Somehow I managed to sleep like a rock last night. I'm not complaining. I'll take any rest I can get at this point.

Although getting my interview outfit ready is dull, it's no opportunity to take a nap. The costume is still solar-panel-based, this time with a red tint rather than a blue one. I can work with that. It's still nothing sensible, but at least my stylist lets me roll up the sleeves.

Once I'm all spiffed up and ready to go, I'm sent downstairs to the lobby area. The interviews will be just outside the Training Center, although I've been assured the weather is never an issue. I guess creating disasters in the arena is only one side of the technology they have here.

I'm not sure how many are gathering outside, but there aren't many tributes hanging around the foyer yet. There's so little to the District 4 girl's outfit that it couldn't have taken too long to put together. The pink star stenciled over her eye seems like it would be more time-consuming, but, then again, I don't really have any idea what I'm talking about.

"Hey." She glances over at me, one of her hands still making some sign I don't recognize. "What's up?"

"Nothing!" I look away, feeling my face heat up.

Her laugh doesn't have an evil ring to it despite her district. "Your face is r-EEL-y red, you know!"

I have to find someone else to talk to...

"Aw, don't worry about it. You might want to calm down before your interview, though. Unless you want your face to match your tr-outfit."

"I'm fine, thanks." Just as I'm going to risk bugging Ema, the elevator dings. I spin on my heel to watch the doors open, and—thank goodness—Athena steps out. She's in a bright yellow dress whose skirt fans out at even the slightest turn.

"Hey! Athena!" Not about to wait for her to cross over here, I scurry ahead. "Good evening!"

She jumps a bit but steps out of the elevator smiling. "Good evening. How are you?"

"I'm fine!" I'm sure she can hear that I'm a little on-edge at the moment, but as long as she doesn't feel like running a Mood Matrix on me... Hey, wait a second.

I squint at her. "No Widget?"

"Ah. No, not tonight." She sighs, hands on her hips. "I have to get used to not wearing him, anyway, so it's no big deal."

"What do you mean?" I press on my forehead. "You get to take a district token with you."

She taps at her earring. "I think I'll just take this. It would be great to have Widget, but I hear they usually render electronics completely useless before they let them in the arena. To keep them from being an unfair advantage." She clenches her fists, looking ready to wail into the skies. "Can you image them gutting Widget?! The poor baby!"

"I see." I guess it would be kind of pointless to have your digital companion with you if he's just an empty shell. I wonder if they'll try to do anything to my bracelet? It is kind of heavy, but I don't think it would qualify as a weapon. What would they do to it? Shave off the outside until it's light enough? That would take away the design on it, but... I don't know how I would feel about that. It would be desecrating my only clue to my true identity, but it's not much of a clue at that.

Although now, with the way it helps me to Perceive things... Is that what it's designed to do? Is it something that I inherited? But Trucy's the one that taught me. Maybe the skill isn't that unique.

"Hey! Earth to Apollo!"

"Huh?" I look up at Athena to find Clay standing in her place. "Agh!" Jumping back against my will, I huff and straighten my tie. "What?!"

Snorting with laughter, he takes a step back. "Just seeing if you were still in there somewhere."

"I zoned out for ten seconds. Calm down."

"All right, all right." He slaps me on the back. "Ready for the interviews?"

I nod. "My angle's not too hard to pull off, especially after practicing for so long."

"Great."

Athena, to Clay's left now, punches into her empty palm. "So let's all knock them dead! Komm schon!"

Clay eyes me sideways, putting his hand up so Athena can't see his mouth. "She keeps doing this babbling thing, and no one has any idea what she means."

"Ha!" Athena rests her hands on her hips again. "That was just a little German. I've dabbled in most of the Capitol-approved languages, actually. Bet I know more than anyone else in the district!"

Clay shrugs. "More than me, that's for sure."

Athena grins.

I watch the crescent moon of her earring swing a few times. "Are you going to be okay in front of so many people?"

Her gaze slips over to me. "I'd better be!" Her hands crinkle the fabric at her hips a little. "I smuggled some of those high-quality earplugs out of my room, so that ought to take care of the audience."

I pause. "Will you be able to hear your interview questions, then?"

"Don't worry." Clay smooths out his collar. "We already practiced this. She can still hear someone right next to her, no problem."

"Okay, good." I take a few steps back when the elevator dings, and other others follow me. The lobby's starting to fill up now. The pair from 1 walk past us without a glance, while Sasha's finally occupied talking to her district partner, although she seems serious for once.

"Naw, man," the big guy says, voice low. "You don't have to worry about me. I wouldn't tell anybody."

"Thanks." She grins. "Might mess up the betting if word got out, huh?"

Clay, letting out a breath through his lips, draws my attention. "Back on the subject of district tokens..." He runs a hand through his hair. "I can't decide whether to bring my visor or my jacket. They didn't let me wear either of them for my costume, so it's not like the audience associates either with me." He smiles. "What do you guys think?"

