The Living Games
A/N Hello, my lovelies! These chapters are so fun to write, but with the arena coming up I'm slowly getting more nervous for reasons I don't even know! I have a layout for the arena, but I pretty much have no plans from there on. Just a lot of people are gonna die and yah. But do not worry, I will write those chapters, no matter how much I don't want to! Who knows, maybe it won't be so bad after all. I've got a few little scenes mapped out, but I might not put them in there.
Chapter Sixteen: Interview Prep and Elevator Fun
Aubrey had three words to describe how the interview training went.
It fucking sucked.
She would have rather gone skydiving off of the tallest building in the Capitol without a parachute than have gone to training. Kerri was . . . for lack of anything good to say about her, a major pain in her ass. Kerri gave her an urge to stab herself in the head with a rusty knife.
First, Kerri woke them up extra early to start. What could Kerri teach her that could take more than an hour?
She wished she'd never found out.
Then, she made them eat a quick breakfast so Aubrey couldn't even eat all that she wanted to. Afterwards she dragged Aubrey and Josh—albeit reluctantly—to a room filled with horrors. There were dresses and suits and heels and make up and so much more. Aubrey tried to run, but she didn't even make it three feet away to the door before Kerri laughed happily and grabbed her am.
"Oh, nothing in here will kill you. Come on! It'll be fun!"
Yeah. she thought. Nothing will kill me but the shoes when I trip and break my neck.
Josh just stared open mouthed at it all, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Kerri shuffled them farther into the room and gestured toward a dress and a suit.
"Here. Try these on, then come right back so we can start practicing right away!"
Aubrey wondered what they were going to practice, but she didn't think she wanted to know, even though she knew she was going to find out soon.
She picked up the purple dress and sighed, sensing her death wasn't going happen because she was killed in the games, but because she was choked by a dress.
After putting it on and going back to the room, she discovered that the dress wasn't even the worst part. The six inch heels were. Aubrey was thinking about how she could escape when Josh came out in his suit and Kerri clapped her hands.
"Aright! If you're going to be broadcast in front of the whole country, you sure as hell won't be going out Looking like this! You have to walk right, say the right things, know how to bow or courtesy, know how not to break your neck while walking on steps in heels, know how to laugh and still look presentable—and a lot more. You guys . . . you're from the districts, so I guess it's not really your fault that you don't have any posture, or manners, or anything—but, nevertheless, I am here to help. Now, put on these heels—not you Josh—and start walking back and forth. You'll walk until you don't look like you're having a seizure. And you, Josh, get over here and show me how to bow!" Kerri started barking out orders like she was commanding a war, and not like she was teaching them manners.
Aubrey put the heels on and got up, and immediately fell down after the first step she took.
Kerri was over there in 2.5 seconds yelling at her to straighten her back, to lift her head, to tense her legs—Blah blah blah was all she heard for all she was concerned.
Aubrey sighed. It was going to be a long day.
Aubrey and Josh basically ran to lunch. Along the way, heels and jewelry and ties were thrown across the floor, quickly forgotten as they escaped their prison. Aubrey now knew everything there was to know about how to act on interviews and more. Not that she ever wanted to know in the first place, but she did. Aubrey sighed as she threw off the tight belt on her dress and inhaled the sweet scent of freedom.
"Finally free . . . " Aubrey muttered as she shoveled down some rice.
"Oh, it wasn't that bad!" Kerri exclaimed, as she walked in behind them, smiling her face off like she wasn't ready to strangle them just a few minutes ago.
"Yeah, because You didn't fall and almost snap your neck on a chair!" Aubrey glared at her.
"Pish posh! Tomato, tomato, whatever." (A/N Only afterwards when I was editing this did I realize how insane this sounded if you didn't know what I meant. It's like tomato tomotoe, even though that spelling needs some serious help because I spelled it wrong on purpose!)
Aubrey scowled and continued to eat her food.
"Alright," Kerri said, after they all finished their lunch. "Training is over, since we don't have a Victor to teach you, so I guess you can go do whatever now."
