Logan Acker, 16

District 11 Male

Saigon pulled me aside as soon as they'd eaten the last bite of their breakfast. They held my shoulder roughly and shepherded me to one of the smaller sitting rooms in our massive apartment. Despite drinking at least three cups of coffee, they looked exhausted. I was directed into a plush pink armchair and then they sat across from me.

"The interviews are today," they said calmly, as if they hadn't just rushed me out of the room like our lives depended on our escape.

"I know," I grumbled. "Is there a reason we're fleeing from the dining room or are we just working off the breakfast calories?"

To my surprise, Saigon snorted in amusement. But they quickly reverted back to their usual stern expression.

"As you might also know, escorts and mentors work with our tributes to prepare them for their interview. Usually you'd spend the morning with me and the afternoon with Abigail. But I convinced her to let me work with you all day. We don't have time for a huge blowup fight."

I opened my mouth but Saigon steamed ahead. "I don't care about any of the etiquette stuff Abigail is drilling into Clementine's head. But I do care about your performance quality. So we're going to practice some interview questions and you're going to be palatable."

"I still don't see why I need these stupid peacocks to like me as a person. They don't care about me, or you, or any of us. They just want to see us kill each other. I can do that. They'll sponsor me because I'm strong."

My mentor sighed. "That's somewhat true. But they don't want a mindless killer to win. They want someone entertaining; someone who can come back again and again and never lose their charm."

I didn't think I could win, but Saigon seemed to believe otherwise. A spark of hope I'd been smothering for as long as I could remember flickered to life. If I won, Mackenzie and I could get far away from our mother and Cici. I could find my dad and make him regret every word, every blow he'd ever aimed at me.

"What's my angle then?" I asked. Saigon cocked their head.

"You've already shown everyone how aggressive you are. Let's focus on your drive." Then they leaned forward. "Pretend I'm Caesar. Tell me: why do you want to win?"

Diesel Calator, 14

District 6 Male

I was expecting to feel nervous about the interviews, but I was a little bit excited too. I'd never been in front of a crowd this big - except for at the Reaping. But that wasn't specifically about me. My interview was.

Axel didn't seem nearly as enthusiastic. He was always quiet but he'd hardly said anything to me since I sat down with him. He was supposed to coach me on my angle, Dionysus said. We'd worked on etiquette stuff all morning and I was ready to move on to something more important. But my mentor clearly wasn't.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked him. "I'm good at making friends, but I want to be sure the audience likes me."

Axel blinked slowly and raised his head to look at me.

"You should just be yourself," he said.

"But aren't you supposed to tell me how to act?"

"What's the point?" he whispered. I jerked back.

"It's your job," I said, a little too loudly. "You won, and now you help me win."

"It's not that simple," Axel murmured, and I was suddenly worried he was about to cry.

"I'm going to use the bathroom," I whispered, and then dashed from the room. I never knew what to do when people cried.

As I turned a corner I slammed straight into Adera, who jumped back and held up her hands to ward off a blow. Then she saw it was me and relaxed.

"Sorry!" I yelped. "Are you okay?"

"What are you running from?" she asked, ignoring both my question and apology.

"Oh! I was…" I couldn't say I was running to the bathroom. That was embarrassing. And I couldn't say I was running from Axel, because that was pathetic. So I shrugged noncommittally instead. "Y'know, just running."

Adera narrowed her eyes but accepted the answer.

"I'm trying to hide from Dionysus," she told me. "I said I was going to the bathroom but I was going to head up to the roof or something. I'm not cut out for walking in heels."

"Is it hard?"

"Sort of. I can balance alright but they hurt. My toes were so squished together I thought I'd have a hoof afterwards!"

"That actually makes me want to try them," I told her with a laugh. She grinned.

"Let's do it."

So we went back to the sitting room where Dionysus was still cluelessly waiting. He smiled when he saw me and stood up.

