Eventually, I fall asleep. Unfortunately, I only get a few hours in before I'm startled awake by Luna knocking on my door and telling me it is breakfast time.

My eyes snap open and I quickly throw myself out of bed before I accidentally fall back asleep. I can't quite find my footing and I wind up in a heap on the floor.

Real smooth, Amber.

Sleep inertia hits me the moment I sit up, leaving me sluggish and woozy. I groan. I picked the wrong night to stay up late.

There's another knock on my door, and this time, it's Rycin who is at my door. "You alright there?" he asks.

"Y-yeah…" I stammer. "I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well last night."

"Can't blame you there. You do need to eat breakfast though. There's coffee out here if you want. Blasphemous amounts of cream and sugar too."

I can't help but laugh. "Okay, I'll be right out. Just need to throw some clothes on."

I walk towards the dresser and tug it open. There are too many skintight options for my taste, but I am able to find an olive-green shirt and loose black capris to wear. I then put on my shoes from yesterday, not particularly caring if everything matches or not. After running a brush through my hair, I step out of my room and into the dining car.

I am greeted by the sight of Bran trying coffee for what has to be the first time. His face is contorted while Rycin and Sylva look on in concern. "Cream and sugar, kid," I say as I sit down. I pour myself a cup of coffee and add what I would call a reasonable amount of cream and sugar, then do the same to Bran's cup. "Try it now."

Bran takes a sip and this time, he smiles. "Better. Thanks, Ames."

I give him a nod while Rycin rolls his eyes. "Coffee killer," he mutters.

"Try coffee life-giver," I retort.

Bran starts snickering and Sylva suppresses a smile. I take a plate and look to see what's for breakfast. I'm delighted to find a serving tray full of beautiful golden pancakes. I take a stack, butter them up, and liberally pour maple syrup on them. There are so many syrups to choose from, and maybe I'll try them throughout the week, but you can't beat classic maple.

The pancakes aren't nearly as good as Sylva's, but I knew that was going to happen. The coffee helps with the exhaustion, but I also make sure to down a glass of water. It's important that I stay hydrated this week.

"So, when are we getting to the Capitol?" Bran asks.

"We'll be there in about an hour," Sylva replies. "We wanted to discuss with you both what to expect today."

Sylva and Rycin begin telling us about the day's itinerary. Most of it, we already know. We'll be taken to the Remake Center where we'll be cleaned up. We are told not to resist or complain during the process, as it will make it that much harder. Then, we'll be dressed up for the parade.

I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to be wearing tonight: the same dress that my mother and Sunny wore. Acilia Mode has been the stylist for District Nine for over thirty years. Apparently, she always loves it when she gets a Reeves. She's turned down several chances for a promotion because of it. Since I'm the last Reeves left, I wouldn't be surprised if she retired after this year.

The rest of the morning passes by in a blur. We eventually arrive at the Capitol to cheering crowds and are led away by car into the Remake Center. My prep team, consisting of three women who I'm pretty sure are triplets, begin working on me. They don't address me. They are either gossiping or talking about me like I'm not there. The latter annoys me, but I'm too tired for any sort of small talk right now.

I fight to stay awake, but I think I drift off a few times, only to be woken up by my hair being ripped from my arms and legs or a rough sponge taking off layers of my skin. At one point, they try to take my necklace. "Leave it alone," I say firmly. "The necklace stays."

They don't fight me on that, but they do convince me to at least let them clean it. I allow this on the condition that they return it, which they uphold.

When they're done, my hair is clean and soft, my nails are polished and rounded, and many of the callouses that have formed over the years have somehow disappeared. They even managed to remove the dark circles under my eyes. I guess they finally realize just how tired I am, because before they whiten my teeth, they give me some weird orange drink. "Drink up. Wouldn't want you falling out of the chariot now, would we?" is the first thing they say to me all day. I down the beverage. It doesn't taste too bad. In fact, it perks me up rather quickly.

Finally, they leave me alone and I'm left waiting for my stylist. After the chaos that was earlier, the wait seems to last forever. I look around for a clock so I can at least see the time, but I don't find one. I don't know how long it takes, but eventually, Acilia walks in. Her steps are brisk and precise. She is dressed in a sharp, bright blue skirt and jacket with a white blouse underneath. Her hair is dyed the same shade and is gelled to look like spikes with golden tips that match her eyes.

"Hello darling," Acilia greets me with a smile. "I'm Acilia Mode and I'll be your stylist this year." She motions over to the girl. "It is so good to finally meet you."

I don't get a chance to return the pleasantries before I'm given a robe and whisked away to lunch.

I'm given a robe to wear and taken to lunch. There's pasta with some sort of pink sauce, mixed greens with creamy dressing and cheese, and some wine. Technically, I'm old enough to drink now that I'm eighteen, but I don't think today's the day to be trying alcohol for the first time. Maybe tonight, once all the excitement is over.

Acilia wastes no time pouring herself a glass of the stuff. "I'm sure you know about the parade and how it works, yes?" she asks.

I nod in between a bite of pasta and swallow. "Yeah, I do."

