Interviews
District Four's Selene Ripple's POV
I was never a people person, that role had fallen onto Dawn and Melody, when Melody was still alive. Melody may of been a quiet girl but she still knew how to talk with the public.
I on the other hand, didn't talk too often due to the lesbian haters in District Four. I could be around people, but I'd rather be by myself then with others. Dawn and Melody were kind of an exception as I could be around them more comfortably then the rest of the district other then my father, but I still liked to be alone more.
I'd talk with them and do what needed to be done with them, but as long as they agreed to leave me alone later, I didn't mind too much. I didn't like it, but I tolerated it.
Now here in the Capitol, I was going to have to talk and preform an interview in front of the entire nation. That made me very nervous as I had done what I could to not get too involved with the other careers. Talking wise that is.
Each day I went off by myself to some training stations and maybe be beside another tribute or two who mostly ignored me to try and learn the tequnices of what they were trying to learn. I didn't mind, because I didn't need to interact with them as they were too busy trying to learn to even bother with me.
The only time I did have to kind of interact with people was during lunch with my allies. I tolerated it, because I knew as soon as we were done with the break I'd be off by myself again and I wouldn't have to put up with their desires to win. I wouldn't have to put up with that Tanner kid who swore almost as much as he talked and that Trim guy who tried too hard to make all of us like him. And the latest recruit, he was alright, but still, I didn't get along well with people. I wouldn't have to put up the silly acts that they were doing and could concentrate on getting myself home and not think about the brutal games that we could live without.
I watched Jen go up first and start acting not so different then she really is. She was acting bubbly and cheerful. She explained that she was a fighter and was proud of the skills that got her the ten in her training. And if that wasn't enough, she was flirting with the interviewer, even though he was obviously way too old for her.
The next one up was Calamity, the only one of the careers who preferred to be more alone then me. He hadn't even came to the career table even once, and the other careers didn't even try to bring him over.
Up on stage, Calamity was quiet. He didn't say anything other then the occasional mutter to himself, no matter what the interviewer said to him. For someone who was crazy enough to eat a sample of his escort's brain, he didn't seem insane. He got the worst score of all the tributes this year, a one.
After him was Victory, who, much like Jen, acted sexy and confident. She told him how much she loved the Capitol and the people here and was more then happy to tell the audience about the back story to her dog tag around her neck. She told the audience that she was winning the this year's game for her brother and her sister and for the glory of her district. And the way she flipped her hair this way and that way, the way she sat, the way she talked, she was clearly playing the sexy angle. She had gotten a ten for her training score.
The next one up was Jeremiah. He was humorous and joked around a lot with the interviewer, but was a little more serious when it came to the games. He, like Jen and Victory, was also confident with himself and said that with the training he received, had built him up to be a winner. He also talked about his sister quite a bit, saying that a big part of him winning was for her. He received a training score of ten.
Up next were the two District Three tributes. The girl, Carina talked about everything she learned in the training center and how that it would help her along with the games, and said that though she wasn't strong, she was smart and good at strategizing situations. The interviewer agreed with her that sometimes, survival skills were more useful then weapon skills. Despite her smarts though, she only received a score of five.
Next up was her district partner, Kendrick. He was confident and outgoing with the interviewer and told him that he was proud of his score of nine, saying that stealth and agility were the main factors of his high score. All I could think of at that moment was, it wasn't his strength that helped? He had an athletic body, but he wasn't commenting on his strength? Kendrick also talked about why he wanted to win, so that he could make a difference in his district and help rid it of some of it's poverty.
After Kendrick got off the stage I knew that it was my turn.
Damn. I didn't want to do this. I had stayed up all night worrying about it, and it didn't help that I was an Insomniac.
My escort told me not to worry about it too much, but that was easy for her to say since she was outgoing and not shy about flirting with the male tributes year after year. But for me, this wasn't going to be easy. Maybe I'll pull off a Calamity and just stay silent the entire time.
"Up next on our list," The interviewer announced. "Selene Ripple!"
Well, I had no choice now but to get up there and get it over with. At least I'll be left alone later.
I walked up onto the stage with the sound of thousands of people clapping, before I walked to the chair beside the interviewer and sat down in it.
"Now Selene, correct me if I'm wrong, but your fourteen, correct?" The interviewer asked me.
