Sorry about the delay, school is acting up right now.
The following day wasn't all that exciting. We met up at the training station like we had been doing over the past few days. Cato had congratulated everyone on their score while I just gave them a quick nod, it was good enough I suppose. The difference between today and the other days was the fact that we did not train. Instead of training we observed every movement of the other tributes, to get some kind of idea how they would play the games. My eyes were glued on the girl on fire though. She avoided all the weapon stations and only hit the survival ones, odd. How did a girl who refused to use any kind of weapons manage to get an 11? It didn't make any sense.
We came up with a simple strategy for the bloodbath. Everyone would run to the cornucopia and grab a weapon. We would hold each other's backs and kill everyone who was dumb enough to be in our way. I had to get my hands on the knives no matter what - if someone in our alliance died because of it then so it'll be. It wasn't a very complex strategy but it was good enough since we knew what to do when we got there. I couldn't wait to scratch my knife over Katniss's face. The thought of making her suffer made me smile to myself. I knew everyone in district 2 would be cheering on me while I did it.
They let us out of training much earlier that day. It was our final day in the capitol and tonight was the interviews. We would spend almost half the day only preparing for it. I hated those interviews, everyone was always so fake. The table was set with every imaginable dish and I quickly grabbed my favourites before Cato could eat them all up. Everyone had been in such a good mood today it was almost a bummer the interviews would fuck it up.
Enobaria called me in after dinner. We were supposed to find a good show angle for me. Obviously I had to keep my confidence and arrogance since the stunt I pulled on reaping day. Enobaria did however think I should try to act a little bit cute and charming, it would help with the sponsors she said. I totally refused with the cute act, there was no way in hell I would do that. The charming part was more manageable and I agreed to it after some convincing from her side.
Enobaria was satisfied with me after a while and sent me over to the prep team. They were waiting for me impatiently even though I wasn't even late. The prep team started pulling my hair - or styling it like some people like calling it. It hurt and I couldn't wait for the arena when no one would touch me except for when I killed them. They managed to style my hair in the ugliest way possible. I really did not understand their fashion sense in this city. My prep team of course had to put some makeup on and I would lie if I said it didn't feel nice when all the different brushes massaged my face. Thankfully they only applied some mascara, lip gloss and eyeshadow. It wasn't much but I actually felt really pretty. I wished they hadn't given me the stupid hairstyle because maybe all this wasn't that bad.. It was nice being in the spotlight without having to pull every muscle in your body to get there.
My main stylist Paris entered the room about forty minutes after the prep team had started with me. "Hello Clove, how are you feeling today? Nervous about your interview?" he asked me kindly while fiddling with a ball of yarn. He had a calming effect on me somehow. "I'm feeling confident about it" I only said back. Paris nodded slowly and watched me up and down. He seemed to like the job the prep team had done. "That's great. Now you only have to get dressed and you're all set" he said. Paris held a poofy dress in front of me and I almost felt like laughing at him. The dress was so light orange it almost appeared pink, it was also strapless and very long. I would have to hold it up to not trip while walking. It was the ugliest and most impractical dress I have ever seen in my entire life. It only got worse when he handed me a pair of heels in a matching colour. I stared blankly at him for a good minute. He couldn't be serious, could he? It was when he took a step forward and handed me the shoes I realised he was in fact not kidding. He then did something that actually shocked me. The man turned around and let me change in peace without him watching me. No one else had done that since I arrived and I wondered what his reason was. Did he actually have some manners? Was he raised by someone from the districts? Or maybe he just liked boys and was disgusted when he looked at me.
I quickly got dressed in the hideous dress and stepped into the uncomfortable heels. It was very wobbly at first but I quickly got the hang of it after all that practice from the parade. I told him he could turn around again and the look on his face was pure proudness. He looked so happy and proud of me that I didn't dare to say anything bad about his creation. Paris gave me a huge smile while I walked in a circle around him. He then laid a hand on my shoulder and said "Good luck up there, not that you will need it". I gave him half a smile before he left me alone in the room.
