So this is one of the longer ones. This is kinda fun, just to see the reactions of some of them, 3 min talking to a 80 something year old man. Yay. Hahahah, so I hope you like this one! Review and tell me which ones you like. Also, if you want to ask anything, Review it, and I'll answer it in the next chapter, (PS. My computer is running slow or something, so I may not get your review until a bit later.) Read and Review!

Interviews!

The interviews were about to start, Caesar Flickerman doing the usual introduction that all 24 of them, excluding Cass, had seen every year.

Sapphire would be first, after Caesar had finished the introductions. Sure enough, right on cue...

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN GIVE IT UP FOR THE FIRST TRIBUTE OF THE NIGHT, SAPPHIRE RUBYON!"

She came onto the stage in a bright green dress that she liked a lot better than her chariot outfit. That had been hideous.

"Sapphire, are you loving the Capitol?" was the first question.

"Oh yes, it's been wonderful here! It is totally crazy but in some ways it reminds me a lot of home!"

"What about your Career friends? You met any young men here who you caught your eye?"

"Yes definitely!" she said thinking of Achilles.

"A Career?"

"You'll have to wait and see now won't you Caesar?"

It was almost time for Quidley's interview and he was a wreck. Not from stage fright, no definitely not. It was during Sapphire's interview when she had said she liked one of the guys. He couldn't understand it at all, the only logical reason was nerves. But since when did he get nervous?!

Well, it probably didn't help that the girl from District 2 was glaring at the back of his head for the last ten minutes.

Finally it was his turn. He was glad he was second and could get it over with quicker. He was wearing a bright green suit and tie that he really hated. Him and Caesar talked for a while about District 1 and his training then Caesar asked "the question."

"So Quidley, is there a special girl back home?"

"No."

"All right then, what about here?"

"No," he said, too quickly.

"Are you sure? Not your district partner Miss Rubyon?"

He then noticed it was rather warm in the room. "No!"

"Are you uncomfortable? Oh is that a blush?" Caesar asked, trying to get a better look at Quidley's face.

"No I-" he was interrupted by the buzzer.

"Well your time's up. But don't relax yet Quidley I will know the truth!"

"All right Andi. What's going on with that 2 in training. Faking, am I right?"

"No."

"Well you can hardly expect me to believe that! Look at you! You're-"

"I'M NOT FAKING!" she yelled. Everyone was silent for at least 30 seconds. Then Casar laughed,

"If I was going onto the arena tomorrow I would be very scared of you Andi."

"Thank you." She wondered what her father was doing back home with her getting the worst training score and yelling at Flickerman. She smiled because she could just see him in their main room bashing the TV.

"Now folks, put your hands together for this year's favorite, ACHILLES THORNTON!"

There was wild applause and whistling as Achilles came onto the stage.

"Hello there Caesar," he said.

"Hello to you to, Achilles!"

The two of them joked around for a while, then Achilles turned serious. "You know Caesar, I think there's something I need to say."

"A confession of love?" Caesar asked hopefully. The crowd screamed in happiness and all the girls who had a crush on him almost fainted.

"In a way," he said. There was more screaming before he continued. "My mom had no idea I was training for the Games. She wouldn't have wanted me to. My aunt died in a past Hunger
Games, do you remember Camira Dyllan?"

"Yes, I do," said Caesar. "I remember every single tribute that I ever interviewed,"

"And I just wanted to say I'm going to try and win for her, and my mom. I love you Mom," he said, tears filling his eyes. He wasn't faking.

When the buzzer rang most of the crowd was still wiping their tears.

Mandy pretty much bombed her interview. The boy who went before her had used the angle she'd decided on, a sob story. She was going to talk about Clera and how she should have taken her place.

Caesar introduced her and they talked about her nerdy life in District 3. when the buzzer went off she couldn't get off the stage fast enough.

Jupiter stared forward in a stony silence. Caesar had tried to get him to talk with no results. Then he said, "Caesar do you know why I'm here?"

"Why yes I do, Mr Defcon," said Caesar, relieved he'd gotten the boy to talk.

Jupiter felt shock. If Caesar knew why he was here why didn't they do something about it? His shock died down when Caesar continued.

"You came to the reaping. Your name was chosen out of the ball..." the crowd laughed.

"Nope."

"Excuse me?"

"My name wasn't chosen.

"You didn't volunteer..."

"The morning of the reaping I had a run in, literally, with Loam Agginson. I assume you know he's District 3's escort?"

"Yes..." Caesar said uncertainly.

"Well he staged the reaping. He read my name even though the name picked was not mine. I don't know what kid it really was but he should consider himself lucky."
The crowd bust out laughing. A few of them looked like they choked on their tears, which was kind of offensive really. And Caesar wasn't helping, he was leading them on!

"A tall tale, my friend," he managed to choke out.

"I'm done," he snapped, and stalked offstage.

