As we step off the train, I have to flinch away from the multi-colored hands that are reaching out to touch me. Everyone in the Capitol just MUST get their hands on a tribute; even if that tribute is from the worst District of all, District 12. I do my best to smile and be likable as Haymitch said, but it gets more and more difficult to smile when these people are trying to touch me.
"Careful Darling," Haymitch walks beside me. "Your contempt is showing." He walks past me, and I widen my smile for these people who want to see me dead.
Sky has ahold of my hand and is tucked as close as he can be while we walk through the crowd. He gives a small, shy smile and waves timidly. "Good job, Sky." I tell him. He gives me a genuine smile before turning back to the crowd.
We finally enter the training center and Haymitch is waiting for us. "Good job. You mostly hid how much you hate them." He says to me.
"Well, no time for chit-chat!" Velora walks up, almost bouncing in her heels. "Sky, you will go with your styling team. No time to lose!" She yanks Sky away from me and he is herded through a door by three very strange looking people. Well, probably not that strange for the Capitol.
"This is your team, Raven. They will take you to your styling room!" She squeals as a woman with purple skin and white hair grabs my hand and begins to pull me away.
"Oh, we have so much to do! You are simply filthy!" As the purple woman talks, I look behind me at Haymitch. He is grinning at me and winks. This, oddly, doesn't fill me with rage. In fact, its rather calming. This is normal. As normal as things get in the Capitol, anyway.
~oOo~
After having been scrubbed and lathered and waxed, I am pink and smooth. My team assures me that the pinkness will go away. Apparently, my skin isn't used to being abused.
The process went by slowly. I didn't really pay much attention to anything. The team of three were always chittering and gossiping about anyone and everything. I mostly just lifted a body part when they said to.
"I don't think we've ever had a tribute so easy to work with. You haven't fought a thing!" The purple haired woman exclaims.
"Why would I? You are making me beautiful." I tell them, repeating Velora's words from earlier.
"Oh, if you think this is beautiful, just wait until Clio gets ahold of you!" Another one of them says. This one has bright green hair that stands on end all over his head.
"Clio?" I ask them.
"Your stylist, silly!" He speaks. "The woman will make you into a star!"
I zone out again as they start talking about people who were definitely not stars.
They finally leave and I am in a robe. My skin tingles and they have cut my hair. It covers my shoulders and ends at the bottom of my shoulder blades now. I'd like it shorter. I sit on the metal chair provided and wait. I trace the seam on the robe and enjoy the silky feeling.
Finally, the door opens, and a woman dressed in a light Capitol fashion enters. While the shapes she wears scream Capitol, she is dressed in all black. Her hair, clothes, shoes and make-up are all black.
"Hello, Raven. My name is Clio." She steps in and begins to circle me. She pulls me to my feet and smiles. "You're on the taller side. Good. I like that."
"I have always been taller than the others my age." I tell her. She only nods.
She pulls my robe off and I am now standing in front of this strange lady completely nude. She circles me a couple of times, before sitting in one of the chairs. "You can dress again." She smiles.
I pull the robe back on and sit across from her in the other chair. "So, what are we wearing?" I ask her.
She smiles at me. "I decided to focus on the mines. And as I thought about these mines, I could only think of the rocks – coal – that would stick out from the walls. You will have a very rocky outfit."
"As long as I'm not naked and covered in coal dust, that's fine." I smile.
She laughs, "Oh, what a wonderful idea!" She claps her hands together and I feel the blood drain from my face. "Oh, but your suits are already done. Maybe next year." She sighs.
I let myself exhale. You need to shut your mouth before you get yourself into trouble. These people are insane.
I watch as Clio walks over to the wall and hits a button. The wall spins and a rack slides into place, with one garment in a bag hanging on it. She grabs it and walks over to me.
She strips the robe off again and quickly redresses me. "You are going to look fantastic." She smiles at me. I watch in the mirror as she pulls and adjusts the suit to fit my body.
The entire outfit consists of a pair of skin-colored tights and a leotard. My legs and arms are showing, but the outfit as a whole is fairly modest compared to what I have seen in past games. District 12 never shows much skin, always in miners' outfits, but the favorites of the Capitol are always half naked.
