I hate this. I hate this so much. the prep team waxed my chest, which can't be as painful as what I can hear the girls going through. At least I'm done in twenty minutes. My arm and leg hair is approved to stay, but my chest hair is "lacking." My dad and brothers have hairy chests, but I just have a patch in the center. Callum use to joke that I was the neighbor's kid. Until our mom left with James, our father's best friend, he made that joke once and woke up on the floor. I hate thinking about it, but I doubt I'm his son. The thought comes and goes usually when I compare myself to my brothers, but oh well, not much I can do about it.

After my chest is cleaned up, they start on my hair. They like the color, but they want to cut it and style it, but they decide to just trim it cause I'll be wearing a hat in the parade. I'm cleaned up and ready to go pretty quickly, and I ask if I can go to the bathroom. Philip, the one that winked at me and spent some extra time working on my butt and arms, nods and points down the hall. I grab the robe, but he says it'll get dirty and that I look great so show off a bit. So I'm walking down the hall shirtless, and I'm in my underwear. As I walk down, I can hear some of the girls are still getting waxed, but the boys are mostly done It seems. I walk to the bathroom, and the door's locked, so I wait. I turn and see the boy from 2 staring at me....checking me out, maybe. Probably checking me out so he can kill me later, but I just nod my head, and he returns it and turns away. Another tribute is walking down to the bathroom, and I can tell from her gate she just got waxed, and I grin a little.

"Shut up, it's not funny," she says with a snarl.

"It's a little funny; otherwise, all of it is just sad, right? I'm Kyle, by the way," say with another laugh.

She introduces herself as Lily from District 12, "it would be funnier if I could wax their eyebrows in return, but oh well."

I laugh and hear the door unlock; out walks Titus, he has about 4 inches on me in height, and he's bigger. Even it's not solid muscle like Romulus and me. He looks me up and down and slams his shoulder into mine.

I barely react, but Lily is up in arms over it, "Hey, idiot, watch where you're going." 

I look and see the prep teams and tributes looking. Down the hall, I see the Peacekeepers coming. Titus smiles, and his teeth are yellow and crooked. Do they not brush them in 6? He grabs Lily's hair and takes a deep breath as I push him off of her and move her behind me. Romulus and the boy next to him are standing up, but the prep teams have them sit down.

The peacekeepers are here taking Titus away, and he says in a low growl to Lily, myself, and two other boys, "she smelled nice. I bet your little sister smells good too." 

I know my face shows my anger because the peacekeeper puts his hand on my bare chest, holding me back. It's official. I need to kill Titus early before he does anything to Ally or the other girls. I tell Lily to go to the bathroom. I'm good for now and walk back. I just wanted something to do anyway.

As I go, Romulus winks at me and says, "I bet we could take him," and laughs.

I look at him and say, "deal," and turn to the other boy, "you in?" 

He agrees. Romulus shakes both our hands, lingering on mine for a second longer than the other boy. It's a sign of mutual respect in the games, and I head off. Looking over my shoulder once to see, he was still watching me but turned away quickly. I may be his ally against Titus, but I'm still his competition. When I walk back in, Philip and Coral ask what happened, and I tell them everything. They love the drama but promise to keep it a secret. "

"Keep what a secret?" A voice says behind me. I turn and see a pretty woman with green hair that isn't a wig, beautiful dark skin, and a simple black suit.

"N-nothing, Portia, Kyle had an accidental run-in with another tribute coming back from the bathroom," Philip stammers out, and Coral nods quickly.

Portia's the stylist, so she's the boss. I just smile a toothless grin of sorry 'I got in trouble, but I didn't really do anything.' She smiles back and tells them to take a break, formally introduced herself, and has me stand straight, so she looks me over. 

"Where's Ally? Shouldn't she be here for this?" I ask.

"Oh, she's with Felix, the other stylist. We're a team, so our designs will complement each other, but you're still just my tribute," she replies.

"Sorry you got stuck with us; I know there are prettier tributes to dress from better districts," I say.

She stops circling and looks me right in the eyes, "l don't like false modesty, but you're genuinely modest, aren't you?"

I nod, "I don't have a lot to brag about, so why fake it," I say.

She looks me up and down again and just says, "between your heart and your body, I would say you have a lot, but you're clearly smart, so throw in that brain of yours, and you're a pretty good package."