Cato greeted me as I stepped into the living room. He had been done for quite some time already. "About time you got your ass ready. We're gonna be late if you don't hurry up" he said and almost sounded the tiniest bit stressed. Cato wore a black costume which actually suited him very well. He looked massive in it and the dark colour really brought out the blue in his eyes. "Oh please don't act like the only reason you're ready is because how desperate you are to see Glim Glam in a sexy dress" I said while rolling my eyes. He only grinned and shook his shoulder. "I mean true, but you're still slower than my grandma" he said and jumped away when I tried to hit him. What a dumbass.
We walked together to where the interviews were supposed to take place. Unfortunately for me the only ones who were already there were Glimmer and Marvel. I almost dropped my jaw when I saw Glimmer's dress. It was almost completely see-through except for the private parts which were covered with golden silk fabric. Her golden hair was curled and was flowing around her shoulders. I could almost see Cato drooling even though I was walking behind him. She turned around and gave us her famous shimmering smile and started walking towards us. The blonde girl gave Cato a hug but he decided to pick her up like she was air and spin her around. "Wow, look at you Glim Glam. That dress is super sexy". Really? He really used that nickname in front of her? I knew he only used it to bug me but she didn't seem to appreciate it that much either. To my surprise - or well not really, it was Glimmer after all - the girl peeked out from behind Cato and said "Hi Clove". I rolled my eyes out of old habits. She may have fooled Cato but she's not going to fool me. It's obviously all an act, why would she else try so hard to make someone who hates her hate her less?
Glimmer walked back to her spot first in line as the other tributes started to fill the room. I observed every single one of them. No one really stood out to me. Marvel was wearing a hideous light blue suit. Poor boy really got the worst stylist this year. Marina, the only career this year from 4 was wearing a blue strapless dress. It looked decent, I've seen worse. The little girl from 11 was wearing gossamer gown dress completed with small wings on her back. She looked annoyingly cute and innocent in it. I was almost certain which angle her mentor chose to go with. My eyes stopped at the pair from 12. They wore matching clothes just like they had done in the parade. I started grinding my teeth. She was really going to fuck up the interviews for me too huh?
Suddenly the speakers introduced Caesar on the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, our master of ceremonies - Caesar Flickerman". He was currently wearing a blue wig which matched his sparkling suit. "Welcome welcome welcome welcome to the 74th annual Hunger Games" he spoke as the crowd started cheering. This is their favourite part of the year. Caesar was a good host but most interviews bored me to death. I knew every single one of the tributes faked it. Caesar started introducing Glimmer to the crowd after a while of talking about something completely irrelevant. "So our first tribute is from district 1" he said and someone in the crowd was heard cheering loudly. I watched as Glimmer had turned around and was facing Marvel. She hugged him before stepping onto the stage and I felt like puking. How isn't Cato bothered by them? She's literally flirting with everything that moves. I turned my head to watch Cato behind me. He looked totally unbothered just as I had thought, he was rather smirking like a lovesick puppy over her. Disgusting.
"District 1. We have a lovely young woman, and her name is.. Glimmer. Glimmer. Let's see if she does indeed shine. Let's have a warm round applause for Glimmeeer" Caesar said as Glimmer walked into picture. I loved how everyone made fun of her name. She swayed her hips ten times the amount she usually did and she had a huge smile glued on her face. The smile was her signature move and I knew they would remember her as "the girl with the shimmering smile". "Hiii" she said and waved to the crowd. Her voice was so high pitched it almost hurt my ears. I had noticed during the week how her voice usually did that when she got nervous. It was usually like that when Cato was near her or talked with her. "Look at you. Look at you" Caesar said while walking in a circle around her and looking at her like a predator. "Well that is quite an outfit, don't you think?" he continued. "Yes Caesar and it feels good too" she said with a much lower voice this time. I knew she tried to sound sexy and I bet most of the viewers would believe her act. "It does" Caesar said and then tried to touch her dress. I started grinding my teeth again at the sight. Glimmer playfully slapped his hand as she said "Baaad" with her high pitched voice. I rolled my eyes, she was really trying to seduce that dickhead too? She was such an ass-kisser. "Oh oh you mean it feels good on you, aren't you? I'm sorry. I almost got myself into trouble there. Bad boy, bad boy" Caesar laughed when she had rejected him. Glimmer laughed with him and twirled in her proactive dress. Everyone seemed to love her lush and sexy appearance. "Slap my hand" Caesar said while holding his hand in front of Glimmer. She slapped it and for the millionth time gave a high pitched laugh. I can't believe they didn't see the fakeness behind it. Instead the crowd started to cheer louder than before. Thankfully they stopped with their sensual game and sat down on the white chairs. "So Glimmer, Glimmah, are you ready?" Caesar said. I just knew she was burning inside with all the nicknames today, it was quite funny. "Yes Caesar I am" she responded to him, this time with nothing but confidence. This was the Glimmer I had been talking to.
