As I was approaching the exit, a man in red was holding a towel that I could use to dry off with. I take the towel, dry off, hand the towel back with a curt nod, and then pressed the up button on the elevator. I step onto the elevator and press the button for the fourth floor. The door closes, and the elevator shoots up. I begin to wonder what is going to happen. Tonight, we see the scores. Tomorrow is prep for the interviews the following day, and then we enter the arena. So much to accomplish, so little time to do it.
I'm stepping off of the elevator when I hear Coral ask. "Why is your hair wet?"
"Because my skill involve the swimming pool." I said.
"Must have really enjoy it." Mags said, as she and Chrysan joined the group.
"Coral, a word." Chrysan said, and then we split into our little groups.
"What did you do?" Mags asked, as we took a seat near the tv.
"I sank to the bottom of the diving well, and then rush back to the surface, after rebounding off the poolside wall, and then threw the trident as my body broke the surface." I said.
"What was their response?" she asked.
"Seeing as how I moved faster than any of them were expecting, I was greeted with slack-jaw and bug-eyed expressions." I said.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
I demonstrated what I saw.
"Why do you think that is?" she asked.
"I moved like a fish in the water, and I threw the trident with little effort, and with enough force to knock a training dummy over."
"How did you pull that feat off?" she asked.
I was about to explain to Mags what my father told me, but for all I know the walls could have ears. "I have a theory about that, but I'm still working out the details." I said.
"Best guess?" she asked.
"I'll explain it later. When it's just the two of us. Those details shouldn't be explained just anywhere." I said.
Mags gave me a sideways glance that was colored with concern.
"Trust me. the government doesn't care about what we plebians think, only what can be proven." I said, repeating Mags warning from two days ago.
Mags and I delved into random topics ranging from how the district has changed, to how the Games have changed. I was about to ask Mags how she won her games, but we both could smell that dinner was about to be served.
It was a quiet night. Coral, Chrysan, Mags, and Amethyst all engage in lively conversation, but I didn't have much to say. My mind is stuck on the coming conversation with Mags. Mags and I share few looks, but I keep to myself and get my dinner down. Mags draws a smile from me while we're in the middle of dessert, and I forget about the coming events. After dinner is finished, we all gather around the tv and spend time talking until the score are announced.
At eight o'clock sharp, the tv turns on and Caesar and is prepared to announce the scores. As usual, Caesar runs his mouth talking about the latest trends and the hottest gossip making the rounds in the Capitol. After ten minutes of this Caesar finally got to the scores.
Not that anyone is surprised, but the tributes from Districts 1 & 2 pull anywhere between 8 to 10. The boy from 3 pulls a 5, but Orna pulls a 7.
My guess is that she impressed the Gamemakers with her camouflage skills. I thought.
We see Coral's picture appear on screen, and next to it a score of eight. There are a round of congratulations, and then my picture is on the screen. Our mouths hit the floor when the number 11 flashes on the screen. Everybody is surprised, but again, another blink and miss it moment, Coral wasn't happy. Coral was smiling and cheering, but her smile did not seem genuine.
I returned Coral's smile, and when I turned away from her, Mags and I shared a knowing stare.
I saw that differently, in my head. I said, with my eyes.
That's usually how it goes. Mags responded.
After we got the cheers out of our system did we realize that Caesar made a comment about me being a rising star, and then continued reading the scores. None of the remaining tributes scored above a four. The remaining males didn't seem particularly troublesome or would register as a threat. Outside of Districts 1 & 2, the male tributes aren't very big; me included. I shouldn't look down on the other tributes, but something tells me that I'm going to have to find a place to hide and quick.
After Caesar closes out the event Chrysan sends us to bed, and we head to bed. As I'm approaching my door Coral asks. "Is this how you saw everything playing out?"
I take a moment to consider my answer, which I already had, and then I turned to look her. My answer was no, but I want to see Coral's expression. Coral's face was blank, but her eyes were lifeless.
There's nothing I can say to get through to her. I thought you.
"I had no idea how any of this was going to play out." I said.
Coral nodded her head, and then entered her room. I sensed there was someone standing at the end of the hall, so I just entered my room. I decided to get a shower to wash the chlorine out of my pores. I get out of the shower and dry myself off. The mirror had finished defogging, and the first thing I saw was my mess on my head. I just shake it off, brush my teeth, and then exit. I put some fresh clothes on, and then crawl into bed. The moment my head hits the pillow I feel asleep and stayed asleep until morning.
Today was a day that Amethyst and Mags prep me for the interviews tomorrow night. Mags didn't have problem on how she wanted to present me to the crowd. The arrogant playboy that I have acting like ever since I left District 4. My time with Mags was a breeze, but I struggled a bit with Amethyst, but I get through the training.
