Jodie's P.O.V
I hear hysterical laughing as the doors on my elevator open and I look towards the direction of the noise.
Jordan is standing there in a cow suit, trying to cover her face with her tail, while Elisha is practically dying of laughter about it.
"Hey guys..." I say, my eyes looking between Jordan and Elisha.
"Please don't laugh," Jordan pleads. "I told her not to, and what does she do? The exact opposite!"
She looks like an idiot so it's pretty hard not to laugh.
"It's called a onesie," she tells me, "and it looks horrible."
"Aw, but you look so cute," I say, on the verge of bursting out laughing.
"Cute is not what we want right now. We're in the Hunger Games; no one will sponsor us if I look cute."
"It's- just- so- funny!" Elisha says, in between gasps.
"At least you guys look decent…" Jordan mumbles. "I look like shit."
"Onto your chariots, tributes!" a voice calls out.
I run over to Portia, my stylist, so I can have my skirt lit on fire. I hope it doesn't hurt, but apparently it's not real fire. "It's synthetic," she said, so she better not be lying.
"Hi Jodie," she says. "We've got to make this quick, you're supposed to leave soon."
"So you're sure this won't hurt?" I ask, backing away slightly from the flaming torch she has in her hand.
"Absolutely positive. We've been using synthetic fire since the 74th Games and there have been no signs that it's changed after 30 years," she answers, smiling.
"Well that's a bit more reassuring," I reply.
"Hi Portia. Cinna told me to come to you to get my cape lit." It's Kevin.
Of course, he's not wearing a shirt. Typical; the more of a tribute visible, the more sponsors. I'm surprised I'm not being forced to wear my underwear for the Opening Ceremonies.
"Hello Jodie Ann," he sneers. He's smirking, so he's obviously not just being friendly.
"Kevin," I reply, looking away.
A dark skinned man comes over to us and says, "Okay, get onto your chariot guys. You have to be on the chariot for them to see how fabulous you are!" Yeah, there's no doubt he's gay.
"I just need to light Mr Baxter's cape and then we're outta here," Portia replies. I swear, these people are the most normal in the whole Capitol. They speak normally and Cinna's just wearing normal clothes. Can't say the same for Portia, but still. I like these guys.
"DISTRICT 10!" a voice booms over the noise of the crowd.
I turn around just in time to see Jordan's chariot leave the room and the screams of adoration, as the two cows enter the sights of potential sponsors.
The room's emptied much faster than I thought it would.
"DISTRICT 11!"
I watch Elisha and her partner roll away with Elisha eating something white. Is that sugar? But that was for the horses...
"Quick Jodie! You're about to leave!" Cinna calls to me, snapping me out of my daze. I jump onto the chariot about 2 seconds before "DISTRICT 12!" is yelled out.
Outside, it sounds like a coal mine's gone and exploded.
People are yelling out praise for everyone's costumes, I can see some people fainting out of excitement, a pair of underpants flies past my face...
Wait, what? Why are people throwing underwear at me? That's disgusting!
Yep, there's someone's hat now. Oh, and here comes a shirt. This whole thing is just weird…
Finally, we come to a stop at the end of the street where President Snow starts his speech. (I'm surprised this guy's still alive. He's probably way over 100 by now….)
"Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favour!" he says. That's hilarious, Mr Snow. Great joke, but last time I checked, the Hunger Games were never 'happy', as you say... He's probably drunk anyway.
It's already dark now and I'm getting pretty hungry.
I tune out of what President Snowball says and start looking around at the other tributes. For the next 20 minutes I mentally judge how far each person will get in the Games. Naturally, I put myself as kill number 1 (I don't have very high hopes for my survival) and move onto the next person.
I laugh out loud. Jordan doesn't look too happy; once again, she's holding her tail over her face, but this time it's so that the cameras can't see how embarrassed she is.
"Aah!" I almost fall off the chariot because I'm not concentrating. Kevin snickers at me and I glare back.
We've turned around and are now heading towards the tall building that I'll have to live in for the next week.
It doesn't look too bad a place to stay. Then again, anywhere I stay would be better than what I lived like in District 12.
When the chariot finally stops I jump out and run to the elevator.
"Uh, Jodie? Where are you going? We need to tell you how you went." Oh, great, it's Effie.
"Can't we talk about it over dinner?" I complain, "I'm really hungry!"
"No," she replies firmly. "Now, come over here."
Ugh. Damn it.