ONLY ONE DAY REMAINED UNTIL THE GAMES WERE SET TO begin, twenty four hours before Silver and twenty three other tributes were locked in an arena until only a single one remained.
The experience of being in the Capitol and training had distracted her from the reality that was coming way too fast for her liking. Now, it felt like there was a clock counting down, every moment, every second that passed by was all leading up to her demise.
It became clear that during breakfast that day that Reese had a similar feeling, because he not only looked very pale but he barely spoke a word and seemed to be stuck in a haze.
"So, tonight are the tribute interviews, where they're going to show you off to the world on live television" Finnick began, just the thought of being thrown back in front of those bloodthirsty Capitolians made Silver nauseous, during the parade it annoyed her enough to have to smile and wave.
This was entirely different, now she was going to have to talk in front of the whole nation, how in the world was she supposed to make them like her? Back in District 4, Silver was the quiet girl who kept to herself, that was just who she was and now she would be forced to portray a completely new person.
"And to prepare for it, Effie and Petra are gonna be coaching you guys on stage presence" Finnick went on to explain. "So basically how to act for the camera?" Silver raised an eyebrow, "Exactly" said Finnick.
"The whole point of this is make a lasting impression on the audience and to earn a lot of sponsors, and that requires you guys to use any means necessary to get people to like you." Petra told them. Despite how important their advice was, Silver had zoned out and stared down at her breakfast, picking at it with a fork.
The table then fell silent and Silver only realised why when her head snapped up to find everyone giving her a pointed look. "What?" Silver's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, this only caused Effie to let out a sigh, "Oh, boy. We alot of work to do."
Following Finnick giving them a detailed explanation of the interviews and breakfast were the most frustrating five hours of Silver's life, Effie and Petra had her doing things from walking in heels with a book on her head to figuring which angle she could play out.
During interviews, it was common for the tributes to adopt a discernible persona to gain the audience's interest. Whether it was funny, charming, arrogant, any tribute that decided to portray themselves this way always seemed to win the crowd over. But unfortunately, for Silver it was proven to be much harder to find a persona that could she could play right.
Her, Effie, and Petra had been at it for hours and so far it was not going well. For Reese, it was already decided that he would playing the adorable, innocent little boy angle, which wasn't much of a stretch for him.
"Look, Silver. It's only three minutes you're gonna be up there, you have to make the crowd think they know you." Petra reminded her, at that point Silver was minutes away from snapping and collapsed onto the couch.
"Well, how am I supposed to do that when I can barely keep a conversation going?" Silver sighed, her voice get increasingly strained.
"You're going to have to, or else-" Effie began but by then Silver had hit her breaking point, "Or what, Effie? You'll give me another lecture?! I'm not gonna act like some perky, stuck up bitch walking around like she has a stick up her ass because I'm pretty sure you have enough of those here!" She blurted out.
Effie's face flickered with shock, but not surprise because at that point, Silver's outburst was expected. "There she is! There's the feisty girl I like!" Petra exclaimed with a satisfied smile and catching everyone off guard. "This right here is the girl that's going to earn herself tons of sponsors, I want fierce, determined Silver, not quiet, reserved Silver!"
Silver only raised an eyebrow in response to it, if she really was this fierce person Petra liked so much, then did could she really pull this off? Could Silver D'Alessio win the hearts of everyone in the Capitol? She had to think about what was at stake as well, no sponsors meant if the odds weren't in her favour then, they definitely wouldn't be now. "Fine, then. Feisty Silver, it is, what do I have to do?"
"That's the spirit! Now, I think it's time to get you ready, we have a crowd to wow" Petra said enthusiastically, sounding a little like Effie and took both Silver and Reese away to their respective prep teams. Once Silver was left in the care of her prep team, Drizella quickly went to work on her hair while Thistle fixed her nails and Mist did her makeup.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get away with wearing as little makeup as possible this time and basically had her face caked with foundation, blush, eyeshadow and lipstick.
When they finished and Mist handed her a mirror, Silver had to blink multiple times to make sure whoever staring back at her was really just her reflection.
Her lips had been painted a dark red, a royal blue eyeshadow shaded her eyelids along with eyeliner to highlight her chocolate brown eyes. Silver's chestnut hair was made into a soft bun with the other side of her curled hair hanging just above her right shoulder.
