I know that the crowd's cheering must be deafening: before us the people of the Capitol scream in excitement, they chant the names of their favorites, they gossip about the rest. But I don't hear a thing. I don't hear the roar of the audience, or Caesar Flickerman's jokes that make the crowd laugh loudly, I only hear Effie's voice in my head. Don't slouch. One foot in front of the other. Chin up! Girl, stop frowning, give them a smile. How can you trip with this heels? They are only seven inches tall! Only when I successfully manage to cross the stage to sit down do I relax and hear a different voice in my head, a voice that makes my smile tense and somehow less genuine. Haymitch's voice.
All throughout my training with Effie I could hear Danny making my mentor laugh, the interview would be a piece of cake for him. He was simply adorable, funny and witty, just like Peeta. The audience would be in his pocket the second he opened his mouth. When Danny exited the room to allow me to rehearse my interview, Haymitch's smile disappeared in a heartbeat. I wouldn't be that easy and he knew it.
"If you want that boy to survive you better make them love you... adore you."
But being adorable isn't my strength, nor it is to be sexy, or sarcastic or anything that could get the audience to love me. Haymitch even implies that had I not screamed my lungs out in the reaping he would have made me pretend I was mute. After three hours of having him criticize my every attempt to win over the audience that was what broke me. I stood and slapped the glass of liquor away from his hand, he didn't even glare at me as I started making my way out.
"There's a ring in your finger, somehow you've managed to convince that kid's brother that you are slightly more charming than a dead slug. Whatever you did on him sweetheart, try that tomorrow, or you are dead. Both of you." He said the second before I slammed the door shut.
The interviews go by in a blur to me, Cato gives the audience a very visual description on how he can kill a person with his own hands, Foxface flashes everyone a witty smile and assures them she is the smartest one of the twenty four tributes, and somehow I believe that to be true. The crippled boy from Ten starts crying when he gets asked about his strategy and I see the boy from One flexing his muscles, smirking. While Rue charms everyone with her sweet voice and big eyes, pretending to be honored and proud of her score (yet refusing to reveal her secret talent) the boy from her district, Thresh spits a few monosyllabic answers and goes back to his seat without saying pretty much anything. If only I was big and scary like him and I could go by being cryptic.
Danny gets called to the front and he waves to the crowd, he seems genuinely excited and the glow in his eyes make the Capitol people fall for him immediately. They are on the palm of his hand already and the boy hasn't even opened his mouth.
"Daniel Mellark..." Caesar begins as he sits down, his toes barely touch the ground. Adorable.
"Danny." He corrects him smiling widely. "My friends call me Danny." The audience aw and Caesar's hand flies to his chest, above his heart. "Ladies and gentleman may I present you my new best friend Danny?" The cheering is deafening and I smile sincerely for the first time in the evening. Caesar asks my fellow tribute about his clothes and Danny compliments Portia for the comfortable black suit with sparkly flame designs and laughs as he thanks her for not setting him on fire again, this brings a wave of laughter out of the audience.
"You and your partner seem to be great friends, care to tell me a little more about that?" He asks, even though I know everyone in the Capitol is aware already of the relationship between us both. "She's my sister." He replies so sincerely it brings a pang to my very own heart. "You see, she and my brother have been dating a year, but before that he wouldn't shut up about her! So we could say I've been hearing everything about the great Katniss Everdeen since I was born. She's the bravest person I know." I see my own face in the screens and the obvious blush in my cheeks as the audience laughs, I wave at them slightly while thinking of Peeta. Is he blushing too? Or is he too nervous to amuse himself with his brother's teasing?
Caesar asks Danny about his opinion on the Capitol, and the kid is smart enough to talk eloquently about how much he loves the furniture, the colors, the people. I can feel my heart twisting at the fluent lies he speaks, and I know Gale must find it despicable too. But it's our best chance at winning. It's just a bigger team of Careers we need on our side.
Soon enough the buzz goes off and the audience boos, wanting more of the obvious favorite so far. The other tributes glare at him as he makes his way back to his seat and Caesar calls me to stage. I ruffle his hair as we cross each other and he pouts, the crowd goes mad.
"Well well well, if it isn't the great Katniss Everdeen." He starts and I laugh, covering my hand with my left hand, the small rock in the ring flashes the audience. "I wish I had gone first, now I will never live up to Danny's praises about me. I'm not that great." I murmur, from the corner of my eye I see Cinna nodding. But no one is paying attention to my words, they are all looking at the ring. "What do we have here?" Caesar asks intrigued and my stomach twists.
I don't want to talk about Peeta, I don't want to talk about home. I want to be with him, go back. My relationship with him is something I've always judged private, never letting anyone, not even Prim, in. But I knew the Capitol had to know about it in order to root for us.
"It's an engagement ring." I say, and my voice is somewhat choked. "Peeta, Danny's brother, gave it to me before I left."
After a long, loud and joint gasp everyone in the auditorium falls silent. You could hear a pin fall. No one dares break the moment, not even Caesar, but I know I have to. I have to talk, I have to win them over. I have to pull them into my sad, sad story. "He knew I had no intention of coming back to him, and he just wanted to hear it once." I whisper.
"Hear what?" Caesar asks, and he seems to have forgotten about the interview, about the people. He desperately wants to know, and I know every single soul in Panem wants to too. I silently beg Peeta to forgive me for spilling our most intimate secret.
"That I'm his wife." I say, and not until Caesar offers me a handkerchief do I realize I have started tearing up. I hate myself for it, but accepting the handkerchief I turn straight to the camera and pretend that I have Peeta in front of me. This is so unlike me I start wondering if anyone back home will buy it. But I know Peeta will see it, and he has to hear it. "I'm your wife, Peeta Mellark. And as a wedding gift... I'm bringing your brother back."