Mailey's POV #9
I wait in line for the interview. The boy from district 1 stands in front of me while Bear stands behind me in a silver suit. I was given a slim light silver dress with a golden cardigan to put over it and I wear 4 inch gold high heels. My hair is worn in a half up do and I have golden eye shadow on. I don't feel overwhealmed by the dress. I like it because its simple, but even though I do not feel nervous about the dress I feel nervous about the crowd. I feel nervous about my life. I think Bear does too because he pokes my back repeaditly and I ignore him. He hums so I think he's doing beats on my back. Its a cute song and it brings a smile on my face.
I hear Cesar call Pierce's name and the crowd booms in the audience. My mind wanders and just a few seconds later my name is being called. I walk up the stairs and am greeted by both Cesar and the audience. The screams deafen me and I feel weak but as soon as Cesar holds my hand I feel comforted.
We both sit on the couch while he stares at me and smiles. "So how are you feeling here Mailey?" I shrug my shoulders with a smile.
"I don't know." I look into the crowd. "I guess it makes me happy."
"Well let me tell you." He looks into the crowd with me. "When I first came here I was oh so happy." I give him a smile.
"Where did you come from?"
"Oh darling I was born here in the Capitol." The whole audience applauds. "Back to you darling. Your score was a 9!" He stands up and raises his hands to the crowd. "Isn't that amazing everyone!" He sits back down after the audience roar's die down to a dull roar.
"I don't think its that great." I point my free hand in the direction of the other tributes. "I mean some other people got higher score than mine." I steal my hand away from him and place it on my lap.
"Anyways." He ignores my comment. "Care to tell us your secret with that wonderful score?" I shake my head and lean in close to the crowd.
"You'll figure that out in the games." I make sure that the audience hears me. The audience gasps then laughs. Cesar grabs my hand and pulls me up with him and kisses the back of my hand.
"Mailey Parner everyone." Everyone claps loudly and I walk off the stage. I am greeted by an approving Sundy.
"That was wonderful." She gives me a hug. "You kept everyone on your words. If you like you can head upstairs while I wait for Bear." I give her a smiling nod then walk over to the elevator. I arrive in the apartment and I walk over to Marcus who is sitting on a dinning room chair.
"Any last advice you can give me?" I ask him.
"I don't think so kiddo." He sits down at the dinning table. "I'm not saying bye to you until tomorrow though. Besides you'll be back." I smile at his hope for me but then loose it as soon as I realize that he said nothing about Bear winning. I shrink in my mind and walk to my bedroom.
As soon as I enter my room I slip out of my high heels and crawl into bed with my everything else on. I pull the covers over my head and begin to cry. I don't want to loose Bear. I don't want to loose my life. I picture my mother and father for the first time since the day of the reaping and then my brain goes to Cleasy and I cry some more. I've already lost a family member because of the Capitol. I can't let them take me. They will take me though because I'm not strong anymore. I think back at the day of the reaping and I was so sure my name wouldn't be picked. I was wrong, I'm not as strong as I thought I was. I'm a coward.
I hear the door clunk open and I sit up and see Bear at the door. He looks at me and notices my tears."Oh Mailey." I see tears appear in his eyes and in a second he crawls on the bed and hugs me. We hold each other for a long moment sobbing like children. He pulls me away and I see that his suit is soaked from me crying on it. I laugh a little.
"I'm sorry." He grabs me and pulls me in for another hug. "Its alright its just clothes." We sit with our backs against the wall and hold each other hands. We stay quiet for a moment then he talks. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you Mailey." I look at him and see not sadness in his eyes but determination. I see a will to survive. Something that I don't see in all the younger tributes eyes. "I want one of us to win." He looks me in the eyes. "I'm going to make sure its you." I look at him.
"Lets get some sleep." He nods in agreement and stands to leave. "No. Stay here." He smiles then nods.
"If I must." I punch his shoulder as sits down beside me. I roll over on my side and close my eyes. "Thanks for being in my life Mailey." I grab his hand in the darkness.
"And thanks for being in mine." I feel tears coming again. "You will always be in my heart." I feel movement beside me and guess that he laid down. After a couple minutes my mind goes blank and I go to sleep.
I hold Bear's hand as we take the elevator down to where the hovercraft will take us to the arena. My palms are sweating uncontrollably but I don't let go of Bear's hand to wipe it off. I can't cry right now because me and Bear both cried a lifetime of tears last night, but I can tell by the look of Sundy's face she is going to cry.
"You guys try your hardest." She says sadly. Marcus places a hand on her shoulder.
"They will be fine." He looks over at me and gives me a wink. I wink back at him, but it is wink. I'm not the same person I was before. The door opens and Sundy takes a deep breath and pulls everyone in for a hug.
"I love you honies." She lets go of me and Bear and lightly shoves us out the door. I look back at them and they both wave at us as the door closes. Bear speaks.
"Meet you at the cornucopia with Brody and the other two and we'll be fine." I look at Bear and release his hand. He gives me a nod then two peacekeepers escort us to the big hovercraft.
Once in it I sit in big steal seats with Bear and the other tributes. All their faces look scared. Except for Deanie's. Hers is just plain. Showing no emotion. It doesn't even look like she cried at all. I see a lady that comes to every tribute and sticks a needle in their arm. She is two seats away from me and I am not ready to have this tracker in my arm. She grabs my arm roughly and shoves the needle inside. I cringe for a second but then the pain is gone. Bear waves my attention to him and I look into his eyes to distract myself from the hovercraft taking off. He gives me a smile then looks away.
I don't remember much about getting off the aircraft all I see is Bear go a separate way that I did. I remember getting escorted yet again by two peacekeepers down a steal hallway. At the end of the hallway stood my stylist. He gave me a dull smile and embraced me in a hug. I look around the room to see only a tube in the corner. He gives me a pile of clothes and I change in front of him. He grabs a coat off the hook when I'm finished and puts it on me. Its a brown coat that seems to keep rain away. It also seems to keep some heat in. I look up at him and he turns me around. I look at my body through the mirror and see that I'm wearing black pants that are tight at my thighs but loose at my calves. I'm wearing black boots that go as far as my ankles. Although they look weak they probably are really strong. He releases my hair from hits bun and re ties it into a ponytail
"Thats the way you like it and thats the way it should stay." I look up at him and mumble a 'thank you' through sobs. A voice booms through the microphone.
"Tributes in there tubes in 10 seconds." I shake under his hands and he hums. I turn around and walk towards the tube. "9." My foot steps in the tube and I place my other foot into it. "5." The tube closes around me and I feel uncomfortable in this small space. I look at my stylist and think about what his name is. I didn't learn his name. The last person that I will see that will not be trying to kill me, I don't know his name. He nods his head at me then the tube begins to move me up.
It's dark for a second then I am blasted by a burst of light. I shield my eyes for a moment then hear the voice of the Gamemaker once my tube stop moving. "Ladies and Gentlemen, let the 69th Hunger Games begin."
The clock above the cornucopia reads 60. Then in an instant it reads 59. I begin to shake but I close my eyes and I tell myself I have to remain calm. I open my eyes. 47. I stand on my tip toes on the cylinder and look at everyone around me. They are also looking around the horizon. 38. I shake them from my thoughts and look to my right. There's what looks to be jungle. With palm trees and regular trees. 27. I feel a rumble beneath my feet and look to my left. My eyes keep following up the endless object as I see before me. An object that was taller and wider than the building I had been staying at. I look at the red and black rock and know that this is a volcano. 0.