Come morning, I hear my door open, and my head shoots up off the pillow. I look at the door and I see Mags and Jade standing there.
"Time to get your prepped for interviews tonight." Mags said.
I throw the sheets off, get out of bed, and strip down to my underwear.
"You can come in now." Jade said.
The rest of my prep team was coming in as Mags was leaving. But before leaving Mags shots me a quick wink. I wish Mags would have warned me about what was going to happen, but I wasn't ready for what I was about to endure. It wasn't what they did to my body but having to listen to my team run their mouths. By lunch I was ready to break the window and jump out to my death.
Jade came in at noon to bring lunch, and one that was scaled down compared to the meals we had over the past six days. After lunch I begin to think of possible questions, there are a million questions that Caesar could ask, but I think the two that I need to be aware of are me working solo and socializing with Orna.
At six o'clock sharp, Jade was putting the finishing touches on my outfit. A black tuxedo with a blue vest and tie. I had very light makeup, which in my opinion was not necessary but oh well.
"Go into the bathroom and take a look at yourself." Jade said
I step into the bathroom and see the hard work of my team, and it was a downright spectacular job. Even with the makeup, I still look amazing. Although I hated that it's been a wild mess ever since I left 4, I kind of miss the unkempt look that my hair had become. For now, I'll let it slide, but in the future, I'm telling my team not to touch my hair.
I really am ruggedly handsome. I thought.
"I look amazing. You all deserve a medal." I said, as I exited the bathroom.
My team gave me their thanks, and then Jade herded me to the elevator. I was a bit surprised to see Coral in formal wear, and Coral was surprised to see me dressed up as well. Coral was taken back by how clean I looked, and I liked the dress that Coral was wearing. Both of us were wearing an outfit that had a black base, with blue trimmings.
Is it necessary that Coral and I are wearing color coordinated outfits? Who cares if the other stylists gave their tributes matching outfits? I thought.
"You look absolutely beautiful." I said, as I was approaching the elevator.
"You look positively stunning yourself. I never knew you could clean up so well." Coral said.
Mags and Chrysan got us onto the elevator, and we rode it down to the ground floor. As we exited the elevator, we saw other tributes standing around.
"There's an hour until the production starts, so enjoy." Chrysan said, and then left.
Coral went to find the Careers, but Mags was still here waiting.
"What do you have for me?" I whispered, after Coral was out of ear shot.
"The interviews are random, but Caesar does talk to the Gamemakers." Mags said.
"So, I guess it's safe to assume that Caesar could ask about me going solo, and what my relationship with Orna is about?" I said, more of a statement than a question.
"Very intuitive. Have fun out there." Mags said, and then left.
I turned around to see both Indigo and Orna coming my way.
"What's the word?" I asked, as the ladies approached.
"Don't know. We thought you might have a clue." Indigo said.
"I'm not sure about you Indigo, but you, Orna, you should be very wary." I said.
"Why?" Orna asked, the shock written her face. Indigo was also shocked as well.
"Take a look around. We're getting stares, periodically, from the rest of the tribute." I said.
"I thought we already went over this." Orna said.
"We did, but what if Caesar decides to grill either of us because of our actions over the past three days?" I asked.
There was stunned silence coming from the two women. They never thought about this possible outcome as well.
"Any reason for Caesar to ask those kinds of questions?" Indigo asked.
"No, but why wouldn't he?" I asked.
"That's a very interesting. I never thought of that." Orna said.
"Just something to be aware of." I said.
"I'll keep that in mind." Orna said.
Little by little, the rest of the tributes arrived. At the hour mark, some person came and lined us all up by districts, and then we stood around for another ten minutes before the program kicked off with loud music. At that time, the girl from 1 was given the okay, and then walked out onto the stage.
On the stage, there were twelve chairs waiting to be filled by us tributes. I should have asked Mags what I was going to be walking into because these lights are super bright, and that crowd is massive.
One-by-one, we all took our seats. There was about a minute or two before Caesar took to the stage. Caesar must be either very athletic or taking something because he looks to be about forty, and he bounded onto the stage. I've never seen some one his age move like that.
I hope, when I get to his age, that I can move like that. I thought.
Caesar usually takes about a minute or two to warm up the crowd. As he's doing that, I take this moment to get a better look at my competitors. As I saw earlier, outside of the Districts 1 & 2, none of the boys were particularly remarkable. I feel sad for them because they are nothing more than fodder before the final showdown. None of the tributes seem like they're anything special, but then again even Snow doesn't know that his secret weapon is currently sitting on stage; just hours away from wholesale slaughter and becoming a mass murdered.
Caesar was done warming up the crowd, and the called upon the first tribute as he took his seat. If my memory serves me correctly, each tribute gets three minutes to woo the crowd. Sounds like a waste of time, but some of these tributes are going to need it if they want to get help in the arena.
