Thanks." he says more out of obligation than actually meaning it.
"Anytime," I say as I turn and face the front again.
"Ladies and gentlemen have we got a treat for you! Coming all the way from District 3, the brave, the incredible, she scored a 5 in her training marks...CORTANA RAMSLEE!"
My heart stops for a total of three seconds. I counted. I had no time to prepare for the end of Ortheus' interview. I didn't even hear his buzzer to tell us his interview ended. My heart is beating so fast when a manager backstage comes and shoves me out onto the stage. The lights shine down on my face, and I'm slack-jawed for a moment. I can't hear anything, but I can see Jada Mastiff motioning for me to follow her down to the couches.
"Cortana?" she asks me. "Cortana?"
"Oh, my gosh, hi," I say, and the audience cracks a chuckle at my response.
"Are you doing okay, girl?" ask Jada as I clear my throat and straighten my posture.
"To be honest," I say. "I've completely forgotten how to breathe at this point. This is a lot of pressure!" the crowd continues to laugh, and I just keep rolling with it so I can leave at least a semi-adequate impression.
"Ha! Been there, bought that t-shirt," says Jada. "So tell me, Cortana. What's the strangest thing you've encountered in the Capitol since being here?"
"Everyone has colorful hair," I say. I quickly cover my mouth with my hand, and the people in the audience continue to laugh, so I guess I didn't insult people too much. "Back in District 3 you pretty much have the standard blonde, brunette, black, and maybe the occasional red. Here I see like every color ever invented, and it threw me for a loop! The other day I saw a hair due that was made entirely of the color of the rainbow. When she flipped her hair glitter appears!"
"That sounds like it clogs the shower drain," says Jada.
"Oh, my I didn't even think about that!" I say. "I was more worried about her pillowcase, or her brush! Can we imagine the amount of glitter in that brush? I can't imagine it's good for the locks if you know what I mean."
The audience hasn't stopped laughing since I started talking, and I'm immensely grateful for this verbal diarrhea that happened out of nowhere.
"So do you have a special boy back home?" ask Jada as composes herself from my last comment.
"Uh, no. The boys in my District are stupid." I say being quite honest.
"Here's the plan then. Win, go on tour, find you a Capitol man!"
The audience hoots and hollers and throws flowers at the stage. Maybe I'm a little more desireable that I initially expected myself to be.
"I don't know," I say. "I'm not like the girls here. My hair has to stay red. Otherwise, it'll probably die."
"THAT'S OKAY!" screams a male voice from the audience. That comment catches me off guard, and I begin to start laughing myself. After a few moments of pure laughter, the buzzer telling Jada my times up sounds and she sends me towards the other end of the stage.
"GIVE IT UP FOR CORTANA!" she screams as the audience screams praises at me as I walk off the stage. When I get behind the curtain, I fall to my knees and start shaking. The adrenaline was pumping so hard in my I didn't realize that I was shaking so hard, I hope the rest of the country didn't see it!
"You did excellently." says the girl from 2 as she stands on the sidelines and watches Micah walk out. "You were almost at a career level performance. That was actually really impressive."
I smile a huge beaming smile. I might have a shot at this after all.
Because I look in the mirror
What do I see?
A person looking back at me
The person who deserves everything
Lenovo Cane, 18
District 5 Male
I have been waiting for this the minute my name was drawn from the reaping bowl. I mean, of course, I had to get over the initial terror of dying, but I think I've done very well for myself. Right about the time I stepped off the train and into the Capitol, I realized that this was a severe ordeal. I needed to pull out all the stops if I wanted to get out alive. Let's be honest. The world needs Lenovo.
I've managed to get myself a decent alliance, I didn't completely suck in the training marks, so I guess that's a positive, and I have a beefy District 10 boy who's serving as my sacrificial lamb if ever needed.
My mentor thought I was crazy for selecting the tributes I did for an alliance. I picked Kyle, though, because he seemed easily manipulated. Which after explaining my master plan for the bloodbath he has proven that to be true. After choosing Kyle and him accepting, I knew I needed to find someone who would be glue. I watched, and my original choice was the girl from 9, but the dummy had to go and eat a bullet, so that left Whitney. She has a particular youth to her that would be charming in a peasant sort of way, and I know she could relate to Kyle well. Ishmael is here because I knew Whitney wouldn't come without him.
