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I do not own The Hunger Games nor it's characters, I only write this for my enjoyment.

Chapter Five

Today is our last day in the Training Centre before the Games begin, which means that we have to prep for tonight's interviews. This will be when the Capitol audience finally get a chance to meet the tributes before they are sent to their gruesome deaths, it's also a great opportunity for them to decide who to sponsor. It's so pathetic, not only do they want to make money on poor children's lives but they also want the glory of picking the winner before anyone else. They have no idea how important a life is unless it's their own.

Titam informs us over breakfast that we are at a disadvantage this year in that usually the tributes would get four hours each with him to discuss content and four hours with their escort to practice interview etiquette. However, as there are four of us we are only going to get an hour each so we have to practice in our rooms while we wait.

Just as I'm heading back to my room to crash on my bed Marsella grabs my arm and says, "Oh, no, no, Haymitch! You're mine for the next hour!"

I have to stop myself from swearing as she drags me over to a chair and pushes me in to it. She spends the next hour shouting at me for slouching and staring at the floor; it's an awful habit, apparently. When my hellish ordeal is finally over she lets out a dramatic sigh and tells me there's nothing more she can do.

"All I want is for just one of you to have some charm!" She squeals as I leave and all I can think is that Dinium is charm personified. She's going to love him.

I have to wait another hour before Titam comes in to my room but that doesn't bother me in the slightest. This bed is so luxurious and comfortable that I could happily lie here forever and not do anything else. The only thing that would make it even better were if Tilly was here lying next to me.

Titam walks in and orders for me to sit in one of the plush chairs that are placed in the corner of my room while he sits opposite me. He has a look of determination on his face that I have not seen until now, his smiley and happy exterior have seemingly vanished to be replaced by what may be a look of worry.

"So have you thought anymore about how you want to be perceived?" He asks.

"No," I reply, "the whole thing is stupid. I know I'm going to die, Titam, I just don't want it to be too horrific." Finally voicing my concerns is strangely liberating, I suppose part of me hopes that Titam may be able to help me with this matter but it's doubtful. He won't be in the arena so what can he realistically do for a no hoper like me?

"I think that maybe you should try and play the smart card. You know, act like you've got the whole thing planned out right up until you're crowned victor."

"Are you serious? Nobody even knows what the arena looks like, yet! How can I act so clued up?"

"You don't have to actually know everything, Haymitch, just pretend that you do! The people in the Capitol like a safe bet!"

"Then they'll bet on a Career, they won't care about me!"

Titam almost growls in frustration and I can see him clenching his fists as if he's trying to contain the anger that is building inside of him. I've never claimed that I can win this thing so why is he so annoyed?

"Okay, let's just try some typical interview questions that might be thrown at you." I open my mouth to object but Titam simply raises his hand and the stern look on his face somehow manages to silence me. "So, Haymitch, what do you think about this year's tributes?"

"They're beyond stupid," I snap and, to my great surprise, Titam instantly bursts out laughing. He really has gone mental today.

"As true as that may be, DO NOT say that, okay?" I give a noncommittal groan and we quickly move on to the next question. For the rest of my allotted time with him Ttitam continues to ask me the most mundane questions about my life and what I think of the games, all of which I answer honestly but none of them seem to be right.

Eventually, our time is up and Titam leaves to help coach Clo. At least she'll be more willing to learn, after all, she can easily play the cutesy child without too much help. There's even a slight chance that it could work in her favour if the Capitol is feeling soppy this year. It's unlikely but all she has is hope now.

I eat lunch alone, apart from the avoxes who are stationed around the table, as everyone else is in their rooms practising their interview technique. I can hear Titam discussing Maysilee's plan to act cool, calm and collected throughout the interview but if she's feeling brave enough she could be a bit flirty with the camera. All I can hear her saying in response is "Yes." Even when she's with her mentor she's as guarded as the Capitol's gates!

The evening quickly approaches and Elerrah saunters in to my room to present me with my interview outfit. I'm put in to a shiny black suit that looks absolutely hideous, even though I'm assured that it's currently the height of Capitol fashion. I hate the way it sticks to my skin and all I want to do is tear it off. Maybe if I do that on stage I'll cause enough of a commotion that the Capitol will be desperate to sponsor the crazy boy from 12. He's so confident, they'll say, that he just made the stage his own, he'll definitely win! Perhaps not.

We're all gathered in the lounge area before we leave for the interviews and I can see that Maysilee's stylist is still trying to go for the sexy look. Her glittery bronze dress is tight against her body and falls just above the knee and her makeup is bold. Clo, on the other hand, is wearing a floaty green dress that makes her look even younger than she already is. Dinium is wearing black trousers and silky blue shirt with most of the buttons undone. Clearly, I wasn't deemed muscular enough to pull that look off, although I happen to agree.

