Disclaimer: Suzanne Collins? I think not.
I wake up early in the morning, when the sun is just barely starting to rise. Karma hasn't moved at all since I last saw her, except to breathe and talk in her sleep. "Thank you." She says, over and over, still.
I turn over to face her, then prop my arm up on one shoulder. An idea crosses my mind. I reach out my finger and tickle under her neck. A giggle escapes her lips, one that she's completely unaware of.
The sound, now fresh in my brain, plays over and over. Then, Karma stirs again and wakes up, not noticing me.
"Have a good sleep?" I ask. She jumps, making me laugh.
"How long have you been awake?" She asks.
"Oh, not long." I lie. "Just long enough to see the sunrise."
"Oh. Hey, stand up." She says. I stand. She puts her fist up to her mouth "So, Casey." She says in a deep voice. "Tell us about your life in District Twelve."
"Um… I don't know… I just live?" I say.
"No, no, no." She says. "Try and make yourself more… Capitol like and such."
"Got it." I say. "Well, for starters, we don't have that great food!" I pat my belly and give a thumbs-up.
"Oh! Have you tried the sticky buns yet? Those are my absolute favorite!" She says.
"Oh, yes." I lie. "But my favorite would have to be the pizza."
"Wonderful taste!" She yells. We practice the interviews in my room for a few hours, joking and exaggerating things every once in a while. Then Effie comes and tells me that my prep team is here.
"Bye Casey!" Karma says. "Have fun!"
"You too. I bet your prep team's not as annoying as mine." I say.
"Want to bet? My hair is just starting to grow on my legs." She says, pulling up the leg on one of her pants. "You are so lucky. Waxing is just- ugh- horrible." Sure enough, her legs are still slightly red and almost hairless.
"Oh. I take that back then. Good luck. See you at the interviews." I say. She waves and opens my door, then runs into my prep team.
"Whoa… sorry." She says. I can hear her snickering as she walks down the hall to her room.
"Casey!" One of them says. I wonder what their names are.
"Are you ready?" Another asks. I nod, showing no hint of how not ready I am. "Great!"
After they do all the embarrassing things again- which I don't want to say, again- they grab another massive bag. They unzip it and hand me a suit. It's very formal and the material is silky. The pants are black, and so is the jacket, but the shirt, bowtie and gloves are white. The jacket is more like a vest, but long sleeved.
"Won't I get hot?" I ask.
"Oh, it's going to be cool today." Another says. Amazingly, that's the smartest thing I've ever heard any of them say. I put on the costume, and they help me with the bowtie. Then, they grab a pair of scissors.
"Whoa, what are you doing with those." I say, backing away.
"We're just going to do some minor adjustments to your hair. Nothing too big." One of them says. I don't feel comfortable with them putting scissors anywhere near my neck or face. "We're experts… done this a million times before."
"Fine." I say. They sit me down in the chair and I watch as parts of my hair fall to the ground. When they're done, they spin my chair around so I can see myself in the mirror. My hair is cut just above my eyes, flopping down. I flip it out of my eyes so I can see, and they scream.
"Do that in front of the audience today, okay?" One of them says.
"Okay." I say.
They brush more stuff on my face, but I don't think it's supposed to be coal dust this time. I look at the mirror and see that I'm slightly shimmering. I don't like it.
"Do I need to shimmer?" I ask.
"Yes." One of them says, and they take me out into the hallway. I see Karma being pushed out of her room.
Again, she's wearing a dress. Again, I almost pass out.
Her dress looks grey with a lot of beads, but when I look closer, I see that it's made from the same material as her punching ring. My eyes flicker to her hand, and her ring is still there. The plastic, but sharp, diamond in the middle of her ring is shining brighter than usual. Anyway, her dress is something I heard her prep team called a V-neck. It does resemble a "V" actually. Instead of straps on her dress, the top of her dress is tied around the back of her neck, holding it up. The dress comes down to her knees, and isn't very tight this time. There are diamonds covering every inch of her dress. I look even closer, and see that they're real. Her hair is curled and braided in low pigtails.
"Wow." I say, tersely.
"Ugh. This is so short! And look at my shoes!" She yells. Her shoes are white, sparkly heels that are open toed.
"You look great." I say. She rolls her eyes.
