| " G E T R E A D Y . " |

____♔____

I wake up the next morning to a slight shake on my shoulder. I groan, and roll over, trying to ignore the fact that someone is in my presence. But the person just wouldn't go away. The shaking continued on for another few minutes, before I finally couldn't take it. I don't pull my head from my pillows as I begin to talk.

"Hello, stranger. I don't know why you are interrupting my sleep, nor do I want to, but could you please so kindly leave me alone?" I ask in my fake sweet voice. A chuckle sounds through my room, echoing off the walls.

"Well, stranger, I could leave you alone, but that's not my job. I'm here to wake you up for the tribute parade, the orders are from Elaina." A deep voice says from beside my bed.

"Okay... How long will it take for me to get ready?" I question.

"Around three hours, depending on whether or not you cooperate with your prep team and I." He replies.

"So you're my stylist?" I ask, sitting up to get a look at him. He has light brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He's quite attractive, actually.

"Yep, that's me." He says. "But for now, I think we need to get to work on your appearence."

___♕___

After a few hours of work from my prep team and my stylist, Ross, I was finally ready for the tribute parade. My dress was blue with an over the shoulder puffy strap, and had diamonds on the tights to symbolize electronics. I have a hairband on that has a feather sticking out of it.

It was beautiful, I have to say. My hair is curled in, and my makeup is smoky blue.

But I look like a Capitol freak.

"Lets go, we have a parade to get to." Ross pipes. I huff, looking in the mirror again.

"Fine." I don't argue.

I follow Ross down the long hallways, and down the elevator until we finally reach the stables and chariots. The careers are all dressed up, chatting away of what seems like their kill lists. I almost scoff to myself as I think of how many people I want to kill.

The District twelve girl for sure.

Yep. That's my kill list.

"Hey, Tay, come over here!" I hear Zach's voice from the band of careers. I inwardly groan as I see Cato, before I slowly make my way to where they are, staying quiet.

"Hey." Glimmer chirps, stepping in front of me. And to be honest, she looks like a chicken. A big pink chicken.

"Hi." I reply, still looking at her huge headpiece. She chuckles.

"It's too much, right?" She asks, touching it. "I begged my designer to ditch it, but she just had to have me wear it since in matches the dress."

"No, I like it. You look like a chicken." I speak up with a smile. She nods.

"I do look like a chicken."

"And I look like a gladiator." Clove joins into the conversation. She is wearing a golden headpiece made of metal. Her dress looks like metal, too.

"But look at Tay. She just has a dress on. That's not fair." Glimmer pouts.

"At least your stylist isn't a complete bafoon. I swear, Hemunu is the craziest man alive. My dress is made of real metal." Clove complains. I snicker a little as the two of them yap over their clothing.

"Nice dress." My eyes widen at the familiar voice.

"Y-yeah, it is nice, isn't it?" I question, turning to face Cato. He smiles warmly, and nods.

"I like it." He says, but I stare past him. Coal miner girl. Katniss walks to her carriage, looking goth. Her whole outfit is black, and her hair is in braids.

"Fire girl." I mutter with a snarl in my voice. Cato raises an eyebrow, but realizes what I say. He turns, and stands next to me. All of the careers focus their attention on her, sending glares.

Katniss catches my glance, and keeps it for a moment. Peeta sends a light smile my way before getting onto the carriage with her.

"I really want to kill her." I mumble.

"Me too." Cato says, looking away from her.

"Attention, tributes. Get onto your carriages, the parade is about to start." Ceneca Crane's voice echoes through the stables.

"I'll see you later." Cato says with a smile, then walks away.

"C'mon, Taylor. We have to get on the carriage." Zach says, pulling me away from my original position.

I now see that his tux is blue, matching the color of my dress, with silver lining his cuffs.

District One's carriage begins to move forward, and I start to twitch in my shoes. When our carriage moves, I take a deep breath.

Just breathe, you'll be fine.

As our carriage is in sight of the people of the Capitol, cheers erupt. I smile into the sections, blowing kisses every now and then. Zach woos the crowd, especially the girls, with his winks and waves.

"And here are our District three tributes. Beautiful, I must say." Ceasar Flickerman says. I almost laugh, that's the exact same thing I thought this morning. "I love the outfits. Compliments to the sylists."

"But, Woah. Look at those District twelve tributes!" I almost snarl as I hear those words. I look back to see that Katniss and Peeta are on fire. Literally on fire.

"You'll be the first one I kill, twelve." I say under my breath as I continue to gain the crowd's applause.

___♕___

After the parade and President Snow's speech is over, the tributes cram themselves into the stables. I rub my feet, trying to get the ache out of them. I huff, deciding to just take my stilettos off. How do the women in the Capitol wear these things?

