The Hunger Games of Bengui

Chapter 8

I felt the cold breeze run over my bare arms as my blanket got ripped off my body.

"Rise and shine, Ms. Monroe! Today is your special day, we get to pamper you! I've brought my two assistants with me, Chestnut and Cocoa." I lifted my head up and noticed that they were also in bright kooky clothes as well, oh Capitol ladies. Chestnut was in blue attire while Cocoa in purple. The trio looked like giant teletubbies.

"What time is it?" I grumbled, my head crashing into my pillow once more.

"Just the crack of dawn, 5 am! Aw come on, Cara. Pampering will take 1-2 hours anyways, and you've got a busy day for your first training session, you've only got two weeks here, make it or break it! Plus, you've got to present your talents next week to the coaches, oh so much work! Come on let's go already," she said, grabbing my hands and hauling me out the door.

I had no idea where she had taken me, because I had kept my eyes closed the entire way, too tired to open them. When I finally opened my eyes, I looked around. I was in a dressing room, with one wall devoted to sewing and the other filled with frilly dressed and skirts. There was a giant sewing machine laying on the desk sitting by the wall. The other two walls were devoted for makeup, dressers and tables and mirrors, makeup sets sprawled all over. I was sitting on a white reclining chair, in nothing but a robe. A man appeared from behind the dressing divider.

"Hello Cara, my name is Cinna, and I'll be your designer and makeup artist throughout the games. I've already examined you...while you were unconscious... You seem healthy, not too thin not too thick, your hair could use a little work...But I'm assuming you've never gotten pampered back home haven't you?" I nodded my head.

"That's what I thought." He called in Figs and her crew, and they all started working on my body. Plucking, waxing, creaming, concealing. Anything, you name it. Cinna came back at the end, and finished off with a neutral makeup look and fancy lip balm. I cringed at the taste. He tied my hair up in a pony tail, leaving my bangs out to frame my face.

"There, now you look so much better!" Figs exclaimed, her two friends nodding and agreeing. Cinna presented me my training outfit, a short sleeved collared black shirt with grey and red details on the shoulders and underarms, with the printed number '12' on each sleeve and the back. The pants that came with the outfit were the same black, grey, and red, patterned, with stripes on the side of the legs. When I finished putting the outfit on, Cinna handed me some shiny black combat boots and walked out.

"Oh, good luck honey, we'll be watching you train." I felt even more pressured to do well now...

When I entered the training room, Lily was sitting on the floor with Kristen, doing leg stretches. I scurried over to join them, seeing that they were also in the same outfit that I was in. the only difference being the district number badges.

"Good morning!" they both chorused.

"Morning," I squinted back. Oh, it was still so early. 7 am and I still hadn't had any breakfast. Kristen switched legs and she leaned over to touch her toes.

"So uh, why are we doing this?" I asked.

"It's to help us run later. A few minutes of this everyday, and we'll be sprinting like it's nobody's business in there," Lily giggled.

"I think we should try to make more friends, get more allies. My mentor says the best thing to do in the arena is making sure someone has your back," Kristen said, switching legs once more.

"I still haven't seen my mentor yet..." I sighed.

"Well she is Katniss Everdeen, she's loads busy." Kristen said.