As the train slowed to a stop, there was a knock on my door. Before I even had time to get up, Kesla burst through. "Come now, Cato darling! We're here, and it's time to meet the press!" She was jumping up and down, clearly the most excited about the cameras. Then she noticed the torn up bits of shirt on the ground. "Cato, what did you do?" I just glared at her. She tried to perk up again. "Oh don't worry about it! I'll just grab you another shirt. Oh, and Clove another dress! Don't you worry love! I'll make it all better!" She pulled a random red button down out, with matching shoes. Then I heard her run into Clove's room to find a matching dress. I heaved myself out of bed and went out in the dining car.
Brutus was already there, waiting for us. Not knowing what to say to each other, we stared straight ahead at the doors until the women joined us. "There! Now don't you two look gorgeous? Come now dearies, stand side by side, link arms, there you go. Look tough! Come on, both of you! Tougher! There. Perfect! Are you ready?" I always thought you needed to breathe to talk, but Kesla has just managed to prove me wrong. Before we have time to say anything, she opened up the dining car doors.
Immediately I was blinded by flashing cameras and the bright colors of the Capitol. It looked nothing like how it did on TV. It's so much more… obnoxious in person. Men and women from left and right were screaming Me and Clove's names. I didn't know which direction to look. I felt a pinch on my arm, and looked to my right. Brutus was there looking straight ahead. I decided to follow suit, but added a stare so intense it started to scare the Capitol photographers.
We began walking towards a bright blue building that looked about 12 stories high. But before we could reach the door, we were pulled to the side by Brutus and Kesla. Standing by the side of the door were two Capitol citizens. Kesla pointed to the woman on the left.
"Clove, this is your stylist Jolan." Jolan gave a curt nod and began to look Clove up and down. She had a short jet black bob and neon pink eyeliner. I looked at the man standing next to her, apparently my stylist. "Cato, this is your stylist Astin." Astin had spiked brown hair with frosted tips. His most notable feature though, was a green tattoo across his face. He almost hurt my eyes. Before I could even say hello, Astin and Jolan grabbed our wrists and dragged us into the building.
Turns out there were sixteen floors. The lobby was the first floor. Floors two through thirteen were the tributes apartments. Fourteen was the training center, and fifteen was the stylists area. We were immediately brought up to floor fifteen. In the elevator, Jolan spoke with the strongest Capitol accent I've ever heard. "The chariots are tonight. And we have the perfect idea for you two."
Clove's eyes sparkled as she gave them a smile. All I could do was nod. District Two is masonry, weapons. Although they make it look nice every year, ideas had to be running short by now. Astin ignores our expressions and continues. "District Two is masonry. You work with weapons, therefore you're skilled with weapons. You're warriors." He let the words sink in before facing the elevator door.
The doors open to reveal a huge metal room filled with cots and curtains. It looked like the hospital back in District Two. Jolan quickly stuck stickers on us. Clove's said 3. Mine said 4. As we passed the first two curtains, I peeked in: Marvel and Glimmer. I made eye contact with Marvel. He simply nodded at me before gritting his teeth as a member of his prep team rips off a chunk of his chest hair.
Jolan and Clove head behind the third curtain. I'm shoved into the fourth by Astin as I meet my prep team. They never introduced themselves. They just went straight to work by immediately ripping off my clothes and putting some hot wax on a sheet of cloth and putting it on my chest.
A woman, whose skin was dyed pale pink, simply said 'Watch out!' before ripping it right off. I couldn't help but cry out the first time. Every follicle burned and throbbed. I barely had time to realize what had happened before she put another cloth on me. As one man began to work with my hair, the other started working on getting the dirt out from under my nails. When I went to ask Astin how long this would take, I noticed he had left. Perfect.
I watched outside the curtain to see the other tributes that came by. They all showed up in order. When I saw the District Twelve tributes, I attempted to nod at them. They avoided eye contact.
After what felt like hours, my prep team finally left, and Astin came back in with large chunks of gold and platinum. Clearly noticing the look on my face, he simply stated "This is your outfit," before pulling me up off the cot to put it on. It felt like I had gained an extra forty pounds. An announcement came on a loud speaker. "District One, please go out to your chariots." I heard the prep teams from District One taking care of last minute touches before sending them out. Three minutes later, the loudspeaker went off again. "District Two, please go out to your chariots." I was immediately pushed out of the curtains by Astin, and was met face to face with Jolan and Clove. Clove was wearing the same thing as me, albeit more feminine. We were put in front of a mirror. We looked like the Gladiators out of my history textbooks. Ready to face and conquer anything.
As we're in the elevator heading down to the lobby, Jolan gives us some last minute tips. "Look strong, look fierce. You're District Two. Capable of winning the whole games. Wave to the crowds. But don't look friendly. Fierce."
Instead of the front door, we were taken around to the back. A long line of chariots with different color horses we're out back. Marvel and Glimmer were in the first two, clearly anxious to get the parade started. They were wearing pink sequins everywhere. As tall as Marvel clearly was, Glimmer almost exceeded this with the ridiculous headpiece she was wearing. We were placed in the chariot right behind theirs.
As the stylists walked away, Clove immediately grabbed their attention. As they turned around, Clove introduced us. "I'm Clove, and this is Cato. And you two are Glimmer and Marvel." They looked annoyed. "What do you want?" Glimmer asked. Clove didn't seem phased by the attitude, instead got right to her point. "We're going to be allies. That's how this works. So meet us in the lobby after the parade to work something out."
"It's too obvious," Marvel snapped back. "Try somewhere more secrete." Now it was Clove's turn to look annoyed "Well, where else are we going to go? There's nowhere el-"
This was going nowhere fast. We can't make enemies with these two, and Clove was making it worse by the second. I decided it was time for me to take control "BE QUIET!" I bellowed, shutting up even the tributes behind us who have accumulated. "We'll meet on the third floor. That's our apartment. The only other people there are our escort and our mentor. It's the best place to go. Do you understand?" All three nodded their heads, and Marvel and Glimmer turned around.
I could tell Clove was looking at me, but I pretended not to notice. I looked straight ahead until Claudius Templesmith's voice reigned through the city.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your announcer Claudius Templesmith here to say: Let the chariot parade begin!"