Caesar somehow managed to control his laughter and introduce Allen to the crowd.

"Well that was a tough break, wasn't it, getting the 2 in training?" he said sympathetically. "When you're in the arena you can show them what you're made of, won't you!"

"I can't kill."

"That's what they all say, but when the time comes they always rise to the occasion."

"I couldn't. I can't even go fishing back in my district, how could I ever kill another person?"

"You're going to be thrown into a killing spree tomorrow, you might want to change your view a bit,"

"I don't think so."

"Well I'm just trying to help."

"An amazing score in training, Ricky! How on earth did you manage it! You're the best tribute District 4 has seen since Aspen! You guys all remember him right?" He asked the crowd.

"I don't think I'm supposed to say,"he said, looking at the Gamemakers who were shaking their heads urgently."Yup, thought so. What happens in the training center, stays in the training center."

"Aw who cares about them?" Caesar complained.

"Anyone who doesn't want to be dragged into the street and shot," Ricky repied.

Whoops. Maybe Aspen was rubbing off on him.

"Is there anything we should be looking out for from you? You are on the younger end of this year's tributes," Caesar said to Roberta.

"I'd be on the younger end of any year's tributes," she muttered, drawing a sad chuckle from the crowd.

"Well, yes..."

"And I don't think I'd be telling them anyway," she finished. "You guys better watch out though, all right?"

"Oh we will. You can count on that."

"So Jason. Is there anything you'd like us to know about you?" Caesar asked promptly.

"Have you ever heard of the titan Prometheus?" he asked in reply.

Caesar thought a moment. "Why yes, I think I have. In Greek mythology, wasn't he the one who..."

"Created humans, yes."

"Do you believe it?"

"Not necessarily no. In the Greek myths the titan Prometheus created humans and when they were in need he called on Zeus to help them. Zeus refused, so Prometheus stole Greek fire from the gods to help humans live and the smoke from the fire went up to the sky, pointing them to the gods. They were very angry and so Zeus chained him to a rock and birds came every day and ate his liver, and it grew back overnight so the birds could come eat it the next day.

"Well we have a smart boy with us tonight!" Caesar said, impressed.

But Jason wasn't done. "Tomorrow, I'm going to suffer at the hands of the Capitol. But Prometheus gave fire to the humans I will give fire to the rebels. Yes they're still out there! And they will come back stronger than they ever were!"

What Jason did not know was that a panicked Mikah had quickly cut off the live broadcasting after Caesar had called him a smart boy and did not turn it back on until Lina came onto the stage.

Lina answered all Caesar's questions in one-word gasps. The dress that her stylist had forced her into was meant for a girl half her size and it was extremely awkward to do anything.

"You look very uncomfortable," Caesar said kindly.

"Yes my dress is kind of small," she managed to say.

"Do we need to get your stylists eyes checked?" Caesar laughed.

The comment wasn't meant to be cruel, but the crowd took it entirely the wrong way. Laughter erupted throughout the room and Caesar, who always has to help everyone, quickly changed tack.

"Let's talk about something else alright? How about your life back in District 6?"

Oh, no.

Cobalt was glad Lina didn't mention him in her disastrous interview. The last thing he needed was to be associated with her, especially after that lousy 6 in training.

But Caesar's first question is "What is your relationship with your district partner?"

"We live in the same neighborhood. We go to the same school."

"Well it sounds like we won't get much there... okay do you have any allies?"

"Do you want me to reveal all my secrets before I even get into the arena?!"

"No, of course not!" Caesar said innocently.

"What's your weapon of choice?" Caesar asked Roxanne.

"Axes," she replied.

"You seem to take after your mentor a bit, don't you think?"

"Ummm... she pretended to be a weakling," she reminded him. "But I think she Jack is her favorite anyway."

"He sort of reminds me of her too! Are we creating kind of a... District 7 stereotype here?"

A stereotype. A piece in the Games.

"No Caesar," she said softly. "I think I'd have to disagree."

What did Roxanne think she was doing, saying he was Johanna's favorite? Jack thought. She really really hated him. While her and Roxanne worked on her interview for hours it was all she could do to tell Jack "play up the bad boy image."

"So Jack, you're Johanna's favorite?" Caesar asked.

"I wrestled her at the reaping. She hates me."

"You never know, maybe she likes your fight! I mean, I sure do!" he exclaimed.

The rest of the interview passed slowly. When it was finally over Johanna ran up to him and said angrily, "I said play up the bad boy image, not act like a rock!"
Johanna's favorite? Nice try Roxanne.

"Why did the Careers choose you do you think?" asked Caesar.

Ashley struggled to think of a reason. On that first day, what was it Quidley had said?

"I'm good at hand-to-hand," she said.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah I used to fight my brother all the time. Actually I still do!"

"Well there will be some serious fighting going on tomorrow!"

My sister, the Career. I volunteered for this thing so I wouldn't get upstaged by my sister and she went and did it anyway.

