I was being supported by Jonathan and another boy when I came around. I must have been out for about two minutes, judging by the time on the clock. Without looking at Jonathan, I regained my composure and walked to the stage. When I got up there I finally got a good look at the Capitol lady. She looked literally like a carrot with limbs. Her skin was dyed orange and her hair was dyed green. I tried to keep my laughter inside. "You're Kristen Ward?" she asked.
I nodded. "Don't you look lovely," she said with a mixed looked of disgust and dismissal as she went towards the second glass bowl. "Boys next!" she squealed.
Miss Carrot-With-Limbs reached into the bowl and pulled out a slip. Not Jimmy, I pleaded in my mind. She took great care in opening it.
"SPENCER WELLS!"
Today is just a wonderful day, I thought grimly as Spencer Wells made his way up on the stage. I knew Spencer. We were not really friends to put it lightly. Spencer was 18, just my luck, and the apothecaries' son. My first encounter with Spencer was when I was walking out of school and he grabbed my bag and ran off. I chased after him and jumped on him just outside of the apothecary. I grabbed my bag and gave him a swift kick to the face. "Aw, too bad you couldn't grab that," I said sarcastically.
His mother came running out screaming about her "poor baby" and how she was going to call the Peacekeepers. I said, "Look, maybe if your 'poor baby' wasn't a thief, his nose wouldn't be broken. And I'm a girl. Seriously? He just got beaten up by a girl two times smaller than him."
With that statement, I walked away. Since then, a feud has been going on between me and Spencer Wells. He made his way up on the stage except his outwardly "tough" look had slipped a little. His eyes were wide and he was almost as pale as me, and I could blend in with snow. He was in a black dress shirt and black dress pants. His medium brown hair was being matted down by the rain. "We now have our two tributes!" Miss Carrot-With-Limbs squealed happily. "A round of applause for them!"
There was clapping, but it was a weak attempt at such. They mayor shook my hand and Spencer's hand then read the very long, and very boring, Treaty of Treason. It might as well as be called the Let-Me-Bore-You-To-Death-Before-You-Die-Anyway speech. While the mayor was going on, I looked around. I saw Jonathan, looking pale, well, as pale as a black guy could get, and like he might kill Miss Carrot-With-Limbs, and put her in a soup. I saw Jimmy next, standing with the fourteens. Wow, they are short,I thought. He looked green, greener than Carrot-With-Limb's hair. Then I saw my mom. She looked absolutely terrified. I couldn't blame her. The chances of me coming back without the nice new line of "wooden coffin accessories," was very slim. I tried to find my father. I finally located him with his "friend." He looked shocked, but not as bad as Jonathan, Jimmy, or my mom. Either A) He was trying to comprehend what just happened. B) He was too wrapped up in his "friend," or C) He didn't care either way. I was going to go with answers B or C. I cared about it as much as I cared about homework, which isn't very much. Finally, the mayor stopped reading and said, "Tributes, shake hands."
Spencer and I shook hands. The realization of who he was going into the arena with must have finally sunk in. So much for an alliance,I thought. He squeezed my hand so hard, I thought I could feel the bones moving. I squeezed his back, taking care to dig my sharp nails into his palm. I smiled my sweet, "I'm going to kill you." smile and let go. He gave me his, "You're dead," look and we faced the crowd. The anthem of Panem started to play and I thought, Odds are that someone will kill him before he can be over dramatic about killing me.
But then again, the odds haven't been very dependable in my case and Spencer never let anything get in the way of his over-dramatics.