"Ah, Diesel. Did you want to practice fixing your posture again?"

"He wanted to try on heels," Adera told him, and Dionysus didn't even blink. Back at home, my friends would have laughed at me. It wouldn't have stopped me - I didn't mind doing ridiculous things, especially if it made other people smile, but a Capitolite didn't even bat an eye at the request. It was so different here. District 6 felt like it was worlds away. And as Dionysus and Adera helped me into my shoes and we all laughed as I wobbled around the room, I wanted to stay here forever.

Dahlia Cruz, 16

District 5 Female

My prep team freaked me out at first, but now I wasn't too bothered as they scrubbed me clean. Being naked in front of strangers still felt weird, but I tried to pretend they were doctors, like my mentor Porter suggested. They couldn't do their job properly if I had clothes on and it was very important that they did it right.

It helped more than I expected.

I was freaked out about my interview though. I liked talking to people and making friends, but having the eyes of the entire world on me was… a lot. It was like giving a class presentation without knowing my topic beforehand.

"Why the long face, dear?" Priscilla asked. Out of the three people in my prep team, she seemed to be the one in charge. She directed the others and had the final say in what shampoos to use or how to cut my hair - which she was currently doing.

"I'm a bit nervous," I told her, eyeing the scissors snapping closed worryingly close to my face.

"Oh, don't worry," she replied, still snipping away. "You're going to look lovely, and you're such a sweet girl."

"I'd sponsor you," Hermione said in a strange, chirping voice. She was a small woman with wild curls styled to look like a bird's nest. "If I was allowed to, that is."

"Thank you," I said appreciatively. And I meant it. My prep team was odd, but they were genuinely nice people. They just had the unfortunate luck to be born in the Capitol.

"Is she ready?" The call from the other side of the door made me jump, but no one else seemed surprised.

"She is," Onyx said as he ran a comb through my hair one last time. "Your canvas awaits."

I wasn't sure how I felt about being referred to as a canvas, but I didn't have time to dwell on it as my stylist burst into the room. Their name was Rainbow, and I had never seen someone so gothic in my life. When we met, they proudly told me it was a statement about going against the expectations of others. I hadn't asked.

Rainbow marched over as priscilla helped me into a silk robe. They looked me up and down as a grin spread across their face.

"Beautiful! Simply beautiful!" they gushed. "Well done, all of you."

The team said their thanks and then Rainbow's attention turned to me.

"You're going to love your gown," they told me as Onyx threw open a closet and pulled out a garment bag. "I'd describe it as 'solar flare meets fairytale princess'." Then they gestured dramatically to Onyx, who had unzipped the bag. I couldn't hold back the happy little gasp that burst out of me when I saw it. Rainbow was absolutely right. I would be the queen of the galaxy.

Happy Holidays! My gift is a chapter in a story about teenagers killing each other. Enjoy!

In all seriousness though, I hope you had/are having a good holiday, whatever that means for you. I wanted to post this yesterday so it overlapped most closely with Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah, but I couldn't manage it. It's here now though! The Interviews will be next, and then the Final Hours, and then the bloodbath! We are SO close to the start of the Games!

As always, please leave a review if you can, and keep an eye out for the next EE chapter! It's the Bloodbath chapter, and I'm hoping to post it in the next few days.

QUESTIONS

1) How will Saigon's attitude impact Logan?

2) What angle would you suggest for Diesel?

3) Whose family/friends would you like to be featured in the Interview chapter? [Context: I write the Interviews from the POV of a tributes' loved ones.]

ALLIANCES

The Careers: Vignette, Christopher, Anahira, Blue, Missy, Robin Violet

The Mathematicians: Louise, CT, Robert

Courage & Kindness: Harold, Dahlia

Team Bro: Ivan, Diesel, Logan

Boss Babes: Adera, Kyle, Edam, Clementine

Tea Party: Tea, Paul, Dustin

Loners: Jersey, Annoa, Vikram

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona