Chapter 5 (Nadia POV)
I woke in a different bed to the one I'd gone to sleep in. I couldn't hear the rattlings of the train outside my window. I sat up and looked across the room, I could see- The Capitol! I had arrived. The door crashed open, Ammie. "Good morning! Today you're going to meet your prep team and stylist." She looked at me with my hair all tangled and eyes half closed "Go as you are, they need to see how big a job they have this time..." She laughed the stupid Capitol laugh and flounced out of the room.
I was strapped to a table in case I decided to struggle. Then three Capiol people skipped in. There was a tall thin man, his skin was dyed purple and his hair dark blue. The two ladies had matching hair but nothing else the same. All of their bright gold hair was piled high on top of their heads, ones skin was blue the others was not dyed. The shorter of the women bounded up to me. "Hello, my name's Tillia!" The other woman scowled "Aquillia. Quillia for short." The man offered his hand then giggled remembering I was bound to the table, Quillia stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder pulling him back "This is Amantius."
"It's Mannie." He smiled
"Ok, if we're all finished can we get on with it?" Quillia seemed to be the boss of my prep team.
It was awful. I'd been told of this by Annie but experiencing it was a different matter. They scrubbed me all over till my skin was red and ripped out hairs I didn't even know I had. A few minutes after the waxing they poured a glittery orange lotion onto my body, it itched at first, but then began to soothe my sore body. When I looked down, my body was no longer red. The waxing was Quillia's task. Tillia hopped up and sat on a stool near me. She carefully placed my hand on her lap and started to wash my nails. "So salty..." She mutters to herself, well what did she expect? I'm from District 4. She smiles sweetly up at me and starts to file them down. Mannie steps up when Tillia's finished with my nails. My hair was loose just above my waist, but he held up scissors to the pieces of hair at my ear! Then the double doors burst open, "That's enough! Leave her hair." A beautiful woman with long crimson hair strode in to the room. Mannie cowered away stashing the scissors back in his clutch bag. "I'm sorry, Maple. I thought it would make a nice impression."
"Maybe. But I'm her stylist and I only asked you to prepare her. Any major changes will be made by me. That's quite enough for now, thank you. You may go." The all scurried out of the room but Tillia waved enthusiastically at me then hurried after her co-workers. Maple passed me a plain robe to cover myself. "Hello, Nadia. I'm Maple, and I'm your stylist."
"Hi..."
"Well, lets get straight to the point. District 4 usually wear skimpy net costumes and things like that, right? This year I want something special for you."
"What?" Maple just left the room and came back with a a gorgeous dress on a hanger. It was like scales, all over the fabric. She handed it to me and then pointed to a curtained off area for me to change. It fit like a second skin. Maple gasped and clapped her hands together once, "Perfect." As I moved, it glittered in the light. It clung to me down to my knees then billowed out. For a second I forgot what it was for. Only a second. I frowned, but Maple ignored it and got to work. She left my hair alone apart from braiding in small sapphires. Then she gave me a light dusting of silver and blue eyeshadow. She stepped back and smiled, "Have you had any food, Nadia?"
"N-no." Why was she asking?
"Come with me." Then she walked back through the doors she came from, I followed. We entered a big room with three glass walls one was white. Maple was seated on a sofa behind a glass coffee table. She pressed a small button on the side of the table and a huge platter of food appeared. There was everything you could ever want to eat in your life. We never had anything like THIS in District 4. After I'd finished, I looked up at Maple, she was grinning and trying to suppress a laugh. I realised I'd been eating like I'd been starved for the whole of my life! Compared to the Capitol people, I had been. "Sorry..." I mumbled
"It's fine. Come on, one last thing then we'll go down." She was holding a vile of blue liquid it moved and changed. Maple poured it around the hem of my dress and the whole dress began to ripple and flow like my beloved ocean. I gasped.
"I know, it's amazing, isn't it?"
"It's wonderful, thank you."
"Ok then let's go, Nadia." She guided me toward a metallic elevator that beeped twice then opened. She pressed a glittering button and we hurtled downwards for a few seconds then came to a halt. I could see what was, essentially, a gigantic stable. All the Tributes were standing around the carriages chatting to the stylists, Maple showed me ours and we walked over. The horses were white but had a blue tinge to them, Nate and his stylist were waiting by our place. "Hey, Nadz!" I growled at his greeting "Hi."
