I sit on the white and gold couch, waiting to get my training score. All of the Careers got at least an 8. I pop a handful of marshmallows in my mouth. About five minutes later, they show District 11. Jasmyne got a 7, pretty high for a 12 year old like her. Mace got a 9. Now, District 12.
I suck my breath in between my teeth. Van's score flashes onto the screen. He got a 7. His jaw drops open, and he thrusts his hands in the air. I wrap my arms around him and we do a little dance as the announcers express their disbelief. We sit back down, and I tense again as we wait for my score. When I see my score, my eyes seemingly pop out of my skull and my mouth drops to the ground.
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Its an 11.
Van wraps his arms around my stiff body. I shake the shock out of me and begin to bounce around, Van clinging on behind me. Serena looks at us, just as shocked as us. "Wow, good job you two! Van, what did you do?"
"I hopped around with a slingshot, randomly shooting targets."
Serena nods. "And you, Haylynn?"
"...I shot at the Gamemakers."
"YOU WHAT?!" Serena says, in disbelief.
"I didn't shoot them, but I shot one of their hats to the wall."
Zenia walks in. "They just told me all about it. Oh, the carpet! Its RUINED!!" she says dramatically, looking distressed.
"Yeah, yeah, likely. They'll clean it up." I shrug. Serena turns to me, and, for the first time since the train ride to the Capitol, looks thoroughly impressed.
"They dismissed you?" Aurelius asks.
"Oh... No. I walked out myself."
"Haylynn!!" Van shrieks at me.
"Well, you're certainly growing into your burning sensation we're setting you up as." Serena sighs.
I sit back down on the couch, and try harder at absorbing the information. I've gotten the highest training score. Higher than the careers! I smile to myself.
I see the blonde girl, wheeling out a cart of food. I help myself to some pigs in a blanket. I see Van devour some deer meat. Deer meat was always his favorite in the Seam, and he definitely showed his gratefulness on the occasions when I could shoot one down. I remember my father and I finding a family of deer- a doe and two fawns. The meat supplied the District for a week. We'd never felt better. I wonder if Van is beginning to feel as homesick as me.
After eating some pudding, I return to my room for alone time. I lock my door and sink down into my bed. I hum a song as I braid my hair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning I wake, soaked in a cold sweat, breathing heavily from a horrific nightmare. As I rise from under my silk covers, I hear Zenia striking her hand on my door, but I interrupt her raps. "Already up, Zenia!" I call. Once again, she bulldozes her way into the room. "You get to spend time with me first, discussing performance, while Van and Selena talk about content. And then you discuss content with Selena, while Van and I work on performance!!" she giggles cheerily. "I ask you wear a dress for me, dearie." I nod, and pull out a silky red dress out of my closet.
"Is this okay?"
"More than okay, I absolutely love that dress!! I helped pick it out," she winks at me. "Alright, meet me at the table!" She walks out of the room, and shockingly, closes the door behind her. Wow.
I walk into the bathroom and quickly rinse the sweat off of me, before slipping into my dress and curling my hair. I clip on golden earrings, and look at myself in the mirror. However, my conversation with myself is interrupted by a light rap on the door. I walk to it, and open it. I see the blonde girl standing there with Serena beside her. "She found this while she was cleaning. Van says its your token." The girl opens up her palm and reveals my mockingjay ring. I grin at her and slip it onto my finger.
"Thank you." I say sincerely. They walk away, and I head toward the dining room, closing my door behind me.
After eating breakfast, I follow Zenia into a room. "Are you ready dear?"
I suck in my breath, trying to contain my temper. "Call. Me. Haylynn." I emphasize each syllable.
"Oh my, so sorry!!" she points to a pair of black high heels. "Slip this on, d- Haylynn." I sigh, and slide my feet into them.
We take a bit to practice walking in the heels, twirling around in dresses, and overall, looking pretty and acting like a lady. I finish twenty minutes early, and thankfully, she let me leave early. I return to my room and order a small lunch, of a salad and some spiced chunks of meat. I change into a maroon crop top and leggings, before sitting on my bed and taking a bite of my meat. It tastes like beef. In the Seam, we once bought a calf. We slaughtered it, illegally, as soon as it grew too big to fit in our small fenced-in backyard at our house, to Scottlynn's dismay. She practically grieved the little guy, but she very quickly got over it once we roasted him. We were filled, and I skipped dinner for a night. Totally regretted that decision the next day.
As I chew my spicy meat, I moan when remembering I get to work with Serena for an hour. If Zenia's lesson was tough, I can only imagine Serena. We can barely sit at a dinner table for five minutes without arguing. I bite into a cherry tomato, and the juice spews onto my lips. I wipe it off with my finger. I hear a loud strike on the door. "Out! Come on, you're up!!" Serena says, a tone of irritation in her voice.
I stuff my last leaf of lettuce into my mouth. "I'm coming, have you heard of the word patience!" I say in a scolding tone. I had bitten off too much lettuce to chew. I force it down my throat before opening my door.
"Oh, you dressed down for me?" she asks.
"What, are you disappointed in this?" I gesture toward my body. "I've dressed worse!" I roll my eyes and step out.
She leads me toward a room. "Alrighty, what are we doing with you?" she asks. In response, I shrug. "Aloof? Ferocious? Innocent?"
"Do I look innocent?"
"You look innocent. You sure don't act innocent."
"Okay... what about aloof?"
"Too social."
"Fierce?"
"Too emotional."
Ouch. Didn't she watch me successfully hold back tears at the reaping? "I am not emotional!!" I snap at her. "Fierce is a fine angle for me!"
"We'll put that on the list."
"Confident?"
"Too nervous." I hold back an indignant snap.
We go at it, naming adjectives and seeing whether or not they match me. "You know what? Just be you. Look fierce, but melt. Okay?" I can tell her voice is irritated.
"What angle is Van doing?"
"Sweet and innocent.
"I knew it."
"Okay. The door is right behind you. Go." I glare at her, before walking out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Zenia wakes me up early, knocking on my door, creating a rather steady, yet loud, beat. I rise up out of my bed. Tomorrow was the Games. How? How did it come so fast? I don't change out of my nightdress, and zombie-like, walk out to the dining table. I wolf down some hash browns, and return to my room to see my prep team standing there. "No waxing today sweetie. Just makeup and hair." Linah says. Aurelius rises up from behind them.
"Sit on the chair Haylynn." he says in a deep tone. I do as told, and they begin to curl and and work with my hair. When they finish, I look at myself in Timo's mirror. My hair is pulled up in a braided bun.
"Wait," I say. I take my two pointer fingers and delicately pull out two strands of hair. "There." I hear a deep laugh from Aurelius, and it brings a smile to my face as well.
"I love working with you, Haylynn." he gets out. I close my eyes as they begin to work on my makeup. I feel brushes and wet fingers caress against my skin. When they finish, my eyes flutter open. It isn't extravagant like the chariot ride makeup, but it emphasizes my plump lips, and smooth skin. I smile, and turn to Aurelius.
"Beautiful," I breathe. Aurelius leads me out of the room, and we step into a closet. He hands me a red dress, with real diamonds on the bottom. He walks out, and, wow!, he closes the door behind him. I slide out of my night dress, and slip into the sleeveless dress. I clip it on the back, and I look absolutely beautiful. I open the door, and he mischievously smirks. He leads me out to the hall where I see all the tributes waiting for their turn. Silke goes first. I stand in line, patiently waiting. "Act fierce, be honest. Melt. Make the crowd love you." I mutter to myself under my breath.
After over an hour, its my turn.
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