PLATINUM • THE HUNGER GAMES ²

| 12. JEALOUSY IS ALWAYS SELECTIVE

BOOK TWO
CHAPTER TWELVE

( JEALOUSY IS ALWAYS SELECTIVE )

     "COREY, YOU LOOK AMAZING," I laughed, staring at his outfit with an essence of awe. Whether that essence of awe was latched onto by humour, was debatable.

     He chuckled in response, showing me a half twirling motion in his costume. "I wish I could say the same for you!"

     "What are we even supposed to be?" I asked, turing to Saffra with a grin plastered onto my face. Her hand raced through the back of her hair in nervousness, unsure what we were actually dressed as. By the end, she shrugged and walked off as if was none of her business whatsoever.

     As Corey continued to mock his Parade outfit, I trailed my gaze around the backstage room. It was scarily noisy. Victors, Tributes and stylists lined the room, each of their voices adding to one surplus of sound. I scanned each face carefully, noticing who was around us and who was particularly an enemy. Spotting Johanna wasn't very difficult. Her costume stood out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of us. The mixture of green and brown painted across her dress blurred my vision slightly. It wasn't a pleasant sight at all.

     I pivoted on my feet once more, observing Bradley's figure in the near distance chatting to someone else. By the looks of things, he was guiding the person towards Corey and I, extending his arm to point to us. Within seconds, they had reached the side of our chariot and I could easily pick out who the extra person was.

     "Peeta," Bradley introduced, "This is Silver and Corey."

     "Can we trade outfits?" Corey asked, interrupting whatever the new Victor was about to say. His arm extended to shake his whilst he talked, almost as if it was Corey's usual greeting for complete strangers. Peeta appeared puzzled by the gesture at first, but as his eyes met mine for reassurance towards Corey's sanity he could clearly tell that he was in fact joking.

     "I'm not quiet sure Cinna would like he idea," he admitted, smiling purely. "Especially when you're wearing that."

     I peered down at the fabric of my outfit. The dress wore itself a thick fur like texture, patterned with those seen on cows, and a large ebony belt lined my waist, which was obviously powered by something. Corey's matched mine identically, instead wearing a suit. It was baggy, but bearable; almost like they were sets of pyjamas.

     "What's wrong with it?" I mocked, unsure whether the idea of clothing was Saffra's or not.

     "Everything," Peeta stated, tucking away a laugh or two in his smile. I exchanged one back in awkwardness, my head unsure whether he was threatening us or trying to be friendly. His history also gave me nerve. He'd been a Victor under suspicious circumstances and I hadn't decided if I could trust somebody like that yet. Although, I could feel his smile genuinely beam pure innocence alongside his actions. My mind cleared slightly as I began to remove the worry from circulating around inside.

     We parted ways after talking a bit more. The subject of Katniss Everdeen came up once or twice during the conversation and I couldn't stop myself from noticing that he was slowly becoming more reserved. Corey was curious whether she would be willing to team up with anyone, but Peeta revealed none of her secrets before he returned to her side. Bradley almost pestered him too, supporting Corey in his quest to find out more about the pair, however their mission failed. I hid behind my elders for the majority; frankly too scared to misjudge Peeta's situation and come across as an ignorant spectator.

     By soon, the overhead speaker rang through the Remake Centre, calling out to the participating Tributes to take their places on the chariots. Corey took my hand, pulling me onto the ebony painted (not bronze like two years ago) carriage in a rush to meet our deadlines on time. Bradley stood beside us, arms stretched out along the length of the chariot in laziness, striking us with a sickeningly sarcastic grin from ear to ear. He was definitely glad that he wasn't in our position at that moment. Especially seeing that our outfits made us appear like shrivelled cattle carcasses.

     Within seconds, the doors locked in front of us dragged open and District One slipped into the blinding light. Corey's grip on mine tightened, his palms sweaty with nerves. Turning to my left in a desperate attempt to look around at my opponents, those piercing blue eyes of Bradley's reached the gaze of mine.

     "You two are the most innocent beings I've ever met," he said slyly. "Make them believe that you're goddamn scared."

     He seemed as if he was about to announce something else, but our chariot pulled forward almost immediately beforehand, jolting him back away from the movement. I swiftly removed my eyesight from latching onto his in uncertainty and faced ahead with a slight amount of courage. It lacked in itself significantly, although it ran perfectly aside the theme.

     The humming of music hit my head as more Districts were tugged into the illumination of the Capitol. Drums echoed furiously as we were carried further forward, the beats biting away at my concentration. Once Corey and I reached the light, our eyes were blinded by the shine of skyscrapers and glitter radiating from the audience. The path lined out was far larger than ones that I had ever seen prior. The venue was outdoors for once, crowded by the Capitol townspeople eager to take a look at the Quarter Quell participants, screaming at them in a race to receive the attention of what celebrities we had become.

     I peered down at the itchiness of my costume for a mere split-second, taking in the stupidity of our attire. The belt around my waist flares in a hurry, burning out the energy inside of it in a heinous endeavour to steal District Twelve's idea from the previous Parade. I had become incapable to predict what I should have done next. My eyes wandered around the audience hurriedly, flickering between each colour, worried.

     Suddenly, as we'd crossed the line of President Snow's pedestal and looped around the City Circle, the Capitol citizens joined together in an uproar of chanting. They were screaming Katniss Everdeen's name, each time filled with as much excitement as the next.

     I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of rage consume me. It rippled up my body in a form of jealously, causing my head to whip around and find the person herself. Her head held high in the air, eyes sent forwards into the backs of Chaff and Seeder - the two District Eleven tributes - like daggers, and flames soaring out the fabric of her dress in anger too. Her rage was probably just as fulfilled as mine as she glided past Snow without flinching in fear whatsoever. The peculiar mix of blue and green in her eyes appeared unforgiving, and it looked as if she'd loved it.

     Corey sent me a sharp squeeze on my wrist to snap me out of my hateful glares. As I turned back to the usual view of reality, the doors of the Training Centre close back to enclose us away from the gaze of Capitol citizens. Both Bradley and Saffra were waiting inside, one with a pleased, but petite smile, the other with a stretched grin. It takes a while for our conversation to materialise after we become grouped up once more. Bradley's palm connected with Corey's shoulder as they began to talk, rekindling their broken friendship from the last couple of days over the childish nature of his outfit and smile light up booth their faces in a matter of minutes.

     It puzzled me how much they'd fallen apart from each other then miraculously restitched their bond. However, the realisation struck me as we travelled back to our District apartment. Bradley was the fading darkness and Corey was the beaming light. Together, they made a mesmerising sunset.

     No other Tribute would have been able to change that, but me. I was the tide washing the colour away in the horizon. I didn't know that I was the stone outweighing the perfect balance in the friendship. I was always the odd one out.

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