The 25th Hunger Games
Chapter 8
Diane, Tin, My Mom and Luna sit around a television screen. Tin puts head in his hands after hearing what I did. Luna even tells me that I might get a 0.
Diane is pacing nervously across the room. Our Training Scores are an important part in determining whether or not we get sponsored. Soon the program begins and Caesar Flickerman stands in his blood red suit and hair. He talks about the tributes. Even asks the Head Gamemaker, who is with him, which Tribute left a lasting impression on him. He responds with a smile, "Definitely the District 3 Tributes"
Tin nearly falls out of his seat. And my Mother's face forms a quick smile. Luna throws a wide grin and shakes my hand while speaking to me in a fast voice. Even Diane, who has been gloomy recently, smiles.
Caesar reminds everyone that the Arena's appearance depends on the most popular tribute. Then, they start going through the list. All of the Careers get a score around 8, except one, Bash who gets a 10. Now for us.
"District 3 Tribute, Ethan Minerva, received a score of…" I hear from the TV.
Every person in the room leans forward in their seat. And as the number is called, Luna faints.
"10!" Caesar says smiling. We rush forward to help Luna up from off the ground. After a while, I get bored of trying to help her and cast my attention to the program.
Diane scores a 7. But besides me, no one seems to be even congratulating her. The program passes on, and no one else but me pays attention. The rest of the tributes get relatively low scores. The lowest is a 2 for the District 12 boy. But the last Tribute changes that.
"District 12 Tribute, Cassandra Wellington, received a score of 9!" they say smiling. Since her partner just got the lowest scored in Hunger Games history, this feels like a big contrast. When Luna does come to, she just starts crying on the floor for some reason.
At that point, I don't feel like dealing with Luna. I stroll to my room, not noticing the blond shadow that follows me. I enter my room and sigh, and jump into the bed. When I open my eyes to a rustling, the District 4 girl stands before me.
Instead of yelling profanity, I decide to play along, "Hello. Are you here to kill me already?"
"How'd you get a 10?" she asks, It appears she doesn't like to waste time.
"Secret" I say smiling.
"Ha ha, very funny. Will you just tell me already."
"Why? So you could tell your little Career friends?"
"I'm not in the Career Pack!" she says angrily as she grabs onto my hands.
Somewhere in my mind, memories of her being alone at training surface.
"I made a ballistics gel dummy explode." I say blankly.
"Was that so hard?" she asks, she lets go of my hands and let it fall to the bed.
From the door way she turns and says softly, "Good luck". At least that's what I think she said. Because in the morning I have a hard time deciding if that is a dream or reality. Diane shakes me awake 2 hours before it's time to wake up. We pass the time by having a discussion on whether or not the Career Tributes get nightmares.
Luna opens the door and finds us talking. She isn't in her usual hyper personality, but she is still wearing a big smile.
"Don't tell me you're in charge of helping us with our interview?" Diane asks, horrified of the idea.
"I am!" Luna responds angrily. She drags us to the dining hall and we have our usual large breakfast. She explains that half of the day; one of us will be with her. The other half, we'll be with Tin and my Mom.
I'm unlucky enough to get her first.
The entire time she keeps on pestering me about little habits I have. I slouch, I roll my eyes too often, I bite my nails. So she puts a back brace thing on me that helps me sit up straight. They put something on my nails that I can't bite through. Just when I think she's about to tape my eyes to one spot, it's my turn with the Victors.
I whisper, "Help me." as I pass by Diane in the hall. This back brace is starting to hurt.
The first thing they say to me when I walk in?
"What on Panem did Luna do to you?"
They start to go over what should I do, how should I act. In short, I am supposed to act hostile and rude. In shorter, I have to act like myself.
"Act like you won" I hear from behind as I walk to change into the thing Luna picked out.
Do they really think I could win? Does anyone think that? No, I don't want to win. If I win, Diane dies. If she wins, I die. Nothing could change that, Ever.
Surprisingly enough, I'm dressed in comfortable clothing. Regular clothing, nothing freaky or glowing. Luna pats my back and looks at me with sad eyes.
"My sister was in the games." She says abruptly. That takes me off guard. I always thought she was from the Capitol.
"No, I'm from District 1. I moved here after I became a famous clothing designer." She says quietly. I wonder if her sister won.
"She was killed in the bloodbath. Which was odd because she is what you call a Career. They kill her because she didn't want to join the Career pack."
I never thought Luna would have any sad backstory.
"She was reaped. A lot of people wanted to take her place, but she didn't let them. Her best friend was also put in the games. He volunteered though."
But before she could continue to read my mind, a person ushers me to the stage. Bright dazzling lights flood my vision. And an image of Caesar Flickerman, with his hair blood red surfaces. The tributes sit out to the side. Organized by District, so our District is going to be one of the first up. A curious crowd awaits beyond the stage. Hair colors completely unnatural range all of the colors of the rainbow. The tributes, with their normal look to them, talk among each other waiting for the start.
Pastel first. The District 1 Female. First the girl will go then the boy then the next District starts. Caesar's twinkling midnight blue suit starts to give me a headache and I turn away. Pastel talks about her 8 and how she was rooting for a 10. I swear, all of the cameras turn to Bash then me. She continues with her sickening frilly display until a buzzer sounds. She waves a roaring audience goodbye and Folly takes his place. He plays a humble boy from District 1. Which seems out of place with his piercings. But the audience falls for the gig and lets out another wave of applause for him.
Pummel goes on about how much she loves the Capitol. It's obvious she is trying to have a sexy look to her. Applause, then Bash. He barely answers the question. Going for a hostile but reserved personality. Yes, No, Yes No. I all I hear from stage. But then Caesar starts asking better questions, and then it becomes obvious how much of a ruthless killer he is. Caesar asks him about his 10.
"It would have been much better if I was the only one with it." He says obviously looking at me. I roll my eyes and the audience starts laughing. I see Diane, more nervous than she has ever been in her entire life. She could be dead in a few hours. The games are tomorrow.
A buzzer sounds. And Diane makes her way up to the stage. She's dressed in a skirt. Not one that makes her look sexy or provocative. But one that feels right on her. She looks different from the other girls in District 3. The Denim of her and my outfit makes us seem. Rebellious. Different. Out there.
Diane sighs during the audience's frantic applause for Bash and then boasts and arrogant smile. District 3's female version of its theme plays and the crowds is almost in hysteria at her. And then the interview begins.
"Hello Dione!" says Caesar smiling.
"Diane. It's Diane." She says in an annoyed tone.
"That's not what it says on the card," responds Caesar. The audience bursts into laughter, "So tell me about District 3."
"Oh sucha dreary place!" she says imitating Pastel's accent, "In fact I have no idea how I deal with it without Ethan…"
The audience lets out an aww. But before Caesar could ask about it, she continues.
"And his Victor money." She says jokingly. The audience and a few tributes laugh.
"Why do you think you were voted?" asks Caesar behind a funnily serious face.
"Because of my sunny personality!" she says sporting a fake smile.
"What about Ethan's personality? Is he as sunny as you are, my star?"
"He's sullen, hostile and moody." Just what they told her to say, "I love that. Plus he's clever and not afraid of others."
The crowd responds with whistles.
"Well, Diane, we appear to be running out of time." Says Caesar glancing at a timer, "But one quick question, we've all been dying to know. Are you romantically involved with Ethan?"
I blush. She doesn't. I turn my face away from the cameras. The audience has suddenly gone quiet, making sure they hear what ever comes next.
"Well Caesar, I…" she begins but she is interrupted by the buzzer and the complaints of the audience.
"Thank you Diane Rossi! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"
My turn. I want to panic but I wont let them see a mess of nerves.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome. Ethan Minerva. Rebel at Large!" booms Claudius Templesmith.
Is that the phrase they came up for me? I think as I make my way up the stage. If I thought Diane's crowd was hysterical, I guess what I received was a step above hysteria. The crowds roared in a way meant for a victor. And every clap sent my confidence skyrocketing. A sneer shows on my face. But I cant help but remembering the 23 soon to be dead. 23 dead, 1 Victor. That's how this works.
"Ethan! You've caused quite a conundrum here in the Capitol." He says wearing a similar sneer. Is it me or some of the girls in the audience faints?
Caesar recognizes this and uses it to his no my advantage.
"Tell me what do you think about being a crowd favorite."
Oh God, what do I say?
"It's alright I guess. Get creepy though. Some chick got my name tattooed on her arm." The audience bursts into laughter, some of it nervous. I bet there is at least 1 lady who did do that.
"Moving on then, I would like to be the first to congratulate you for scoring a 10." He says in a slightly nervous way.
"Too late. 36 other people already did. And to be honest, that subject gets old. Whoop de do, I blasted a hole in the Training Area. So what?"
