"Uuurgh." I groaned as I woke up. I could hear my pulse in my head, and it felt like my brain was imploding. The light than shone in thinly through the gap in my curtains was all too bright for my eyes, and I had to squint, but it didn't help. I stood up slowly, pins and needles prickling up and down my legs as I swayed unsteadily. Stop spinning, I mentally told the room. It didn't listen. Worse- I couldn't remember anything.
I wobbled out of my door and towards everybody else, who was sat at the table with their heads in their hands. Everybody was there except Elijah. Makenna was in the kitchen making something- though it looked like she was just throwing random ingredients into a jug.
"What happened last night?" I asked croakily.
"It's not your fault, none of us realised the punch was alcoholic." Peeta whispered hoarsely.
"The punch was alcoholic? I couldn't even taste the alcohol." I muttered, confused. I remembered something- Phox asking me to dance. Panic, and then making an excuse to go get some punch. It calmed me down so I kept drinking it.
"Yeah, I think that was the point. No wonder it seemed to taste better and better the more cupfuls we drank." Phox rolled his eyes. "Go figure."
Makenna came back to the table, with a jug of thick red juice that looked like a stawberry smoothie. She put the jug down on the table with a bang that revertebrated through my skull.
"Please don't do that." Katniss rubbed her temples with her thumbs.
"My nana's old hangover recipe. Help yourselves." Makenna looked as hungover as the rest of us. I poured myself a huge cup of the stuff Makenna made and took a sip.
"This is disgusting- is that a raw egg in here?" I muttered. It was tomato juice with chilli, raw egg, orange juice and coffee. It tasted as bad as it smelled, but the smell and taste made my head feel clearer, so I kept drinking.
"Up and attem, we've got the interviews today and... what's up with you?" Elijah burst into the room, carrying to black bags with clothes on a hook.
"Aren't you just a shining bubble of sunshine?" I muttered angrily.
"Yeah, I don't get hangovers. It's a gift and a curse really." Elijah put the bags holding the outfits down onto the sofa.
"So since you're so sober, will you tell me what happened last night?" I asked warily.
"You mean you don't remember?" Elijah looked at me guiltily.
"No." Everybody chorused moodily. Moody. A memory flashed inside my hea- Ottilie Snow standing moodily by the tables, longing to eat but refusing to, because, "I should get used to not eating, shouldn't I? I'm going to be starving to death in a few days.", as she snapped at me when I tried to be friendly to her. I stayed away from her after that.
"Well let's talk alliances first." Peeta said logically, taking a sip of Makenna's concoction and wincing in disgust. "I assume some people made alliances during the party."
"Well, I couldn't pay attention for half of it. While I don't get hangovers, I do get drunk." Elijah shrugged. "But I do remember that Katri Allardyce and Validia Kelder were acting friendly, they are a possible match for an alliance. Ajax Vamos, Delphi Holloway, Raff Perthshire and Xanther Winnow, and Leonis Keene are all in the Career Districts- well, all except Xanther Winnow. Though that doesn't mean anything to them they are, for some reason sticking together."
"Xanther Winnow's father taught him how to deal with electronics and machinery. He's an assett to them." Phox contributed thoughtfully. "Delphi and Raff used to know eachother from the East Capitol school, and Raff is vicious. He's a black belt in pretty much every combat sport there is, and he knows he has power over most of the tributes. It's better to be his ally than his enemy."
Oh, great. Just great. "Any other alliances?" Katniss asked. Elijah held out his hands in an empty gesture.
"Sorry. That's when I blacked out." Elijah said guiltily. Another memory flashed at me.
"Thistle and Ottilie." I whispered.
"What?" Makenna asked, straining to hear.
"I said, Thistle and Ottilie." I repeated louder. "They've joined up. I remember watching them and wondering why they allied themselves."
"It's not like it's going to do them any good." Makenna muttered bluntly.
"At the interviews Caesar he'll be asking the tributes if they've made any alliances, and we'll find out the rest then. Until that happens, who hasn't allied themselves with someone else?" Katniss asked, starting to count off the people left on her fingers. "Silver Selkirk, Baron Skrim, Cronin Frax and Septimus Erdvine..."