Acilia smiles. "I've been waiting for you for a very long time, darling. I honestly didn't think the year would ever come! And the fact that you volunteered makes it all the more perfect!

"Now, I'm sure you've seen the ensemble that your mother and sister wore. My best work if I do say so myself. I do believe it has one last use left in it, but I do have some accessory alterations, given that this will likely be this dress's final send-off."

The accessories Acilia refers to consist of a crown of gold and white flowers. My feet are bare, unlike the golden slippers worn before. My necklace is adjusted to allow both hearts to show.

The dress itself is breathtaking. I've seen it on television so many times, but the television could not do it justice. It's golden and stitched together in a way that is meant to bring to mind a field of grain. It flows down to my ankles and the straps look like the head of a stalk of wheat.

"It's beautiful," I say.

"Thank you, dear," Acilia replies. "As I said, it is my best work. Given that you look just like your sister, I knew you'd be able to pull it off just like she and Summer did."

I look at myself in the mirror and I can't help but gasp. Once again, the girl in the mirror looks like she could have come out of a television screen from years ago, but she looks somewhat different like she has been reborn and ready to fight again.

Isn't that what I'm doing? Fighting to do what the rest of my family could not? I am the last Reeves left alive. I'm the last chance my family has. What would I be if I didn't make it count?

I don't know how to feel. Sad, excited, either way, I'm forced to fight it down. I can't afford to break down right now.

"You look like a queen, darling," Acilia says with a soft smile. "Now go out there and rule."

I join Bran in our chariot and carefully remove the slippers Acilia gave me to keep my feet from getting dirty. "Not bad," Bran says. "Your stylist did good." He's dressed in a tan tunic and dark brown pants. I can see three thin pale stripes on his back and it's clear he's meant to represent a loaf of bread. Whoever his stylist is clearly needs lessons in creativity.

"Thanks," I say.

"Are you okay? I know your mother and sister wore this dress."

"Yeah, they did," I say. "This is its last hurrah."

The music begins and the chariots begin to move before the conversation can continue. I'm relieved. The emotions coursing through me are too much to be able to explain.

I don't wave or smile when we are brought out into the open. I want to appear cold and aloof, just as Acilia instructed me to. It works. The crowds cheer upon seeing me and some of them even chant my name. "Reeves! Reeves! Reeves!"

I keep my eyes forward, focusing on the chariot ahead.

When we stop in the city circle, President Snow greets us, gives us his yearly speech, and then we're taken inside the training center. When the doors close, I'm shaking with exhilaration. I don't know if I want to laugh, cry, or both.

Sylva, Rycin, Acilia, Luna, and Imelda, Bran's stylist are all smiles when they reach us. I must be shaking, because Bran grabs my wrist to steady me. "You okay?" he asks.

I nod, a hysterical chuckle leaving me. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Are you?"

Bran grins. "I'm okay. You looked terrifying out there. Everyone loved you!"

"Thanks. I think you looked great too."

Bran laughs. "I look like a loaf of bread."

"A very badass loaf of bread."

We're both laughing now as our mentors help us out of the chariot and towards the elevator. We wind up sharing an elevator with the Eights, who are dressed like what I can only describe as dolls, like those creepy ones I'd see in the toy shop that was abandoned years ago but never really cleaned out. We make our way up in near silence, aside from Chanel's coughing. Thankfully, she's wearing a mask, but Bran inches away, nonetheless.

The elevator stops to drop off the Eights and goes up one floor before we reach ours. Bran gasps in awe as we step out. He excitedly darts over to the table. "Wow! This is fancy!"

Luna smiles. "It is quite quaint, isn't it?"

I open my mouth to say something, but I find myself yawning instead. The energy drink I had earlier must be wearing off. "Is it okay if I skip dinner tonight?" I ask. "I didn't sleep well last night."

Sylva nods. "That's fine, dear."

Acilia chimes in. "At least let me get you out of your dress first. If you do get hungry, you can summon food from your room."

Even though I was fortunate enough to be able to count on a meal growing up, it still baffles me that people here can just press a button and have food delivered right to them any time they want. People are starving in Nine, yet the people here just hoard it all and let the rest of us suffer. I'm reminded of just how lucky I am that I was adopted instead of left to the Community Home, and just how despicable the Capitol is for doing this to us.

Acilia leads me to my room. It's fancy, but not exactly what I would call cozy. It's too bright and clean, nothing like my bedroom at home. Still, once Acilia helps me get my dress and makeup off, I find myself falling right into bed. Now would be a good time to cry, but at this point, I'm just drained.

It doesn't take long before I fall into a dreamless sleep.

A moment of silence for Bran, who has once again been overshadowed by Amber. Thankfully, this works just fine with his strategy. Also, a moment of silence for Amber, who is being defined by her family and their deaths. She's sort of built her identity around her family. She's always thinking about them and comparing herself to them. This chapter is meant to bring that to the forefront.

Next chapter, we start training! Amber will start to look for allies, but will she find any? Find out next time! For now, I leave you with a message from my cat: 5T666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666