Interview time! Well, later in this chapter actually. And then the next chapter is the games! O.O I'm sorry for not posting for a long time. I was sick. :( But I'm feeling better now so I shall continue! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.
Rue
My jaw drops. A 12? I was just expecting a 10. Do they want the careers to target me or something? Or do they admire the things I can do? Maybe both but most likely they want people to target me. That's when it hits me. I walk slowly to my room and close the door behind me. I sit on the bed and think about it some more.
They want revenge.
On mom and dad. To torture their children on live television. My anger at the Capitol grows even more as I think about them having revenge at my parents. I want Dave to win this, even though I'm still mad at him, but somehow I don't want the Capitol to get what they want. I am happy that I got a 12 but I'm still angry at the Capitol. Mom knocks on the door and I tell her to come in. She sits down next to me and asks me what's wrong. I shake my head, "Nothing's wrong." "There must be something. You left the room with your face dumbfounded." I sigh and turn to face her. I am trembling and scared because they could hear me right now.
"They want revenge, mom." I say, barely a whisper. My moms' smile drops and turns into a frown, "Who do they think they are?" She exclaims. I try to shush her down because they could be watching our every move. She sighs, "Sorry, Rue. I can't help it." I smile slightly, "I just want to sleep." She nods and leaves the room. I decide to take a quick shower before I sleep. After showering, I change into a light blue tank top and baggy pants and hop into my bed. I pull the covers up and the door swings open. I smile at the person at the door.
"Hey, Torrence." I say. He closes the door behind him and sits on my bed, "I just wanted to say you're going to LOVE your dress tomorrow." he says. I raise an eyebrow, "Will I? I might not." He chuckles, "You will. I am sure of it." I laugh and he does as well, "I'm going to let you rest. You're going to need some training for your interview tomorrow." I nod and he leaves the room. I lay down on my bed and turn off the lights. I start drifting to sleep to an unusual dream.
I am sitting on the grass in the meadow and stroke the grass carefully. I look up and see a figure. I start to freak out and stand up. She gives me a warming smile and tells me to calm down. A woman, probably in her early twenties and has blonde hair with blue eyes, introduces herself, "Hi, Rue. You may not remember me, but I am your aunt." My eyes widen. My aunt? I don't even have an aunt. Mom doesn't have any siblings, does she? "Uhmm, I don't really have one." I say. She sighs, "I wish she would've told you." she says. I give her a confused face, "Your mother. But it would've hurt her."
I raise an eyebrow, "Can you tell me?" She gives me a smile and nods. She tells me about how she and my mother were close. How their father died and how their mother mentally died along with him. Mom had to take care of her family at a young age. She began hunting with Dave's dad, Gale, who's father also died. She tells me how mom volunteered for her in the games and dad was also with her. The nightlock incident. The 3rd Quarter Quell. The rebellion. She tells me everything.
I start to tear up on the story of how she died. She hugs me, "Don't worry, Rue. I'll still be here, in your dreams." I pull away from the hug, "I wish you were here, aunt, uhmmm."
I realize I don't even know my aunts' name. Well, this is embarrassing. She chuckles and finally says, "Aunt Primrose. But just call me Aunt Prim, alright?" I nod and give her a hug. "I will be there for you in the games." she whispers. I look up at her, "How will you do that?" She smiles, "You'll see, Rue." She looks up at the sky, "It's getting dark. It's time for me to go now. I can only communicate with you in your dreams and my time has passed." I hold her tightly, "No, don't go, please." She sighs and looks down, "I'm sorry, but I promise I'll be here tomorrow night." I give her one final hug and she walks into the forest. She slowly disappears into the night and the sky turns dark. I'm alone once again.
I wake up without an alarm or anyone waking me up. I smile. I met my aunt. In my dreams! How is that possible? I look at the clock. It's around 5:30 a.m. I hear a knock on the door, "Come in." I say. Mom comes in the room, "We're going to practice for your interview, okay?" I nod. "How come you're up so early?" she asks. I sigh, "I had a dream. Something woke me up." She nods and kisses my forehead, "You're going to be fine." I lay back on my bed and mom goes back outside. I'm supposed to be sleepy and going back to sleep but I don't feel like it at all.
