That night, we decide to stay awake later than usual, watching the reapings for all the Districts and the opening ceremony. Both tributes from District 1- Silke and Jules- volunteered. In their eyes, competing in the Games is an honor. Ha, Van and I took the glory away from them tonight. The muscular male tribute from District 2, Gunner, volunteered. I shudder at the sight of him- he'll be a threat. The female from 2, Selena, was reaped, and no one volunteered. She looks younger, likely a fresh 14 year old. The District 3 tributes were reaped with no one to volunteer in their place. District 4, like usual Careers, both volunteered. Saylor and Spencer. I don't pay much attention to any tributes after 5, because they usually all die off at the bloodbath. I perk my head up when they announce District 11. They reap a small girl, probably two or three years younger than me, named Jasmyne. Her hair is long and black, and is pulled up into a tight bun on the top of her head. She looks weak. Perhaps an easy target. A large, muscular 18 year old male was also reaped, and he may as well be a Career with his size. Mace, I believe his name is. And then, the drama in 12. My head spins with uncontrollable sadness watching the worst day of my life. I want to walk away from the screen, destroy it, even. If it hurt so much happening in real time, why would I have to relive that drama and tension? I hear the hoarse screams urging to let me volunteer. I hear the panic and fear in my voice. At the time, was I afraid of my own death in the Games? No. No, I was afraid of Van and Paige. My throat dries and my eyes water and Van raise our hands to the sky. Zenia notices my restlessness and lays a hand on my shoulder. "I know dear, I know its a lot having to relive that. Its over now, lets cheer ourselves up and watch the beautiful costumes of the opening ceremony, shall we!?" she exclaims. I force a fake smile to form on my face, to show even a tad of appreciation of her calming words. But really, watching anything that recently happened, Games related, may send my pent up anger through the roof.
We watch Silke and Jules dressed head to toe in shiny, silver jewels. Real jewels. Not those fake plastic ones that you glue to things to make yourself look fancy. The audience goes nuts, but they go even crazier over District 2. I don't know why. The female, Selena, wears a sleeveless gray dress, the skirt exploding with red, blue and yellow fireworks. But the fireworks didn't continuously keep shooting out, they were seemingly frozen. Much more boring than ours. The male wears a tuxedo with star shaped buttons of the same color of the fireworks on Selena- red, blue and yellow. The tributes from 3 look like robots, with steel and wires covering themselves. The female from District 4, Saylor, wears a flowy, shimmery, turquoise dress that is covered in fish scales. Her dress flies and flaps in the air. She waves to the crowd with her gloved hands. I look at Spencer and see him wearing a skin tight bodysuit, covered in the same shade of teal scales down to his feet. At each move, drastic or delicate, the outfits shimmer and change from turquoise to a purple or blue. District 5 wore bodysuits that looked as if they were made of steel, with occasional blue electric sparks zapping out from underneath them. The tributes from District 6 wear the colors of a traffic light- red, yellow, and green. The female, Sidnee, wore a dress with an assortment of circle shaped fabrics in the shades of red, yellow, and green. The male, Ford, wore patches of the same fabric and colors as Sidnee, except they were only on his torso. Both wore gray pants and a cape that frayed at the ends. At the ends, there were traffic light circles. The audience died down at that. I don't blame them.
The District 7 female wore a baggy flannel top, and a long skirt that had a tree bark pattern on it. I dozed off after her, and Van tapped my shoulder. "Look! There's District 11!" I immediately jerk out of my rest and look at the screen. The little girl from 11, Jasmyne, wore a dress. Her torso was covered in leaves, and she wears a vine necklace. There are hibiscus flowers in her hair, and her skirt is made to look like an upside-down flower. She smiles at the crowd. The muscular male, Mace, looks like Robin Hood. Instead, his outfit is covered in leaves.
I yawn, and we watch Van and I. We seemed to stun the audience, and everyone loved us. I see the scene where I wave the rose over the crowd. I watch the spectators lose their minds. "You got yourselves some sponsors all right." Serena says. She rolls out a three-tier cake, the shade of flames. Van turns to grin at me. "I've only had cake once!!" he exclaims.
"Its beautiful!!" I say, in a high-pitched voice.
A blonde haired girl walks into the room. She has side bangs that are dyed blue, and when she turns, the blue morphs into purple. "Cut a large slice for all of us, will you?" Zenia asks. The girl nods.
"As much frosting as possible," I tell her. "Your hair is beautiful. How did you dye it?" I ask her.
"Haylynn!!" Serena hisses.
"What?" I snap at her.
"She's an avox!" Serena scolds.
"Oh," I realize, and uncontrollably, I blush. "I'm sorry, Miss, I didn't know," I say politely. The girl smiles and shakes her head, as if to say, 'Its nothing.' She cuts the cake, and inside its a mix of swirled vanilla and chocolate. I gasp. "How do you do this kind of stuff??" I demand from Zenia.
"Oh, its our lovely chefs in the kitchen!" she says. 'Also known as slaves, right?' I think to myself.
We devour our cake, and ask for seconds. While eating my second slice, I decided to savor it. Unlike Van, who wolfs it down like he's been starved all his life. And partly, he has been.
Zenia leads us to our quarters. Its close to midnight, and I flop onto my bed. I walk into the shower, and hit all the buttons. Hot water, rose water soap, and hair conditioner. I turn on the drying vents, and my skin is wiped of water. I change into a silky yellow nightdress, and crawl into bed. My head spins. Tomorrow is training day. Where I get to see more of the other tribute's skills.
And perhaps, show the others who is the boss.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