Some of the crowd gasps some of it laughs. I glance over at the Head Gamemaker, with his hands pressed against his face.
Caesar seems even more nervous. As if he senses my incoming plan.
"Do you plan on joining the Career Pack?" he asks. No doubt will they show the pictures of the careers. Pastel, Folly, Pummel, Bash and the District 4 male. Do I want to join them?
"Fuck no!" I hear a bleep from a screen, "I hate the District 2 male. And don't even get me started on Folly." I say with an eye roll.
The audience laughs.
"If they wont be your ally? Who will, you know besides Diane?"
Shoot, I didn't think of this question. Uhh List of Tributes… Best of the Tributes.
"Yeah actually," I cast my glance on the only Tribute I could think of, "I would like to formally request that the District 12 Female, Cassandra, would join my little group."
The cameras train on her. She blushes and sinks in her chair. I start to feel sorry for her.
"I'll put that as undecided." I say in an attempt to bring the cameras back to me. The audience laughs and no doubt are they talking about why I want her on my team. After a while of murmuring, the Q and A starts again.
"So, Ethan. Are you romantically interested in Diane?"
Am I? I don't know honestly. In fact, I don't get much choice. In our District, Love is not our choice. We are assigned to people. And they call it marriage. We don't choose. We don't get the luxury of it.
"Does it matter?" I say, later I will find myself surprised at my anger, but for now my anger is real, "In case you didn't know. Out in our District, we don't get a single word in for our spouse."
I remember my mother telling me this. How she felt reluctant to be forced to marry my Dad.
"So even if we do, we will never be together." The audience waits for me to continue. To say I do. But honestly, I don't know myself.
"So is that a yes?" he asks innocently.
Once there was this one time where my bully of an older brother was able to blame me for a house fire. He did it in that annoyingly innocent tone. I was whipped for it. I still have the scars on my back to prove it. And I was 9 at the time. I was lucky to have survived. Maybe if I didn't survive I wouldn't be in this mess.
"How about we move on you bloody freak!" I bark angrily. I ignore the crowds gasps and walk to my seat. Seething in anger. I sit down next to a smiling Diane and oddly enough, the smiling District 4 girl. She gets up as if her turn began. And District 4's Female theme starts playing. She looks back at me and smiles. For some reason, this grabs my attention.
She goes on how much she hates her District Partner. How much she would rather be with a person like Bash or Ethan.
Wait! I think, Did she say, "Ethan?"
The questions continue about how interesting I have been as a contender. And how good my performance at the Training Center was.
And she goes on, always making reference to me. I come to the conclusion that she is trying to leech off my fame and earn Most Popular for herself. She is going to eventually use it as a springboard and surpass my fame. But she doesn't. Cassandra finishes her witty interview and returns to her seat. In 10 minutes, the most popular Tribute will be announced, and the arena will be announced. 10 agonizing minutes of resisting the urge to bite my nails. They are probably talking about us now. Making guesses at who will be the top.
Soon but not soon enough, Caesar Flickerman takes to stage holding a card in his hand. He gestures to the screen.
"The top ten Tributes of the 25th Hunger Games!" The screen flashes to life and it shows the number 10 on it. He explains that the name will be shown and the arena that would have been picked will be displayed.
Numbers begin to flash by my eyes. 10. Gabriela with a charming seaside resort like setting. 9. Bacchus with an abandoned island. 8. Folly with a seemingly perfect landscape that shifts to a horrible nightmare. 7. Bough with fields of grain and a pine forest. 6. Diane with a horrific factory of death theme.
5 left. And my name wasn't called yet. But before I even have a chance to breath. They begin again.
"The top 5 Tributes of the 25th Hunger Games!"
5. Cassandra with pine forests and a majestic mountain. I begin to remember how horrific would it be if Diane was the most popular.
4. Pummel with mountains laced with dangers and muttations.
3. Bash with a forest surrounding a mining quarry.
2. Pastel with a rapid changing landscape that is beautiful at day but horrific at night.
I hold my breath along with the rest of Panem.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" shouts Caesar, "Introducing the most popular Tribute of the 25th Hunger Games, Ethan Minerva, Rebel at Large!"
Now I'm just hoping that my arena is nothing like Diane or both District 1 Tributes. Images of a ruined city begin to flash on the screen. The camera flows through the barely standing buildings and catches one of them fall. It suddenly shifts to night and creatures shift across the streets. Then the advance view of my death is over.