The interviews themselves seem to fly by with the Careers all playing the "I'm definitely going to win" angle for all its worth whilst the other tributes try to assure Caesar Flickerman, our vivacious interviewer, that they can outsmart everyone else. It's sad how wrong they are.

Clo is called to the stage and meekly answers Caesar's questions, unsure of what she should say. I look out at the audience and it looks like half of them are falling asleep. Dinium is next and quickly charms the audience with his admiration of the Capitol and thanks them for how well we've been treated. He's starting to make me feel sick and I wonder if I could actually bring myself to kill him but I have to remind myself that this is all a show. We're just giving them a show.

Maysilee does indeed act calm and cool throughout the interview, even throwing in a few sassy comments for Caesar that has him roaring laughing.

"So, tell me Maysilee," he says, "is there a special boy back in District Twelve?"

The audience are all glued to the two people sitting on the stage, waiting for this poor sixteen year old girl to reveal details about her supposedly private life.

"Maybe, maybe not," she says, "it would depend on who's asking."

The entire room bursts in to laughter and I'm half worried that Caesar is going to have a seizure with the amount of giggling he's been doing. A buzzer sounds that indicates that Maysilee's interview is over and she leaves the stage.

"And now for our final tribute!" Caesar bellows, "Haymitch Abernathy from District Twelve!"

There's a loud applause as I leave my seat and head towards Caesar. He grabs my hand tightly and shakes it before gesturing for me to sit down.

"So, Haymitch, what do you think of the Games having one hundred per cent more competitors than usual?" Caesar asks.

I simply shrug, recalling a similar question that Titam asked me earlier but I ignore his advice. If I'm going down, I'm going down as me. "I don't see that it makes much difference. They'll still be one hundred percent as stupid as usual, so I figure my odds will be roughly the same."

The audience laughs and I give them a smirk to add to the illusion that I'm here to please them. I still think they're vile.

Caesar has a small smirk but looks slightly uncomfortable as he says, "Bold answer, my boy!"

Bold answer? Isn't that the point? Anyway, the other tributes are stupid!

I'm surprisingly calm throughout the interview, only giving short, witty answers that the audience seem to be lapping up and, for the first time, I begin to think that they may like me. But enough to sponsor me? I'm not so sure.

Once the interviews are over and I'm off the stage Maysilee and Dinium are glaring at me as if I've just punched them in the face.

"What?" I bark.

"Why did you say that the Games were stupid?! They're going to make your life hell in the arena, now!" Maysilee shouts.

"I didn't say that the Games were stupid, I said that the tributes were!"

"It didn't sound like that," says a worried Dinium.

Indeed, when I watch the interview replays my answer is vague enough that it would be difficult to tell whether I meant the Games or the tributes. Despite both being true I didn't want to piss the Gamemakers off this early on. I throw a pillow at the screen and Marsella instantly chastises me.

"I thought you didn't want to win, anyway?" Says Titam and rather than reply I storm off to my room like the moody teenager that I am.

I try to sleep but, of course, thoughts of the potential horrors that I will face tomorrow are impossible to avoid. All I can see is the awful girl from 1 mutilating my body in a hundred different ways. I get out of bed, unsure of what to do with myself, before remembering that we're allowed to go on to the roof. I get in to the lift and within seconds I'm on the roof of the Training Centre.

All around me is are the brightly coloured and modern buildings of the Capitol and all of them seem to be having very loud parties. The music has little melody and is grating on my ear.

"Oh, hi, Haymitch," a sweet voice says and I turn to see that Clo is sat on the floor, looking out over the city.

"Hey, Clo," I say with a small smile and sit down next to her. "How are you doing?"

She simply shrugs, still looking out over the Capitol. "I just tried to jump off the building and bounced right back up."

I should be shocked that a fourteen year old girl is jumping off buildings but I can understand. If I could choose between jumping to my death and the slow, agonising one that awaits me in the arena I'd definitely choose the former.

"Sounds fun," I say and this elicits a girlish giggle from Clo.

"It's a force field or something," she says, dreamily and then neither of us speak for a few moments, pondering our fates, no doubt. "I wonder what the arena will be like," she eventually says.

"We'll know soon enough. I've always wondered what's at the end of the arena, you know, how do they contain it?" I've been forced to watch the Games my whole life and it still amazes me that no one else has had the same question. They're all too busy killing each other, I guess.

"A force field?" Clo suggests.

"Maybe. It would definitely stop the tributes breaking out."

"I wish I could break out right now. I just want to go home, Haymitch."

"Me, too. More than anything."