I hate my prep team.
I hate my prep team.
I hate my prep team.
Nobody said that part of the Hunger Games involved dealt with three idiots that won't stop crying or giggling. I frankly don't understand and I really don't like it. I really don't like it.
They're three girls, unluckily for me. There's one girl who has straight pink hair, rose-colored lips, and soft pink skin, on which there is obviously a lot of powder. Her name is, uh, Decima, I think. She cries even thinking about all the 12-year-olds that got reaped this year, when there aren't actually that many. There's another girl with bright green hair but blue skin and purple lips, with emerald green eyes. Her name's got something to do with June. I think Junia, or something. The last one has blue-gray skin and black hair that makes me think of Platinum. Shit. It sucks that I have no reason to hate him anymore. Nerilla, her name is. I'm shocked I can even remember them.
They spend the first part of our meeting giggling about how they get to deal with an actual volunteer this year. They spend the second part talking about what my petname should be. They decided on Natey-Potatey, but I hate it. Can't I just be Nate!? Honestly. The third segment starts when somebody brings up Elijah, and I let them all know (using some very, uh, creative language) exactly what was going on with myself and my best friend. Mistake. They spend the third segment crying over Elijah's death. How young he was. How pretty his eyes were. How they would've tried to dye his hair blue if he had won. Needless to say, the third segment ends with me screaming at them to shut up. The fourth segment is silent. Unfortunately for me, that doesn't last too long. The fifth segment is them daydreaming about Elijah and I having "young love," which hurts a lot even though neither of us are gay. Or at least I don't think he was.
(But I was never exactly sure. Not that I would mind if he was.)
They've just come up with "Nalijah" when the main stylist enters the room.
Nobody ever told me that I would have to stand here naked as I'm studied by some Capitolite that I've just met. He came in, told me his name is Septimus, and started to study me. Can't I just go into the Arena, please? I think about what my best friend must've been feeling at this point in time, and figure that it must be around the same thoughts I'm having. When he finally drapes a robe around my shoulders, I breathe a sigh of relief and sit back down as he goes to collect my costume for the chariot rides. I never want to be naked in front of a Capitolite again.
He comes back with a bronze outfit that looks like sturdy metal, and a golden helmet. I choke on my own spit, "Wasn't that Elijah's outfit last year!?" I cough out.
"Only the helmet," Septimus says, "The rest of it is all individualized for our little volunteer!"
I sigh. I hate this.
The three girls help me into the outfit, and though it isn't as heavy as I expected it to be, I still hate it. When they put the helmet on my head, memories of last year fly to my head.
Elijah smiles on his chariot, showing off the slight gap he has between his front teeth. As the horses trot along, he looks around, amazed, at all the people there to see him. Paulina stands next to him, looking annoyed. Priscilla nestles into my side and holds on to my shirt tightly. On the District 1 chariot, Platinum wobbles and looks alarmed that he's going to fall over. Champagne takes him by the back of the feathers and giggles. I saw her mouth a word and didn't know what it was at the time, but now I'm positive that it was "Platty."
On the District 4 chariot Drake glares at nothing in particular but stands rock-steady. I even felt fear for him and I wasn't in his Arena! When I finally see Elijah on camera again, the helmet falls right over his huge blue eyes, and I can only imagine the explosion of surprise that we would've seen, had the helmet not been covering his face. But he laughed anyways.
That's my Elijah.
He laughed anyways.
The helmet falls over my eyes and I stumble backward, almost breaking something. I blink in confusion and readjust the headpiece on my head. The girls giggle, which causes me to groan.
"Come, come," Septimus tells me, "Let's go!" He guides me out to the main room, where the tributes of my Games are all getting last minute preparations done. Priscilla wears an outfit that is a lot more revealing than I would've thought for a 12-year-old, but the most prominent feature is not the incredibly skimpy armor she wears, but instead the flowers that they've put in her hair. It makes me think all the way back to when life was good to be living. She and Ashley were the innocent orphans, Elijah and I were the rowdy little boys, and Brandt was the acquaintance that sometimes knew how to have fun. He put the flowers into Priscilla and Ashley's hair the first time, when they were both much littler than she is now and Ashley couldn't say her "R" sounds correctly.
She used to love it when flowers were put in her hair. But now, it's obvious that she's embarrassed by it. Miserable with the loss of her best friend, a little like I was miserable for the loss of mine. She looks humiliated, shy, and just plain sad. And it hurts.
She looks up from where her head was buried in her hands and her brown eyes tear up. "Hi volunteer," she sniffles. "Hey," I say quietly.