The girl from 1, Fennel, looks like she could be a woman that sells herself for money the way she's dressed, and the way she's talking with Caesar I can see the similarities. I shake my head and stare out over the audience. The boy from 1 has a meathead persona, and given the frame and weight, it fits him perfectly.
The girl from 2, Zetta, has a little more than flair and decency than the Fennel—her clothes cover her body, even if they accentuate her figure—still, her character was shallow, and bit of a bimbo. I still have to keep my wits about me. People put on an act with Caesar but show their true colors when they get in the arena. The boy from 2 was more levelheaded, but I can still see the meathead qualities that come with the territory.
Orna and Caesar had a strange chemistry. The moment Orna sat down the two hit it off talking about numerous topics, but it wasn't long before Caesar asked a hot button issue. More of an issue that makes her an enigma.
"Orna, I have to ask." Caesar said.
"Why was I hanging around Finnick?" Orna asked.
Both Caesar and the crowd were both taken back by Orna having and inkling what he was talking about, and Caesar did not hide the shock on his face. Without moving my head, I could see that Coral was looking at me.
"What?" I whispered, turning my head to look at Coral.
"Anything you want to say before she answers." Coral whispered.
"You're asking the wrong person that question." I said.
"Pretty certain I'm not. He's asking Orna about messing with you." she said.
"Key phrase being Orna messing with me. Not me messing with Orna. Big difference." I said.
"Don't argue semantics. You're still involved." she said.
I can sense the tension rolling off of Coral in waves, and the chasm that has been building since training has widened even further.
I stare at her for a moment, and then asked. "Jealous?"
"No." she said, but I see that she wasn't happy.
"I interacted with Finnick because I wanted to. There's nothing going on between us. Though I'd being lying if I didn't try to learn about him." Orna said.
"And did you learn anything?" Caesar asked.
"Nothing important. Finnick was more interested in learning survival skills than working with the weapons." Orna said.
Caesar asked Orna a few more personal questions, and then the buzzer went off. Then the boy from 3 got up and went to be interview be Caesar. And to everybody's surprise, the boy was quite competent. But everybody knows that competency here with Caesar doesn't always translate to competency in the arena.
And before I know, Caesar is on to District 4 and he's calling on Coral. Coral gets up from her chair and walks over to Caesar, but she does so with an air arrogance and so snarky it makes me want to kill her right then and there. I'm not going to aim for her in the arena, but if it's between me and her, it's definitely going to be her. Caesar asks Coral some questions, and the bimbo that she acted like when we left the district came back and it was on full display, and it was unlike anything I have ever seen before. The people here in the Capitol are used to this kind of thing, but I'm not. To see a woman act like she's a plaything to be taken advantage of is kind of disgusting and hard to stomach.
I hear the buzzer go off, and it's my turn to be grilled about my life. I get up from my chair and wait for Coral to take her seat. After Coral sits down, I make my way to the chair, and to my three minutes of fame.
"So, tell me Finnick, how are you enjoy life in the big city?" Caesar asks.
"How's everything treating me—Everything is great. The people are great. The activities are awesome. The food is top notch, and second to none. This place is amazing, except for the fact that I have to kill people starting tomorrow. But if I'm being honest, there's no place like home." I said.
"That's to be expected, but not everything in life is within our control. So, tell me what's it like to be a rising star such as yourself." he said.
"I'm pretty sure you know what it's like to be a rising star. I mean you were rising star at one time when you got to this position." I said.
"True enough, tonight isn't about me. It's about you. So, tell us what's like." he said.
"Well, nothing's really different." I said.
"What ever do you mean?" he asked, stupefied by my response.
"I was one of the most popular boys in the district. I mean there was at least one point during training—it was during lunch technically—where I was surrounded by a lot of the other tributes, and we were shooting the breeze as we were trying to get through the lunch line." I said.
Something in the back of my head tells me that I shouldn't divulge a lot of details because Snow, or any one his goons that are listening, and may—by some stroke of dumb luck—realize who I am.
"But still, are you enjoying your celebrity status?" he asked.
"Sort of, but it's just puts a target on my back that I don't need." I said.
"I have a question. One that was broached with Orna but is more prevalent now." Caesar said.
"Why I spent time working on the survival stations instead of sticking to the weapons?" I asked.
Caesar and the crowd were both shocked that I knew what he was going to ask before he even got the chance to ask the question. The crowd was murmuring amongst itself about this strange turn of events. I'm guessing it's a first in Hunger Games history that two tribute, from different districts, are seen working together, and they both knew what Caesar was going to ask before he even asked the question.
I—for some strange reason—looked over at President Snow, and he had a look of intrigue on he face.
As I look away and return my attention to Caesar, I begin to feel that, somehow, I might have made a mistake. What that mistake is I don't know yet, but I feel like I made one.