"Mallory Caprice, Nim Ardlace." Makenna added.
"Magnus Duncain, Alto Jardine." Finished Peeta.
"And... you two." Katniss looked from me to Phox. Phox raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned towards me. Dread filled my stomach.
"Well, I don't know. Do you want to be allies?" He asked me.
"No. No. Absaloutely not." I said fiercely. Phox looked unbearably hurt. "No! I'm sorry, I just- I-"
"What? Why not?" He asked me, looking at me with genuine concern.
"Because there's only going to be one winner!" I cried out, my voice rising uncontrollably into a high pitch. "And if it's not going to be anybody else, it's going to be one of us, and I don't know about you but I've known you since I was little- I wouldn't be able to kill you. And if we were allies it would make it all the more impossible which is why I have to stay away from you!" I started yelling in a rush.
"But-" Phox stuttered, looking at Katniss and Peeta for help. I stood up suddenly.
"It was different for them!" I pointed an accusing finger at Katniss and Peeta. "They were the "starcrossed lovers from District 12", the Capitol loved them, and nobody loves us! The Games are only going to have one winner, and it sure as hell isn't going to be me!" And with that I stormed off to my room, leaving everybody behind, staring at me. I could feel Phox's eyes boring holes in my back.
Just as I reached the door I remembered something else. No wonder Phox was looking at me like that, so upset when I refused to be his ally.
I was laughing at something Phox said, choking on the punch I had just drank. He laughed with me, thinking my ditziness was cute. "You're too good to be true!" I slapped his shoulder lightly. Phox's light blue eyes were wide with hapiness.
"Look, we've got to stick together, right?" He said it simply, not so much of a question as it was a simple statement.
"Yes, we do." I agreed.
"Partner." Phox winked at me. I smiled, knowing that now I could trust Phox wholeheartedly. I don't even know why I did it, I just stood on my tiptoes, put my arms around his neck and-
I kissed him. My breath was ragged and panicky. No, no, no, no, no, oh God, please don't tell me I kissed him, I thought desperately. I am never, ever drinking again.
I felt like banging my head against the wall. "Oh, stupid, moronic, idiotic, stupid-"
"What's so stupid?" Phox asked, poking his head round my door. I sighed heavily, not knowing what to say. Phox took my sigh to mean I was annoyed to see him. "Look, Wren, I know you don't want to see me, but why don't you want to be my ally?"
I closed my eyes, and avoided his question. "How much do you remember of last night, Phox?" I dreaded the answer.
Phox looked confused and shrugged. "Nothing, why?" Phox questioned. I almost sighed in relief.
"No reason." I felt unreasonably guilty for lying to him. "Look, I'm sorry, but when one of us dies, it'll just be worse if we were allies who were supposed to protect eachother. You get that, right?"
Phox nodded slowly. "Sure. I get that. Come on, Elijah and Makenna say we have to get ready for the interview."
I played with my fingers, something I did when I was nervous or in an awkward situation. "'Kay. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Welcome, welcome, welcome everybody to the 76th and Final Annual Hunger Games!" Caesar Flickerman said enthusiastically- though I'm not sure how sincere his enthusiasm was. He stuck to tradition and dyed his hair a different colour for the Final Games-pale minty green.
I was watching the live show from my dressing room, where Makenna was making the final adjustments to my dress. It was again, strapless, with a black top half that glittered with jems and a cream bottom half that was ruffled, keeping with the feather theme. My high heels were one and a quarter inches too high for me to be comfortable in, but Makenna insisted they completed the look. My hair was curled and kept up with pins, and then studded with pearls. My eyes were decorated with eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow to accent their unusual colouring- something I wasn't sure whether I liked or not.
My dressing room was round, with a mirror curving around one wall, and a platform for me to stand up on while Makenna worked on me. Everything was red, right down to the plush carpet and leather lounging chair. I saw Katniss walk into the room int the mirror's reflection wearing a black dress that twinkled with red jems like fire, her hair in her signature braid.
"Hey." She greeted. "You ready for the interview?"
"Just about." Makenna said as the same time I said "Not even close."