I walk out of my room and start eating my breakfast. Dave arrives along with mom, dad, Effie and Haymitch. The adults start talking about how excited they are for the interviews, "I think that District 12 can outshine themselves once more!" Effie exclaims. Haymitch nods, agreeing with her, "I wonder what angle will your precious little daughter be." he says to mom and dad. Mom rolls her eyes, "I want her to be herself, but likeable." I look up from my plate, "How can I be likeable?" "We'll talk about this later, alright?" she says. I nod my head and I continue eating. We are dragged into different rooms after eating breakfast. Apparently, we have 8 hours of learning stuff; 4 hours a lesson. When dad tells us this, I groan and suggest that I go with mom and dad first. They agree and I follow them into a room.
"So, Rue.." dad begins, "We want to know what angle are you good at." I shrug and mom slaps him on his arm, "Peeta!" Dad rubs his arm, "What?" "We talked about this. She can be herself, I mean, most people love her already!" Their arguing lasts for around 30 minutes and I am just sitting there just waiting for them to stop. When I finally get tired of it, I shout, "Can we just not talk about this? I'll just be myself! Gosh." We become silent for a couple of minutes before dad speaks up, "Okay, lets continue."
For the next few hours, we have been talking about what to do and what not to do. After that's done, I am put to another room with Effie to do some 'proper' stuff. My feet aches from the high heels, which are about 6 inches high, and I am not used to sitting up straight. I may not be good at high heels but I managed to sit straight after a couple of hours. After 8 hours of practicing for my interview, I lay on my bed to rest. But as soon as my body slams on it, the door slams open and my prep team comes inside. I groan as I sit up straight, "Really?" The nod and start doing my makeup without me even saying anything. I sigh as they get to work.
Lorelle talks about how excited she is for the interviews and thinks District 12 will outshine them all once more. Quella agrees with her but Halbert is quite skeptical about it, "I think the dress is gorgeous but I don't know about the sparks." His statement makes me curious about my dress. What will it look like? What 'sparks' is he talking about? Will it be good enough to get sponsors? I ignore my thoughts as I know I'll get my answers later on.
Torrence comes inside and smiles, "Well done with the makeup, guys!" my prep team smiles, "Make sure her hair is curled at the bottom only. Around shoulder length." Torrence says. My prep team nods and Torrence leaves the room. They part one side of my head and start curling my hair. I have to admit, I like this hairstyle. It's quite natural. I am put into another room and Torrence is there, waiting for me, "You ready to see it?" I nod quickly, excited to see what it looks like. He removes it from the closet and I gasp. It's a long, spaghetti strap dress that touches the floor. From top to bottom, the colors are white, yellow, orange, red and black. The colors fade into each other. Torrence smiles, "You like it?"
"I LOVE IT!" I scream, also smiling like an idiot. He laughs, "That's not the best part." My eyes open wide. "When you twirl, fire and sparks come out." Torrence says. I squeal loudly and hug Torrence. He laughs, "Thank you for making the best dress EVER!" I shout.
The tributes are waiting for their turn to interview. As I walk into the room, Shine and Deanne scoff and look at the stage. I laugh at their reactions. Most of the tributes jaws drop down. Camille walks up to me with a bright smile, "I love your dress, Rue!" I smile, "I love yours as well!" Camille is wearing a blue and sea green dress that fades into each other. She is wearing a shell necklace and 4 inch yellow high heels. She is also wearing a shell bracelt and dangling pearl earrings. She has her hair up into a bun and make up inspired by the sea. I am wearing the dress Torrence designed, my hair curled with a white headband. I am wearing a necklace with a Katniss flower and a bagguette on it, as a reminder of my parents. My bracelet has a Rue flower on it as a reminder of myself and I'm wearing 1 inch white heels.
"Mine can't compare to yours. And I love your necklace!" Camille says. I smile as she mentions the necklace. Caesar Flickerman pops up the screen and all the tributes line up. I look behind me to see Dave all dressed up, "Wow, look at you all dressed up." I say. He chuckles, "Look who's talking." I raise an eyebrow, "No, seriously. Why are you talking to me now? I thought you're mad at me." he says. I shrug, "Maybe I am. You won't join them, will you?" He sighs and looks down. I shake my head, disappointed and look away. Caesar Flickerman introduces Shine and she walks on stage, twirling like a ballerina with her flowy red dress. Her wavy blonde hair has been straightened and she's wearing a red headband with a bow. Everytime Caesar asks her a question, her answers always end with a giggle. I roll my eyes as she tries to be cute. Her angle is definitely NOT cute.