The leotard is black and has sleeves that cover the under part of my arm and has straps of fabric at the cuff at the wrist and at the elbow. There are zig zags of a glimmering silver all over the leotard. I am put in high heeled lace up boots that come to my knees. There are huge rocks – lumps of coal – stitched into the material. There is one protruding from my left upper arm, a large rock on my right thigh, smaller ones all over the waist, larger ones on my hips, and shoulder-shaped rocks on each of my shoulders.
I look like a rock monster.
She begins to pull up my hair. She parts the hair and twists it together. I have twists of hair pinned along my hairline, like a crown. She smiles at me in the mirror. "Done." She claps her hands together once, admiring her masterpiece.
She leads me out to the area under the Training Center where the Parade will start. I am led to our horses, 2 black beauties pulling a black chariot, and so impeccably trained that they won't need to be steered in the right direction.
Sky is there already, in a matching outfit. Although he gets to wear pants.
He smiles at me as I walk up to him. "Do we have to look like a lump of coal to get people to like us?" He asks me.
"Apparently we do." I smirk at him. "Don't worry. We can be back in regular clothes soon."
He nods and looks around. I do the same. I notice some of the other tributes are already talking to one another. The tributes from One, dressed in gold drapery that shows almost every part of their bodies, are talking with the tributes from Two, who appear to be in skimpy outfits made of thousands of tiny pieces of stone. They laugh loudly and that alone is intimidating the weaker districts.
"Well, you clean up alright, Darling." I turn to Haymitch who is grinning at me. He pulls out a flask from his pocket and takes a swig. "But I told them to keep the kid looking innocent. They failed."
He isn't wrong. I look long and sleek, intimidating in a way. Dark make-up and clothes. Sky is dressed the same and has similar make up, but he is a kid. He isn't intimidating in the least.
"Maybe they think killing other kids is innocent." I tell Haymitch.
He smirks. "Careful, Darling. The people around here wouldn't like you saying such things."
I nod. I look past my mentor and catch the eyes of the girl from Seven. She smiles at me, and I return the gesture. "She looks scared out of her mind." I tell Haymitch.
He looks behind me and sees the Seven tributes. "Yeah. They usually do." He turns back to me. "Why don't you?"
"It won't do me any good. Being scared will just hinder my chances. If I am going to die, I wont die scared." I tell him. The Capitol can take away my freedom and end my life, but I won't let them take my dignity.
"Strong words." He tells me. "Let's see if they hold true."
The anthem starts and the chariots start moving. Haymitch gestures for us to climb up. "Good luck, Darling. Kid, be strong." With that, he leaves us. Probably to go off and drink before he has to see us again. The kids he is sending to their deaths.
Our chariot starts to move, and we are suddenly out in the lights of the Capitol. People are screaming and some start to point to us. I guess we do look better than District 12 normally looks, but not as flashy as some of the other districts.
I feel Sky shaking next to me. He is smiling and waving, but you can clearly see that he is terrified. He doesn't even look happy or excited like he is trying to. I wrap an arm around him and hold him close to me. "I won't let you fall. Smile and wave to the crowd. They love you." And he does. He doesn't stop shaking, but the fear leaves his face, and his smile looks more relaxed as he waves to the crowd.
We are on the screens now. People are chanting my name. They like that I am looking after the little kid from my district. I hear people saying "AWWW" from the crowd when they catch a glimpse of us. I start to smile and wave with my free hand.
The chariots enter the circle and come to a stop. We are looking up at President Coriolanus Snow. "Welcome! Tributes, we welcome you to the Capitol! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" The anthem starts again, louder, as we make our way back to the Training Center.
Our horses stop once we are safely off the street and I hop down, pulling Sky after me. He sticks close to my side, never letting go of my hand.
"They loved you!" Clio comes over, grinning. "My work was a success!"
Haymitch comes over and smirks. "Why did you hug him?"
"He was shaking like a leaf. I grabbed him to make him feel safer. He started smiling and waving better after that." I shrug.
"It was brilliant! They loved it!" Haymitch tells me. "And you're lucky they did. That was a big move for your introduction to the Capitol people."
"Well, I don't really care. He needed help." I tell Haymitch.
"You'd better care. These are the people who will send you water when you're dehydrating in the arena or bandages when you're bleeding out from a slice of a Career's sword." Haymitch says seriously.
I just nod.
We are led to an elevator, and Velora is prattling on about how we looked and what people were saying. I see some of the other tributes look our way, not happy that we stole some of their thunder.
