Book 1, Chapter 1

Life in the Capitol isn't always as glamorous as the other Districts think it is.

"Hera? Hera, it's time to wake up," my maid Aemelia shakes me gently from my unconsciousness. My eyes open slowly. The morning light is shining directly on her round face and bleached white hair, making it give off a bluish glow. I kick my blanket off and glare at her. "Hurry up, Hera. Your parents are already at the table. I made croustades, and maybe if you would get up, your parents would let you have some of their mimosa." Screw it. She's not leaving. I sit up, and she hands me my silk robe and my asthma medicine. She tries to help me out of bed, but I wave her away. It takes me a moment to stand up.

"Would you like your glasses?" she says as I make my way from my bedroom. I wave her away again and begin to walk down the stairs. My dog follows Aemelia and me down to the dining room. I pick the dog up and carry him into the kitchen, where I set him on the counter top.

"Good morning Prince. Does baby want some peanut butter?" he licks my hand and I smile. I turn around to the cabinet and grab the jar of peanut butter. I then walk to the refrigerator and pull out a jar of pickles. This, is a good breakfast. I open both of the jars and give a spoon full of peanut butter to my dog.

"Come on, Hera. Don't let the dog lick the spoon," Aemelia says as she walks into the kitchen. I ignore her and giver Prince another spoon full of peanut butter, "And stop putting the dog on the table. It's unsanitary." Jesus, she just does not stop nagging. I take Prince off of the counter and he runs out of the kitchen.

"Aemelia, can you give me a glass of lemonade please?"

"And just why should I get you some? You didn't even try my croustades. And you didn't even get up when I asked."

"I asked nicely."

"Mind your lisp, Hera Mozelle. You didn't ass me anything. Ask," I hate it when she points out my lisp. I have enough trouble speaking as it is, and pointing it out just makes it worse because I'm self conscious. I take the jar of pickles into the den and turn on the television. Prince jumps on the couch next to me while I flip through the channels. Suddenly, there's a knock on the window that makes me jump. My best friend, Apollo Gray, is waiting at the window. I chuckle and shake my head, standing up to let him in.

"Why can't you use the door like a normal person?" I say to him as he climbs into the room.

"It's not as fun. I can see you're ready to go places," he says, looking at my robe and pajamas . Of course, being the guy he is, he has his signature blue lipstick on, with his matching blue suit.

"Aren't you worried that you'll rip your suit?"

"No. Get acceptable clothing on. It's reaping day and I want to check out the tributes so I can make my wagers against Caliban and Priam."

"Fine, fine. Come on upstairs," we walk up the stairs, stopping for a moment to say good morning to Aemelia, who of course freaked out as soon as she saw Apollo. She always freaks out when she sees me with boys other than my cousins or father. Even though she and I have both known Apollo for all of his and my life. When we get to my bedroom, he walks straight to my closet and I sit down on my bed. Prince trots happily into my room and sits down next to me on. I smirk when I hear Apollo talking to himself about which dress and shoes I should wear. This is quite normal for me, because according to Apollo, I have zero sense of style.

"This one. Definitely," He pulls out a light blue and green, floor length, Victorian-era racing club dress. It even has a matching hat and parasol. I didn't even know I had that.

"Hell no. I will never wear that for as long as I live," I turn my head away from the dress and cross my arms.

"Come on, Her. I bet it looks amazing on you. Seriously," he sets the dress and accessories on the bed next to me, "Come on Hera. Please?" he begs. God damn him. He knows I can't resist his begging. His friggin' eyes get me every time.

"Fine. Fine. Whatever. Just get out of my room so I can change. I'm not putting my hair up."

"Oh yes you are. You didn't try my croustades. Time for payback," Aemelia says from the door way. Just kill me now. I hate the Capitol's way of dressing up to cross the street. And all of the makeup and body-altering. It's creepy. Personally, I can't stand wearing anything more than lip balm and mascara. The only times Aemelia has missed work since I was born was to get plastic surgery. It's revolting. I can stand piercings, though. I have six.

Apollo leaves the room and Aemelia dresses me and does my hair, which of course takes forever, since I have at least three feet of it. I stop her when she starts to put makeup on me. She lets Apollo in the room and he smiles when he sees me. I scowl at him and he escorts me down the stairs and out of my house.

"You made me wear this because you're also wearing blue," I say angrily. He smirks but says nothing.

When walking down the streets of the Capitol, most of the time you hear the typical Capitol accent. The odd vowels, clipped words, and hissed s sound. My family thinks I'm special because I have my grandmother's "tobacco drawl" and lisp, probably because she and Aemelia practically raised me. I sound more like someone from District 12 than from the Capitol. We walk in silence until we reach the city's big Social Tower, where the citizens make bets and what ever is being bet is kept in a vault.

"After you, Miss Vasik," he opens the door for me.

"Bite me." I walk through the door and see two of our classmates, Priam and Caliban. Joy. Three boys betting on another other human being's life. They lead us to an empty table and we sit down

"Okay... I bet fifty on the big one from District 11. I think his name is Thresh. What about you Cal?" Priam places fifty dollars in the middle of the table.

"Fifty on Marvel, District 1," Caliban places his fifty dollars on the table, "Apollo?"

"I guess the minimum is fifty, so I bet fifty on the girl with the face."

"Descriptive. I'm pretty sure most of them have faces," I say, rolling my eyes.

"You know. The ginger. District 5." he places his money in the center of the table, "Come on Hera. Place your bet."

"Katniss Everdeen. District 12," I take fifty dollars out of my clutch and place it in the table.

"Are you serious?" Priam scoffs.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well for one," Priam speaks up, "She doesn't look strong enough to pick up Apollo's baby sister. She probably weighs a less than Prince, too." The four of us laugh, and he signals for an attendant to take our money to a locker. The attendant gives us the number of the locker and we leave shortly after.

Hope you like it :) Please rate and review so I know that people actually like this.

Thanks,

Jo