She lightly slaps my cheeks and smiles. I smile back. I like her a lot; it's clear she knows how to read people.

"So what'll I wear on my big debut," I ask, genuinely wanting to know. She smiles and pulls in a rack of clothes.

An hour later, the prep team is back doing the makeup. I'm wearing a pair of blue overalls that seem tight and a tight silvery-blue shirt under them that lets my arms and chest stretch out and show off my muscles. She has a cowboy hat that matches the fabric and cowboy boats. My hair's combed over and cleaned up, and the makeup is light. Just enough to even out the natural summer tan on my face. They stand back, and the preps look happy, but Portia doesn't seem to love her own design.

"Turn around for me, please. Full circle. Hmmmmmm, something's wrong. Let's lose the bracelet."

I jerk my arms back and shout, "no, don't touch it," for the first time, I realize that I have a full foot on Philip cause he jumps back.

I look at Portia, "please don't take it. It's all I have of Jo....it's special to me," I say.

She nods, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean throw it away; I meant to take it off, but you keep it. There's still something out of place. Take off the shirt."

I unbutton the straps and pull the shirt off. She walks up and does one of the straps back up, and slips leftover fabric over my right forearm.

"Ok, there. I think that's perfect," she says with a smile.

"I'm naked! Aren't I supposed to match Ally?" I ask.

As I cover myself a bit, She pulls my arms down and says, "The fabric's the same. You'll be connected that way. The crowd knows your siblings. You volunteered to save her. And your strength will do that."

She finishes. Philip and Coral nod in agreement. "Honey, you're famous already; the crowd loves your story, and they'll love this. I promise," Coral adds.

I nod, and Portia tells us to head down to the chariots. On the first night of the games, all the tributes ride through the heart of the Capital. It's shown on every tv in the nation, and one hundred thousand people will be there to watch it live. We ride the chariots through the city center to the tribute center, where President Snow reads a speech opening the games. As we head out, I hear Ally talking, and I see her, the same basic outfits. She's wearing a shirt, and I'm not; that's the only real difference.

She cocks her head to the side and laughs, "what happened to your shirt, goober."

"They made two in your size, so it's on my arm here squirt," I say and stick my tongue out.

I hear a laugh behind me and see Romulus and his partner walking behind us. She's less than impressed by the situation. I'm sure he hasn't had a chance to tell her about Titus. The other boy is in front of us with Lily, so he was her district partner. They are wearing coveralls like a miner would wear, but with no sleeves. Probably not safe in a mine, I think ....only to remember I'm shirtless, so authenticity is out the window. Romulus and sour face are wearing togas and plants in their hair, looking like ancient warriors. Lily and her partner go to the left, and I see a ten next to a chariot down the way, and we turn left. Romulus goes right; he looks good. I'll give him that. Portia and Felix lead us to the chariot, and I hear people cheering for us, and I look up. Through a hole in the roof, people can look down and get a glimpse of us. I wave, and they wave back.

I kneel and point them to Ally and whisper, "the best big brother in the world is pointing to show you where they are." 

"Oh, wonderful, thank you. I was lost without you," She says back, and we laugh.

Even if this is the last days we have together, I'm happy we have them together.

Portia directs us to stand on the chariot, and she says, "smile and wave and point. Be happy—two siblings here for honor and glory. You two aren't threats to each other, so don't act like it. Ok?" We nod, and she adds, " Michele told me to remind you, Kyle....' act natural. do what you do best with Ally.' I think I know what that means but do your best," she winks, and they all leave.

"We'll see you at the tribute center," Felix adds and leaves.

" I can't believe you're shirtless; the girls back home are going to be jealous for sure," Ally giggles.

"Don't worry, the cowboy hat takes away all of my sexiness," I say with more of a groan that I expected.
I hate hats in general, but I hate cowboy hates.

"How's you feeling?" I ask her. 

"I'm nervous, but the team said everyone's talking about us, so that should help," She says with a grin.

"Who wouldn't love you with those pigtails," I joke.

Her eyes go cold, and I know she's mad, "and who wouldn't love you with you with that pretty armband," and sticks her tongue out.