"That's right." I told him.
"Right. Now, you being fourteen, that makes you the youngest of all the tributes this year, how does that make you feel?"
"It makes me worry a little." I told him truthfully. I was the youngest one here, the youngest ones other then myself were all fifteen. It wasn't so bad because I was a career with some training, but the other kids were bigger, stronger maybe. I knew that people like Jeremiah and Tanner were strong and could handle themselves in a fight, but there were also people like Timer and Vida who seemed to want to pick fights, even among their own allies. And people like Dylan were smart, so they didn't even need to be strong to kill someone, they could probably build a trap and lead them into it.
"Well, you shouldn't worry too much, you got an eight after all." The interviewer tells me.
An eight. Yeah, I threw some knives around and hit the bulls eye, but that wouldn't do so well at close range would it. Before I could throw a knife, someone with a combat knife or sword could decapitate me. At least, I'd hope it'd be something as painless as beheading.
"It sure is." I told him, not wanting to talk with him anymore, but needing to.
"Now, Selene, there's an issue that we, the Capitol, are very interested in." He told me, his eyes filled with interest. He was seeking an answer for the question, and I could tell that the Capitol people in the audience were wondering as well. It must of been talked about by the entire Capitol for them to quiet down slightly to listen in to the answer that was to come. "There's been word that your a lesbian. Is that true?"
Damn. He just had to ask that didn't he. I didn't feel like telling him.
"I don't feel like talking about it." I told him, feeling that if I confirm, the entire nation would hate me, just like those back home in District Four. But if I denied it, they'd call me a lair later on, because they might ask Dylan about it and he might answer it to increase his chances of winning. I'd lose sponsors for sure if they learned.
"Can you at least confirm or de-" The interviewer started, but didn't finish when I interrupted.
"I'm not, ok!" I shouted at him angrily, hoping that it'd hopefully convince them that I wasn't. Even though I wasn't.
I didn't want another million Tanners calling me every name that I heard the people call me back in District Four, and more. I had heard Tanner call me names that I didn't think even existed, and I had a feeling that he hadn't even called me everything that he could of. Dawn told me to ignore what people might call me and focus on getting home, but it was hard when those names hurt me almost as much as physical injury.
Every time that bastard would call me something I felt like doing two things. One was ripping his tongue out of his mouth so that he could shut the hell up. The second was for me to bite my own tongue off so that I wouldn't have to face the torment of this homophobic world anymore.
"Right." The interviewer said with a little guilt in his voice. "Anyway, let's move on.
District Eleven's Caritta DeSin's POV
To say that the District Four girl's, Selene's, interview was interesting to me was an understatement.
She during her entire conversation she was concerned about just about everything, from the arena to her enemies to just about everything. But what stood out to me the most was that she was avoiding the question of her sexuality, which basically told me that she was either a lesbian, or like me, a bi-sexual. She wasn't good at talking, so she really wasn't covering up that she was different. But still, someone who was different, and I wasn't the only one.
She must of been labeled as a freak back in her home district as well. Looks like all the districts are the same.
I wonder if anyone said goodbye to her. Nobody did for me. Though that wasn't surprising since everyone hatted me and my parents were no exception to that.
When her three minute were up, she looked relived that it was done, and I couldn't blame her, they were pressing her to either confirm or deny that she was different in sexual nature. Not that she needed to say anything now. By now, they all probably know.
The next interviews were. less interesting to me.
The District Four boy talked about how he was intelligent and dangerous with perfect aim. His score of ten told me that he might not be far from lying, but if his glasses shattered, that was the end to .
The District Five girl was reserved and mysterious, and didn't look too well. She was fidgeting quite a bit. She had a score of five.
Her district partner talked about how he was smarter then the rest of us and how his smarts were going to get him home. What I found really irritating though was that when asked about what he thought about the Hunger Games, he said that it's just life to him and that he has no problems with them. He even went so far as to say that we brought it upon ourselves so deeply that we almost deserve it and he understands why the Capitol's doing that. His exact words were: 'I don't have a problem with the Hunger Games, it's just life. We kind of brought it on ourselves. I understand why you do the games. Crime mustn't go unpunished." Though he didn't say a lot he had said too much. The games were nothing but horrific, unneeded, Capitol entertainment, end of story.
