6. “Looks Aren’t Enough.”

       Once our chariot got moving, the scene instantly changed. Our chariot was being pulled down a pathway accompanied by a long line of stands on either side. The colorful Capitol crowd was in a hype as they got their first semi-closer look at us tributes. I didn’t know what to do but just stare at the crowds as they hollered and whooped, waved and jumped around excitedly. I felt a wave of shock overcome me, preventing me from trying to work the crowd to my advantage. I wasn’t used to being in front of a population bigger than the one in District 7.

            “Got an idea as to what we can do?” I whispered to Dan. I didn’t think he’d be able to hear me, though.

            “Not a clue. Unless you want to go for the “Katniss and Peeta” approach,” he replied.

            “We’re not trying that,” I said immediately. “It’s the last Games, there’s no need for it. We’re not rebelling against the Capitol.”

            “Yes we are if we want more than one tribute to live,” he reminded me. I had no idea why I said what I had when Daniel proved me wrong. I needed to think things through before I said anything.

But still, what he was thinking—we couldn’t fake that. I knew for a fact I wouldn’t be able to. I’d crack under pressure. There are many things I can’t do and faking something is not one of them. True, I loved Dan, but like a brother. Attempting to pull off the act he was suggesting would definitely be hard.

“We have to at least show them we know each other and are proud to be here,” Dan muttered. I looked at him quizzically, trying to tune out the ravenous crowds.

“What if people start rumors about us?”

“We’ll kill them in the interviews. Besides, getting them talking about us will help us when sponsors become important. Now, do you want to get noticed or not?”

I personally thought our outfits were enough. Still, there were eleven other districts that had stand-out outfits as well. We had to fight to stand out.

I sighed and didn’t object when Daniel grabbed my hand. He moved mine like a puppet as he raised ours high above our heads. The screaming seemed to increase just a little bit more. Uniting was power in a way for Dan and me. We must’ve gained some foothold over the crowds, because before we had done what we did, the crowd hadn’t sounded so deafening.

            I looked around until my eyes were on one screen. They showed each tribute’s face, and I just happened to catch a glance at me. That wasn’t me I was staring at; she was too dressed up and girly to be me. But she was me.

            I had been transformed.

            All the chariots finally ended the procession at the City Circle, where all the chariots lined up in two rows of six. We were behind District 2. I finally let my arm drop to my side, it had been growing tired. I never really paid attention to the other districts’ tributes and what they were wearing, because I was too focused on looking up at the balcony, awaiting President Nolan to give his short speech. From there, we’d be taken inside and given our own floor.

I seriously needed the rest, because tomorrow would mark the beginning of training. Days of practicing with the other tributes that would lead into the last day, the day we presented ourselves to the Gamemakers. From there, whatever time we had left we’d use to prep for the interviews. I had no idea how long the training would be, but I knew for a fact that the interviews didn’t happen until the night before the Games themselves.

            The crowd seemed to grow louder as we saw Nolan come to the edge of the balcony, waving to the crazy crowd that simply adored him. Geez, would the crowd ever settle or even become silent?

All the applause was for the President of Panem now, not us tributes. Nolan looked to be in his forties from what I could tell. I could see his black hair was graying, his grey eyes looked fatigued. He wasn’t fat; he looked quite the opposite. He almost looked anorexic. I guess running a large nation like Panem took a good toll on the President’s health.

            “Welcome,” his voice boomed. The crowd hushed so everybody could hear. “Welcome, tributes. We honor you for your sacrifice.” What sacrifice? Some of us had no choice. “We wish you all happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.”

            Well, that was about the shortest speech I had ever heard in my life. I was actually happy for it, because the chariots soon proceeded to the stables. The crowd’s noise picked up once again, only they weren’t shouting and whatnot. Even though they sounded like collected murmurs, the noise bounced.

Once we were inside and the chariot came to a gentle halt, Daniel helped me out where we were met by Alden and Harper.

            “Did you manage to observe the crowd?” I whispered. My legs were trembling even after the ceremony.

            “You definitely got some looks,” Alden said.

            “Were they good?”

            “I’d say so. Some were a bit confused at first, but they liked the combination. How very different you two were. Like a goddess and a mortal, fire and ice—you get my point.”

            Funny, that wasn’t how I had viewed myself when I saw Dan and me. I just viewed myself as a different girl. Looking like a goddess was the last thing that came to my mind.

            “You definitely had the crowd when you both joined hands,” Harper squeaked. “See, what did I tell you, Alden? Making two totally different costumes attracted attention, and it was positive! This is what happens when I go with my instincts.”

            “Normally they aren’t good,” Alden snickered. Harper smacked him on the arm. She looked to us with a smile. “How about we get settled onto our floor?”

            Daniel and I were squished between Harper and Alden until we got inside the building. Jade ran by to join us. Johanna was nowhere in sight.

 We took an elevator up to the seventh floor where ours was unlike anything I’d ever seen.

