Cinna forbade me to look in the mirror during the whole procedure, so I didn't see my new look for an hour. I couldn't say it bothered me, but for some reason I really wanted to know what I looked like. Finally, after finishing my Make-Up, he said, "So, Katniss, are you ready?"

To be honest: Not at all. I absolutely hated interviews, exactly as much as huge crowds. Thousands of people would be watching me tonight like I was a piece of meat or a simple good on special offer. I breathed in deeply and forced me to smile. "Sure."

I had to close my eyes while Cinna led me through the room.

"Open your eyes." At his command I opened my eyes. "Oh my god!"

That wasn't really me, was it? No, it couldn't be me. With a slightly dizzy feeling I took a closer look at the person in the mirror. That could never be me.

Cinna's question brought me back to reality. "Do you like it?"

"Just one question, okay?"

"Shoot."

"That's not me, is it?"

My question made him laugh. "Of course it's you, who else would it be, little angel?"

I glanced at the mirror one more time. Cinna actually managed to let my – usually quite stubborn- hair fall down on my shoulders in slight curls. He put decent Make-Up on my face and the dress he had created for me was perfect. It was orange and red and with exception of the wide skirt rather tight. Cinna also revealed that he had hidden a special effect – at least he called it this way – in my dress. I had no idea what he was talking about but the words "special effect", "show" and "gigantic" made me kind of freaked out. What the hell was he doing with me?

...

Venia escorted me through a long hallway on which's end Gale and Octavia were already waiting for us. At first I couldn't believe my eyes. Gale looked stunning. He wore a black suit and a shirt in the colour of my dress. When he noticed me his eyes grew wide.

"You look really beautiful", he whispered and my knees immediately felt like pudding. God, why did that always have to happen in public? In the next moment I started blushing and stared at the floor. That caused Gale to burst out laughing.

"WHAT?"

"Nothing." He smiled at me.

Unfortunately that was one of the moments where you couldn't have some privacy. There was so much I wanted to talk to him about, but Effie and Haymitch had to interrupt that, of course.

"So, here we are!" Haymitch gave me a stern look. "We didn't have time to discuss our strategy…" Now he looked at Effie with anger. "Behave like a naive girl, you got me?"

"Naive girl?" I neither knew what he meant nor did I understand the purpose oft that.

"Good lord, that's not to hard, is it? Tonight you are a shy girl who giggles and twirls in her dress, okay?"

"But…", I protested, but Haymitch interrupted me with a single move of his hand. What's that supposed to mean? I had to make a dork out of myself in front of whole Panem? I looked at Haymitch angrily. That dude was crazy, that's for sure. I felt the anger rising in my body und wanted to punch him, but Cinna laid his hand on my shoulder to calm me.

"Darling, we all know you are not naive, but it's really important that you act this way, okay?", Effie told me.

...

In the next moment a chariot stopped right next to us. Gale and I were supposed to ride through the big hall on it. Cinna and Venia helped me getting on the chariot, while Haymitch patted Gales shoulder. "We discussed everything, right?"

Gale nodded and entered the chariot.

"Good, then have fun", Effie said at the end, then the chariot started moving.

"Katniss, don't forget to twirl on the stage!", Cinna yelled, before we disappeared behind the corner. Damn, why did I have to act in such a stupid way? I didn't want to be the naive one, who was only interested in her dresses. I was Katniss Everdeen, for crying out loud.

"I hate it", I hissed to Gale, who was standing next to me, holding my hand. I was so lucky to have him at my side. In his presence I felt save and … happy. I felt better with him, but I couldn't wait for this spectacle to end.

"Do you think, I feel better?", asked Gale. "This whole glitter makes me feel like a girl."

I looked at him more precisely and noticed that he was wearing Make-Up as well. Octavia seriously managed to put MakeUp on Gale's face? Just the lipstick was missing, but otherwise he had got the whole programme.

"Well, I think boys with mascara are sexy", I teased him, trying to ease the situation a bit. We were still riding through the dark hallway and I started shivering. I didn't blame it on the cool air. I had only felt this excitement at the Reaping, otherwise this unpleasant feeling which was overtaking my body was unfamiliar. Gale seemed to notice my fear, because he tightened the squeeze on my hand and bent down. "No need to worry, honey. We are done soon."

"What's your strategy, by the way?" I wanted to know. He hadn't told me yet, so I was more than curious.

He rolled his eyes. "Haymitch calls it "The dramatic boy", really witty, don't you think so?"

The dramatic boy? That was all he could tell me? Hello, anybody out here who wanted to tell me something? No, of course not, why would someone tell me something that could save my freaking life? What the heck were they up to?

"Stay calm", I ordered myself while I was playing with the thought of killing Haymitch with my own hands. He seemed to enjoy making me the "naive one" far too much.

...

We had reached the portal in the meantime, which was leading into the huge hall. I could make out the other tribute's chariots in front of us, ready for the show. Nobody said a word. As soon as our chariot was standing in line, one of the workers gave a sign and the chariots started moving again. After we had passed the entrance I heard a strange noise behind me. I turned round and my jaw dropped at the sight of the flames coming out of my dress. A glance at Gale told me that he was on fire, too. The crowd gasped in excitement as we were passing them with our hands rose high into the air…