Chapter 2

Today, Aemelia is getting plastic surgery again. So I have the house to myself until my parents come home.

First order of business: breakfast. Peanut butter and dog food for Prince, and coffee ice cream for me. I carry the container of ice cream and Prince's dog food into the den. Today's the day where the tributes are brought to the Capitol. Apollo is probably going to drag me to go see them, and force me to wear something ridiculous. He's dragged me to every ceremony for as long as I can remember. Prince starts to bark at the window. I turn to see Apollo climbing through it.

"Why?" I ask.

"Why not?" he replies. I scowl at him. He's wearing one of his many blue suits and his trademark blue lipstick. "Look what I got," he pulls out an old video game from the inside of his jacket pocket.

"Are you serious?" I take the game from him, "Assassin's Creed Revelations? They haven't made one of these since my grandparents were little. How the hell did you get this?"

"I found it in my grandfather's closet. Wanna try it out?" he smiles almost wickedly. I walk over to my home-made gaming system and put the disk into the tray without answering. Apollo picks up one of the two worn controllers and starts the game. I sit back down on the couch and wait for the game to begin.

I've only been playing this game with Apollo for what, most of the day? We've already beat most of the multiplayer levels. This is still by far the best video game that Apollo has played with me, except for the Elder Scroll series. I love action RPGs, but usually the games that he finds in his grandfather's closet are shooter games like Halo. His grandfather had a lot of video games. He used to work for a gaming company or something.

"Wait, what time is it?" he pauses the game and looks at the clock, "It's almost time for the tributes to arrive. Get dressed. Want me to pick something out for you?"

"Yes," I say almost sulkily.

"Fine," he sighs. Most mornings during the year are like this. Apollo comes to my house because he can't stand his parents. I don't think that they hate him as much as he hates them, though. When Apollo's here, he dresses me up like a doll, and we do stuff like play paintball. His parent's aren't jobless, they're just teachers. College professors, actually. His parents either are very trusting of him or really don't care, because during the games and such, he usually spends a month and a half at my house. Once we reach my room, he instantly walks to my closet. Again, I wait patiently on my bed for him to finish. He pulls a burgundy ball gown. Where the hell does my mom get these dresses anyway?

"This one might be a little low," he says, "But I still think you should try it on. We have a little bit of time before we have to go."

"It's too low. It's show my scar." Yes, I have a scar across my chest. It's really unfortunate, since it's right above my boobs.

"Alright..." he says, digging through my closet again, "How about this one?" The next one is a metallic-ish gold dress, with a collar and long sleeves. I'm not really sure why it's supposed to be worn with pink tights, but that's not really much of my concern. I remember my mother wearing this dress a few years ago, though. Oh god. I'm turning into my mother...

"I like that one," I say. I stand up from my bed and take the dress from him, "Get out. I'm going to change. It's not going to be pretty,"

"Oh no. I can stay, really," he says jokingly. I throw a dog toy at him and he hurries out as I pick up another one.

It doesn't take me that long to change. I'm out within a few minutes. Apollo examines me to see if I'm fit for public exposure.

"You look great, Hera. I have one suggestion, though," he says as I walk out of my bedroom. I hate his suggestions. "You should wear your glasses," he rushes past me to get them before I can protest. I don't ever wear my glasses. Ever.

"No."

"Come on. You really don't look bad with them on," he says. We stare at each other for a minute. He wins, of course. If you think I'm weak, you try staring at his eyes for more than ten seconds. Those things will melt your soul.

"Fine." My glasses are the kind that you see in the really, really old magazines. You know, the big black ones that old people wore in the 1980's, which came back into style for some reason in the 21st century. These are the only ones that could be made to fit my prescription. But then again, I'd rather have that kind of clothing in style, meaning jeans and baggy tops instead of these ridiculous dresses and other feminine clothing Apollo makes me wear. I snatch my glasses out of his hand and put them on. It takes a while for my eyes to adjust, and when they do, we walk out into the coldish and toward the ceremony area. I can already tell that it is overly crowded before we get within a mile of it. Personally I cannot wait to see this year's tributes. If my twelve actually volunteered to be a tribute, I kind of fear for the others.

I feel sort of bad that I didn't write more... sorry. Here are some announcements.

I wrote this chapter WAAAY before Revelations was out, so at that time it sounded better.

I will be posting the link for a picture of Hera that Annie's and my friend drew. Just to let you know - she got the weight wrong, so if the picture says she's 125lbs, it's supposed to be 139lbs - and that should be fixed soon. She should be posting a picture for Apollo also.

Rate and review so I know that people like this,

Johanna