            The luxury the Capitol offered didn’t seem to cease. The dining table was a good size, the tables looked little whacky. There was a long couch where no matter where you sat you could get a good view of the plasma TV on the wall. It was a non-moving version of our compartments on the Tribute Train.

            “There you are,” Johanna piped as she came from what seemed to be a bedroom. “I wondered when you’d get here.”

            “Did you manage to watch the ceremony?” I asked.

            “No, but I can. The TV’s probably replaying it right now.”

            First, Johanna skipped out on the reaping, and now the opening ceremonies. What was she going to skip next, the interviews? Dear lord, I hoped not. I’d need some serious coaching for that. I never did well with crowds or being on live TV. I didn’t handle pressure well.

            Jade turned on the TV as we all sat on the couch, watching the opening ceremonies. Some of the costumes these tributes wore looked like they didn’t represent their district much. Well, ours sort of didn’t either. Maybe that was a thing for the final Games: thinking outside the box, daring to be different.

There were a few outfits I really liked: mine of course; District 11’s female tribute’s dress; and the female of District 2. Other than that, nothing really caught my eye.

            “There’s our gorgeous girl!” Harper gushed as the cameras had focused on our chariot. They had zoomed in on me. “You looked like a goddess out there!”

            “Thanks…I think,” I said carefully. That was the second time I had been called a goddess. Did I really look that amazing like Alden and Harper were claiming? If I was, I was oblivious to it. I had been too nervous to really focus on how goddess-like I had looked.

            “It seems like everybody is straying from representing their districts,” Alden mused. Hmm, he’s thinking what I am. “Might as well make it a Games to remember starting with the outfits.”

            It was obvious that the rest of the Games from here would outshine the opening ceremonies. The first length was nothing compared to the event itself. The scores for training would be good, the interviews would be better than that, and the Games itself…that would be the biggest thing of all. Each event would best the other, the Hunger Games being the top dog.

“Well, another step in the Games is complete,” I said.

            “You bet. Tomorrow is training day one,” Johanna sighed. Damn it. “Find something you’ll best in, you’ve only got three days to prep before the Gamemakers see what you’re really made of. If you’re successful, you’ll get some decent sponsors. Looks aren’t enough.”

            “Yeah, way to not pressure us,” I hissed. I wiggled uneasily. “I should have gotten myself out of this dress before I sat down.”

            “Well, you might as well get to bed while you can,” Jade suggested. “Tomorrow is going to be quite a busy day for you two.”

            Jade was right. Besides, if I didn’t go to bed now, I would probably late at night. That was something I couldn’t do. If I learned to not do it now, odds are I wouldn’t do it in the Games. That was just going to be one of the crucial things I needed to learn to do besides becoming cunning and learn to wield a weapon—or to just stay alive for a good amount of time in general.

            I always wondered if past tributes or even this year’s tributes were just as panic-stricken as I was. I was feeling the pressure on me, considering myself an underdog. The Capitol people never had to worry about this kind of stress. They were adults; they didn’t get their names put in for the reaping. If only they knew just how much stress these Games caused…

            With so much bouncing in my brain, it was amazing that I managed to even shrug out of my outfit, wipe off all the makeup, and sit on the bed. In front of me, huge windows exposed the Capitol city. This wasn’t the view I was accustomed to. I rested my chin on my knees while my arms hugged my legs. The view was beautiful, in a sense, but it wasn’t the same. My case of homesickness was getting worse and worse, and it was only day two of being away from District 7.

            I could remember when I was younger that I had always sometimes wished to escape 7 and sneak into a wealthier district. I didn’t wish that now, I wished the complete opposite. I wanted to be back home in the comfort of my cottage, with my dad, and the trees, with Daniel with me, and Ewan.

            I just had that sinking feeling that tonight was going to be another sleepless, dreamless night for me.

*      *     *

            I was so good at predicting things, because the next morning felt like it had blended into last night. Last night was dreadful. It was like adjusting to the Tribute Train’s compartment, only this hadn’t moved under my feet. I felt so tired that I didn’t want to get up to eat this morning. Somebody was going to have to drag me out of bed, because I didn’t have the motivation to get myself up.

            “Rise and shine!” Jade’s voice chirped in my room.

How in the hell could she be so giddy? Oh, right, she was only District 7’s escort. She didn’t have to train or go into an arena soon. She had to just pick the two names of district sacrifices and be with them before the Hunger Games started. She was watching us be fed, pampered, and trained before being sent off to a fight for our lives.

How someone could go through that year after year was beyond me. At some point in time, it had to either get boring or too painful to endure.

 I groaned and threw a pillow over my head. I heard Jade’s heels click on the floor as she made her way to my bed.

“You can’t sleep in, not today.”

            “I’m not feeling well,” I grumbled.

            Jade ripped the pillow from me and chucked it on the floor. I felt the bed sink a little as she sat down in it. “Homesick?” she asked quietly.

            “Yup.” I curled tighter into a ball under the sheets.

