It really doesn't matter to me if her surname is Sparkles, it doesn't give this ludicrous stylist an excuse to dress me up to match her personality. It makes me wonder; do - or did - my sisters have treatment like this every day? Or we're they allowed to show natural beauty?
"Keep still," the stylist grunts, tugging at parts of my tuxedo that don't need tweaking. Then again, I'm no perfectionist and I would happily waltz onto the stage in jeans and a black shirt or something. Formal attire isn't my thing.
Then again, what is my thing? Personality wise, my mentor and I discovered etiquette doesn't exist within the shell I've created - nor does anything I can give, show off to the Capitol. All I do is flaunt around, wanting to destroy anything insignificant or provoking.
As he tugs at my collar for the fifth time, he finally gives me a satisfactory smirk. My attitude may do nothing for me in terms of gaining sponsorship, but my appearance could greatly help me out.
Do I even want to go home though? I don't know anymore. Take everyone out, that's all I wanna do. Heartless, but the truth is never a heartwarming story, is it?
As the twenty four of us line up, waiting for Miss Sparkle to drag on; waiting around and listening to the voices of the stereotypical Careers and weaklings with sob stories drone on is excruciatingly painful; if one of them tries to make a speech before they kill me, I'll kill myself, put myself out of this misery I face right now.
After my District partner, Willow the weak waste of oxygen, is done babbling on about world peace and how much she misses her family, she's forced away from the spotlight by Sequin herself. "Now," Sequin smiles. "The heart and sole of Nine has been interviewed; let's take a gander at Nine's other half. Virtuously strong and gallantly courageous, we have Cloud Maize, everyone!"
This comfortable yellow-orange - almost golden - coloured suit I wear shines and shimmers as the light reflects down onto the sequins and sparkles glued onto my attire, leaving the walls dotted in lighter circular shapes; the follow me as I walk to meet Sequin.
"Good evening!" She squeals, forcing me to stare into her - may I say, gorgeous - turquoise eyes; they sparkle under the spotlights the way my suit does. A golden suit for a golden guy. "How are you this evening?"
Egotistical, yet bubbly, naive. I've been informed that she and Talon Sharp are closer to each other than the cannons after the bloodbath, so if I sharpen my tongue and cut her, Talon will sharpen his knife and cut my neck. "I'm very decent," I say, trying not to let the obnoxious side of me rule over. "How are you?"
Immediately, I can tell we're going to be in for a flirtatious time. "Oh, honey," she says, giggling as she breathed in. God, I hate that sound. "I'm absolutely splendid, fabulous!" Part of me thinks she's too posh for his, another part of me imagines her as someone who gets drunk and let's responsibilities fly out of the window...
"Cloud," she smiles. The only truth behind this interview is the glint of content in her eyes. "How are,you liking the Capitol?"
It's a nightmare, it's all I've wanted to destroy for over ten years. My sisters are here and I wanna see them. Why didn't they ever contact us? Why are they still here if they aren't on television anymore?
But I refrain from saying that. "It's amazing. Food at your side whenever you require, a comfortable and safe place to sleep," I babble, seeing the abashed look originally on Sequin's face turn into a calmer, tranquillised one. My mouth could be dripping with liquid Zyklon B right now for all I know; toxic lies. "I feel reposed being in my apartment, exhilarated being in the training grounds."
Cheers spread around, but they're quiet enough for Sequin to continue her questions. "So Cloud," she says; formally addressing me makes me nervous. "What do you miss most back home?"
Nothing. I hate everyone.
This answer is slightly more honest than the last one, but I'm still not truthful. "My family, I guess." That's a lie, or three quarters of a lie - I miss Zea a little bit and I know that if I made it out of this hellhole, myself, her and her boyfriend Barley can live together in the Victor's Village, safe and out of reach. That's if she doesn't become a pretentious idiot halfway through the games, that is possible. "And the work." No, I hated the work. Every day, doing the game stuff and gaining nothing but a backache and impatience.
