I stepped out of the train and saw people of many different shapes and bright colours bouncing with joy, trying to get the first glimpse of the district 12 tributes. I don't know why, we've never won. My first impulse was to run back onto the train, but there were three peacekeepers behind me, blocking the door. I forced a smile and waved to the crowd of bubbly Capitol residents. I looked over at Hunter to see he was doing the same thing. We did this for about 5, long minutes until we were pushed into a long black car with seats as soft and comfortable as the couch in the Justice Building, back in district 12. We drove for a little while and I noticed that Hunter had changed out of his pajamas; thank goodness. He was wearing a white shirt with a pocket over his heart and blue jeans. He really was turning into a Capitol kid! It looked good on him though. I looked down and realized I was still wearing my gray and pink shirt and yellow shorts. Oh well, best to look natural for my first Capitol appearance.
We arrived at the Training Centre and we were shoved in, through the doors held open by peacekeepers. Two of them were holding both of my arms, keeping me moving forward. They picked me up like I was a sack of potatoes and dropped me on a bed. There were two stylists there waiting for me, and as soon as I touched the bed they went to work. They put goopy paste on strips of paper, stuck them to my legs and arms and then ripped them off. I felt like I was being plucked, much like a chicken. This went on for about an hour before they set to work with the tweezers. They plucked away any stray hairs, shaped my eyebrows, and finally we were done. They stuck me in a tub filled with a sort of foam that was cold and stung a bit at first, and then became soothing. They took me out and wrapped me in a robe, and brought me to my clothing designer's room. The first thing I noticed about my designer was that she was green. Not sick green, but her entire body was neon green. She wore a huge bright pink dress that poofed out around her legs and dragged on the floor. I was taller than her, which I took pride in. She introduced herself.
"Hi there Sasha! My name is Myama. I will be your stylist for this Games. You look a lot like a tribute I had a few years ago… what was his name…" She pondered.
"Kieran Dagwood?" I asked, knowing that was the answer.
"Oh yes! Quite a fine young man. Was he your brother?"
"Father," I said, my eyes tearing up.
"Oh honey, I am so sorry. He was one of my favourite tributes, he was very cooperative." She hugged me for a little bit, and I realized that she was much better than the other stylists or people in the Capitol. She actually had sympathy for her tributes, actually cared that they were being sent to die.
She put me in a black, powdery leotard with matching tights to represent coal, and I had a black headband made of the same fabric and black flats. She gave me a back wrap-around skirt to wear over the leggings. She let my hair fall down straight in the hair band and put some black streaks in it, and I looked in the mirror. I looked like I was a hot coal, shimmering in the heat. I felt beautiful. I wondered what Hunter was wearing, and as we walked down to the stables to get in my chariot for the opening ceremonies, I saw him. He was wearing the same fabric but he was wearing more of a suit, with a black jacket of the shimmer fabric and a regular black dress shirt, and pants of the same material as the jacket. They called it melko fabric. I stepped into the chariot and Hunter got in after me. Our horses were jet black, same as the chariot. I peered over the other chariots and saw that the large stable doors swung open slowly, and the district 1 chariot left the stable. Before I knew it, our horses pulled forward and I almost fell out of the chariot, but Hunter grabbed my hand. I held on, using the other hand to wave.
As soon as we pulled out of the stable, all eyes turned on us. We must have looked amazing, in the evening light. I caught a glimpse of myself on the large screens and we were truly mesmerizing. We were spectacular, at least compared to the other tributes, in the same outfits as they wear every year. People had actually bothered to learn our names, and were chanting and cheering "SASHA! HUNTER! SASHA! HUNTER!" and it felt amazing. I smiled, waved and blew kisses to the adoring crowd. We reached President Cornwall's mansion within 10 minutes, and we did a circle around the huge fountain. President Cornwall gave a speech about how the Games started, about the Dark Days and kept promising that these Games would be the "best ones yet", which worried me. The cameras were trained on me and Hunter for most of the time, and people were still screaming our names. No one was paying close attention to President Cornwall's speech. The tributes were giving us hateful glares; we were stealing their spotlight. It meant more sponsors for us, so I didn't care. President Cornwall finished his speech and we did one last round around the fountain, and then entered the stable doors in the Training Centre. Myama, Hunter's stylist and Delma were there. They all rushed up to us, bubbling with excitement. They kept telling us we did a great job, and how many sponsors were already lined up to shower us with gifts in the arena. I realized I was still grabbing Hunter's hand, and his hand was turning dark purple. I let go immediately and looked down, embarrassed (gee, I was doing that a lot lately.)