Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. Wait, you know that. Why even ask? It just makes me feel depressed.
Four hours later, I am trying on my interview dress, and it is beautiful. Liza says it's made of white satin, but it looks like liquid pearls to me. It's a sleeveless dress that goes down to my ankles. It's not puffy, but rather it hangs loosely around my body. Once again, there are no shoes. Liza ties a wide black ribbon around my waist to complete the look.
She makes me sit down on a swivel chair so she can do my hair. First she curls my hair into loose curls. Now it only goes two inches passed my shoulder. The she takes a small strand of hair from either side of my hair and pins it back using a jeweled clip. To complete the look, she puts a small crown with small pearls and opals the color of my eyes on it. She turns me around to face the mirror and I gasp. I look beautiful. She makes me stand up to see the entire getup. At once, I know that I want my wedding dress to look something like this.
My prep team adds the finishing touches, like putting on makeup. They put dab of nude concealer here, a swipe of red lipstick there. They brush some brush onto my cheeks, curl my eyelashes and pluck a few hairs from my eyebrows. Then they add the finishing touch, sparkly blue-grey eye shadow that compliments my eyes. I look beautiful. Too bad Marlin can't see me like this. Oh wait, I'm going to be on TV in less than an hour, so I guess he will.
I follow Liza blindly backstage, where I can hear. Caesar Flickerman being introduced. Usually he tells some jokes, the there's a commercial break, so I still have a little time to chat. Madeline and Anna walk over. "Whoa, we're all wearing the same dress!" says Anna. Wand we are. Maddie's is gold with a purple ribbon, and Anna's is silver with a black ribbon.
"What's your angle, ViVi?" Maddie asks. I roll my eyes. "In love. We thought hard all day to come up with that one. What's yours?" "Sweet and flirty!" complains Maddie. "Compassionate," says Anna. "They call us Careers, and then they give us angles that only wok on twelve year olds. "All tributes, please line up in order of district and gender, with females first. District 1 female to the stage, please," orders a voice from the loudspeaker.
Maddie wiggles her fingers as she waves goodbye. I give her two thumbs up and she smiles. Her interview is interesting, but there are twenty-three more and the audience gets restless after about ten. I get in line. Though I'm sure everyone will pay attention to mine. River is still talking to Oliver, so the girl from District 5 is behind me. I look around to see if Liza is still there.
I glance at the girl from Five's dress. It's a short, hot pink dress covered in sequins. "I like your dress," I tell her. She rolls her eyes. "Whatever. I guess yours isn't too bad," she says snootily. I turn back around, taken about by her rudeness. About half an hour goes by, and they finally call my name.
I hurry to the stage, eager to get out of this awful boredom. Even though I'm not on stage yet, I can hear Caesar announcing me to the audience. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, perhaps the most waited for interview. You may know her as the lady in love, please welcome Victoria Rose Marino!" I walk out onto the stage, waving and smiling. The crowd goes wild. When I sit, the timer goes on, and the volume of the audience goes off completely. They are all waiting for Caesar to ask me the first question.
To their disappointment, the first question Caesar asks me is not Marlin-related. "Do you have shoes on, Victoria Rose?" "No, sir. I didn't wear shoes during the parade, either. And please, call me ViVi. Victoria Rose is a mouthful," I say. I remember Leona's drills from this morning, and I immediately put my legs together and my hands on my knees.
"So, you seem pretty confident. You have good odds, and you got a great training score, at eleven, you are tied for the highest scoring tribute. Are you positive you can win?" "I'm not being arrogant or anything, but with motivation like mine, how can you not win?" He doesn't know, so he launches on to the next question. "How long have you dated Marlin?" he asks. "Well, we went on our first date right before his victory tour, but we had been friends since I was eight."
"Interesting. So what happened on that date?" I pull up the memory in my head quickly. "Everything had changed after he won. We were taking a walk on the beach, and he slipped his hand into mine. I was a little startled, but I have had a crush on him since I met him, so I didn't object. We watched the sunset, and he told me that he hadn't realized that he loved me until the girl from District 2 almost killed him during his games when the career alliance split up. He said that the only thought that kept him from giving up and dying in the arena was me. And we do that now, too. Up until the reaping, we would still have picnics on the beach at least once a month," I say, my voice catching in my throat. I thought it would be fun to talk about Marlin and I, but I feel like curling up and sobbing.
"What ran through your mind when he proposed to you?" he asks hurriedly. "I was shocked. I felt really lucky, though. Anyone who marries someone as amazing as him is an incredibly lucky person." "So what do you plan to do if you win?" he asks. I choose to ignore the fact that he said IF I win. "When I win, I'm obviously going to marry Marlin, and I'll have my victor's hobby, singing. I'll be a mentor, of course, and you can't forget the victory tour."
"And in the long run?" "I want at least five children, and I already have a list of names." "What kind of names?" Caesar asks. I glance up at the timer. Thirty seconds. "Well, I like Anna and Madeline. If we're doing traditional District 4 names, I like River, Riviera, Azula, Kai, and Dylan."
The buzzer rings. Caesar and I stand. He takes my hand, raises it high, and says, "Ladies and gentlemen, let's give us the best of luck on her engagement. A round of applause for the lovely Victoria Rose Marino, everybody!" I try to smile. I walk off the stage and head to the elevator, ducking my head so no one can see the tears rolling down my cheeks, tears for those baby names that might never be used.