"You ready?"
"I'm fine." I turned away to face his stylist, "Hello, I'm Caius." He said, smiling.
"Hey. Nadia." I said offering my hand to shake, he kissed it instead
"I know. Nate has talked a lot about you." I glared at Nate, he blushed
"Okay. Well...um..." I stuttered, luckily Maple saved me, "I think it's time to take your positions, kids." She winked at me and hurried us onto the chariot. The stylists came round for one last look, "Nate, put your arm round her." Caius ordered. I scowled at Nate, at Caius, I'd done a lot of scowling and glaring today. Nate looked apologetic but still did as he was told. "Smile!" Maple yelled after us as the doors open and we begin to leave the room. The flashing lights were blinding and the sound, deafening. People were screaming "District 4" because they hadn't bothered to look up our names in the leaflet of this years Tributes. I glanced up at Nate to see him grinning and waving with his free hand at the Capitol, I tried a small smile but that was all I could manage. As the horses slowed we came to a stop outside the Justice Building with the other Tributes. The President began a speech and I zoned out, staring at the view around me. It was so different to District 4, there was no sea, it didn't feel right. In that moment of daydreaming, I realised I'd forgotten to ask what happened to that District 2 Tribute that attacked Katri. I angled my body towards Nate, "What did they do to that District 2 girl?"
"You only just remembered?"
"No...I...Yeah, I forgot."
"Nothing. She's over there." I looked and saw her on the District 2 cart, I sighed and rested my head on his chest, you could hear the collective sigh of the Capitol. They thought we were like...together. Not happening. Ever. I removed my head and shuffled as far as I could out of his arms. Then the carriages began to disappear into the doors of the Training Centre. As soon as we were out of sight from the crowd, I ducked away from him and hopped of the cart. Ria and Maple were waiting for me, so I ran to them. Maple hugged me, "You were great! That thing at the end with Nate was genius."
Ria grabbed my hand, "Nadia's tired now, so I'm gonna take her up to her room."
"Oh, well I'll see you for breakfast tommorow." Maple started toward Caius, I mouthed at my mentor 'Thank you' She walked off towards another elevator. When we reached the fourth floor, we stepped out onto a long corridor. "Yours is the last door on the left. I'll leave you now, Nadia. Ammie will come get you for breakfast in the morning." She waved then skipped back round the corner to her room.
Lying in my bed in my new silk pyjamas, I realised that I had my best friend back. I had him back and I was pushing him away. We were probably going to die anyway, so did it really matter if I went to see him? I crept out of my room and looked for the door with a T for Tribute on. I found it and stepped inside. He was asleep in his bed, so I tiptoed round to the side he wasn't occupying and climbed under the covers. I was so tired, that I didn't even have time to dream.
(Nate's POV)
I had another nightmare. My parents were always the stars of these. I rolled over onto something soft. I shifted back over so I could see what it was. Nadia? Nadia was lying next to me in the bed. I started to move away from her so we weren't touching, but she started to scream and kick out so I held her thrashing hand. She calmed down and her eyes fluttered open. "I- I couldn't sleep..." She said shakily
"It's okay. Go back to sleep, I'm here." it was still dark and my clock said it was 2:45 in the morning. Her breathing deepened as she fell back asleep, she was so beautiful. There was no way I could rest with her there, so I slowly, not wanting to wake her, got out of bed. I sat on the plush sofa across the room, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep at all. After my father died, I haven't had many hours sleep. My mother spent her time in bed, whispering to my dead father. I had moved us to a hut near the beach, as to not be involved with the gossips of the town. I was 15 and as my father had taught me to fish at a young age, I had eaten nothing but fish for the three years alone. We had disappeared of the face of the earth, only appearing at Reapings, and even then hiding in the shadows. I had been forced to leave my only friend, she could've been something else as well. But my life took a different direction. My mother was being taken care of by my aunt, who I found on the day I was Reaped. My mother would die otherwise. She was to visit 5 times a day to check on her. She would be sleeping for most of it anyway. I used to wonder what it would be like to live in a world with no Capitol, no Hunger Games, but I'd soon grown out of the thoughts. They were nothing more than wishes. It was almost 5:30, I knew breakfast was at 6:00, I sighed and picked Nadia up, taking her to her room.