"How does it look?" Drizella asked, "I-It's amazing, thank you" Silver responded, flashing the woman a genuine smile. "Oh, you're the sweetest!" Drizella gushed, enveloping her in a small hug, which Silver gladly accepted.
"I'm gonna miss her" Mist whispered, looking like she was about to burst into tears. Those words alone stirred a depressing feeling in Silver, but of course, she had to keep it bottled up and only gave Mist a sad but sweet smile. "Now I think it's time for the dress" Thistle spoke up, lightening up the mood.
The dress Petra had put her in nearly made Silver's jaw drop, it went off her shoulders and came down to her chest, showing a generous amount of her cleavage. Ironically, the top of it was a glistening silver colour while the skirt was puffy and made of fine silk. Silver was never one for jewellery, but the diamond necklace strung around her neck and the pearl earrings were impossible to dislike. And as well as the heavy makeup, Silver wasn't able to escape five inch blue pumps Petra made her put on.
"Well, what do you think...?" Petra had placed Silver in the front of a mirror, leaving her at a loss for words as she gazed at the intricate details that went into her outfit. "I-It's gorgeous.." Silver couldn't take her eyes off of her own reflection, she looked nothing like she had during the tribute parade. Elegant and refined were the first words that came to mind to describe herself now.
"No, you're gorgeous, all this dress does is enhance your natural beauty" Petra said, sounding like a wise old woman. Silver smiled and glanced back at the mirror when just like before, doubts and worries made it's way into her train of thought. "But how am I supposed to get all those sponsors?" She whispered to herself. "Not everyone's gonna like me, how am I supposed to get people to like me?"
Silver turned to face Petra, who only shaked her head. "You're worrying again" The stylist said in a surprisingly calm voice. "Well, of course I am!" Silver shot back.
Petra gave her a disapproving look before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You wanna know why you shouldn't worry? because you're fierce, ambitious and absolutely beautiful, what's not to love about you?"
"Alot of things actually" Silver responded, only for Petra to give her a stern look, resembling Ginerva D'Alessio for a split second. "Oh, nonsense, whether you believe it or not, that crowd out there is going to adore you, trust me when I say you'll capture their attention the second you step onto that stage."
Even with how good Petra was at pep talks, Silver wasn't completely convinced and faced away from her, leaning on a nearby table with an evident frown spread across her face.
"Plus, you certainly seemed to catch the attention of that boy from District 2" Petra added, immediately causing Silver to whip around and stare at her with wide eyes, wondering how in the world she even knew about Cato. "I- How did you-"
"Reese told me" Petra simply answered, prompting Silver to pull an even more bewildered expression. "Oh, don't look at me like that, I love myself a little gossip" The stylist admitted, Silver opened her mouth to reply but a knock on a door of the dressing room signalling it was time for them to go had her words stuck on the tip of her tongue.
The audience in the auditorium consisted all the wealthy citizens of the Capitol, potential sponsors, prep teams and stylists for each tribute. Silver was put in an area off the side of the stage along with all the other tributes.
Right away it was easy to feel the way the room was buzzing with excitement and nerves, all of that was put to the side when Silver entered the room, mentors and tributes alike had their eyes trained on her, whether it was because of jealousy or amazement she didn't know.
Having so many people staring at her was the least of her problems now so she paid no attention to them and walked right over to Reese, Finnick and Effie.
"Looking good, kiddo" She ruffled Reese's hair, he was put in a shiny baby blue suit, a colour that reflected the innocent, pure act he would be portraying on stage.
"Thanks" Reese smiled up at her with a type of enthusiasm she hadn't seen from in a whole, it was also worth nothing that he was completely calm to the thousands of people out there anxious to see the tributes.
"Well, we're off, make us proud" Effie announced with her usual wide smile and in a second, her and Finnick were gone. As soon as they were out of sight, Silver lifted her dress and bent down to Reese's level, "Alright, you know what to do when you get on stage, right?"
"Yeah, act adorable" He responded, earning another smile from Silver. "Exactly" She pressed a kiss to his temple before straightening out her dress, making sure the soft fabric was still in perfect condition.
Reese letting out a gasp then caused her head to snap up and glance at him. "Wait, I forgot something. I-I'll be right back" Before Silver could say anything, Reese already left the room, leaving her by herself. "Well, that's convenient" She mumbled under her breath.
