Chapter 7:

We walked out on stage and take our seats. Claudia Flickerman is waiting on stage to give us our interviews. She inherited her father's midnight blue suit, but made slight altercations. She dyes her hair, eye lids, and lips a different color every year, just like Caesar did. This year, they are a sea foam green. "Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 124th Hunger Games! I'm Claudia Flickerman, but you all know that. But who you really want to know are the tributes sitting behind me. So let's get started!"

Sparkle from District 1 is first. She's wearing a gown made entirely of clear gems, and her silver blonde hair falls in perfect curls. One look at her and it's obvious what she is trying to be: sexy. And she nails it.

Then it's her district partner, Glam. He is wearing a tuxedo that is silver and sparkles in the light of the Capitol. He portrays confidence; I really don't think it's an act at all, which frightens me a bit.

Then it's time for District 2. Elesa is up and is wearing a stunning gray gown with a slit up one leg. She is definitely showing sexy as well, but she has a toughness that shows through as well.

Then Brycen of 2 is up. There is one word that perfectly describes him: brutal. He is a complete killing machine, I can tell now.

Then Clair from 3 is interviewed. She is wearing a yellow dress that seems to have electrical currents flowing through it that you can see. She is coming across as shy.

Then her district partner Draco is up wearing a matching suit. He is definitely going for humorous, and succeeds at keeping the crowd laughing.

Next is Iris from 4 in a flowing gown that seems like the ocean is on it. She displays being sophisticated.

Cress, also from 4 goes next. His suit his all black and he has a shirt on under that is the exact color of the ocean. He goes for confident and definitely succeeds.

Next is that girl Angela from 5. She is wearing a bright red gown and her hair is perfectly curled. She is quite obviously going for sly and it adds to the reasons I don't like her. She's conniving in my opinion. And she's from the science district, so she is definitely smart. She is one to watch out for in the games.

But her district partner, Morty, is the complete opposite. He is super shy and gives as short an answer as possible. He looks awkward and out of place wearing a black suit with red shirt underneath.

The girl from 6 is next. Jasmine is wearing a white gown that compliments her figure. She is being humble. Being thankful for even being in the Capitol, all of the nice food, the fabulous outfits.

Her partner Carlos is next. He is just wearing a simple white suit. He is going for silly and I can tell that it's quite normal for him. He has the crowd laughing the entire time at his silliness.

He walks back and I realize that I'm next. I take a deep breath and walk up to the seat.

"Lauren, the dress you are wearing is beautiful. So, you volunteered for a 12 year old back in District 7. Can you tell us a bit about her and why you volunteered?"

"Well," I begin, "her name is Rosalinda. She's my best friend's little sister. She practically is a sister to me. I was so scared for her when her name was called. But the worse was seeing her sister Alessandra. She couldn't do anything since she just recently turned 19, and I could see it was tearing her apart. So I volunteered to save her life."

"That is so sweet. Now a pretty girl like you must have a boy waiting for you back home. Any details?" she asks eagerly.

I laugh and start to answer her, "I do have a boyfriend, Chris. He is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me." I can hear the crowd going aww about my response.

"So here's what you do: you win the games so you can go back and be happy with him. Now can you tell me a bit about your family and what it's like to be with your brother in the games?"

"It's just myself, Kendall, and our adopted brother James. My father died when I was only three, so I don't really remember him. But my mother died only two years ago, which was pretty tough to deal with. And it's the worst being here with Kendall, knowing that if I were to win the games, that means he is dead." At this point my eyes are starting to water. "And then I think about James at home, all by himself, facing the possibility of losing both his brother and sister. It's really hard to deal with."

Most of the crowd is in tears listening to me talk about my family. The buzzer goes off and I head back to my seat. But not before a tear falls.

Kendall goes up to do his interview next. He completely has control of the crowd. They are laughing with him, and they are sad with him. But then Claudia asks the question I've been dreading.

"So Kendall, why exactly did you volunteer for the boy who was originally picked? He seemed like he could handle the games."

