My legs are shaking. I am waiting in the dark room again for Shade to come out with my parade dress. I'm not really focusing on that, though. I'm thinking about my ring inspired interview dress. Then, Shade prances in with something behind his back. I smile and he sets the box with the dress on the counter. He does my makeup and hair the way it was on the reaping. Two Dutch braids and natural makeup. The only difference I can see between myself now and myself during the reaping is that Shade used a lot of eyeliner to represent the tunnels and stones and masons, just like the District 12 tributes. He puts some glitter under my eyelids and then slips the dress on me. When I open my eyes, I don't see myself. "You like it?" Shade asks.
"I......." I reply. "I'm.... speechless...." I finish quietly.
"Well, I'm glad you like it," Shade says in a singsong voice. The astonishing dress had a collar at the top that was dark black. It was sleeveless and faded into a grayish white. The bottom portion was fluffy and puffy, it too started black and faded into a grayish color. Ash. I love it.
I was then called to join Max. Max has a suit on which was colored like mine. His blond hair was slicked back. Trina gives us thousands of air kisses as we got on the chariot. My stomach churned as I nervously played with my ring.

Across from us, a blond haired, flawless girl laughs and points to our clothes as if her's was better. I mean, her dress was silk and white. It had no straps and ended at her thighs. It was beautiful for if we were at home, but boring compared to our Capitol clothes. Her hair was absolutely astonishing. It was long and wavy, with luxurious pink tips. This girl's features scream one thing; a rich volunteer. The male tribute from District 1, the same district as her, was tall and buff. He was about 18, and looked intimidating. His blond hair was also slicked back and he wore a white polo shirt with a tie, a pair of tight white jeans to match, and a smirk. They were talking and laughing. As soon as the male spotted my tomato red face and balled up fists, he tightened his jaw and rolled up his sleeves. I take a deep breath and turn around, only to see another girl from District 4 with a tight teal dress and fishnet tights. The redhead smiles at me and waves, and I do the same back. At least someone won't try to kill me in the arena.

"Hi! I'm Cocoa Shears. I like your dress!" she delicately compliments.

"Why thank you! I've always wanted to have red hair!" I exclaim back. It is true; Emma's natural hair is red. I always liked it, but she denied it. One day, her Uncle flew in from the Capitol with blond hair dye for Emma, about a year ago. She talked about him a lot; how he was the owner of the biggest hair dye company in Panem. So Emma just dyed her hair like that. Its been that way for the past year.

When I turn back around, Max is shouting at the District 1 tributes, and their faces look as red as a ghost pepper, embarrassed by being yelled at and scolded by a 13 year old. I stare at the flawless 16 year old girl with my arms crossed and mouth, "Who's laughing now?" And smirk. Her face turns even more red and I can see the veins and muscles tensing up in her fragile little arms. She might look skinny, but she's strong. After 16 years of intense hammering and digging, I've become stronger than any other girl in District 2. She lunges at me and lands on top of me, despite how petite she is compared to me, even though I'm the height of an average 16 year old girl. She grits her teeth as she snaps the heel off her stilettos and points the sharp side to my throat. Her "heels" which are now flats are digging into my wrists. She's cutting off the circulation to my shoulder. Out of rage, I push up and slam her into the ground, reversing the effects. I push my boots onto her wrists and block her windpipe in the spot that won't kill her, but will hurt her. "Don't. Touch. Me. Or. Max. Or. Else!" I snarl. Her eyes widen and she nods as I let go of her. She scrambled back to her chariot and shivers in fear while her fellow tribute tries to cheer her up and sends me an evil glare. I roll my eyes and chortle.

Georgia, Shade, and Spade (Max's stylist) walk in. Shade and Spade desperately try to smooth out my dress as Georgia scolds me. I hang my head in shame as she wishes me good luck and the chariot starts rolling. The gray horses that pull our chariot trot on beat with the drums. Max and I wave, staring at all the people who are throwing roses at our fabulous clothes. I fake smile and grumble under my breath until it was over, just like when we were arriving. All the chariots lined up on a humongous patch of cement, and President Snow walks out. "Hello Panem," he starts. "Today, we will be celebrating the purpose of our districts and letting tributes participate in the parade," he says. I tune out the rest, it's boring. The next thing you know, there is a round of applause and we are rolled back inside. Georgia squeals and hugs me.

Athens laughs and fist bumps Max. Trina jumps up and down as Shade and Spade congratulate us. I grin from ear to ear as we board back onto the elevator. Tomorrow training starts. I'm so nervous. When we get back, another Avox is placing a the last dish on the table. Everyone slumps down on the couch as Max and I go change. I slip into a pair of blue shorts and a blue tank top after I shower. I let my hair down again and anxiously try to scrub the nail paint off in a 2 hour long effort, but it doesn't work. I sit on my bed and pick up the ring from the nightstand and slide it onto my finger. I slide on a pair of fluffy blue slippers and think about the fight that happened this morning. I just made an enemy. I'm probably her biggest target now. I sigh and head to the table. I stare at my dish and Trina raises her eyebrows at me. She shakes her head and goes on eating. I look at Georgia and try to copy the way she eats the semi circle shaped shell with veggies inside. When I take a bite out of my food, Trina tells me that it's called a taco. "Then I LOVE tacos!" I yell with food in my mouth.

That night I tell Georgia about the fight, and she says two sentences that scar me for the rest of the night:

The Hunger Games is made for you to make enemies. If you can't deal with that fact, you definitely won't come out the same, if you even come out.

Authors Note: OMG! Thank you all for your endless support and love. I'm so sleepy! This chapter took me forever! Once again, thank you for reading my book and I appreciate it. This chapter is dedicated to my loyal friend who introduced my to Wattpad, BellaMoon338.

Thanks!😊😊😎

— 101GirlOnFire101