"...Jay? You with me?"

"No," he mumbled, embarrassed.

"Well what I said is, did you know are in the top ten favorites for this year's Games?"

"I wha?"

"You have a way with words don't you! We take a poll here in the Capitol each year. Achilles won. You were seventh. And your sister- she came in thirteenth!"
It felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest that had been there since the first day if training. Sure, his sister was a Career. But he was a favorite to win this thing.

On Sallay, Caesar uses his you're-such-a-bore questions, because she knows, and he knows, and the crowd knows that she is probably one of the most boring tributes of the year. Actually, she was probably one of the most boring tributes ever to set foot in the Capitol.

Only I could be in the Hunger Games and still be boring, she thought bitterly.

As soon as the spotlight hit him, Warren's hands went clammy and he started to sweat in every place imaginable.

"Do you have any family members back home you'd like to say something to?"

"Elliott," he squeaked. Uh oh he knew that feeling. Not now, not now, not now...

"Is he your brother?"

Warren nodded.

"How old is he?"

"S...Seventeen..."

"Okay, what do you want to say to Elliott?"

"Y-You said...You said you'd volunteer... for me..."

"He said he was going to?!"

"Yah," Focus on your shoes Warren, focus on your shoes...

The rest of the interview was spent with Caesar telling off Elliott and Warren trying desperately not to throw up on national TV for the third time.

Finally, the buzzer went off, and Warren staggered to his seat. There in the darkness his head started to spin and THAT'S when he threw up.

Wow the lights are bright! It's like looking at the sun! Wait I'm not supposed to look at the sun oh yah. Hey someone's talking to me. He's asking me questions. I don't like questions, they're boring. Heh heh, that guy asking me questions is wearing makeup. He's funny. Hey there are lots of people! And they're laughing! Did the funny makeup man tell a joke? I like jokes! I'm going to laugh with them! Well that just makes them laugh harder! I really like jokes... and running! I like running more than jokes! Now would be a really good time to run I think.

"Bye!" Cass shouted to the crowd, and dashed off the stage.

"If you don't mind me asking... what was going on with the girl from your district?" Caesar seemed seriously confused but maybe it was just for the benefit of the crowd.

"She's got a disorder... ADHD or something. It's a pretty bad case too."

"Oh... okay, that makes sense."

"She has these random trains of thought, and she can't sit still for longer than a few seconds" Gil was trying to remember anything he'd ever heard of ADHD.

"Ah well, enough about her, what about you?"

"Ummm... I like my Mom's pancakes..." The crowd laughed.

Well that was rather annoying. He decided to go against what he had been trying to do all week and reveal his strengths. He said angrily, "Have you ever heard of the time I wrestled a cow when I was 11 years old?"

"Hello Mr Flickerman," Cherry said.

"Oh no I don't want that! Call me Caesar like everyone else! So do you think you're ready for the Games?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Ah, that's what they all say, even the ones who end up being Victors."

"I actually think I've got a disadvantage in the arena,"

"Yes, your size is rather unfortunate."

"I'm not talking about that."

"Oh? What, then?"

She paused for a moment to let the crowd anticipate the moment.

"I can't see."

Chris's heart almost stopped at her comment. He had been trying to help her all week and he hadn't even known that she was...

Now he felt even worse about turning her down that first day.

He was still shell-shocked when his interview began, but like Thresh, he could get away with just nodding and grunting and still be intimidating.

Most of it is Caesar comparing him to Thresh, and that gave him time to think about what he could do about Cherry tomorrow. Help her out of the bloodbath, then get her to hide somewhere, maybe.

The only thing Dina had to do for her interview was to tell about an average day in District 12. While Caesar at least pretended to be interested, the rest of the crowd was not that polite. By the time she got to lunch half the front row appear to be sleeping and the other half are talking among themselves.

"I don't think they like me very much," Dina said.

"But they'll love you in the arena tomorrow, right?"

"Uhhh Right!"

It was the biggest lie she ever told.

"Now for our final tribute of the night, District 12's David Sternam!"

David was not happy. He had been forced to wear a mask to cover his burns. He really hated his stylist. He was definitely no Cinna.

"So what's with the mask? This isn't a costume party!"

He decided to take it off because he hadn't wanted to wear it in the first place.

Even though the crowd already knew what he looked like from the reaping, there was still an intake of breath as he showed his burned face.

"I know you probably get this alot, but what happened to your face?"

He gave a bitter laugh. "You want to know what happened to my face, Caesar? Well I'll tell you. The Capitol happened."

And for the second time that night, Mikah had to cut off the live broadcast as David proceeded punch Caesar. Then in the back of the room a Peacekeeper smiled and started to clap then another person, until the whole crowd was giving him a standing ovation. He took the opportunity to leave, and went backstage where Haymitch was laughing and Effie looked shocked at his lack of manners!

The Peacekeeper who clapped was beheaded at dawn.