Most people would freak out if they woke up in a strange hospital bed. For me, it was Tuesday. Nothing to get excited about.
I'd won. That was something to be excited about. I was hardly even damaged from the whole affair. I had some residual wounds from the tiger fight and my hand was bandaged from where Eleanor broke it, but that was it. The Games had been shorter than normal and I'd had plenty of food, so the effects were minimal. I'd be out in no time.
I hesitated before peeking in the mirror. The Capitol could be weird. I'd seen Kazuo around the Capitol, and he looked way different then when we were in the Arena together. Tillo was a lot older, but she looked different too. They almost made her look pretty. And it was Rose this time. I would not have been surprised if I looked in the mirror and saw a cat face looking back at me.
You little terror. At least it wasn't a cat. But Rose didn't have to mash my face all up and put it back together so I looked like her. Now we looked like sisters. I looked like a Snow. The horror... the horror...
A familiar four-rap knock sounded at the door.
"Oh, who could it be?" I said. "Why don't you come in?" Cornflower poked her head inside the door and slipped in like a ghost.
"What a surprise. It's Cornflower," I said. She didn't get the joke.
"Is everything all right?" she asked.
"Don't worry about me. I won, I'm pretty much all better, and I'll be getting up soon. It was rough, but I've been through worse," I said. She wanted to do her job, but I didn't need counseling or nursing- which was lucky, since she knew how to do neither.
"Okay. Good job and get better soon," she said. She went back toward the door. She jumped to one side and pulled her hands in suddenly, shying away as a little girl bumped past her.
"Calvary!" Rose yelled. She jumped on my bed as I hastily scooped up the tubes so she wouldn't yank them out by accident. "Do you like your makeover?"
"It's... great," I said. "We're like twins." The hardest part of the Games, I was beginning to see, wasn't the Arena. It was the prize.
"The nurse said I wasn't supposed to go in yet, but I said I was the president's daughter so it was okay," Rose said. She settled herself on my bed like she owned it, which she did. "Now we can have all sorts of fun. But I can let you get better first. You're all stuck full of wires."
"Call me a pincushion," I said. Rose laughed. That wasn't even funny, I thought.
You'd never guess what I was dressed in for the final interview. Never in a million years. I was... a flower. Not a rose, though. A beautiful pansy. I wore a lovely purple gown with a white skirt peeking out from under the purple stuff. I half-expected Rose to squeeze herself on the chair next to me, but to my relief, she wasn't there.
"Presenting the lovely Calvary Warsaw!" Polyphemus near-screamed into his mic. First we lost Seutonius, and now the new lady was gone too? I missed everything. But Polyphemus was still going strong. Probably the hairspray preserved him.
"She's wearing a stunning purple- oh, right," Polyphemus said, looking out at the audience that could plainly see me. "What are your thoughts on this very special Games?"
"Of course I'm super excited Rose picked me. I couldn't have been happier with the Arena she picked. And I'm happiest of all to get to know her better," I said with my fakest smile. My fakest smile fit perfectly in the Capitol.
"Are you sad about Emma?" Polyphemus asked. What the heck? No, I'm happy. I always hated her. I was glad I was so mad and surprised so I wouldn't be sad. I knew she'd understand what I was going to say next.
"She was a good friend. But now I have an even better one," I said. Sorry, Emma. I could feel her laughing at my bullshit from wherever she was. Maybe she went up? Sure, she killed kids, but she wasn't bad.
The recap was nice and short. All the real action took place over three days. The rest of the footage was mostly unused, since it consisted of me and Emma eating bonbons and deviled eggs and the others wandering aimlessly. I liked the part with the tiger best. I looked super cool. I didn't feel that cool while it was happening. I heard someone in the audience vomit during the final fight.
"That was... thrilling," Polyphemus said when it was done. His throat pulsated and he swallowed, putting his hand to his mouth and grimacing. "I'm sure you're ready to move on to happier things."
The Anthem blared again, and for the first time in the three times I'd been through the Games, I saw Snow walk down the aisle carrying a crown. Not Coriolanus Snow, though. Rose Snow. Wearing- of course- a matching pansy gown. And instead of a crown, it was a freaking party hat. A cone-shaped white party hat with a string to hold it in place and a row of alternating roses and pansies along the bottom. Rose swept down the aisle, drinking in the applause and adoration, and stood on tiptoes to place the crown on my head.
"I hereby declare you the winner of the Hunger Games and my new best friend," Rose said. There was only one thing to do. I picked her up, slung her onto my back, and walked offstage carrying her piggyback, with her waving to the audience behind us.