We start laughing as the chariot begins moving. We're laughing out the entrance. The crowd sees real, happy smiles, and we start waving and pointing. I won't lie; it's overwhelming. I picture my brothers and friends back home watching. I imagine them cheering. I wave and smile, and they love it. We reach the tribute center and make a lap coming in front of President Snow. Ally tugs on my hand and mouths, 'pick me up' I do, and I hold her up while she sits on my shoulder, and the President starts his speech. I look around, and most of the tributes are staring at us, including Romulus and sour face; he's smiling; she isn't. Lily looks jealous, but what can I say? We're cute. I can see on the screens that most of the screen time is focused on us. I flex my arms and notice the camera zoom in more than once. The President wraps his speech, and we all clap and cheer cause we have no choice....well, they have no choice.... there are five volunteers this year, and I'm the only one from an outer district. We ride the chariots into the tribute center and get off. Portia, Felix, Gloriana, Michele, Alejandro, and even Jackson are in high spirits and jumping for joy when they see us.

"You were amazing," Michele says.

"The hat suits you," Jackson says, laughs, and taps the hat.

He seems to be happy he usually doesn't talk this much. We're heading to the elevators when we stop and see Lily, and she introduces us to Jake. We nod and say, hey. Michele introduces us to Haymitch Abernathy, who won the 50th games. I say hello, and he stares and wobbles a little bit; he seems drunk. Jackson steps between him and us, and I'm thankful for that when the doors open on our floor. We bid them good night and head in. Michele tells us to shower off and come back for dinner in 30 minutes; we'll talk strategy and watch the parade. We head off in the direction she pointed in and find two rooms made up one has a sign that says Kyle, one says Allison. We hug and part ways.

I'm happy the team used light makeup on me because I still look like me, BUT it has stayed put mostly. I hop in the shower quickly....cause I'm barely wearing clothes and realize I have no idea what these buttons do. One has a strawberry shape, which I like, and push and warm water come out with a strong strawberries' scent. I could get used to showers every day. It beats boiled water in a tub. I dry off and put on some clothes, shorts, and a tight t-shirt. I prefer this look, but having older brothers means I get their clothes and not much of a choice. I head out to dinner, and they applaud me for being the last one done, clearly Ally's idea, and we start eating.

Michele starts by talking about the week and how it goes, "so you'll have two whole days of training, Wednesday is a half-day and the second half is the private session where they score you, Thursday will be training with us, usually, interview prep, Friday is the interview day. Portia and Felix are in charge of that, so listen to them. You blew everyone away tonight."

We clap some more for them, and I put my hand on Portia's and mouth 'thank you' "when you're training, I want you two to be together but not all day. The careers need to see that she can handle herself without you, ok. Kyle, I want you to practice with the spear. A pitchfork is similar, but not the same. Work on hand to hand combat and swords or bows. That's your morning tomorrow. Ally, I want you to learn to throw a knife or a hatchet; that's your morning. I want you to learn snares, shelters, and edible foods that you can do together in the Afternoon. Make some friends. Both of you."

She directs that last part to me as I rolled my eyes. "we can't trust them. Why would we pair up," I say. 

"Kid, it's not about trusting them to the end. It's about trusting them to get to the next stage," Alejandro says, "first there is the bloodbath. Then day one. Day 2, and so on. Then a feast. Then the final whatever. And then the showdown. All the games are the same, basically. Different numbers at different points. The careers stick together until the top 6 usually. That's when more alliances break naturally; friends don't want to kill friends."

I nod and turn to Michele. "Ok, I'll try. What about Tuesday? "

"that's tomorrow's problem. Let's see how Monday goes. Eat up; the parade'll air soon," she says.

The food's fantastic. They have a salad with chicken and blue cheese, which I love but can never afford. I ask for seconds and thirds. Ally gives me hers in exchange for this orange chicken thing I didn't like. I am so full but in the right way when they start moving to the living room. Caesar Flickermen is going over the tribute's names, and for the first time, I see them all lined up.

District 1 Topaz and Bella both 18
Luxury items capital favorites 
District 2 Romulus and Aurora both 18
Quarries and peacekeepers, but no one knows that second part but us.
District 3 Hex 15 and Pearl 16
Electronics.
District 4 River and Harbor
Fishing. Finnick Odar is their mentor, and he is HOT.
District 5 Otto and Heidi both 15
Power
District 6 Titus 17 and Melissa 16
Transportation
District 7 Ax 14 and Pine 16
Lumber
District 8 Conner 14 and Bonnie 15
Textiles
District 9 Brian 14 and Jillian 16
Wheat and Corn
District 10 Kyle 18 and Allison 12
Livestock
District 11 Marcus 15 and Sage 13
Agriculture
District 12 Jake 15 and Lily 16
Coal.