"Who stands out the most this year?"
Now I wish I'd tuned in more slightly, let the mumbles form into words. Who is the biggest competition? Who poses as a large threat to me? Who forces the vigorous me to cower away slightly? "Bryan?" My voice comes across as slightly perturbed, misleading. It's not like he's that big of a problem, but I know the sooner he's out the way, the safer I am towards the end.
"Are they your biggest threat?" Sequin asks, pursing her lips as she flicks her hair.
Nodding, I breathe in. "Yeah," I let out the breath in a sigh. "Although not by too much. In all honesty, other than the Career pack, I'm not feeling threatened. Some years, I've seen outer laying districts dominate in terms of performance and appearance."
"Why?"
Why? Because he's this year's alpha male, right? "He just has the ability, you know? We see them every year. Both from One and Two have the ability to slit someone's throat in their sleep without disturbing another; it makes me slightly envious," I admit. "But if I take them down, I think I'll have an even bigger chance?"
"How much of a chance do you think you have?" Sequin asks, firing questions from left and right. It stresses me out, but as long as I'm pleasing the Capitol, keeping myself out of dare, I'll be okay. No one will pull a trigger next to my temple.
I can't help but shrug. "Quite a big one," I say, coming across as slightly arrogant. Not that it matters; the Capitol citizens adore domineering, haughty personalities. "I'm certainly not the weakest one here, I'll admit that one."
Sequin nods, looking at me in the eyes again. As she flicks her pink bangs out of her eyes, she asks a question I could answer ten times over: "Who do you think the weakest tribute is?"
"Is?" I say. She must mean 'are', right? "Look, I'm not gonna point out names, but face it: Careers, people like myself and those couple of underdogs are the only ones making it to the top eight," I point out, biting my tongue only to a certain extent. "I couldn't pin point just one person," I say softening the harshness of my voice. That was a little crude of me, I'll admit.
She nods, leaning closer to me; catching a whiff of her clingy perfume, I suppress a cough, not wanting to stand myself up; also not wanting to act atrocious and have myself slain. "What gives you an advantage over these weaker ones?" She asks, twirling the long pink stands of hair between painted nails: alternate, neon yellow and navy blue.
"I'm brutal," I say, flexing my muscles towards the crowd. This is me, this isn't a sugar coated sweetheart; this is Cloud. "Unlike most, I'm not afraid to take a life. Callous, vigorous, I'm not hesitant to fight or brawl."
"Do you have any weaknesses, fears?" Sequin asks. No dismal feelings surface. "What are your biggest ones?"
"My weakness is that I can be reckless," I admit. Not that it matters - I'm the biggest chance at achieving victory for Nine since the last Victor. "But I don't have any real fears, I guess?" This confused feeling swept over me at that point, flooding me with weird thoughts. "A fear," I say, sighing. "Could I count early death? I wanna make it in the games."
But I don't give a damn about going home.
"So," Sequin coos, continuing to twist her hair further and further. It's already curly, why does stephe need to spiral it further? "Why do you deserve to win?"
I don't.
"Because I have what it takes to win," I state. "Think about all those Victors who win by chance; I could storm the arena and I deserve the win I'm gonna receive." Am I being too arrogant? "This isn't a game of luck, this is skill based. If you don't have the courage to pick up a knife and kill someone, you don't deserve to make it out, no matter what the circumstance."
"Last question," Sequin carries on, as if nothing has happened. "Are you in an alliance?"
"Not a chance," I snort. "Everyone here is weak or too stupid to be in my alliance. Just because I have authority, it doesn't mean I'm gonna boss others around. What's the point?" My breath is slightly shaky. "Who needs people to get through life? I certainly don't!"
Sequin holds my hand, stroking my palm as we stand up and she lets me exit. "Cloud Maize from District Nine, everybody!" She screams, letting the crowd roar as I leave and the female from Ten saunters onto the stage.
Thank god that's over. When does the killing start?