She averts her eyes from her dress, giving up on pulling the bottom to make it look longer. "Whoa, Casey," She says. "What happened to your hair?"
"My prep team happened." I say. I flip it out of my face again, growing annoyed because it keeps falling into my eyes.
"Aah, I see." She says. "Well, let's just get this over with." She says. She grabs my hand and pulls me towards the door.
A man with a headset guides us to a room with all the other tributes.
"Hey, Pretty!" I hear. Oh, no. "Want to wish me luck today?" Tay, from District Two, yells.
"No." Karma replies, blandly. "Not really."
I start snickering, and Karma gives me a small smile.
"Ah, you're a tough one." Tay says. "Too bad for you… I like that." He grabs her hand and kisses her knuckle. It's all I can do not to rip his head off right now.
"This way!" Someone yells, and we're being led to our spots in the stadium. Tay walks over to His district partner and whispers something in her ear. She looks over at me.
"Casey, you're behind me." Karma says. I go behind her. Oh, great, I'm last, once again.
We take our spots and watch as the girl from District One struts down to where Claudius Templesmith is standing, waiting for her. They start their friendly conversation, and I'm instantly bored out of my mind.
"Hey, Karma." I whisper. "Do you know anything that can make the time pass more quickly?"
"Oh, yeah." She says. "My father taught me this hand game that they used to play in North America." She holds out her right hand and tells me to hold out my right hand, so I do. She wraps her fingers around mine.
"Okay, when I say 'one, two, three, four, I declare a Thumb War' then you move your thumbs like this." She moves her thumbs back and forth. "The object of the game is to hold the other person's thumb down for more than three seconds. Okay. One, two, three, four, I declare a Thumb War."
We wrestle with our thumbs, trying to hold each other's down. I hold hers down for two seconds, but she escapes.
"Haha!" She says. She hides her thumb in her palm, and I think she's trying to let me win, so I move my thumb down, ready to get hers, when she moves her thumb and traps mine. "One, two, three! I win!" She whisper-yells. We play the Thumb War game until it's her turn to be interviewed.
"Wish me luck." She whispers.
"Good luck." I say back.
She walks over to the stage, confident, but not arrogant. Claudius holds out his hand, and she shakes it, casually. "Hey, Mr. Claudius." She says.
"Hi, Karma!" He says. "My, what a pretty dress!"
"You think so? Thanks!" She says. "I definitely like it better than the one for the Opening Ceremonies. That was uncomfortable." Her and Claudius laugh along with the audience.
"My, you look stunning. I'm amazed, you're only twelve years old! You look like such a young woman!" He says.
"Oh, thank you." She says, smiling. Her cheeks turn rosy red, and I have a feeling she taught herself how to do that.
"Speaking of your age, how did such a young girl like you manage to get a ten in training?" He asks. "I think our audience would like to know that!" He says. The crowd cheers. Karma looks up at me and chuckles.
"I guess you'll have to find out in the arena." She says, mysteriously.
"Oh, fine." He says. "Onto another topic then? How're you liking the Capitol?"
"It's so bright!" She says. "I was almost blinded the other night when we opened the curtains!"
Claudius laughs. "Well it definitely matches your personality! No wonder that boy likes you!" He says. What? Does he mean me? He can't mean me, I wasn't even interviewed!
"Um… what boy?" She says.
"The one from District Two. Tay, was it?" Claudius says. I crumple my hand into a fist and punch my leg.
"Oh, that's… how old is he?" Karma says, her face turning slightly red. I don't think she's doing that on purpose.
"Fourteen, I think." Claudius says. "Why? Do we have another romance going on this year?" The crowd cheers.
"Eew." Karma says. "Blech- no, no…no. That's not good. He's- that's gross. Please, don't make me throw up." Karma shudders. The audience roars with laughter. She's a natural.
Claudius chuckles. "Sorry. Changing the subject. Wow, I just can't get over how amazing you look! Your hair is just adorable!" He says. "Isn't it?" He asks the audience. They yell "Yes's" and "Absolutely's" all around.
"Thanks!" She twirls on one foot.
"Okay, Karma, I just can't get over your beauty. Do you have a boyfriend in District Twelve?" He asks.
"No, I'm twelve." She says. "Not a good idea for someone my age. It causes too much trouble."
"Oh, I see." Claudius says. "Well your time's up. It was such a pleasure meeting you, Karma! I wish you the best in the arena." He gives her a one-armed hug.
"Up next: Casey Lankan." Claudius says. I hear screaming from a large part of the audience, and several signs that say "We love Casey!"
I stand up and walk over to Claudius. When Karma passes me, she whispers, "Hey, don't forget to flip your hair." to me. I nod my head and laugh. "Good luck!" She says.
"Casey!" Claudius yells, as if we're good friends. "How are you doing?"
"Oh, not so well." I say.
"Why ever not?" He asks.
"My hair keeps getting into my eyes." I say, then flip it out of my eyes. I'm rewarded with deafening screams from those annoying Capitol girls. I look at Karma, and she gives me a thumbs-up. I wink back at her, but obviously, some other Capitol girls think that it's directed at them, because they scream.
"Wow, quite the ladies-man I see." Claudius says. "Is it like that back in District Twelve?"
"Nope." I say. "I'm just another kid back home."
"Do you like the change?" He asks. "I sure would!"
"As a matter of fact, I do." I lie. I smile one of those boyish smiles that Finnick Odair uses. Claudius laughs.
"So, what a reaping you had this year. Not only did you volunteer, but you pushed the original tribute right off the stage." He rubs his face where Augustine collided with the ground. "What made you do that?"
I was afraid he would ask something like that. "Well…" I start, then something pops into my mind. "I was thinking I would never get to see the Capitol, which was something I'd wanted to do for a while. I knew this was my only chance, so I grabbed it." I lie. Hopefully, they don't see right through me.
"Amazing. Didn't the thought cross your mind that you might never come back home though?" He says. Wow, he's great at making me feel bad for myself. "Do you think you can win?"
"Eh." I say. "Whatever happens, happens."
"Interesting. So, Casey, what's your favorite part of the Capitol?" He says.
"Oh, definitely the girls." I lie. Claudius gives a hearty laugh while the screaming gets louder.
Thirty seconds left. "Well, Casey, best wishes from all of us. See you in the arena!" He says. "And, I think Karma might still feel a little woozy… should I get her a bag?" I look over at Karma, who's holding her stomach and looking a little green.
"I'm good!" She yells, loud enough so that everyone can hear her. I walk back to my seat, giving my hair one last shake. Again, more screaming.
As Karma and I walk into our rooms, she asks me something that I didn't expect. "Are the girls really your favorite part of the Capitol?"
"No. I don't like them. Like you said, I'm making myself Capitol like and such." I say. I crawl into bed, and she comes in next to me.
"Good night." She says.
The next morning, Karma goes to her room early. I'm forced into a loose jumpsuit with a string on the back.
"Pull the string and the suit turns tight, to help you swim. Expect streams somewhere. When you are done swimming, pull the string and it will loosen, making your walks more comfortable." My stylist tells me. I'm about to walk to the room that will take me into the arena, but Karma stops me, wearing the same thing as I am. She pulls me into a bone-crushing hug.
"Casey," She says. "I want you to find me as soon as possible. Please. We're allies, okay?"
"Okay." I say. She hesitates for a moment, then lets go. She waves, then walks to another room.
I wait in my private room for ten, fifteen minutes before a metal plate lowers itself from the ceiling. I take a deep breath and walk towards it.
Then, the plate rises. The plate that assures my death. I start to hyperventilate, but remember something. This plate may assure my death, but it sure as Hell assures Karma's victory.
A/N: Okay, next chapter= arena baby! I probably won't be posting until next weekend because school is tomorrow. Poo. So um, I know this is WAY off topic, but I was watching Harry Potter earlier and I thought of a joke. Ready? OK. So Harry must be SCARRED for life, right? HAHAHA! It's funny. Scarred! Get it? Anyway, the other day, I was also watching High School Musical 2 with my friend, just for fun, and that girl- what's her butt… uhh… GABRIELLA! She had her hair in these loose, braided pigtails, so that's where I got the idea for Karma's hair. So, other than the thing I was forgetting, I think that's it- oh! And I got a doughnut! *woot woot!* Okay, see you next update! Happy Easter! Bye!
~Telling Time Backwards