Aubrey frowned. That was it? No training on anything that could actually help her in the arena?
She voiced her opinions to Josh as they left the room.
"We didn't even learn anything life saving."
"You don't call knowing how to die in style with your hair still fresh lifesaving?"
Aubrey punched him in the shoulder and rolled her eyes.
"Well? Where are we gonna go? I don't wanna hang around here all day, and we can't really leave so . . ."
Josh thought about it, then he smirked.
"Well, we can't leave the building, but nobody ever specified whether or not we could leave our floor."
Aubrey turned towards him, a smile already forming on her previously scowling face.
"What are you thinking?" she had a guess, and if she was right, they were gonna have so much fun.
Josh looked at her.
"You down?"
Aubrey smiled even bigger, if that was possible. Josh was always ready when she had a crazy idea, and it was the same for her. Staying out of trouble was imperative for her, but she just couldn't seem to do it. Getting into trouble was a lot more fun.
"You know I'm down."
"Then let's go. Onward!" Josh raised a fist in the air.
Aubrey shook her head at his foolishness and grabbed his arm, pulling him to the elevator. "What button?" she asked.
"Any one but the roof button."
Aubrey thought about it for a second, then she pressed the District Nine button.
Oh, they were going to get into so much trouble.
After waiting for a few seconds and hearing a quick ding, they were deposited on the floor. No one was in the room but a servant, and if he noticed them, he didn't say anything. Not like he could anyway, since he was a fucking avox.
Aubrey tried not to laugh as she and Josh sneaked around, ending up in a hallway.
"I hope we don't get lost," Josh whispered to her.
"Shh!" she shushed him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" someone yelled. Aubrey flinched so hard she almost hit Josh in the face with her arm. "Wipe this off me NOW you insolent little rodent! Before I crush you like a little bug! Oh, my father will NOT stand for this! He'll have you killed! My mother will rip your throat out! You hear me! OUT!" some girl screamed.
Aubrey wrestled down a cackling laugh. She vaguely remembered that the District Nine girl had a mother as a Victor, and a powerful father who worked as an assistant to the president or something. She was born from some scandal that had been brewing for awhile unknown.
What? She read some of the magazines that the Capitol sent her sister when she was bored.
"Come on, she must still be in training!" Aubrey whispered to him.
They quietly crept around the corner before coming to a door that was thrown wide open. They had just enough time to dive back around the corner before a servant stumbled out with an empty glass in his hand, and a scared look in his eyes.
After he left in the opposite direction of them, they peeked through the open door. A girl was standing in the middle of the room fuming, with the front half of her outfit—an expensive looking dress—covered in a red liquid. Aubrey guessed the servant had spilled it on her, and that's why she yelled at him.
The escort was trying relentlessly to calm her down.
"I wonder what she's saying," Josh said.
"Probably, 'don't worry, that dress only cost three thousand dollars'. Or maybe, 'at least that isn't blood. Be grateful, bitch'."
Josh smiled at that. "Doubt it."
The girl was still clenching her fists at her sides, and the escort gave up.
"I think it's time for us to bounce out of here before we get caught," Aubrey said, backing away from the door as she did.
They both ran to the door, snickering at what they found. They ran right into a mentor, who was carrying a bottle of alcohol.
"Whaaa? The heck—?"Aubrey tackled him before he could see them, and ran to the elevator and jumped in. Aubrey slammed her hand against the buttons, not caring where they went as long as it was away from there. The doors closed just as he got off of the ground. She was so lucky he was drunk. Victors had instincts like a professional ninja. If he was sober, she'd probably already have a glass bottle sticking out of her head.
It was silent in the elevator.
Aubrey and Josh looked at each other.
They burst out laughing, holding their sides and gasping for air.
"T—that was awesome!" Aubrey concluded.
"I cannot believe we didn't get caught!" Josh laughed some more.
"That girl was being a complete drama queen."
"I absolutely, positively cannot believe you tackled that guy!"
"He was in the way!"
The elevator doors dinged, and they stepped off of it.