The rest of the interview was frankly boring, and it didn't get much better when Marvel stapled onto the stage for his interview. Poor boy had no idea what was going on half the time. He joked with Caesar and noticed how the crow seemed to really like him. "Why have you always wanted to be here, what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses and how do you feel about the competition?" Caesar asked him. "Well, ever since I was a little kid I'd watched these games. And I would see someone kill someone else I just thought, that's me. My dad was a Hunter and I just remember I've always wanted to volunteer for these games and it it really goes to show that if you apply yourself and if you focus that all your dreams can come true" Marvel rambled. I just had to laugh how absolutely nothing of that made sense. Well it did make sense with the killing part but he didn't explain it very well.
It was my turn after Marvel. I took a deep breath and collected my thoughts as Caesar introduced me by saying "Now from district 2, another volunteer. Please welcome Clove". The crowd started cheering loudly and I walked upon the stage with a smile. This was my dream, this was a part of what I've been training my whole life to do, this was my purpose. I held my dress so I wouldn't step on it and prayed to not trip because of the stupid heels. Caesar greeted me with a kiss on my hand. I had to use all my self-control to not wipe it off on his suit and slap his face. He gesticulated for me to sit down on the chairs, so I did. They were quite uncomfortable and the dress made me sit completely straight. I locked my hands in my lap and tried to look somewhat sophisticated. Caesar pointed at me and said "I have heard you are quite facile with the knife". I nodded at him with a confident smirk while saying "I'm the best". He almost sounded surprised when he said "really?". That one word started something in me. He didn't believe I was good enough, just like no one else ever did. I will show them how good I am, it was the whole reason I even volunteered to begin with. They were all underestimating me because of what? Was I too small for them to win? Was I too young to win? Or maybe they doubted me for being a girl just like my parents did. "I could kill you from clear across the stage" I told him with no emotion. I could easily do it if I had any of my knives with me. It would probably not be appreciated by many, but I could. Caesar almost looked frightening and I smiled. He had it coming for him. The rest of the interview went by quickly and I don't remember much from it after the whole killing thing.
I tried to get my calm back after the interview. Enobaria had come up to me and she looked really pleased with it. I had played it perfectly with just enough cockiness. It felt really good after Enobaria had talked to me but unfortunately I had already missed Cato's whole interview, I had no doubts it went well though since I had heard the crowd cheering multiple times. I didn't really care how it went for the other tributes. They wouldn't get as many sponsors as us anyway.
My good mood disappeared completely when the girl from 12 stepped onto the stage. She acted so innocent and confused but I knew it was an act since she got that 11 yesterday. No way she can be that innocent and get such a high score. It only got worse when she decided to twirl around in her dress which caused the bottom fabric to catch fire. She really was "the girl on fire" now. The crowd went completely mad and I felt like sticking my knife in all of their throats to make them shut up. I really thought it was finally over when the boy gave us all a surprise. He told Caesar he has had a crush on Katniss for years now. The "star-crossed lover trope" was enough to know no one would remember me. They would get all the sponsors, because who wasn't rooting for them to be the finalist and have to kill one another? It would be the perfect ending for the games. Unfortunately for them... I was going to kill them both, very slowly and painfully.