Empress- Queen of Hearts
My stylists talk to me the entire time they do my hair and make-up, and I'd say by the end of it, we're all friends.
You always need to be on your stylist's good sides, they're the ones that can make or break your appearance.
You could speak eloquently and flawlessly at your interview, but if you look like trash, nobody is going to take you seriously. Especially not in the Capitol.
When I'm finally allowed to look in the mirror, I know that this whole card theme is going to be very important to this Games, beginning to end. I wondered what they were doing to my hair, but I notice they put red streaks in it.
I wear a dress that starts in a corset but goes into a large, flowing skirt decorated with frills and hearts of red and gold. I wear a heart pendant on a necklace around my neck and a tiara sits in my hair, up in its normal buns. I have to wear heels to make sure I don't step on my skirt, but they're at least tolerable.
I have to waddle to meet Dream and the mentors, but keep a straight posture and a winning smile on as I do so. Dream doesn't look nearly as happy in his outfit, a dramatic suit with diamond gemstones on it and a crazy diamond headpiece that makes me giggle.
"Wonder what suit you are," I tease. He tries a small smile and I grin. I know I'll be in a competition with him, but for the first couple of days I should be nice to him. Seems like he deserves that much, at least.
I show him the bracelet that they put on me that has a Q and a heart on it. "What's yours?"
"Jack," he says, sighing.
"Ah, I see. Cool," I try. He shrugs a bit.
"Come on now!" Rappucini says, herding us along to our chariots. Dream follows, and I waddle along in my dress after them. I feel beautiful, but these shoes are giving me blisters. Dream pats one of the horses and then steps up into the chariot. I soon do my very best to get up into the chariot with a tight corset on and a huge skirt. It's harder than it looks, people! Dream holds a hand down to me and I take it, letting him help me up. Everyone needs help sometimes, I figure.
"Thanks."
"Sure."
The chariot feels like a throne to me, and I turn around and get a look at the others. The District 2 tributes aren't in their chariot yet, but the Three tributes climb in and look a little ridiculous. The girl is decorated with gears, most with accents of red on them. The boy is dressed like a factory worker, a black joker hat on his head. He looks miserable, I don't blame him.
Past him, the Four girl is decorated like a mermaid, as is typical for District 4. I don't notice the boy before I see District Five. The girl just has a factory uniform on, the boy has lights strung all around his outfit and looks dramatically uncomfortable. The District Six tributes look equally pissed: the boy is in a red jumpsuit and the girl is in an extremely angular black dress. I can't see much past them, so I turn back around, almost falling over and taking Dream with me. When he catches me and helps me up, I realize that I've probably been underestimating him.
I hear loud snorting and laughter from the Two chariot and don't want to risk turning around to see our allies in their outfits. The doors open and I can hear the noise form where I stand. I put on my most dazzling smile as our chariot lurches forward. Next to me, Dream puts an arm up and waves to the cheering crowds. I do my best princess wave, holding myself high and mighty like a princess.
The crowd shouts, whistles, and waves their arms to us. I beam, feeling like the queen I always knew I am. The horses make a circle around the crowd, who whistles and throws flowers at us. Dream keeps a good posture and I stand as tall as I can to not look like a midget next to him. The chariots stop for President Milonius to make his speech, and I see my smiling face on the big screen next to the balcony and beam even brighter.
The others flash across the screen. The District Two boy has a face of stone, the girl beams radiantly. The District Three tributes look smiley but nervous at the same time. The Four tributes look determined and excited. The Five boy looks overwhelmed, and the girl looks out of it. The Six girl tries to smile and the boy stands awkwardly. The Seven girl stands tall and straight and beams (wow, that is a lot of cleavage), the boy looks tiny by comparison but has a confident smirk on. The Eight boy looks like he's having the time of his life and the girl stays still. Both Nine tributes look intense, the two from Ten don't interact in any way. The Eleven girl smiles shyly and the boy waves furiously, definitely trying too hard. The Twelve girl looks ready to cry, and the boy is trying to look as tall as her. I laugh a bit inside. Pathetic.
The speech ends and the chariots make one last round before going back to the tribute area.
My prep team helps me off and each of them hugs me, wearing different and equally unpleasant Capitol colognes and perfumes. Dream's team gives him pats on the shoulders and back, and I shake hands with my mentor.
Then, the mentors leave and the tributes have some downtime before having to go to bed.
"C'mon Dream!" I say, slipping out of the cursed shoes, "Let's go find the Two tributes!"
"Too late!" says a cheery girl's voice as she comes over, her black skirt flowing as she goes. "Hi!" she says, holding out a hand, "January Denali. Or Janie for short. Ace of Clubs, it appears."
"Empress Nakashima, Queen of Hearts. Nice to meet you." I shake her hand.
"Dream Bishop," he says, "Jack of…" He has to look again, "Diamonds."
"Oh, nice!" Soon January's District partner comes and joins us, dressed up in black and gold armor, hair a shade darker than it had been at his reapings and a little dark on the make-up all around, I might say. But hey, it does good for him, especially around the eyes.
"Pontifex Gallivan," he says.
"He's the King of Spades!" Janie adds. Dream and I reintroduce ourselves when I suddenly feel a tap on my back and look over to see bright eyes beaming at me.
I glance at my allies, none of us speaking.
"Hi!" he says. I glance at the others. Pontifex crosses his arms.
"Hi?" I try.
"I'm Ori! Eight of hearts!" he says proudly. We introduce ourselves again and he makes a point to shake each of our hands.
"Nice to meet you!" he says.
"You too," says January, smiling a tiny bit.
"This isn't too terrible!" he says, pawing at the red streaks in his dark hair.
"Yeah…" Dream says quietly.
"The fame is really fun! I hope the Games go just as well!"
"Yeah," I say, smiling slightly.
"I mean, I'm sure you guys all know what you're doing, though."
"We do," says Pontifex. Man, the name Pontifex is a real mouthful!
"Well, maybe you guys can teach me somethin' at training. Eh?"
"Maybe."
"No," breathes Pontifex, and January elbows him.
"Well, it was nice talking to you! Maybe we'll talk later!"
"Maybe," says Dream.
"Bye!" he says. We all wave and he skips off.
"No," says Pontifex.
"C'mon, Pontifex!" Janie says, "You shouldn't be underestimating everyone."
"I'm not. If I had to spend more than one more day with that cheerful bastard I would just do the honorable thing and commit seppuku."
"We should always consider some other assets."
"I agree." Dream nods.
Pontifex sighs. "Whatever." Isn't he a real delight? At least he's hot.
"Well, I'm ready for bed," says Pontifex, "And to wash this stuff off of my hair and face."
"Yeah, I guess we should rest up. It was nice meeting you though!"
I smile, "You too. Let's ride up in the elevator together."
~.~.
Tuesday- Seven of Clubs
To say uncomfortable is a bit of an understatement. Scratch that, it's probably the understatement of the century.
I can barely walk, my whole body's been waxed down and washed and abused in the name of beauty. I don't like it. I also don't appreciate the stinky, gel-like black substance they put in my hair, as if it wasn't dark enough for their taste.
After the miserable chariot rides are over, I twirl the bracelet around in my hands and look around. I promised Bryce I'd do whatever it took to win and get home, and that's what I need to do. However, that also means finding an ally, which means putting myself out there to make friends.
Not so hard, I think. I look around to scope out possible allies, and decide to head to some of the lower Districts with volunteers and older kids. When I look back, Garrison is talking with the District Five tributes.
I can do this. Not hard.
I go to District 9 first; neither of them are volunteers, which means they may be as desperate as I am for a sensible ally.
"Hello there," I say nervously. The girl, her face covered in dark make-up, crosses her arms. She doesn't look intent to talk so I turn to her District partner.
"Hi," he says with a small smile. "Who're you?"
"I'm Tuesday."
"Lyndon."
"Nice to meet you."
"You as well." We exchange a weak smile.
"Some event." I twirl the bracelet, seven of clubs, around my wrist.
"I'm still in a bit of shock," he confesses. "As am I."
"It sucks, but what can you do?"
"Yeah…" I'm not sure if the awkward feeling is mutual or it's all in my head.
"Well, maybe we'll talk later," I offer, and he nods.
"Yeah, maybe."
I smile and walk over to the Ten tributes nervously. The boy doesn't look very happy in his fedora and chaps, and I don't really blame him. Honest to God, who lets these people be stylists?