"Uh," Josh started, looking around. "Where are we?"
Aubrey shrugged as they walked around a bit. "I don't know. Let's just hope I don't have to tackle anymore people."
"What?"
Aubrey and Josh spun around, their hearts practically leaping into their throats at the sound of a voice that wasn't either of theirs.
Aubrey put a hand over her heart and took a few shaky breaths.
"You—you scared the fucking shit out of me, you stupid piece of—"
"Do not do that again!" Josh screamed, rather late.
Andy smiled, and twirled a piece of his shirt around his finger.
"Oops?"
"When I get my hands on you . . ." Aubrey trailed off, still trying to control her heart rate.
Andy raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
Aubrey just glared at him, since they both knew the threat was empty.
"What are you guys doing here?" Andy decided to break the silence.
Aubrey and Josh both looked at each other and laughed again.
Andy just stared at them like they were crazy—not like they weren't—and waited for them to stop.
"We—we were bored, so we decided to leave our floor," Aubrey started, once she somewhat gathered herself. "And we ended up on the tribute for District Nine's door, right? So we crept around a little bit, and then the girl stared screaming because a servant spilled a drink on her. She was wearing this expensive dress too, it was so funny. Then we decided to leave, and when we did, on of the mentors ran into us, so—"
"She—she tackled him!" Josh screamed, laughing as he said it.
Aubrey laughed a little too. "He was drunk. I would be dead if he wasn't."
Andy laughed his adorable laugh, his dimples becoming evident. "True. I'm bored too. My mentors are done already, and I don't have anything to do. My partner is a right jerk, so she won't want to do anything but try to seduce me."
Aubrey laughed.
"No, I'm serious. She put a pill in my drink to make me delirious so I would agree to go out with her."
Aubrey laughed even harder at the idea of him being seduced.
Andy punched her arm lightly and she pulled him and Josh into the elevator.
Andy shot a questioning look at her.
"My floor is pretty much empty."
He nodded, and she pressed the button to her floor.
When they got there, Kerri was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Kerri?" she asked, even though she didn't really care.
"Who?" Andy asked.
"The escort for our district."
"Oh."
She then looked at the table, where there was a note on the table saying she was visiting some escort friends from other districts.
"She has friends?" Aubrey muttered.
"Cool," Josh said. "We've got the whole place to ourselves!"
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Down boy. There's still the servants, and it's not like she was ever really around anyway."
"Don't ruin my dreams. And what am I, a dog?"
"Glad you noticed."
"If I'm a dog, then you're a female dog."
"What are you, 10? That joke is so old."
"Your mom is so old."
"Shut the—"
"Guys," Andy cut in. "Come on. Let's go."
Aubrey sighed and glared one more time at Josh before leading them to her room.
They all stood in the room until Aubrey sat on her bed, her back against the headboard. Josh and Andy sat with their backs against the wall to the right of her, Josh with his legs pulled up to his chin, and Andy with his legs crossed. Andy was to the left of Josh, closer to Aubrey.
"What should we do?" Aubrey asked.
"We could have a threesome," Josh helpfully suggested.
"Thanks for that very helpful suggestion, Josh."
"So is that a yes or—"
"Of course it's not a yes, you stupid idiot!"
"Stupid and idiot mean the same thing."
Andy held Aubrey back from strangling Josh.
"You know what I mean!"
"I won't know what you mean unless you say it."
Aubrey, fed up with him, kicked him where it hurt.
"Ow! What the f—"
He was cut off by Andy's laughter. He was practically asking for it, with his legs pulled up and all.
"Dude, help a guy out!" Josh said.
Aubrey started laughing along with Andy, who was still laughing. Even though she acted like she was annoyed, she really loved seeing the playful side of Josh. He was always so serious and sarcastic.
After calming down, they started to talk about normal things—or as normal as you can get with those three. Andy had to sneak back to his room when it got late, and Josh banged his face on the door frame when he left, causing Aubrey to laugh. They all fell asleep, the worries of the future forgotten about, even if it was just for a little while.