"Tears make you look weak." Defoko said, shaking a finger in my face.
"Time's up!" The guy says.
I splash water on my face to get rid of the splotchy redness. I never cry. So why am I now?
Defoko and I are ushered into a train with a gigantic television in one of the carts. We sit in front of the flatscreen on lawnchairs.
The Hunger Games flashes up in fire-y letters, and then burns to ash.
District One flies up on the screen. Hachune walks up to the stage and says her introduction. Then she reaches into the Girls' bowl.
"S-See-SeeU?" She stutters, trying to pronounce the girl's name.
A girl who looks surgically enhanced walks up to the stage and stands next to Hachune.
She has long, wavy, golden hair and black electronic cat ears sticking out of her scalp.
Hachune smiles, "How are you, darling?" She asks the girl.
She grinned. "The proudest I've ever been in my life." Her voice sounded mature, and had a slight Korean accent.
"How old are you, dear?" Hachune asks her. I hate people who call you, dear. It makes you sound weak.
"I'm seventeen."
I wince. Seventeen? No way, we will not stand a chance against a seventeen-year-old.
Hachune walks over to the boys' crystal bowl. "Radcliffe, Oliver."
A shaky looking boy walks up to the stage. Brown hair, and little eyes.
"H-hi. I-I'm Oliver. N-nice to m-meet you M-miss Hachune." He stutters.
"And how old are you, Hon?" Hachune asks.
"Th-thirteen."
Thirteen? He looked eight.
Other stuff happened, but all I was looking at was the boy.
And how easily he was going to get killed.
No.
I won't protect two kids.
I zone out until I see District 5.
"Hatsune, Miku!" Hachune shouts.
Miku has long teal pigtails held up in red scrunchies. She has nice big, teal eyes.
"Hello." Miku smiles, and shakes Hachune's hand. "How are you, Miss?"
Hachune grins. "Well you are the most polite person I've ever met. Who are your parents?"
Miku laughs. "Right there, in the front."
The camera zooms in on her parents.
"How old are you?" Hachune asks Miku.
Miku smiles. "Sixteen."
I think about that for a minute. Miku and I might've been good friends.
Hachune walks over to the boys' bowl.
"Utata, Piko." Hachune shouts.
I see a boy with white hair. That's all I see because his face is covered with hood.
"Nooooooooooo!" I hear a girl scream. She runs out. She's about six and she has a bigger chest than me. Her long, red, straight hair flows out behind her in a thigh-length braid.
"PIKOOOOO!" She screams.
The white-hair looks behind him, in doing so, his hood flies off his head. He has nice eyes. He's kind of cute.
"Yoko!" His voice is mature, but not grown up.
The girl, Yoko, has her arms held behind her back by Peacekeepers.
"Let me go!" She screamed. "PIKO!"
One of the Peacekeepers has some sort of gun. Whatever it is, Piko gets fidgety.
"Yoko, stop!"
"No! Piko!"
The Peacekeeper holding the gun jabs it into her side and pulls the trigger.
A scream echoes through the square.
The girl, Yoko, lay on the floor electrocuted.
"Is she dead?" Piko screamed.
The Peacekeepers shook their heads. "She is merely stunned."
"Hang on, Yoko! Imma tear these guys apart!" Piko shouts.
Unfortunately, he doesn't get to do so, because more Peacekeepers are holding him back.
"AARGH! LET GO OF ME!"
Pewp. I turn the TV off.
I look over at Defoko, she's silently crying.
I look down and smile. He's going to be my second alliance.
"What do we have here?" My stylist Lenka says, checking me over. I feel invaded and want to cover myself with something, anything.
She smiles. "You can put your robe back on."
I put the robe on my bare skin, still numb from being waxed, scrubbed, and slathered in some oily substance.
"So I was thinking, Rilane about what you should wear to represent your district." Lenka says.
"It's Rin, or you can call me Rinny." I say.
"Okay, Rin. I think, we should work on the color of the paper." Says Lenka.
I try to look interested in what she's saying, but I don't really pay attention until she pulls out the dress.
It's gorgeous. It's a white, puffy ball gown without any tulle, just silk. The top has many silver rhinestones under the bust line in a pattern.
"You try it on while I go get your accessories." Lenka winks and gives me a quick peck on the cheek.
It takes twenty minutes of figuring out how to button the thing before I actually attempt to get into the dress.
Once I'm in it, I look at myself in the mirror. Sure, my body looks nice in it, but there has been no touch ups to my face, so I look a little dumb.
Lenka has not returned, but she has ordered my prep team to do my face.
I'm pushed down on a cold metal table once they strip me of my dress which hangs neatly on the door in the side of the room.
I lay on the table in nothing but my underpants and bra while my prep team hovers over me, arguing about what type of silver to paint my eyelids. The finally decided on something called 'metallic.'
They put something called 'pale blush' on my face which makes my face freckle-less and clear. They put some lip shine on my lips and smoothed it out. I guess Lenka had told them to leave my hair alone because she came in when they were about to disobey her.
She sends them out of the room.
"I'm sorry, Rinny." She said after they were gone. "Put on your dress and I'll do your hair."
I put on the ball-gown and she puts my hair in a complicated up-do consisting of many braids.
She put 1 karat diamonds in my hair.
She finds an upside-down tiara and puts it in my hair, so the pretty part lands a bit over the top of my nose. Diamond earrings hang down from my ears and stop half over my shoulders.
I look in the body mirror, then at Lenka, and then back in the body mirror.
"Thank-you, Lenka!" I say and give her a big hug and a peck on the cheek. "Thank-you so much!"
"You ready for the interviews?" She winked.
I swallow hard. "Yes."