Chapter 9 (Nadia POV)
Today was the Interviews. When I'd told Ria yesterday that she could talk to the other mentors during Training, I forgot that we were spending the day preparing for the interviews. I was spending the morning with Ria discussing angles and how I should act, and the afternoon with Ammie, my prep team and my stylist.
Once in the dining room with Ria, we began to talk.
"So, do you have any ideas about how you want to portray yourself?" She had become serious.
I shook my head,
"Well let's go through the other Tributes then and see if there's something that could work for you."
"Um...ok." I nodded
"Well, Sierra will go for flirty, Jay how he usually is, the big crazy Career, Velvet will be how we saw her when she was...with Katri."
"What about the others? Nate?"
She looked uncomfortable, "I don't know about the others, and um...I'm not allowed to know what Nate's will be."
"What? What do you mean?!" I was shocked.
"I asked Calder about an hour ago and he told me to keep to my own Tribute and to leave Nate alone." She swallowed. I pulled myself back together,
"No, it's alright, Ria. We can figure a strategy out by ourselves."
She smiled, "So, what have you been acting like in Training?"
"I don't act, unless Jay or any other Careers come near me. Then, I don't know how to use weapons, I can't aim and the only thing I do is swim because that isn't unusual for a Tribute from 4. Am I doing ok?"
"Great. I'll give you some questions and answer them like you're...scared." We tried this and several other personas, before we both realised they weren't right.
"Well, they obviously aren't for you. Be yourself next." After a few questions, Ria said, "Try to be a little more charming. Don't be offended, but you aren't very...what's the word...convincing? Go again." A few minutes of this, and then "Better. Be sort of shy as well." When I was finished, she clapped her hands together, "Perfect." I grinned at her. "Tea?" She offered as we had a few minutes left before I was handed over to Ammie. I was just about to say yes when the door slammed open, "Oh, hello! Nadia, it's time! Come now." I stood and hugged Ria.
"Thank you." Then I followed Ammie out into the corridor where she was wobbling along in her ridiculously high heels.
When we entered the room, I saw Maple and ran to her. "Hey!" ,She said, "How are you?"
Before I got a chance to answer, Ammie interrupted. "Nadia! Sit!" She pointed to a chair in front of her. Obediently, I sat. Ammie smiled, "So, what have you and Ria chosen as your angle?" As I told them, the prep team were taking notes. My escort, was digging through a closet of shoes. She gave me a pair of heels so high that I knew I would fall and quite possibly break something. Maple put a hand on the shoes and took them away. Ammie looked upset. "I'm sorry, dear, but as her angle is sweet, innocent and charming, surely putting her in extremely high heels would slightly defeat the point." Smiling gently she replaced them with a pair of ballet flats. I mouthed 'thank you' to her. Ammie scowling, showed me how to sit properly, where to put my hands, and other useless stuff I know I will forget. The prep team were practically bursting with excitement in the corner, Maple stepped up. "Ammie ,honey, I think it's time you let her prep team do their job now as the interviews start in two hours."
"Fine!" With that, she stormed out of the room.
I had gone through all the painful stuff before so now it was just manicures, pedicures and things like that. "I'm just so excited for this years Games!" Tillia exclaimed after they had all finished. Quillia murmured "I'm sure you are..." and left the room. Maple strode over and dismissed Tillia and Mannie. Maple left the room for a second, coming back in with an outfit under a protective cover. The dress was a light blue colour and it had a lining of white silk, the hem came to just above my knees. It was simple and innocent, just like my angle. Maple gave me a small cardigan that shimmered and reflected the light, the ballet flats she had already given me, were replaced with some turquoise ones that fit perfectly. She nodded, "Lovely. Of course I would've liked to do something dramatic but, your mentors orders come first..."
"It's great, Maple. Really, thank you."
"Right," She looked at her watch, "You're going to the stage in 10 minutes, ready to head down there?"
I nodded. Wordlessly we found our way to the back stage area where all the others were waiting. I took my place next to Nate. "Ready?" He said
"As ready as I can be, while preparing to talk to people that will laugh when I die."
He sighed, "Don't think like that." After , what seemed like seconds later, Nate nudged me. "It's time to go on."
I panicked for a second.
"I can't go on." I was so nervous
"You have to. Go, hurry." He softly pushed me forward towards the steps. I climbed them and mounted a large stage.
As I looked out at the audience, I was almost deafened with their cheers and screams. I had never heard anything like it.