That was when Cato suddenly appeared in front of her, almost out of thin air. He was sporting a suit nearly identical to Reese's except the edges of it were silver, his golden blond hair was combed back and he wore the same smirk on his lips that irritated Silver.
"Well, you look nice" Was the first thing he said, his blue eyes looking her up and down in a way that made her face burn, the light red blush applied to her cheeks luckily hid it. But instead of replying with a simple thank you, Silver's lips twisted into a smirk to match his.
"Wish I could say the same for you" She countered, making him chuckle a little. "Feisty today, are we?" He asked with an amused smile, it didn't take a genius to realise that he definitely enjoyed her witty replies.
"A little but then again people like feisty girls, don't they?" Silver crossed her arms, leaning back against a wall. "Oh, so this is about getting people to like you, now." He placed his arm on the wall, as well, "Because if it is, then don't try too hard."
Silver furrowed her eyebrows at his words, trying to figure out what the hell he even meant by that, "And why should I do that?" She questioned with genuine curiosity.
"Because it works better, you got me to like you, didn't you?" Cato shrugged, "That's different, you just have poor taste" She retorted, fixing her hair that was now falling in front of her face. "Ouch, that one hurt, D'Alessio" He scoffed, placing his other hand on his chest. "Good" Silver leaned in slightly, their faces now being centimetres apart.
"Tributes, get in line!" A voice rang out, spoiling their moment, Silver took that as her cue to go when she saw spotted Reese coming back to the room. "Good luck out there, golden boy, you'll need it" She told him and left. The tributes quickly filed in line, being sorted by districts yet again, except this time girls went first instead of boys.
Just as Finnick predicted, everyone had their own little gimmick when they went up on stage, obviously taking their mentor's advice.
The interviews kicked off with Glimmer in a flashy pink dress and as expected, she went for bubbly and flirty. She answered every question Caesar Flickerman asked her with most forced smile Silver had ever seen, but regardless, the audience still completely adored her and showered her with cheers.
Marvel came after and decided on funny and charismatic, because who wouldn't like a guy with a good sense of humour? And just like with Glimmer, the audience loved him.
Clove was next and came across as arrogant yet sweet, it was an odd combination but certainly not far from her real personality. As her interview began to wrap up, Silver's eyes landed on Cato at the front of the line.
To her surprise, he didn't look nearly as confident as she anticipated and had his foot vigorously tapping the floor, a sign that he was very nervous. When Clove's interview ended and someone came to get Cato, Silver had her eyes stuck on the television screen above. This should be interesting, she thought as Caesar Flickerman introduced him to the raving crowd.
"And From District Two, we have Cato Hadley!"
Cato then emerged from the side of the stage, now with his signature smirk displayed on his face. He was reeking of arrogance now, in contrast to how nervous he seemed just minutes prior, his interview began with Caesar Flickerman asking generic questions such as "What was training like for you?" or "How do you feel going into the games?"
To which Cato responded with the cockiest answers known to man, in terms of being original, his persona wasn't any different from Clove's or any other Career that's ever been interviewed.
The few things Silver was able to take away from it was that Cato was genuinely thought representing District 2 in the games was an honour, which really just showed how much the Capitol brainwashed them. Silver soon began to lose interest in the interview all together, she needed the time to carefully plan out what she was gonna day and do for her own three minutes of stage time.
Only one minute ran on the clock and Caesar Flickerman managed to ask Cato a question that had Silver's undivided attention. "So, Cato! I think there's something all the ladies in the crowd have been wondering, and that's if you have a special someone...?
The split second of confusion and surprise on Cato's face told her that he was not prepared for the question at all, who would be? It was hard to believe that anyone cared enough about your life to ask about that, but Silver guessed it was because of Cato's undeniable attractiveness, as if these Capitolians weren't shallow enough.
"Actually yes I do, there's this girl and she's really something—" Cato's response prompted a whole new type of surprise from Silver and disappointment from the majority of the audience, mostly the women. This only baited Caesar into insisting that he go on about this mystery girl. But in a moment of perfect timing, the time on the clock ran out, much to the annoyance of every person in the crowd who were now begging to hear more.