"What do I say?" I turned around to face Katniss, ignoring the annoyed tuts of Makenna. On the television, Caesar was introducing his first guest, "The lovely and charming, District 1's Validia Kelder!".
"Just be friendly." Katniss suggested.
"I don't know how to do that. Not to overly nice people anyway- I always think they're hiding something." I shuffled in my dress, shifting my weight from one foot to the other to try and relieve some of the pain in my feet.
"I know how you feel." Katniss sat down on the lounger. I went to sit down next to her. "When I had to do the interviews, my stylist, Cinna, told me to pretend I was talking to him, or a friend. Why don't you try that."
"Sure." I said unenthusiastically. All my friends were either dead, or spoilt Capitol teenagers worrying more about whether there's going to be enough eucalyptus conditioner left for when they take their next shower than whether or not I was going to survive the Games.
Who could I pretend I was talking to? I looked around the room for inspiration, but there was nothing around but Makenna who was packing away her seamstress equipment and Caesar on the television saying goodbye to Raff Perthshire and hello to Hestia. Hestia was willowy 18 year old with honey blonde hair and deep brown eyes that were narrowed in determination.
Dark hair, dark eyes. I knew who I could talk to. My mother. I would just pretend she was watching me in the crowd, and that I was talking to her. Her name was Gisele Fairbain, and she was the kindest woman I had ever known. She was always the one who encouraged the Capitol people to send gifts towards their favourite tributes. She told me one year she contributed a quarter of the money towards giving a tribute called Finnick Odair a trident.
Katniss smiled at me reassuringly, and then took me towards the line to wait until we talked to Caesar. Phox was already in the line, staring straight ahead as if he couldn't see anyone. He didn't smile at me when I joined him in the line.
There was another television in here showing Caesar's show live. He was already up to Thistle Lockhearst, the small girl who had allied herself with Ottilie Snow. "Now, Thistle, I must say that you allying yourself with Ottilie was a surprise for everybody. Can you tell us why you did it?" Caesar was asking little Thistle.
"Well," She started saying, in a serious tone like she was an adult and not a little kid."Me and Ottilie are both girls who don't really have any friends or people who want to be our allies. It's because I'm the youngest, and Ottilie is President Snow's granddaughter." She said with the candor only kids have.
"And you think this affects her?" Caesar clasped Thistle's small hands in his large ones.
"Yes." Thistle's eyes were wide and truthful. "And I don't see why she should have to be punished. She's really nice. So we just decided we're going to stick together!" She finished happily.
"Well, I wish you both the best of luck, because unfortunately our time's up. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the charming Miss Thistle Lockhearst!" Caesar kissed Thistle's hand, and the audience cheered for the bright, bubbly little girl. Backstage, Ottilie looked around smugly, and when Thistle came back, they gave eachother big hugs, the small twelve year old and the not so small fifteen year old, allied. Cronin Frax was a thin but fit 17 year old with wiry glasses that actually made him look even more gorgeous, but I don't think he even noticed Thistle was in his District. While Cronin was talking to Caesar, I imagined possible scenarios and questions Caesar might ask me, and how I would answer.
My palms were clammy and warm, and my heart pounded wildly. I wish my mom really were here. What would she say in this situation? She had this saying she always used to say. If only I could remember it...
While I was trying to remember what the saying was, time seemed to fly and before I knew it, Caesar was finished talking to Ottilie, who was still smug that she had Thistle as her ally, and told him that girls have to stick together to win, and Caesar had moved on through Septimus, Mallory, Alto, Nim, Magnus and Merope, and was finishing with Roman, who was honest and charming at the same very simply told Caesar how he wasn't going to get any allies, why should he when groups just slow you down and all the time he'd just be wondering if his ally was really trustworthy or just waiting for him to fall asleep so he could be killed.
Caesar agreed that seemed sensible, wished Roman good luck and then invited me onto the stage. The audience remembered my name and cheered. Wren, Distict 12. Katniss and Peeta's new prodigy, the girl with the wings, the girl with the strange eyes.
As I sat down on the plush cushions of the chair, I suddenly remembered what my mom used to say.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear. Faith is not the absence of doubt, but rather the courage to believe in spite of doubt. A took a breath, imagined my mom was sat in Caesars place, and began my interview.