We make awkward eye-contact and from then I know it'll just be really weird if we don't have a conversation.
"Uh… Hi."
He looks up from his bracelet, looking a little bit bewildered. "…Hello."
"I'm Tuesday."
"Atticus." He looks pretty interested in that bracelet, and dare-I-say a little bit nervous about something.
The next thought to come out of my mouth is unfortunately not quite as intelligent. "You were able to keep your stubble." If he gets to keep his stubble, why couldn't I keep my arm hair?!
"Hm? Oh, yeah…" Oh God. I try a smile.
"How'd you do it?"
He shrugs a bit. "Some… Forceful words."
"Right…"
"Are you a suit of clubs?" I ask, trying to make the conversation at least a little logical again. "I am. Seven." I know he's a black suit, thanks to the black fedora, the silver and black outfit, and the guy-liner that will take about a week to be off completely. Trust me, I know from experience. It makes me giggle that the boy from Two is going to learn that lesson tonight.
"Uh, no," he says, his bright eyes looking down at his bracelet. "Spades. Ace of spades." When he says it he sounds pretty bewildered.
"Wow. Classy." I start to think this guy isn't someone to mess with.
"I suppose."
The conversation drifts off and is interrupted by a boy in red feathers and hearts painted by his eyes bouncing over.
"Hi there!" he says. I glance at Atticus, who looks up.
"Uh, hey." I smile a bit. Atticus waves a hand in silent greeting.
"What're your names? I'm Ori Ward, from Eight!"
"Tuesday Imboden, District 6."
"Atticus Hollow, Ten."
"Oh, yeah, you volunteered, didn't you!?" he asks, his eyes sparkling with interest. "That was brave of you."
Atticus shrugs, a bit flustered.
"I didn't volunteer, but I decided to make the best of it while I'm here… Y'know?" he lightly elbows my arm. I nod a bit, trying a small smile. "Yeah, I know too much."
"The people here aren't too bad." My stomach flops when he says it because I know it's true.
"Right…"
"So-" he stops short, blinking. "Hm… I feel like I've seen you somewhere else before. Maybe there was someone back home or something…"
"That's a bit odd."
"Yeah, pretty odd," Atticus laughs a bit, his hat messed up on his head.
"Well, I have to go talk to some of the others, but I hope to talk to you again soon!"
"Sure," I say, trying a smile. He gives us smiley high fives before walking off, a little flutter in his step. I wave a bit to Atticus in goodbye and soon follow Ori to talk to some of the other tributes.
I go to the Five chariot where the boy talks to the girls from Three and Twelve. He glows brightly and up-close his cheeks are bright red and metallic red eyeliner and shadow lines his eyes and makes him look a bit like a raccoon.
"Uh, hi," I say awkwardly.
"Hey," says the boy from Five.
"Hello," the girls say together.
"What're your names?" I ask. "I'm Tuesday."
"Dawson," the 5 boy says.
"Juli," says the girl from Three, dressed up in red.
"Caledonia," the girl from Twelve says softly.
"Nice to meet you," I say, trying a smile.
"You too," they all say at the same time.
"So…" I bite my lip. "Some event, huh?"
"Yeah," Dawson says, "I hate it. These lights are overheating, but I'm convinced my prep team is drunk because they're not here to help me take it off.
"I hope you don't short out," I say.
"That'd be good for you, though," he shrugs. "Less competition."
We all sit in an awkward silence, the girl from 12 holding her hands behind her back and staring at the ground.
"Well, it was nice to meet you," says the girl from 3, "I'm going to go check on my District partner and retire."
"Yeah, nice to meet you too," I say, and the others agree before she walks off, Caledonia soon following.
"Good luck with your lights," I tell Dawson. I notice his eyes follow Ori as he gets the little boys from 12 and 7 to laugh hysterically.
"Ori's nice, isn't he?"
There's a delay and Dawson jumps. "Huh?! Oh, yeah, he's nice. Or, it seems like it. Nice."
I smile a bit. I'm pretty sure he was checking Ori out, but that's just me.
"Maybe we'll meet again," I say, ending the conversation. Dawson nods and starts to attempt to unplug the lights around himself.
When I look up, Ori talks to the District Seven and Ten girls, who don't look too amused by his cheerful attitude.
I go to his District partner, who talks to the Four tributes.