Even through the screen, you could tell Cato was relieved that he wouldn't have to elaborate on whoever this girl was, guess even Careers want to keep a portion of their lives private. The interviews for the tributes from 3 were dull, boring and by far the least captivating, but luckily they went by so quickly Silver could've sworn it lasted seconds.
Silver had to shake her head and blink several times to make sure she had a good sense of what was going on, it was her turn.
She shouldn't have been nervous, Silver knew exactly what she was going to do but somehow her stomach was in knots as anxiety crept back into her. A man dressed in odd Capitol clothes came to collect her, with a deep breath Silver walked to the stage entrance, where she was able to see the audience and at the same time wasn't visible to them.
"From District four, the lovely Silver D'Alessio!"
Silver took that as her cue and made her way onto the stage, tilting her head up with a smilie on her painted lips and channeling her inner Glimmer as she walked gracefully in heels, the audience went wild at the mere sight of her in her silver dress. After nearly being blinded from the spotlight beaming down at her, she outstretched her hand to shake Caesar's own.
"Welcome, welcome, Silver and my, my, my, you look absolutely beautiful" Silver only smiled widely, flashing gleaming white teeth before her lips curled up in a smirk, "Oh trust me, Caesar, I know" She winked at the audience, which immediately sent them into a frenzy and had them cheering. Silver sat down on the chair across from Caesar, adjusting her dress and crossing her legs, trying to look as 'ladylike' as possible.
"So, Silver, I think I speak for everyone when I say that we were all very impressed with your training score, tell us, how did you get such a perfect score?" Caesar asked, turning over to her. "Well, I can't tell you that, Caesar. It'll ruin the intrigue" The second those words rolled off Silver's tongue, she knew it was bait, and Caesar knew it too.
Nevertheless, the audience loved it and the mystery kept them on the edge of their seats. "And speaking of intrigue, a little bird told me that you have a particular talent for throwing knives" Caesar shifted the topic, to Silver's relief and she nodded in response.
"I'm the best" She spoke with a sense of confidence and a bit of arrogance, managing to keep a smug smirk on her face, just like Cato. "Really?" Caesar lifted an eyebrow, as if genuinely surprised but Silver knew it was all an act for the audience.
"Really, if I wanted to I could probably kill from the other side of this stage without even blinking" Silver said, an amused smile replaced the smirk on her lips at seeing the exaggeratedly shocked reaction from Caesar and the way she left the entire crowd in awe.
"And I imagine someone so good with knives would feel pretty good going into these games" Caesar went on, immediately causing Silver to tense up. That sentence alone was by far the stupidest thing Silver had ever heard, what good could you feel about being sent to your own death?
Regardless of how much Caesar's words infuriated her, she forced her lips into a painful smile and kept up her persona, all while resisting the urge to stab Caesar Flickerman right there on stage. "Of course, I'm prepared and I'm ready to win" She answered, making the audience break into applause and cheers.
Silver could feel her hatred for the Capitolians build up more by the minute just by listening to how eager they were to watch someone kill, all to be a victor. "Great! I love it" Caesar exclaimed enthusiastically, which only encouraged the crowd further.
"What about back home, Silver? Anyone rooting for you?" Caesar inquired, by then Silver still had her blood boiling but no one except her knew that because not an ounce of anger was noticeable on her face. "Just my parents and my brothers" She replied plainly.
"I'm sure they must be very proud of you" Caesar flashed her a half hearted smile, "Silver, it's been lovely to get to know you, we offer you the best of luck" and with that, Silver's interview was over but she decided to save her sigh of relief until she wasn't being stared at by an entire crowd. "Ladies and gentleman from District Four, Silver!"
Caesar raised her arm high in the air, the spotlight shining down on her and causing the audience to flood the entire auditorium with applause, louder they had been for any other tribute. She had done it, Silver had managed to win them all over, if the over exaggerated cheering didn't mean she earned sponsors, she didn't know what did.
It was a big accomplishment for Silver yet it provided her little comfort for what was bound to happen tomorrow. In less then twenty hours, she was going to be thrown in an arena with twenty three other tributes who would likely stop at nothing to stay alive, but it was all a show.
They wanted to see blood spilled for their entertainment, they wanted to see a monster. And that was exactly what Silver was going to give them, just not the one they wanted.