Rain is next and his angle is definitely bloody brutal. Ugh. I hate it when careers think that they're the boss of everything. That's just stupid. I don't pay attention to his interview because he just seems cocky. Deanne's angle is probably the same as Rains' and Masons' is just acting like he's cool. Camilles' interview comes after District 3s'. I can tell her angle is just being likeable. District 5,6,7. Then comes in Andrea. She is wearing a bright green, strapless dress that reaches her knees. Her hair is up into a bun and her right arm has a lot of bracelets. Her angle is more a shy kind of person. Caesar helps her out because she seems very bashful.
4 districts later, it's my turn. I hear Caesar shouting, "From District 12! The girl with the sparks, and..." he pauses, "The daughter of the victors, Rue Mellark!" I take a deep breath and walk onto the stage with my brightest smile. I take a seat next to Caesar and he greets me excitedly, "Welcome, Rue! How do you find the Capitol?" "It's wonderful! The people are so nice!" I say with sarcasm. Luckily, people didn't notice. Most of the audience smiles with their oddly colored lips. Caesar smiles as well, "That's great! Now..." he says turning serious, "Tell us... how did your stylist design this beyond magnificent dress!" he exclaims. I laugh, "Torrence is amazing. This is my favorite design from him!" I look at Torrence in the audience and he smiles. I smile back at him and look back at Caesar, "You wanna see what it does as well?" The crowd screams. I stand up and I twirl. And twirl and twirl and twirl. Fire froms on my dress and the sparks come out flying. The crowd screams louder than before and Caesar stops me before I can get any dizzier.
After settling down for a few seconds, he becomes serious, "So, you're friends with the male tribute, Dave Hawthorne." I nod, "He's my best friend." "And you volunteered for his sister, Felicia, is that right?" Caesar asks, making sure. I nod, "Yes. Felicia and I were never close friends but I just had this sense that I had to help her." The audience is pitying me right now. They keeps saying 'aww' which is kind of annoying in fact. Caesar pats me on the back, "Do you think you can win this?" he asks. I am caught off guard by this question, "I don't really know. I'm in the between. I think I have a good chance but I'm still pretty young, you know?" I say. He shakes his head, "But you got a 12 in training! The youngest tribute gets the highest score but doubts herself in winning this?" Caesar exclaims in surprise.
I shrug, "A 12 is pretty great but-" "Which reminds me, tell us what you did in the private sessions." Caesar says interupting me. The crowd goes even wilder. Some even scream 'Tell us!'. I am relieved that we don't have to talk about if I win the games or not but I'm terrified of the subject he dropped. I don't want to tell them! Especially my archery skills. Mom would freak! "Well, I don't really want to tell you my secrets." I say, trying to be a bit more suspicious. The audience groans and screams even louder. I shake my head while moving my index finger from left to right. Caesar laughs at this action, "I like you, Rue! Very natural." I smile genuinely this time. I look over at Torrence and he's smiling as well. I hear the bell ring indicating that my time is up. Caesar and I stand up, "We'll say goodbye to our youngest tribute, for now." he says. I cringe. For now? "Ladies and gentlemen, the girl with the sparks!" he exclaims while raising my arm. I smile at the colorful crowd and go back to the penthouse. "Great job, honey!" I hear mom exclaim. She runs up and hugs me. Dad smiles, "Glad to see you used my shower statement." I roll my eyes, "Oh, please, dad. It wasn't even that funny." He scoffs. Mom and I laugh. We hear Caesar introduce Dave to the crowd. He comes on stage with a smile on his face which makes me raise my eyebrow. That's obviously fake. He never smiles that often. Only in the woods. I can't even bea to watch his interview because it was so unlike Dave. It's like the opposite of him. I walk into my room and change into a lavender shirt and some blue shorts. I brush my hair and the waves look a little more natural.
I walk back out and see Dave talking to mom and dad. He's still wearing his grey tuxedo and his hair pushed back. "Dinner is ready!" Effie exclaims at the dining table. I walk over and smile at her, "Your interview was amazing! I loved your outfit!" Effie exclaims. "You should thank Torrence for making that aamzing dress." I say. Dave gets changed and we have the dinner together. The adults, including our stylists, are talking about how amazing this years' interviews were. All I am thinking is the games tomorrow. After eating our last dinner before the games, Effie tears up because she's going to miss both of us. She walks away with Haymitch and I walk back to my room. I lay on my bed and start drifting to sleep but occassionally wake up every now and then.
Quite a long chapter. :) Hope you liked it. Sorry I haven't been posting for so long. I was quite busy and sick as well. -_-