We ride the elevator up, and eventually the doors slide open. We enter the room and find it to be huge. I could fit five of my house into this one apartment. Haymitch immediately walks up the stairs and we hear a door close. Of course, he will know where his room is already. "We are District 12, so we get the penthouse. We eat here, and we will watch the parade, scoring and interviews in the living room." Velora tells us as we enter the room. "Dinner will be in one hour, so I'll take you to your rooms to get cleaned up."
Velora leads us down the hall and tells Sky that the left is his room and then gestures to the right and tells me that it is my room. "Remember, we eat in an hour!" She squeals before turning and going back downstairs.
I enter my room and find it to be about the size of my whole house back home. There are closets and huge windows surrounding a large bed in the middle of the room. There is another door that I open to reveal the bathroom. I go over and start hitting buttons on the shower. Finally, I find a setting that isn't too hot or overly pungent. I quickly step out of the coal outfit and step into the shower. I take the hair out of its twists and begin to wash it.
Once I feel like I am clean, I get out and step under a dryer. The drier even dries my hair, leaving it silky smooth. I go to the closet and find the simplest clothes. A blue shiny shirt and black pants. I find black flats to wear and then sit on my bed.
I stare off into space thinking of my family. Had they enjoyed the food I brought back yesterday? Was Forest keeping them fed? Did they see the opening ceremony? What did they think as Sky and I hugged through the Capitol?
I already miss them. I miss Birch and her laughter. Her constantly trying to get out of going to school. The loud noises she and Sky would make from behind our house as they played. I missed the Everdeen's too. Forest would have been in the woods alone this morning before heading off to the mines. Neither of us has hunted alone in years. Now he will hunt alone at home, and I will be hunting all together more difficult game in a completely different area.
I am brought out of my thoughts by a knock at my door. "Dinner time!" Velora sings before trotting off down the hall. How can she be so cheerful all the time?
I go down to the dining area and find everyone is already there. Everyone but Haymitch. We sit down and servers bring our food. I watch as they move silently. I had heard about what the Capitol did to its criminals. They cut out their tongues and make them work. An Avox for the rest of their lives.
We begin to eat, and everyone is talking about how great the parade was, and I just smile. I am told how wonderful it was that I held my scared fellow tribute and that people just adore us now.
I am blocking them out and notice Haymitch walk into the room. He takes his seat at the table across from me and an Avox brings his plate and fills his glass with an amber liquid. Liquor no doubt. But he also grabs a glass of water, making me believe that he is still trying to keep me alive.
I must have been staring because he looks up and catches my eye. Then he smirks. It's a boyish smirk. This is not the smirk of a drunk who is aging faster than he should. This is the real Haymitch. The twenty-six-year-old victor of District 12. I smile back at him before continuing to eat my food, my face heating at being caught watching him.
"So, you did well today. Now, you need to continue with this 'Big Sister' thing." Haymitch speaks. The others nod in agreement.
"Big Sister thing?" I ask. "What do you mean?"
"Well, that's what they were chanting! 'BIG SISTER!' They love that you are taking care of the younger ones." Velora grins, the popularity of a District 12 tribute a surprising win for her.
"I just didn't want him to be so scared." I speak. "Really, it wasn't that big of a deal."
"Oh, it was a big deal. The tributes never look like they are looking out for one another. They always look at each other as enemies. You took that boy to you like family. The Capitol loved it. Keep doing it." Haymitch tells me, taking a drink of his alcohol.
"Right." I say, frowning.
Dinner continues and everyone is raving about our success. Haymitch stops talking and starts drinking. Soon he leaves, going to bed. Eventually, Sky and I are shuffled out of the room and told to go to bed. Training starts tomorrow.
I get to my room and find some shorts and a tank top to sleep in. I climb under the covers but have a hard time sleeping. I am staring at the ceiling when my door opens. I see his wide eyes first before my own eyes adjust to looking through the darkness.
"Can I sleep with you? I can't fall asleep." Sky is looking at me, standing in the doorway.
I lift my blankets up, inviting him over. He runs across the room and climbs under the blankets, cuddling up next to me. "You doing okay?" I ask him.
"Not really. I am never gonna see it again." He speaks. He doesn't need to explain what 'it' is. It is everything. District 12, his family, my family. He is going to die, and he knows it. "I just hope it's fast." He whispers.
"Shhh, now. Get some sleep." He nods against me and lets out a deep breath. Soon he is sleeping, but I am left contemplating his words.
Is the best that a fourteen – year – old boy can hope for a quick death?