"Heels aren't your thing, huh?" My eyebrows furrow as I recognize the voice.

Peeta?

"Nope, not really." I say, taking them off. I turn to Peeta. "They're pretty but I don't think I can wear them much longer. If I do, I have a feeling my feet will fall off."

He chuckles.

"C'mon, I'll help you." He smiles, holding out his hand for me. I smile back at him, and take his hand. He walks me to the elevator, and I watch as Cato, Marvel, Clove, Glimmer, and Zach send evil looks in Peeta's direction.

"You really have some fans." Peeta mutters with a cheeky grin.

"Just careers." I whisper back as the elevator door closes. "I think someone has a crush on you."

"Who?" He asks, eyebrows furrowed.

"Katniss." I try not to hiss, and it surprisingly comes out sounding normal.

"Oh, no. She doesn't like me, she couldn't. It's just- we're allies in the games. I'm sure she doesn't want for me to leave her, huh?"

"I guess not." I press the 'up' button, and stand back, taking off my heels.

"I see that you have those careers wrapped around your finger." He stands against the wall.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not really, it just means more protection. But it's really wierd, because you actually seem good." He says.

"What do you mean?" I question.

"You don't come to me as an enemy. You actually have a heart, unlike the other careers."

"Well, they are nice people, you just have to get to know them." I state with a shrug.

"Yeah. Cato Hadley, the vicious beast from District two, is 'nice.' I'll believe it when I see it." Peeta rolls his eyes.

"I'm quite scared of Cato, to be honest. I was talking about the others- Glimmer, Clove, Marvel, and Zach. I grew up with Zach, so I know that he's a good person. Glimmer and Clove are new friends to me. And Marvel, he doesn't really talk, but he seems like a good person." I ramble.

"So you are scared of Cato?" He asks, earning a slow nod from me.

"I'm not. He can't kill me until the games. And even then, I wouldn't be afraid."

"Why wouldn't you be afraid?" I ask, looking at him.

"Cato is a normal person, no matter how many people he kills. The only thing that we should fear is fear itself. You set your own boundaries, and even your farthest regions can be crossed with facing fear." He says clearly.

"Wow. That was... a really good speech. I'm sure you'll win Katniss over with that great talent." I wink. He gapes.

"H-how did you-?" He stutters just as the door of the elevator opens. I step out, and press the button for floor twelve for Peeta.

"Even the dumbest of the dumb can tell by a simple look." I flash a wide smile, and let the doors of the elevator close once again, with Peeta alone inside. I couldn't tell his reaction from the moment I had before the door closed, but I can tell that he was pretty baffled.

I mean, come on, who wouldn't be?

The girl on fire has just met her match.

___♕___

I can't help but limp as I walk to my room in the penthouse. Our living quarters is rather big, but probably isn't as big as District one's. After all, they are the District of Luxury.

I let out a low grumble when I find that my door is locked.

"Zach!" I yell, pounding my fist on his door. But there is no reply. Where is everyone?

"Oh dear, Taylor. You were supposed to be in the elevator by now!" Heredia screeches, eyeing my parade dress. "Hurry up and change, we have to get you to District one living quarters right away."

"But why?" I ask, throwing my heels onto the couch.

"Don't you remember? Yesterday Stark and Elaina made arrangements for you to go have dinner with Enobaria, Brutus, Glimmer, Marvel, and their escort. Zach is looking for you right now, probably. But let's not waste any more time. Come, come, we have to get you into a different dress." She rushes.

"Okay..." I trail off as she unlocks my bedroom door, and pushes me in lightly.

Heredia hums to herself lowly as she digs through my closet, looking for a dress for me to wear.

"Isn't it easy to just pick a dress, put it on, and go?" I question as she tosses clothes every which way.

"No, no, no, deary. That's not the way it works." She charms in her Capitol accent. "You have to find the best look for you, and others. Others might not like what you wear, so you have to have more than one point of view on your outfit. That's why we have stylists for you here in the Capitol.

"If we let you choose your clothes, I suppose that you would all look like bafoons." She finishes.

"Yeah, we're the ones who look like bafoons." I mumble too low for Heredia to hear.

"Ahhh, this is just perfect!" She says excitedly as she stops digging, and pulls out a half shirt with a skirt.

It's a teal blue color, with circular patterns tracing the material. I nod my head.

"I love it." I tell her.

"Then put it on, we don't have time to waste." She says. I sigh.

Unfortunately, she's right. As close as the games are, I have no time to waste. Soon enough, I'll be dead in the arena.

_____