"I did it all for Lauren. That was her boyfriend who was picked. I see how happy he makes her every day and how much he genuinely cares about her. I knew that it would tear her apart if he was in the games with her. If she were to win, he would be dead and she would have lost the love of her life. So I did what I have done my entire life: I protected my baby sis and volunteered for Chris. I know there is a good chance that I won't win, but I believe that Lauren has the potential to win. And I just want to give her the chance for a happy future with Chris if she wins. A future where she can marry him and have a family of her own one day."

I thought I had made the crowd sad. But the entire crowd is sobbing right now, so touched by the story of my brother sacrificing his life so I can have a happy future if I win. The buzzer goes off and he returns to his seat. I take his hand and hold it for the rest of the time.

Even Claudia is in tears as she brings up the next tribute, Gabriella from 8. She looks beautiful in her purple dress, which complements her pale skin and black hair. But I can tell she's frightened; I'm not sure if this is just an act to gain sympathy, or if she is truly scared. Probably she really is scared.

Lucius walks up wearing a purple suit. He doesn't need to act at all, he is just his normal happy self.

The district 9 girl, Erika, is next. She is wearing black dress, which I'm guessing is to reflect the coal from her district. She is caring, worrying about her family, even the other tributes.

Her district partner, Brock, then walks up wearing a plain black suit. He is about has smart as a bag of rocks. I guess that's why he got a 4 in training.

Next is Whitney from 10, wearing a green dress that is the very color of the grass they herd their animals on. She's very nice towards Claudia and all of the Capitol people, complementing them on their buildings, styles, food, and more.

Then it's Falkner in a green suit. He is very distant, giving short answers that leaves the Capitol crowd wanting to know more about him.

Finally, it's cute little Skyla from District 11. She is wearing a light pink dress with apple blossoms printed all over. She even has a couple blossoms in her hair. She is just cute for her interview, and I can tell that she is making the crowd fall in love with her. Good for her, not for me.

Then lastly, it is Blaine. He has a light pink suit on with a single apple blossom in his pocket. He's so large and tough looking that he makes wearing pink not seem wimpy. I'm definitely going to avoid him in the arena.

We all stand for the anthem, and I put a smile on my face, trying to impress the crowd one last time. We walk back into the building, and I meet up with Logan, Camille, Cresselia, and Stefan. I get a hug from all of them except Stefan, but I think I did well from the look on his face.

We go up to our floor and my prep team is there already waiting for us. Calpurnia, Icilius, and Emboria see me and hug me. They start rambling on and on about the interview, saying how pretty I looked, how I made them feel, and then how Kendall made them sob.

We sit down and have dinner. We have a happy conversation and then it's time to go to sleep. But first, I have to say goodbye to Stefan and Cresselia since I won't see them in the morning. I give Cresselia a hug and thank her for everything she has done. Then I turn towards Stefan. "Alright Stefan, this is goodbye until I get out of the arena. Try not to mess anything up with sponsors so I have a good chance of surviving."

"Please," he says. "I bet the sponsors are already lining up, waiting to help you out. All I have to do is take their money and put it towards a gift for you or Kendall. Not too hard to mess up that up."

"Whatever," I say and leave the room. I walk down the hallway to my room and see Kendall waiting for me. "Hey, so tomorrow is finally the day. Make sure that you don't get involved in the bloodbath, just grab a couple knives and a pack, and get out of there. I'll meet up with you after I get myself a few axes."

I think he can see through my words and knows that I plan to battle for a bit in the bloodbath. "Lauren, don't fight in the bloodbath. It will be too easy for you to be hurt or killed."

"Kendall, I can handle myself." Now I was just getting annoyed. "Why do you always treat me like I'm a little kid? I'm not 10 anymore. I can fight for myself. And you can't control what I do during the games. So I am going to fight for a bit in the bloodbath, get the stuff we need, then get out of there. If you still want to be allies with me, that's fine. I'll meet you somewhere safe. If not, I'll go with Gabriella and Lucius, and you can go with Angela. Just watch your back around her." And with that, I go into my room and slam the door shut.

I try to fall asleep, but I just toss and turn for most of the night. At some point in the morning, Logan comes to take me to the arena. We walk out onto the roof and stepped onto the ladder for the hovercraft. I was frozen to it and lifted up. A Capitol attendant injects a tracking device in my left arm, and then I was unfrozen. Then I sit down, and wait to arrive at the Launch Room.