Those two both got fives.
The District Six female was mysterious and charming towards the audience. She got an seven.
The District Six male, a short boy who was only about three feet tall, spoke confidently about his ability to fight, and despite his body, he was determined to win, to make a name for himself. Though I think it's only talk. Even so, he managed to get a seven.
The District Seven girl wasn't much. She was so poor in performance she was almost pathetic. She was scared and mumbled the words she was trying to say. You couldn't hear her if you wanted to. She received a score of four, and that was probably stretching it for the little framed girl who looked like she was scared of her own shadow. How the hell had she volunteered.
Next up was the male of the district, the one who slammed the microphone into the escort's face in a fit of rage. He was nothing but a boy who couldn't control his anger, anyone could see that with his reaping and the fights that occurred in the training room. He didn't even try to gain anything from the interview, saying that he was dead in their eyes and how they understood nothing. Even so, he received a score of eight.
The girl from District Eight wasn't much different from him. She was violent and that was all. She acted tough and confident and she took pride in her athletic skills and her strength. She, like Timber, was nothing but a brute. Even so, she received an eight.
Her district partner was a different story, as he was acting very reserved and didn't say anything at all. His training score was a six.
Then comes up the girl from District Nine, and she's almost a repeat of the District Seven girl, though she does manage to talk loudly and clearly enough that you could hear and understand her. A nervous fit and she looked like she was more then half way to fainting. She received a score of five, slightly better then the other scared girl.
Then her district partner came up on stage. He acted mysterious, kind, and humorous. He thanked them for everything, clearly loving the attention that they were giving him. He had received a score of nine.
Up next was the District Ten girl, who had unnatural red eyes that made the blood vessels in her eyes show up perfectly. Either that or it was something else. Either way, her eyes looked like they were in pain. Now that I think about it, the District Five girl was kind of like that as well.
She didn't want to talk, and when she finally did, I could see why. She talked like a retard, you could barley put three words together with her talking. It made me wonder if she was a retard, the way she didn't take care of herself, she looked like she had ran through light grey powder on a dirty, windy day, and had only slightly cleaned herself after. She received a score of eight.
Next up was her district partner. The one tribute that swore almost as much, if not the same amount, as the peacekeepers. He tried to humor the audience by telling jokes, but they weren't funny and nobody laughed at them. Not even the efforts of the interviewer could help him. Not that there was much hope for him anyway. If I had to describe him in three words, he was immature, stupid, and rude. Though he'd be more on the mean side then rude. That, and he was ugly.
Now it was my turn.
My escort and mentor told me to go with the nice girl act, but I wasn't going to be nice for the Capitol. Why should I? They lived large while the rest of us suffered. They used the games for sick entertainment, and I was supposed to please them? No way.
District Twelve's Daria "Dare" Nettle's POV
Looking at the District Eleven girl acting rebellious during her interview made me shake my head and laugh at little. I was a dare devil, sure, but there were things that even I wouldn't do. What that girl was doing was one of them. She was in the Capitol, the center of everything in this nation, and she was deliberately talking about how they were a bunch of sick bastards with their Hunger Games.
She insulted and was all around rude to them. She was doing it all in their own house. I'd hate to see what they do to her in the arena.
My parents worried about me, they said it was a parent thing, and I couldn't blame them, especially with a child like me. The thing was though, living like on mostly safe side was boring. I needed the thrill of doing new, exciting, and daring things. In fact, I wanted to do something now instead of sitting around waiting for my turn.
So I did the first, logical thing I could do to get rid of the boredom. I talked to the District Eleven guy, Adrian.
"Girl's asking for a death wish huh?" I said to him, only to get no response out of him.
I wondered what was up, so I turned to face him, and saw that he was asleep.
Wow, he must of gotten really bored to fall asleep when you were supposed to listen in for potential weaknesses in your enemy.
Not wanting any escorts, peacekeepers, or mentors, to see him asleep, I slapped him across the face to wake him up.
"Jeana!" He startled loudly, but happily. But then I saw that he got a good look at me and saw that I wasn't who he thought it was.
"Sorry, name's Daria, but everyone calls me Dare."
"Oh, hi." He said, losing the happiness in his voice. He stretched his arms out before asking. "Is she finished yet?"