"Uh, hi there," I say, smiling a bit.
"Hey," they say.
"I'm Tuesday," I say. "You?"
"Tia," says the Four girl.
"Mitchell!" the boy says, putting his hands on his hips.
"Tiffany," the Five girl says, her eyes sunken and her hair only slightly more calm than the last time I had talked to her. She doesn't look very good, pale and a bit sick.
"What do you think so far?" I ask.
"Alright," says Mitchell, smiling a bit.
"You volunteered, didn't you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. He nods, smiling, "My friend Thomas is blind and I couldn't watch him go into the Games like that." I smile a little bit.
"Considerate." He nods.
"What do the rest of you think?"
"Pretty shitty." Tiffany sighs. "There's nothing here." That's definitely a lie, unless she means some kind of drugs, in which case there is nothing here available to us.
"Not too terrible," Tia says. She smiles a small but friendly smile and I return it.
"I'm gonna retire," Mitchell says, "I guess I'm not the alliance kinda guy." He soon walks away and Tiffany wanders off with a wave.
"So…" I say, seeing the potential for an ally in this girl. "You're from Four. How much have you trained?"
"Well," she says, her lips pursed in thought, "I can't think of a time. Not quite as often as others, though. My family's not extremely Games-crazy, but just in case of getting reaped, y'know?" I nod a bit. She seems pretty smart and even a little training is better than none, she's right.
"I haven't trained, but I really want to win. I'm very determined to protect myself and whoever might go along with me." Subtle hints of an alliance wouldn't hurt anyone…
"Oh?" She seems interested. I nod.
"I can't do it by myself, though."
She nods, "Allies are always a help, but not too many."
"Maybe we'll talk later."
I hear loud laughter coming from the Career alliance and my heart swells slightly with contempt. How could anyone be excited to go into the Games?
Tia glances over and I realize that she may still have a shot at joining their alliance if she really has trained… She shakes her head a bit and looks back at me. "Yeah. Let's talk later."
My heart swells with relief. This is a girl I can hang out with for a while. She seems smart and she's trained… I just have to make sure I get some skills to equal her or balance her out. But hey, when you have a determined Tuesday on your hands, there's nothing you can't do.
Tia goes off to retire, and I catch up with Garrison from where he was talking to Dawson and Lyndon. The other two walk off together.
"How'd it go?" I ask, sounding casual.
He shrugs a bit in response.
Garrison hasn't said much since we got here, and what he has said has been very curt and brief. He and I aren't friends, and we're probably not going to end up allying in the Arena, but I don't know if I could kill him. It's just a District thing. After all, I'm going to spend the rest of my life surrounded by his friends and family if I would win, and I don't know if I could stand to live that close to so many people knowing I'd killed him.
I've seen all ranges of District partners. Some of them become friends and team up, and not just the Careers. Some turn on each other, and again, I've seen it in other places than the Careers. The most common thing is to separate and not cross paths.
It's interesting… I forget the Games (I think it was somewhere in the early 20's) but the girl from 5 ran into her District partner with her ally (the boy from District 6) and threatened to kill her ally right there if he would kill her District partner. Given, the kid from her District was young, 12 or 13. I don't know the details around that, though.
I think I'm just going to do the typical thing and stay separate from Garrison in all aspects of the Games. And, if we somehow meet by accident, I won't fight him unless he fights me first. I think that sounds fair.
I go to the elevator and Garrison follows. In silence, we go up to our rooms. I shower, trying to wash the black gunk off my hair and face. After feeling as clean as I can (there's still resonances of it but what can you do?), I change into PJ's and crawl into the comfy bed that's been provided for me by the Capitol.
My eyes grow heavy and soon I find myself falling off to sleep, knowing that Training is going to be a long and hard three days of work.
But hey, I have a pretty good chance that I'm not alone.
A/N: Sorry for the long delay! With school and life and ACT's and SAT's, I haven't had a lot of time on my hands lately to write. But, after writing tidbits and more tidbits, here you go! Thanks for keeping up so long with the story, and hopefully the updates will be faster as time goes on and tests are out of the way. Next up is training, when everyone will get to see the formation of all the alliances for real!
Chapter Question: Which conversation/alliance/friendship in this chapter stood out the most and why? Which personalities so far would you put together in an alliance?
Thanks for reading!