Chapter 5
This is the last night that Apollo is going to make me dress up. That was a lie, I'm sorry.
I finally decided to wash Applejack. Good news- the dye didn't stain her nice palomino coat.
I'm pretty sure that Apollo has been waiting up all night to see the interview outfits. He loves fashion. He doesn't want to work on the prep team, though. He'd much rather be an actor. Personally, I want to be an engineer. But, my parents have other plans. They want me to be a surgeon, like my father. I already have some medical training from my dad, like I know how to do stitches and relocate people's joints and stuff like that, but I don't really want to do that and cut up people for a living. I'd rather build trains and cars and bombs and stuff.
I decide on dressing myself this morning. I choose a nice cobalt blue satin shirt and a black cotton skirt, with moderately sized black heels.
"Wow. You actually look nice today, Hera," he says examining my choice of outfit. He stops at my feet. "You gave yourself a henna tattoo."
"Yeah. Yesterday," I step out the front door and continue to walk to the City Circle. Apollo hates henna tattoos. With a fiery passion.
"Why did you do that?" he has to run to catch up to me.
"I felt like it." Silence followed this answer. Sweet, sweet silence.
Something must be on Apollo's mind. He's never this quiet. We walk in silence until we reach the City Circle. A lot of citizens are already there, dressed in ridiculous outfits. Again, we some how make it to the front of the crowd. Apollo has skill, I must say. The tributes are already there, looking amazing. The Glimmer girl is more beautiful in person, Thresh is scarily tall and strong-looking, and the boy from District 12 is even handsome. He looks pretty confident, too. My tribute, on the other hand, is shaking so hard that it looks like she's going to explode.
I glance over at the stylists. They all look familiar, except for one. He was pretty normal looking. He was dyed or altered in any way, his hair was even it's natural color. He wasn't even dressed extravagantly. He was wearing a simple black shirt and pants. I like this guy.
"Do you know who the new stylist is?" I whisper to Apollo. He usually knows all of the stylists, since his mother teaches the majority of them.
"I don't know, but the District 1 girl is hot." I punch his arm. He smiles like he knows he deserved it, "And Caesar stole my color. That bastard..." I shake my head. I almost listen to the interviews, but it's really hard to pay attention to things that you don't really care about. I just want the games to start already.
"The lamb stew," I catch my tribute saying. Lamb stew?
"The one with the dried plums? Oh, I eat it by the bucketful," Caesar Flickerman says, turning to the side to show us his stomach, "It doesn't show, does it?" Oh my. Caesar is such a character. That response earns him laughs and applause from the audience. He's always so sympathetic to the tributes. He knows how to make people feel comfortable.
"It is good," Apollo mumbles to me. I smirk and shake my head. I cannot deny the truth of that statement. Lamb stew with dried plums is absolutely amazing. I listen politely to my tributes struggles. Her love for her sister and her need to win. She really is strong.
The audience gives a roaring applause, and continues it even after she is seated. The male tribute is next. Peeta Mellark. What a name. He has a great personality, so the he has audience attention right away. He almost reminds me of a shorter, blond Apollo. Peeta's a baker's son. He compares the tributes to breads from their district. It's quite interesting, actually. And funny, too. The tribute tells a story about his first interaction with a shower from the Capitol. Of course, everyone in the audience can relate to that. Rose scented foam. I watch Apollo shudder from the corner of my eye. Caesar asks him about his girlfriend, and of course he doesn't have one. I bet he does have one, but he just doesn't want to embarrass her or something. The crowd is absolutely silent with anticipation.
"Well, there is this one girl," the tribute says.
"Knew it," I mutter.
"I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping." Sounds of sympathy come from the crowd. Another thing people can relate to. Unrequited love. Even Apollo lets out a sigh.
"Does she have another fellow?" Caesar asks. He looks legitimately sympathetic.
"I don't know, but a lot of boys like her," he says.
"So here's what you're going to do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then?" Caesar says encouragingly. I love Caesar.
"I don't think this is going to work out. Winning... won't help in my case," says Peeta. His voice has decrescendo-ed to be barely audible.
"Why ever not?" A mystified Caesar asks. It's not like he's the only one. We're all intrigued. The tribute blushes and stammers. He's so cute.
"Because... because... she came here with me."
"Oh shit." This time, Apollo wasn't hit for his comment.
Two chapters for you today! I felt bad that four was so short...
Rate and review and I will post again on Thursday :)
- Johanna