I've tried to keep my manipulation under wraps. I've sought to let my vanity and superiority take over and let that be the only thing these tributes see, but let's be honest it wasn't like it was hard to put that mask on anyway. I love myself, some people say too much, but hey. If you got it, flaunt it.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this next tribute is one I've been looking forward to hearing from this whole evening. Please welcome Lenovo Cane of District 5!"
"That's me!" I say excitedly as I straighten out my jacket and strut onto the stage. The audience roars as I walk to the end of the stage and pose for them. They want a ditzy boy from 5, and they'll get one.
"Alright, alright, settle down now," says Jada as she laughs and motions for me to take my seat. "I can't wait to hear your answers to my questions."
"Okay!" I say as I walk to the chair across from Jada and cross my left leg over my right. I lean back and smile to the audience and throw my head back in a dramatic way. "The floor is all yours, Jada!"
"Tell me about the Lenovo Cane." she says. "You've been very present in the media since the beginning. It seems anytime there's a camera you're in front of it."
"What can I say?" I respond with an imaginary hair flip. "The camera loves me."
Jada and the audience chuckles, but she clears her throat quickly and changes her expression to a serious one. "Yes, but one of the times that stuck out to me was when Sybil, may she rest in peace, was murdered by the group of terrorist in the training center. You seemed very put together, but at the same time somber."
"Well, to be honest, Jada," I say adjusting my tie on my neck. "Sybil and I were not close, but that didn't change the fact that I wanted to be. I had an idea for an alliance very early on, and she was on the list from the beginning. At the time I guess I was so emotional because I felt like my game was ending before it even started. I had to readjust and work with what was left quickly."
"So does that mean Ellis is in your alliance now?" ask Jada probing
"Who?" I ask genuinely confused, which makes the audience chuckle even more.
"The girl from 9 that replaced Sybil."
"Oh, no. Ellie will not be making an appearance in the Lenovo Cane alliance. No way, no how, no shot."
"Well that's very definitive." says Jada surprised.
"Well, so is death," I say plainly. I add this last part to let them know just a little bit of my actual intelligence. "Mark my words, I have no intention to die. This game is just as much mental as it is brute strength. I might not look like much, but my gears are always turning."
"I bet they are, Lenovo!" says Jada almost mocking me. Idiot. She'll see. We have yet to go to the arena.
The buzzer rings and Jada looks genuinely sad as I have to get up and walk to the other side of the stage to exit. "GIVE IT UP FOR LENOVO!"
And they did.
In a moment everything can change
Feel the weight on your shoulders
For a minute...all the world can wait
Let go of yesterday!
Samira Rider, 16
District 6 Female
I can't sleep. There's something about waking up tomorrow and knowing you're going to die that ruins any chance you had at a good night sleep. The interviews only sealed my fate as far as getting sponsors go. I'm awkward, and sadly, I know that about myself. I was dead before my feet even hit the floor of the Capitol.
We are required to be up at 4:00 am for departure, which is about in two or so hours. I've flipped this pillow over more times than I can count, I've even flipped the mattress over and readjusted the sheets to make myself feel more comfortable, but I've come to the conclusion that no matter how relaxed my body is my mind won't allow sleep.
I just can't turn off my thoughts.
I'm 16. I had so much more that I could have done with my life. I could have done something spectacular. I could have had so many more friends. I could have been somebody other than the weird girl that needs to help her family survive. I could have been beautiful.
I sit up and throw my feet out over the covers. Grabbing a blue silk robe, I wrap myself inside of it and go out of my bedroom and into the living area in the suite. I look around and see that light in the kitchen is already on, and when I round the corner to see who's there, Max is sitting on the table.
"Can't sleep either?" he asked
"Not a wink yet," I say as I walk over and start to turn on the coffee maker. "I haven't even gotten to the point where you can almost drift off. I've just been laying down with my eyes closed."
