The 71st Hunger Games: Purity

Chapter Seven - Annie

Alberta nods her head, her mind glazing over the phrase 'tribute scores' that I threw in there, distracted by the opulence of capital food. Good, it's nice to know there's someone else here who loves a good meal. Some of the other victors stay so lean— 'watching their diet' they proclaim, but I just eat whatever appeals to me.

"Oh, and the corned beef!" Alberta sighs at the thought of it, then she looks up at me nervously. "I'm sorry Annie... I forgot, you don't eat meat..." she trails off, her hands nervously clasping together behind her back. It was as if she expected some sort of repercussions for her actions, some sort of yelling.

Instead, I merely put my hand on the small of her back, which startled her, for she was undoubtedly expecting something worse. "It's alright sweetie. I lived my whole life watching everyone around me eat meat, and it's the same at the tables here, and in the games. Hearing you talk about it is alright, don't worry." The elevator opens, and we walk out to the bottom floor.

"This is..." before I can finish my introduction, Burundi walks out of her room, her hair in a big bun on top of her head, and a large smile on her face. She embraces me quickly, her arms strong and protective, reminding me I had a friend in the midst of the monsters in the capital.

"You made it to my room," she says as we hug, and I feel her lift her arm, likely to wave at Alberta, who was standing there awkwardly, the freckles on her face standing out against her slightly red cheeks. "Now tell me, you looked darling on that chariot, but are you better at walking in heels than this one?" She points at me and laughs, which I knew was playful banter, but the look on Alberta's face that seemed to be asking me what I had to say proved she didn't get the joke.

"It's okay," I nod, encouraging her to answer Burundi in whichever way was true. "It's a joke, she's really sweet. She won't hurt you," I look over at Burundi for her confirmation, a way to assure Alberta that everything would be alright.

"Trust me, I won't hurt you. But maybe whichever sadistic, asshole did..." she trails off, taking Alberta with her into the styling room. She waves a nervous goodbye to me, and I make my way back upstairs and towards the stadium where the interviews will be held. Although I'm early, I already spot Finnick and Emilio helping Mags into a seat, and I slide in next to Finnick. Until the interviews begin we just sit in silence—our fingers interlocked, my head on his shoulder—appreciating the fact that we didn't have to talk to enjoy the moment together.

The interviews begun soon after, with the girl from one. Sparkle's sister, Shimmer. At this point she must be eighteen, a year older than her sister. Her hair sparkles just like her sisters did, and if I ignore the words she's speaking, I can almost imagine it's Sparkle up on that stage, getting a do-over, another shot at winning. So I press my fingers into my ears, blocking out the inquisitive voice of Caesar, no doubt asking her how she would honor her fallen sister in these games. It took everything in me not to fall apart right there in the audience, but I knew I had to keep it together, or I risked being deemed incompetent, losing my ability to mentor, and losing my money from the capital that helped maintain my family and helped us keep our monthly donations to the poor at home. I couldn't risk all of that just because I missed a friend I made in the games.

After she was finished, Finnick told me it's probably better that I didn't listen anyways, she was a lot more brutal and groomed to be a career than her sister was.

The consecutive districts pass by easily, where I mostly doze off, my eyes glazed over as I think of my family back home, relieved that I won't be going into the games this year, relieved that I'll be eating good food and spending time with Finnick instead of starving and running around the arena playing pretend. I don't realize quite how many tributes pass by until Finnick nudges me, pointing to Alberta up on stage. She was shaking next to Caesar, her hand threatening to drop the microphone, her knuckles white from grasping it so hard despite her shaking. I could tell his presence intimidated her just as much as Lorem's, or as any guys would. I try to catch her eyes, to convince her that it would be alright. I stare at her as hard as I possibly can, willing her to look at me, to make eye contact with me.

But her eyes stay trained to the floor.

She struggles through the interview, answering questions with "um, yes, I guess" or "I don't think so, no" or answers about how much she loves her mother. Right as her interview was ending, as I was losing hope for her, she mentions that she hopes to go home, so that her and her mother can sing together again. Good job Alberta. The audience "awes" collectively, and I know that she tugged at at least a few heartstrings with that last comment. Hopefully it'll be enough to get her through.

Hopefully.

Lorem comes into the stage next, his curly hair straightened and slicked back, which emphasizes his chiseled face and cruel eyes even more. The audience applauds him as he comes out, and I can almost feel him glaring at me, his evil eyes baring into my soul. He wasn't, for the record, staring at me, instead his eyes were trained on Caesar, answering his questions with short, hard answers that further solidified the thought in the audiences minds that he was a brutal man that was going to win these games.

I tried not to pay attention to him, or to any of the other interviews, and just wish this all away, to be back in our district four floor, watching the score results in Finnick's arms, with Alberta sitting next to me, and sitting far from everyone else. I think Finnick could tell I was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable by the mass amount of people in the audience, because he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, whispering in my ear that everything was going to be over soon. I tried to focus on his voice—soft, convincing, sweet—and not on the parade of tributes on stage, all claiming that they should, or will, be the victor of this years games.

Finally, the tributes begin to let out, and the audience follows suit, heading back up to our floor for dinner and the score results. I sit down beside Alberta, my hand rubbing her back softly. "You did a great job today, good job bringing up the music, I could tell the audience felt something" I assured her, a smile on my face, to try and convince her everything would be alright, even though she might die tomorrow morning.

I think Alberta was trying to ignore the fact too, because she simply nodded at my statement and continued to shove food down her throat, her fingers still shaking as she held the fork. Even though Lorem made me nervous too, I knew Alberta needed support much more than I needed it. I kept my hand on the small of her back while I ate with my other hand, which was relatively easy considering I was eating pasta with pink sauce, one of my favorite dishes that I had this time last year.

After dinner was finished, we sat in front of the T.V, watching who got what scores:

Sparkle, district one, 10.
Feroroch, district one, 10.
Elliera, district two, 10.
Hunter, district two, 8.

The district three tributes were forgettable, but I made sure to pay close attention to what Alberta and Lorem got.

Alberta, district four, 5.
Lorem, district four, 10.

Cero, Emilio and Trident all cheered for Lorem, embracing him in the belief that district four might have another victor this year. I turned instead to Alberta, giving her a tight hug and convincing her that she would do fine anyways, I got a low score and did just fine in the games.

As we were talking, Velerio pointed up at the screen with a confused look on his face. "Who is that?" He asks, pointing at the face of the girl Johanna Mason, from district seven. Although it was normal for people from the lower districts to get low scores, it wasn't usual for them to get scores this low. The later districts were seemingly less prepared, they were less fed, living in poverty, and typically living in conditions that hurt them more than helped them in the games, something that I recognized as I visited the districts during my tour.

But for as long as I can remember, I don't think anyone in the games has gotten a 3.

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hey guys!! how are you doing? im just editing up the chapters that i have currently, before i post write chapters about the actual games! i hope everyone likes the split POV, because it will give you guys the opportunity to see different sides of the games, and also two completely opposite people.
- hannah :)