            “I know this is hard for you, but nothing can change what’s already been done.” She rubbed my back. “Now, get dressed. I brought your training uniform in.”

            I sighed as I rose by my elbows, blowing a strand of hair out of my eyes. I saw the uniform sitting at the edge of the bed. It was mainly black except for the red stripes on both sleeves. I saw my district number was on there as well. Really? No diversity? The only thing diverse was the district number.

            I sluggishly got changed—making sure I had my Dad’s bracelet still on (I hadn’t taken it off last night)—and was out for breakfast.

It was a pretty quiet sitting. Johanna nibbled like I did, Dan and Jade ate normally. I was sure it was nerves, because I felt that if I stomached anything too big, I’d throw it back up. That wouldn’t be something that other tributes would want to see, I was sure.

            Jade watched me pitifully. She knew how I was feeling right now. I bet Johanna didn’t care how I was feeling—she just wanted to make sure I learned a good enough skill before the Hunger Games started in two weeks. It seemed the only person who really cared about me at the table was Jade. Dan would be too, but he seemed too hungry to notice.

            “You should eat a little more than that,” Jade suggested quietly as she dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “You’ll need your strength for the next few days for training.”

            “I think I’ll skip on it. I’ll call in sick,” I grumbled, grabbing my stomach.

            “You can’t fake an illness,” Johanna barked. I looked at her irritably. “I don’t want to hear it. It’s the way things are around here. Training is mandatory. You can’t try to fake an illness to get your way out of the Games. It doesn’t work like that.”

            I wish it did.

            “You’ll be fine,” Dan said once he finished. “I’ll be with you the entire time if you’re feeling that uncomfortable.”

            He made me feel slightly better, but only just.

            After breakfast, Daniel and I were shooed off to the elevator that would take us to the Training Center. The gymnasium was underground, so we had to head below ground. I could only imagine what awaited us once all twenty-four tributes would step through the doors.

            I stuck close to Dan when we pushed through the doors. The room was huge, but didn’t look as technological as I had imagined it to be. There were a few obstacles that stood out for me; some that intimidated me more than excited me. The Ropes Course was very high up, and I had a very bad thing about heights. I decided that would be a last resort of mine. The Climbing Station was another one that I wanted to avoid, again because of the whole height issue.

            Naturally, we weren’t the first tributes in the Training Center. We were actually one of the last to enter the doors. Only a few fellow tributes stole glances at us before adverting their gazes to other places. I stuck by Dan the entire time. Already I felt like a tribute or two were staring at me.

“So, you are the last bunch that will ever compete,” said a voice up front. I had to see past everybody to try and find the source of the voice. It belonged to a woman, obviously taller than me. She was dark-skinned; her black hair was tied in a loose ponytail. I saw her eyes size all of us up. “I must say you all are a…diverse bunch. My name is Atala; I’m the Head Trainer here in the Training Center. Here’s how things will work.

“For those of you who don’t already know how this will go, you will have three days to train amongst your competitors. On the fourth day, each tribute—ladies first then the boys—will enter here alone to be watched by the Gamemakers, where you will show them all you have learned. The more flawless the performance, the better your score will be. As you can see, there are lots of stations to train at.”

She made showing off for the Gamemakers sound like we were supposed to dance in front of them or something.

“Now some of you may think some stations are considered invaluable,” Atala rambled on. If this wasn’t crucial information, I would have dozed off from hearing her drone. “However, you may find that the ones you ignore may just save your life. There are twenty-four of you, one comes out alive, and the other twenty-three will die. Oh, grab a weapon to have at your side if you can, but there are far more deadly things that you will face in the arena besides your opponents—like natural causes. That’s an important thing to keep in mind.

“Now, before I release you to train, there is an important thing to remember: while you may have your head already prepped for the Games, fighting other tributes in the Training Center is prohibited. Therefore, we have experts stationed at each station to monitor you. If at any point one of you wishes to take on an opponent for practice, one of the assistants will help you in your training. Now that we’ve gotten everything covered, off you go!”

Atala left and we tributes dispersed. It was easy to see who was sticking with whom. The Career pack was an obvious thing to expect. They moved as a small herd. I could tell the District 1 and 2 males seemed to be the leaders, though the District 1 female could be another leader. The other Careers just kept in line. Besides the pack, there weren’t many other tributes that paired up.

I slowly ambled along the huge space just so that I didn’t have people gawking at me while I decided on what to pick at first. I heard Daniel trail behind me. We needed to stick together—well, we didn’t necessarily have to—I knew Dan stuck around because he knew I wasn’t feeling good and because he didn’t want to feel alone as well.

I stopped, taking a good eyeful of the training stations. There were twenty-three in all. Such a variety too: from Wrestling to Fire Making. So many options…so little time to become adequate in all of them.

“So…” Dan said. “What do we hit first?”

“Whatever we feel we’re going to need the most,” I said.  In my case, that’s pretty much everything.