"Well, I thought that you'd be like that," says Maxwell as he stands up and smiles. "So I did a thing with the water you just put in for our coffees. Nothing bad, but you might want to get to the couch before you drink it."
"Max, you didn't!" I say excitedly. "You mean I'll get some rest?!"
"You might wake up groggy," he says as the coffee pot rings and he goes to get the tea packets from the pantry. "But we'll have some rest before the games. That's what counts right?"
"Right," I say reaching out as he hands me the tea bag and I begin to dip it in hot water inside the coffee pot. I grab a mug that sits next to the clean dish rack and pour some water into it.
I walk over to the couch and take a seat as I take a long sip of what's in my cup. Max sits next to me, but instead of sitting casually, he sprawls out on the couch. "You take the inside, I'll take the outside," he says getting situated. I move my legs to the inside of the sofa and begin to feel the effects of the tea almost instantly.
"Dang, Max, how much of that stuff did you put-" but my words were cut off by sleep.
"SCANDALOUS!" screams our escort as they walk out into the room. "I never thought I would see two of my tributes sleeping on the same couch!"
My eyes open barely at all as I see the outline of her face. "Come on children! We have to get to the lobby of the training center for the launch!"
She throws our clothes at us, and we get up slowly as we start to change. Not even bothering to leave the living room. We both know we are too tired to see even try and look at each other. When we are changed, I go to the bathroom and quickly brush my teeth. When I finish brushing my teeth I put my hair in a tight bun and walk out into the lobby. Max is already ready to go and looks a little more awake than me. Our escort smiles and claps her hands.
"Well, children. It's been an honor getting to serve with you this last week. When you go into that arena knock them dead...literally."
She ushers us into the elevator and we see pretty much all the other tributes and their mentors or escorts on the lift. We step on, but we knew the second the doors closed we probably should have waited. When we got to the bottom of the lift we see that Districts 1 through 5 has already been down there. Alexandra and Alexander Rabble stand at the front of the group at the greetings desk. Alexandra is in a stunning yellow sundress with a white lab coat. Alexander is also wearing yellow, but a sweater with a pair of jeans. He also sports a white lab coat.
"Tributes," she says once everyone settles in. "We are so excited that the day we've been working for so long is finally here!" she says smiling.
"Are you now?" ask the girl from 12 under her breath with an eye roll. "This is so exciting!" she mocks under her breath to the girl from 8 who lets out a chuckle. She is quickly silenced by her escort.
"You're in for a long journey," says Alexander. "So we will be sedating you until you arrive at the arena. For those of you who didn't sleep last night...you're welcome."
"Wait, what?" ask the girl from 1 confused, but before we can ask any more questions more people with white lab coats appear from inside the training room. They carry a syringe with them that they start injecting into us. There is a machine that is following each scientist that I quickly see is for when we fall over. The machine takes us to the room for whatever place we are going.
"I'll see you in a bit," says Max with a smile as he gets pricked by the scientist. "Good luck." and he falls over. I hold my arm out for my scientist that pricks me and then leads me over to the machine that will be carrying me to the place they need me to go.
"Just sit right there," he says, and the world goes black.
Our time is running out
And our time is running out
You can't push it underground
We can't stop it screaming out
Lennox Knolls, 17
District 7 Female
My eyes begin to flicker open as the sedative that the Capitol injected with me wears off. I told myself that I would never inject myself with anything, and there I was with a needle forcefully being shoved into my arm. As my vision starts to adjust I notice that there's a glass wall in front of me. There is also white walls surrounding me in a very tight space. Am I already in the launch shoot?
"Ms. Knolls, you're not supposed to be awake yet." says a voice over the intercom. "Please stand by."
The pod that I am in fills with gas, and I begin to feel sleepy again. My eyes drift shut as I start to panic about where I am.
I wake up to a needle poking me yet again, and the same voice that talked to me when I woke up the first time.
"Hello tributes, please do you best to not panic with the information I'm about to tell you. You're in for one of the most historic Hunger Games that there has ever been, and I am so excited to reveal the secrets of this arena with those of you who live long enough as the days go by." How touching. "First thing to mention is you are no longer on earth, but you are in space."