I look over at the other tributes, and see the 1 boy, dressed in a bright red, sparkly tuxedo. He catches me eye and smiles, waving to me. I don't smile, but I do wave back. I think it would help to have him and his partner for allies. It'll sure be a lot easier to kill him that way. When his stylist is done with him, he walks over and says with a big smile, "Hi! I'm Cutter."
"Nate," I say quietly, "And that's Priscilla."
"Wow, I can't believe you volunteered! Can you?!"
If I didn't want this kid for an ally, my response would've been, of course I can, idiot.
But I just smile nicely like Elijah and I used to do to our sisters when we caused mischief and say, "Yeah, I guess."
I think about what Trevor said to me after the reaping. And I'm starting to think he's right.
His District partner skips over just then and smiles broadly. "Hi there 2!" she squeals, "I'm Azure!" Then she proceeds to twirl around in her dress.
So maybe this was a bad idea. Oh, well.
Priscilla looks up and waves to both of them.
"Wow, Nate McIalwain!" she giggles, "Are you really as strong as you look on TV!?"
"Uh…" I struggle for words as she takes my arm and squeezes it. She gives a squeal of approval, "You are!"
I provide a nervous laugh, "Yeah… Guess I am."
"We're going to go talk to District 4 now!" says Cutter, "Care to join us!?"
I shake my head, "Uh, no, thanks."
Priscilla gets up and nods, and when they leave, she goes with them. I look at some of the others that I remember from the reapings.
Suddenly the girl in the silver, microchip dress (that is an EXTREMELY short dress on a very tall girl, by the way) skips over. Her dark curls bounce as she does this.
"Hi there, volunteer!" she says happily.
"Hey… Uh… Boeh, right?"
She smiles, "So sweet! You even pronounced it right! Not a lot of people do!" She narrows her eyes, a crooked smile taking over her face. "But the ones that don't? Oh, I make 'em."
This makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. "Right…"
"Anyways, I just came over here to tell you that I'm going to be the one to kill you in the Arena, volunteer!" Her green eyes look all around, just like they did at the reapings. "Won't that be fun!?" she asks. I roll my eyes but don't say anything.
Sometimes crazies can be the most dangerous.
Her District partner appears behind her suddenly and takes her by the shoulder.
"Boeh!" he says, "Stop terrorizing Two, why don't ya?"
She growls and shoves him against the nearby wall, putting a fist up. "YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" she screams. He looks even more scared than he did at the reaping. This is alarming to me, because who knows what she could do if she got a sword?
She releases him and glares at him the whole rest of the night. I sure hope he's just made himself a bigger target that me in her eyes.
Priscilla appears back by my side soon enough, and it looks like any tears she's cried have been dried. Cutter smiles and waves at both of us as he walks ahead to his chariot. Priscilla smiles at him and waves back. Azure skips after him and gives both of us an enthusiastic smile and a big wave, to which the 12-year-old doesn't look half as enthusiastic. I wave back to both of them with a small smile and ask Priscilla, "Well? What have you found out?"
"Why would you want to know, volunteer?" she asks smugly.
"Because I have information, too," I tell her, even though I actually kind of don't.
"Yeah? Why does your information concern me? And why does mine concern you?"
"Priscilla. We're District partners."
"So? You saw how Paulina and Elijah were last year-"
"Sh. Please. Please don't talk about last year."
She stares at the ground again and nods.
"But you and I… We really are a team. One of us is going to come out alive, if the two of us both work together."
Priscilla nods, after a long pause. Then she says quietly, "Azure is an idiot, but Cutter is going to prove to be formidable competition. He's smart and he's so nice he's bound to get sponsors."
"What about Four?" I ask in a whisper.
"The boy didn't seem interested in talking to us. He left quietly in the middle of the conversation. Nobody mentioned his absence. The girl seems alright. She said she's a great swimmer and she's good at catching fish. I think the alliance is going to turn out to be us, both Ones, and Melanie."
"Four?" I ask.
"Yeah," she says quietly. "What'd you find out?"
"The girl from 3 is a fucking loonie," I say quietly, "And her District partner seems to have some kind of control over her. But as soon as we see her in the Arena, she needs to die."
At the last word, Priscilla stares at the horses. "Yeah," she says weakly.
I sigh as the huge doors open and Cutter and Azure's chariot pulls out.
"Hold on tight," I whisper to Priscilla, as our horse pulls out.
And suddenly the helmet falls over my eyes.
And I decide that I can laugh anyways. Especially if I don't have a lot of time left.
Just like him.