Caesar's voice picks up when he talks about us. We're capital favorites along with Titus and the careers. I noticed in the chariot Melissa was doing her best to not be near him. I feel bad for her.

The parade's great to watch. Aurora and Romulus look great, and Ally and I look sweet, but I wasn't wrong. They focused on us a lot. My arms look fantastic, and I look sexy and possibly dangerous, while Ally looks sweet and innocent. We're having fun and not scared. We bid the adults good night and head to our rooms. I tell Ally she can sleep in my bed with me if she wants to later, and she nods and says maybe.

I turn and ask, " are you ok?"

She turns and runs at me and hugs my waist, " it's happening. It's real, and it's happening. What'll we do?" She says in a scared voice.

I kneel down, keeping my voice steady, "we're gonna win. One of us will win. I promise you, and I always keep my promises right."

In the end, my voice cracks, and I see Michele, Jackson, and Portia watching us, looking sad. I kiss Ally on the forehead and send her to bed, and wave at them.

"Good night, Ally," I shout and get into bed and lay there.....and I can't sleep. "What the fuck am I going to do......"

I can't pretend to try and sleep anymore. Between the energy of the day and my nerves, I can't make it happen. I remember Jackson mentioning the roof. I open my door and hear Michele and the others talking. I sneak through the roof door, and I'm on the roof looking over the Capital. It smells great up here and fresh.

That's when I hear him speak for the first time, "Hey, you can't sleep either?" I turn and see Romulus looking over the edge.

"Oh, hey. Sorry, I'll go. I didn't think anyone would be up here," I say and start to leave.

"What? No, don't be stupid. The pair from 8 or 9 were up here when Aurora and I came up. She isn't here just so you know," he says.

I must have made a face at the mention of her. "Come sit. I can't attack you until the game starts anyway, so might as well talk." 

I shrug and sit down. "So, I assume you can't sleep either?" I ask.

"No, it's just a lot of excitement and energy. I wanted to see the city before everything started." He says.

I look over the Capital. The shining city of lights and color.

I sigh, "It's a lot to take in. I miss home. We don't have cities like this, not anymore, really."

I tell him about ruins you can see from the edge of the district, "oh, we have some like that too, not too big but still there," He says. he turns and puts his back against the wall and puts his hand on mine accidentally.

I look at him for a second, and he pulls it away, "sorry for that," he mumbles.

"I don't mind," I quickly say and smile, making sure he knows I'm not offended.

He eyes me thinking about something. I look and notice his eyes have a lot of emotion in them right now. Suddenly he leans in and kisses me. Quick and forceful but still gentle.

He pulls back and stands up, "sorry. Sorry. I shouldn't have done that either. I don't know you. And I don't know if you're like me. Fuck. I'm sorry. I'm going to leave," I stand up and grab his hand.

He looks scared but stays.

I say, "I don't mind," and I lean in and kiss him this time.

Soft and sweet, just what I needed after this long year of sadness and grief.

He pulls back, "wow, I can't believe this is happening," he says.

I laugh and ask, "Was that your first kiss?"

"Well, first with a guy at least," he mumbles.

"And you?" He asks shyly.

"no," I say quickly, but add, "I had a boyfriend until last year, and someone before him, but that's another story."

We kiss, and talk a bit more on the rooftop garden, and tell him that I need to get back or I might get in trouble.

"I'll see you at training at least," he smiles and looks up at me one for time, and we kiss again, "and maybe we can meet up here tomorrow," I say.

He nods and says, "deal. Night 10. Sweet dreams."

I scoff, "wow 2, don't even know the name. I know yours. Ramulus, right?"

He laughs, "I know your name Kyle, don't worry."

"ok, good then good night, Romulus," I say, and I go down the stairs, and he heads to the elevator.

I sneak back into the apartment. The lights are off, but who knows if the checked on me. In the words of Michele, I'll make that tomorrow's problem. I lay in bed and think about him and Jonah. Jonah wasn't my first, but he was definitely my only great love, but it was nice to feel something again. I know it doesn't mean I don't miss Jonah. I know that, but I thought back to one of our many great nights together 2 years ago.
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