Talk about ripping a bandage off.
I begin to look around frantically, but the way my pod is positioned, I can't see anything but what's in front of me, which is a white wall. The pod begins to move, though, and suddenly I'm facing a window. Sure enough, I'm staring out at a black sky filled with tons of white dots.
"What the hell..?" I ask myself staring in awe.
"You will be competing on PANEM-Stargazer for the remainder of this arena. The arena is already preloaded with the sponsor gifts that you're able to achieve as well as any water or food supplies needed. Tributes are not allowed to set up camp by these sources, as that would make for boring games, and we've spent far too much money this year to make it lack-luster." says the voice. "Once the timer starts you will be given a pack, in the pack is a map of the arena, a room key that opens all doors, and a card that's purpose will be revealed at a later date. Do you have any questions, tributes?"
If someone did ask a question, I sure didn't hear anything.
"Great, you will not be transferred to the launch zone."
The pod once again moves, and this time I'm able to see the different pods containing the tributes. We are traveling on a designed track, and the little I'm able to see around me is amazing. All the different buttons and lights and the various hallways you can go on is so intricate. The GameMakers really outdid themselves this year.
We arrive at an area where a giant steel door opens. One by one, each of our pods enters the room, and the doors close behind us as we all file in. "Pressure not stable." says a computerized voice. "Activating oxygen in tribute pods." There is another steel door in front of us that is huge, and I imagine it to be opening soon.
I hear gas begin to leak into my pod, and the watch as the giant steel door in front of us opens. There is a glass window, and my jaw drops with the sight that we have from where we are. There are so many stars all around us, and the moon looks so much closer from where we are than on earth. Granted we probably are a lot closer.
Looking away from the moon I see a giant steel structure that's shaped like a multi-leveled circular object, it's spinning on an axis, and on top of the structure is a giant antenna. It has three different floors attached the structure, and on one side of the middle of the ship, it says PANEM-Stargazer.
"Now taking off to the Stargazer." says the computerized voice.
The glass wall in front of us opens up, and one by one our pods quickly turn into a rocket ship and take off. We are flying to different areas of the middle floor of the Stargazer. I look out my window and begin to cry. If I'm going to die in an intense battle for my life, at least it's somewhere beautiful.
My pod gets sucked into one of the delivery ports on the side of the ship. "Pod for District 7, Lennox Knolls, captured." says the computerized voice. "Transferring to launch site." My pod begins to move again, and I'm moving down a long, dull, white hallway. When I get to the end of the hall, there is a giant beam of light that my pod drifts too. As I drift towards the light, my pod begins to stand right side up, and I start to move upward. I arrive on top of a platform that is shaped like a large square. The glass walls to my pod open, and I begin to look around confused. "Tributes, please step onto your starting plate." says the voice.
I cautiously step out and see that the large square is connected to 6 large bridges that are also connected to large doors. That is the only way out of the arena as far as I can tell. The cornucopia is in the center of the square platform. It's silver, and supplies are scattered around it, but not as much as you have seen in prior years. My pod closes the door behind me, and I jump. It starts to descend back to wherever we were before, but in its place, another machine comes and sticks a navy blue backpack out towards me. I grab it and put it on my shoulders and look around for Dailen. I see where Dailen is and he's six people down from my right. He points to the giant door on the left, and I nod.
"Tributes, the timer starts now!"
We are at the bloodbath! Wow! Thanks, everyone who has stuck with me this long, and been patient. This is my FAVORITE part of the whole story. Please know, I show no bias when killing my bloodbaths. You'll see. But also please remember, if your tribute dies next chapter...it's absolutely nothing against you at all. Just arcs.
Sidenote: I've had a few people ask me about songs. Some of the songs that I have on our story is lyrics I wrote...so yeah.
What did you think of the little bit of the arena that you saw? Was it bad? Was it okay? Could you picture it? I hope it doesn't suck…
Anyways, if we can get this story to 425 reviews by tomorrow, I'll post my bloodbath tomorrow :D
Thanks for supporting me, and always…
Keep it classy,
Caleb