Interviews

Atom Beaker, 18, District 5

Age and stress did not suit Monet Locklear well; her dark circles and apparent wrinkles aged her at least a decade and the heavy, Capitolite makeup she wore did nothing to save her appearance. So, of course I got stuck with the old lady mentor who seemed to fuss about all the smallest of details.

As she messed with my tie, I simply thought about how I could have had Reyna Soleigh of district 9, with her long, blonde hair and nice legs or even Celia Brickwell, from district 2, who while batshit crazy, was at least hot. But no, I was stuck with Monet who at 60 years of age could have easily been 600. She could best be described as prim and it was fair to say neither of us particularly liked each other.

On the other hand, Monet had taken a quick liking to my district partner, Davina. It didn't bother me in the slightest, seeing as I could win these games on my own. I had already allied with the Careers, whom I could easily beat when it came time and from what I had heard Monet say, I was incredibly well-received by the Capitol. Not bad for a person who's mentor seemed to be actively rooting against them...or at least showing overt favoritism.

As one of the stagehands ushered me to the wings of the stage, I could see Davina still on stage finishing up her interview with Kastor Clemmons. As the audience gave one final round of applause, Davina exited the stage walking by me, muttering quick and forced, "Good luck."

"Don't need it," I responded, with the roll of my eyes as I prepared the saunter on to the stage.

"And next up, I'll hope you'll help me in welcoming a Capitol favorite- Atom Beaker!" Kastor announced as I made my way on to the stage waving to the audience, eventually taking a seat as the cheering died down.

"Welcome, Atom, it's a pleasure to have you here. You've already become quite popular throughout the Capitol and I'd love to begin by talking about your training score. You received a 9, which is the highest we've ever seen from district 5 in all of Hunger Games history..." Kastor began.

I chuckled with ease, "The 9? That's just a small bite of what you'll be seeing. I'm sure I could have gotten a 12, if I really wanted. I have to keep some tricks for the arena, don't I?"

"Oh absolutely," Kastor nodded, "So, turning to more personal matters, can you tell us anything about life, back home?"

"Unlike my district partner, I'm not the biggest fan of my district. It's boring and there's not much to do. I'm not particularly close with my parents, but I have enough friends so it doesn't really matter."

Kastor smiled invitingly, "Well, I was hoping to hear something about...a certain Mayor's daughter?" he prodded, "And a child?"

I couldn't help but wonder how they had gotten ahold of that information. It wasn't exactly district 5's best kept secret, but it wasn't like the mayor didn't try to keep everything under wraps.

"We hooked up once, it wasn't ever a thing," I replied, "And who really knows if I'm the father. It's not like that girl's particularly known for keep her legs closed..." I trailed off bitterly before remembering where I was, "But if you're asking if I'm single- the answer is yes," I affirmed, causing the audience to cheer loudly. God, these people were easy to please.

"That's not quite what I was expecting," Kastor responded, eyes wide, clearly slightly taken aback, "But that'll do. I'm sure any lady would be happy to have you if you return back a victor."

Something about the way Kastor seemed to have to force the words out made me wonder if his comment was truly sincere, but that didn't matter. There was no if I returned as victor, only when I return as victor.

Janelle Ashton, 13, District 12

I had never worn such a fancy dress in my life. It was a short and sleeveless slate gray number with a dust of light sparkles that made me look at least 16. It was the kind of dress that I loved but my parents would never let me out of the house wearing- not like I could afford anything like it anyways.

If this had been any other occasion, I would have been excited to do an interview- especially one that would be aired live on TV. Talking to people is what I did best and I would always be happy to entertain an audience, but given the circumstances, my excitement was replaced with a sense of melancholy. As Kastor announced my name and I walked out on stage, I found that any hint of nerves I had earlier was replaced with an effortless smile, which seemed to come naturally to me.

"Welcome, Miss Ashton, you look beautiful tonight," Kastor complimented, and the whistle from the audience seemed to imply that the audience agreed.

I grinned, "Thank you so much. It's actually crazy to be wearing this dress. On my way to the mines where I work, I always used to pass the giant billboard for Venus Chaquetti designs in awe and it's amazing to think I'm wearing one of her dresses now. I guess you could say it's one more thing I've crossed off my bucket list."

The audience laughed. In hindsight, seeing as I was about to be sent into the games, to likely die, the a bucket list joke seemed morbid, but the audience seemed to find it charming, which was all that really mattered.

"What a wonderful story!" Kastor exclaimed, with a bright smile, "Well, now that we know you have a good taste in fashion, I feel that the Capitol will agree with me when I say you'll be spending your victor money wisely, if you win."

I shrugged, "As much as I would love to spend all my money on Venus Chaquetti gown and Artemis Levion shoes, if I win the money, most of it will go supporting my family. My mother, stepdad, and siblings each work ridiculously long shifts in the mines and nothing would make me happier than to return home and be able to financially support my family. They've sacrificed so much for me so that I could simply have a food on my table and clothes on my back, so to be able to pay them back would mean the world to me," I explained, "But, I'm not going to lie...with a little bit of the extra winnings, I am totally down for going on a Capitol shopping spree."

"How wonderful, now speaking of you siblings, is this your brother?" Kastor asked, as a photo of my older brother, my younger sister, and I appeared on the screen. It was one of the few we had. Photographs were expensive, but a few weeks ago my mother insisted we had at least one photo of the thee Ashton siblings taken.

The audience cheered as I nodded, "Yes, that would be my older brother Aidan and my younger sister Kira. Aidan is 19 and Kira is 11," I confirmed.

"Well, I think it's fair to say your family has some good genetics," he joked as another photo from the same day appeared of just my brother on the screen.

I, for one, was positive that Aidan was mortified right now. While my sister and I both happened to be fairly confident, outgoing people, Aidan tended to be a bit more on the shy side and was rather self-conscious about his appearance. Kira and I loved to tease him about his good looks but I knew that he would be very embarrassed about the conversation happening on Panem-wide television.

At the end of the day, my family was everything to me. My father was a rebellion fighter killed during the last days of the rebellion during a major bombing of district 13, which ultimately led to the fall of my entire district. The rest of my family and I fled to district 12 for refuge, and we've lived there ever since. I still have vague memories of district 13, but seeing as I was 4 when we left, I don't remember much.

"But enough about your family, we're here to talk about you, Janelle," Kastor continued, as the screen returned back to it's '9th Annual Hunger Games' projection, "You've made quite the impression on your fellow tributes. Both Raft and Corinne gushed about you during their interviews although now I can I see why."

My hand went to my heart as I blushed slightly, "Thank you, that's very sweet. Raft and Corinne are truly the best. I am so lucky to have found two kindred spirits here and their friendship is what's kept me going. Speaking of Corinne she told me something- it's in your darkest times you find the brightest light- it's stuck with me the entire day but I'd like to think our friendship is one of the best things to happen to me here."

The entire audience 'aww'ed' and I couldn't help but smile even wider. This was actually going pretty well and I just hoped that this was a good sign that the games could perhaps go my way as well.

a/n: Yay another chapter up! The interviews were really fun to write, so I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did! It was interesting because Atom and Janelle are total foils for one another which made the juxtaposition of their POV's so much more fun to write. (*Side note* omg, we are getting so close to the games I can almost taste it!) Anyways time for questions!

1. What did you think of Atom?

2. What did you think of Janelle?

3. Any arena guesses? (I have something really cool planned, which is pretty much impossible to guess because I've literally dropped no hints, but I'm excited to see what you guys come up with!)

Hope all of you are having an amazing day! Thank you for all your continued support. - Cass