"Who, rebel girl?" I asked. "No, she's not."
"Oh." He said again. Plainly, but with a bit of anger inside. "I was hoping to sleep through her interview."
"Why's that?" I asked, wondering why he'd want to do that.
"Her interview angle. The way she's talking like she knows best. Because I don't like her in general. It doesn't matter, all you need to know is that I wanted to sleep through it and that's that." He said it so unemotionally that it sounded like he didn't care. I wasn't too smart, but I think he'd rather be anywhere but here.
And I knew how he felt. This girl obviously didn't value life, not even her own. If she thought that she was getting out of the games alive she could forget it. I was daring, but I wasn't stupid enough to piss on the Capitol's doorstep. I wanted to win, and for that to happen I needed to be on their good side.
And speaking of sleeping...
"Who Jeana?" I asked, wanting to do something other then stare at a wall like what Zeal was doing.
Adrian looked away from me before answering.
"Someone special." He said before the timer rang, signaling the end of the District Eleven girl's interview session. "Well, looks like it's my turn now." He said, almost bored to tears from the sound of it. "Wish me luck."
"Luck." I told him before he walked onto the stage, in front of all of Panem, looking at him either through their own eyes or through a T.V screen.
Adrian proceeded to act strong and confident, though really, I don't think it was much of an act to begin with. His score of nine exceeded that of his district partner's, which was a score of five. He talked a little about his friends, his family, but he strongly talked about how he wanted to bring District Eleven a victor.
His interview went far more smoothly then Caritta's, it made me confident that he wasn't going to die in the bloodbath.
Now there was my interview followed by Zeal's.
Zeal didn't know what he'd do, so our escort and only our escort helped him. Not that that was very surprising, out of the gang members that Zeal ran with, the red haired boy was the least bright of them all.
Our escort was glad that I hadn't needed help, because there was only her to prepare us for the interview.
My interview angle was going to show them a wild, outgoing, adventuresome girl who wasn't afraid of anything. I'd show my parents that they had nothing to worry about.
District One's Jenriko "Jen" Florence's POV
The career pack. We had eight members in it including myself. As always, he had the biggest alliance in the games and had one of the only alliances. There were two other alliances, but they both only had two members each and one of the alliances was falling apart if it hadn't already.
Our alliance was shaky as well, but for the most part, we still stuck together. We were an odd alliance, but that was what made it so fun. It would of been boring if we were all the same and didn't have the conflict that he had had. Sure I was mad when Victory had kicked me in the face, but I could handle a kick from someone like her. Though it did hurt like hell.
It also left a mark on my face, but nothing my stylist couldn't fix with some make-up to cover it up.
"You did perfect." My female mentor and stylist told me as they followed me into the changing room. "Sure you didn't follow us the way we would of liked you to, but you still did so good."
"I just acted like myself," I explained to them as I stripped off the glittery gold dress that I had chosen to wear. They had wanted me to wear a long, flowing red dress, but I didn't like it, so I choose the sparkly dress instead. They didn't like it at first, but they eventually agreed with me when I told them that it would be a better dress to go out on.
One thing that my parents had advised me when they said their goodbyes was to listen to my stylist and mentor, but so far, that hasn't happened very much. It's not that I'm rebellious or anything, it's just that I'm not very good at following orders. They further explained that at the beginning when they said that they were so mad at me for volunteering three years early. But when they had calmed down, they then told me that they were proud of me for being so brave and saving the other kids. Though unfortunately, I couldn't save my best friend, Terry.
Well, I was planning on volunteering anyway, and seeing those other girls somehow go on a killing frenzy was shocking to say the least. And Goldy, being killed like that.
I didn't listen to them for volunteering until eighteen, and here in the Capitol I didn't even follow directions.
Sure I did what Victory told me and recruited Tanner into our alliance, but that was because I wanted to, and I used the method that I wanted to use. Not that anybody minded. "After all, the best way to get people to like you is to act like yourself." And it seemed to of worked so far.
"It appears that your right then," My stylist told me. "You made the right choice being yourself."
Of course I was right, people liked me because I was cheerful and kind most of the time. Though I know how to fight if I have to. That's what I was raised to do after all, fight, and win in the arena. I looked forward to it, and I was only about one day away from going into it.