"Hmm." Athena starts tapping on her earring again.

"The jacket would be useful in just about any arena if you can get away with bringing it." I shrug. "But the visor would keep the sun out of your eyes, and you're less likely to receive one in the first place."

Clay snorts. "So I have to choose one that gives me an advantage? I thought that was against the rules."

I pin my hair spikes down under my hand. "Well... The jacket looks pretty cool, too, if you'd rather make that your reasoning."

"That might go over better with the Gamemakers. Athena?"

She blinks. "Sure. I like the jacket just fine."

"The jacket it is." Clay stretches his arms back before bringing them back around into a clap. "I'm going to get in line. Still a little early, but I've had enough of being run over by everybody getting off the elevator."

"Good point." I give him a nod. "See you later, then."

And with those words, I realize the next time I see him will be in the arena.

"Uh, hey!" I grab his arm before he gets too far. "You guys want to hang out on the roof after the interviews?"

Clay hesitates, and I get the feeling he's figured it out, too. "Sounds good to me."

"The roof?" Athena's eyes widen. "We can all get to the roof?"

With a weak laugh, Clay rubs the back of his neck. "Did I never tell you that...?"

"No!"

"Well, we can all get to the roof." Grinning, he rocks back on his heels.

"Now I've got to make up for lost time!" She clenches her fists. "Let's make it an outright party! I'll bring Junie and her friends, and you'll get Trucy there, too, right?"

Do I have a choice but to nod?

"Great! And Klavier and Ema..." She frowns. "And maybe Simon, if he won't try to turn everything serious on us."

I'm still kind of lost. "Sure."

Clay thrusts a fist into the air. "This sounds awesome! Anybody got some streamers or balloons?"

"Of course not." I snort. "We could order a bunch of food in our rooms and bring that, though."

With a little hop, Athena clasps her hands together over her shoulder. "This is getting better and better!"

"Everybody looks so excited!" Trucy pops up at my right. "What's going on, and can I get in on it?"

"We're... throwing a party." I smile. "On the roof tonight. Want to be the entertainment?"

She fists her hands. "Would I!"

We try to work out a few more things before it's obvious we're the last to get into line. With quick see-yas, we take our places and start toward the stage.

Although I guess I should be paying attention to the competition, I don't find myself focusing on the other interviews too much. Throwing a party on the rooftop... It's absurd, but it sounds like a lot of fun regardless.

We won't get in trouble or anything, right? I mean, we're all competitors, but the viewers don't mind seeing friendships play out, so why should the Gamemakers care? We're not going to be televised after the interviews, anyway; if this is sending too threatening a message of camaraderie, then all they have to do is not go out of their way to put it in the news. As long as nobody gets hurt, this can't cause any scandals.

All right, then! We're throwing a party! Ha!

Athena gets through her interview with only a bit of twitching, and everyone else seems to be shining just fine. I have to cross my arms to keep my hands from shaking when it's my turn, but being in front of an audience isn't all that hard. I'm only going over the questions I practiced yesterday. So what if people are watching? They're supposed to be.

Although my throat really wants to stay dry, I get through my interview without mincing any words. Well, any that I'm not supposed to for effect.

Okay, so I'll need to get some food together. Can't go wrong with chips. Might as well get some fancy stuff while I have the chance, too. Maybe not steak or anything, but hors d'oeuvres? I think you can order some of that kind of stuff.

Do we need any games? What could we do with things we have in our rooms? We might be able to bring a television set up there, if there's anything we want to watch. Maybe I'll ask Clay right after we're done here. We shouldn't need more than one screen for anything, after all.

It seems like there's going to be a lot of people... But it was kind of Athena's idea, so she must be fine with it. She has her earplugs, anyway.

The other tributes' voices stay faded in the background of my thoughts until the noise stops altogether. I look up to see Juniper at the microphone.

"I... guess there is one."

"Really? What's his name?"

Such a look of utter horror crosses her face that the interviewer jerks the microphone back to himself. "Okay, no names. Can you at least tell us what he's like?"

"Well..." Flushing, she twists a finger in her hair, which is down in loose curls today, and beams. "His smile is like the warm rays of the sun shining down on peaceful woodlands, and he's so strong and kind, just like the trees of the forest!" She sighs quietly, pushing her bangs back in the middle for a moment.

"He sounds wonderful. Are you sure you can't tell us who he is? Just the first letter of his name?"

She frowns. "Oh, no! He's watching. He'd be able to figure it out from that." She twirls another lock of hair around her finger. "After all, he's really smart, too..."

"I see. Well, whoever he is, I hope you'll fight hard to come back home to him."

She cringes, although she recovers so quickly I could have imagined it. Swallowing to stifle a cough, she puts on her serious face again. "Of course."

Is it... that she doesn't want to fight? Or that fighting in order to get home would defeat the purpose? I'm not sure. All I can tell is that she looks unwell for the rest of her interview, although she does a good job of concealing it.

I bet the party could cheer her up. I'll convince her to come myself.