I head back up to the living quarters, my head still buzzing. The games are so close.
I went to dinner and sat in my seat. "You were both so wonderful," Cass says. "Phelan, I just loved the cat joke."
"Thank you," Phelan says.
Cass turns to me and says something, but I'm too busy thinking about Asriel.
"Ivory is too busy thinking about whatever happened after the interview," Phelan says. I glare at Phelan.
"What do you mean, Plelan?" Cass asks.
"Well, Ivory disappeared right after the interview, along with As-"
"I'm tired!" I shout, interrupting. "I'm going to go to bed."
I walk to my room and walk into the bathroom, wiping off the makeup.
As I look into the mirror, I can't help but wonder what awaits in the arena.
I am wishing for a forest. That would be the best for me. I could climb the trees and hide in there. I used to work as a climber back in my district, and I was always one of the best. And in a forest, there would be tons of animals to hunt for food, animals that I'm familiar with. Hopefully it's a mixed wood forest, with tons of pine.
The worst case scenario would be a beach. I just learned how to swim from a training station, and I'm not particularly fast. Also, where would I get water from? Mixed wood forests are acidic and moist so finding water wouldn't be a problem. I don't think that there would be much water in a beach. From what I know, there's just salt water, I think.
I head into the shower and I take a long shower. When I'm done, my hands are wrinkled from the warm water. I go and change into a thin nightgown and I head outside of my room and sit on the couch, so I can watch some television.
The only thing that plays is a recap of the games so far, with Skene Duncain and Spens Selkirk discussing it all. It's stupid, the games haven't even started yet, but they still have so much to talk about.
They are going over each of the tributes one by one, talking about the interviews and their outfits and their training score.
When they start talking about me, I turn the volume up and pay attention, maybe this will give me an idea of what the sponsors think of me.
"I don't think anybody in the Capitol will be forgetting Ivory Portshore for a long time," Skene says.
"It's absolutely astonishing. She's got this sweet and friendly exterior, but based on her training score, she quite tough," Spens exclaims.
I'm not even sure if these people have a clue as to who I am, but I'm guessing if they knew that I wasn't really that sweet, they wouldn't like me.
"And she's so beautiful," Skene says. "Her stylists have definitely caught on to that, did you see the lovely dress she had on during the interview?"
"She was quite breathtaking. But what I am really wondering about is that score. Second highest, after Asriel, from District One."
"I'm actually very excited to see what'll happen between those two tributes. They both have the highest scores, so they'll definitely be someone to watch out for. I'm hoping for plenty of encounters and good fights between the two," Skene remarks. I turn off the television and head to bed.
I'm with Skene, I have no idea what's going to happen between Asriel and I. He's teamed up with the rest of the careers and I'm on my own. Asriel's just too unpredictable to be able to tell. One minute he's treating me as a threat, the next he's kissing me.
From what I know about Asriel, he's probably just using this as a tactic. He's probably just trying to get me distracted, or even trying to get me to trust him so that he can betray me in the games.
AsrielRivendaleis not to be trusted.
That's the only thought that goes through my mind. Asriel himself told me that he was willing to sacrifice his morals. No matter what he does, I won't trust him.
AsrielRivendaleis not to be trusted is what I think as I close my eyes.
The next day I am woken up before dawn by Terra, who gives me a shift and tells me that my actual outfit for the arena will be put on in a catacomb under the arena right before the Games start.
She leads me to the roof, where a hovercraft appears and picks us up. The moment I am seated, a woman walks over to me and inserts something into my arm with a syringe.
"It's a tracker," she tells me as I wince from the pain.
"What's it for?" I ask.
"So the Gamemakers can keep track of where you are in the arena," she informs me.
We land half an hour later and Terra and I leave the hovercraft and head over to a tube that leads us underground, to the catacombs.
We head over to what Terra calls my Launch Room. I eat and then shower and clean my teeth.
Terra puts my hair up in a ponytail, then as my clothing arrives, she helps me wear it.
The outfit is a pair of grey pants over tight fitting shorts and a thin shirt and a white jacket over top. The boots I am given have loads of grip on the bottom.
"Do you see how your outfit can be used for both hot and cold weather?" Terra asks me.
"Does that mean they're will be a variety of whether changes in the arena?" I say.
"I'm not sure, but you could guess that."
Terra takes out the hair pin my mother gave me, "Cass gave this to me. She said that this was your token. I figure that it wouldn't be the best idea to wear it in you hair so you can just keep it in your pocket."
"Thank you," I say as I follow her advice.
We sit on the couch as we wait.
Then a voice announces that that it's time to prepare for the launch and I head over and stand on a circular metal plate.
"I don't think I have any helpful advice for a situation like this," Terra says, sighing.
"That's okay," I reply nervously.
She wraps her arms around me and says, "Make me proud."
I smile and thank her.
"Best of luck," she says as a glass cylinder lowers around me. She smiles as I rise upwards.
Suddenly, bright sunlight shines in my eyes. I look over at my surroundings and I see canyons everywhere. There doesn't seem to be any source of water, but there are small shrubs on the top.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let the very first Hunger Games begin," Spens Selkirk's voice announces.
Then there is a sixty second countdown before the games start.
I see a cornucopia, it is filled with supplies. A set of throwing knives catch my eye and I know where to run when the Games start.
But that's also where all the action will be, by the Cornucopia. I'm fast, I can quickly run, get my knives and a backpack and be gone.
I look over and see all the other tributes, patiently standing on their metal plates. I look over to my left and see Phelan, our eyes meet and he gives me a reassuring nod. I want to nod back or even smile at him but I'm so stiff I'm practically frozen in my spot.
The suddenly the gong sounds and the Games have started.