Mom, dad, no need to worry about me, I've got plans to make sure that I do make it to the end, to make sure that I win. It's perfect really, and I could use any help I could get.
"Jen, there's someone who wants to see you!" My stylist shouted from the back of the room.
I must of been deep in thought when the knocking occurred. But who'd want to see me?
"Who is it?" I asked quickly slipping on the first pieces of clothes that I saw. "Victory?" It had to be victory, almost nobody else would be done their interviews and want to see me. After all, Victory was our unofficial leader.
"Calamity." The stylist told me, at which then I was in no hurry to get to the door.
Calamity, the boy who had gone to the correctional facility for the mentally insane before breaking out. The boy who's home had burned down with his parents and siblings still inside. The person who sampled Goldy's brain after she had been shot. The boy who had murdered a little girl.
I failed to recognize him during the first half of reaping day, but as soon as I recognized him...
Hard to believe that he looked sad and sacred one part of the day and completely sadistic and cold the other part. What was he now? The loner who preformed to say away from everyone? Or the other one? And why was he like that?
"Tell him to go away." I instructed her.
She nodded before walking back to the door. I watched in a nearby mirror as she walked to the door, getting smaller and smaller until she was a small figure in the center left of the glass.
She had opened the door when suddenly, Calamity burst through the door, knocking her down simply because she was in her path.
"Hay!" Both Calamity and our female mentor shouted at the same time.
"We need to talk!" Calamity shouted before Crystal started to try and force Calamity out of the District One female changing room.
"No we don't!" I shouted, having been fully dressed before he had bashed through the door. "Now get out!"
"Jen!" He shouted seriously. "We really need to talk!"
"Get out of here!" I shouted angrily at him, thinking of how I had been nice to him when he had escaped the correctional facility. It was a cold and rainy day, and he looked starved and cold and desperate and lost. So I did what I could for him, I ran home, got him a thick blanket, one of my dad's spare rain jackets, some hot food and some coins so that he could buy more food later.
He was so thankful. And I had been so blind to not of seen it. To not of recognized him. He played me like a fool, and I hated that I helped someone like him.
I walked towards him, hoping that he'd see that I wasn't in the mood to be anywhere near him, but he didn't seem to take it that way as he continued to talk.
"Jen, listen to me, you have to do something for me. You have to-"
"Shut up!" I shouted to him before I jump kicked him in the face.
Calamity's head snapped back before I started to do a series of moves that put my gymnastic skills to great use.
There weren't many peacekeepers around due to the interviews, and the ones that were here, who knows how long it would take them to arrive here. There was nobody to stop this fight. No Dylan or peacekeepers to stop this fight. "Get our of here you freak!"
As Calamity backed away from my assault, he blocked and dodged moves, but I was fast and nimble and didn't have a lot of weight, but that didn't take away the power behind me blows, so he was backing of pretty quickly.
"You should really know some-" He started, but a sickening crack occurred after I roundhouse kicked him as hard as I could, hoping to make him think about running away from me.
I was a little surprised by the sound of the crack, but then Calamity's voice yelled out in pain before he looked down to his right arm. I followed his gaze, to see that his arm was on an angle that it shouldn't of been on.
I looked up at Calamity again, to see that his glasslike eyes had turned cold. He glared forward like he was going to attack me rather then just try and move out of the way, but I was ready to attack him again as well. I wasn't afraid of him.
But then as soon as I thought he'd start throwing punches, he stormed off in a fit of curses.
What he wanted to talk about didn't matter, he was a no good murderer who had killed an innocent girl for no reason. And while I had felt sorry for the boy in the rain all those years earlier, I now saw that he was anything but.
The games were going to get rid of Calamity, and it would be a blessing for District One.
Everything would work out fine in the end. When this was all over, everything's going to be perfect.
A/N: I hate interviews. Well, I know the way I'm going to do it next time. I'm just going to have a third party explain it.
Anyway, you guys are lucky to get this chapter so early. I tell you, rum plus Pepsi plus energy drink plus determination equals a chapter getting done in one day. And yes, I drank the rum and Pepsi and energy drink at night.
Two more chapters until the arena.
I'm just powering through the Capitol chapters aren't I. Well, I want to get to the arena as well. And working on this for a whole day? And getting something this quickly? There's bound to be a million errors in this piece.