"(Y/n) hurry up! We need to get you ready for your interview," Tafida snaps from the other side of the stall door. You had rushed into the nearest bathroom the second you were able to sneak away from your escort and designer, trying to find somewhere to take a deep breath. You had succeeded for almost three minutes before they realized you were missing, and quickly found your hiding place.
"(Y/n) I will make the security guard unlock this stall if I have to," Tafida threatens, and you could imagine her pointing a finger at the door. With a sigh, you unlock the door, listening to the little click as it swung open, and your escort practically jumped on you. "Don't you ever sneak away like that again young lady," she scolds you, the way a parent would their child as she drags you out of the bathroom, and back out into the crowd of tributes and their ecstatic designers.
"I found her. Now quickly. We must get you two back to your changing rooms so we can get you ready for you interviews with Ceaser," she announces, keeping her fist tight around your arm. Her nails we're digging into your skin, causing a stinging sensation that made you want to cringe. It surprised you that her nails, sharpened to the point, didn't cut straight to your bone.
After an elevator ride that seemed to take forever but was really only a few seconds, you were taken down a familiar hallway, and soon you were sitting in the same small steel box they called a room. The room gave you the shivers, as if it was trying to close in on you.
You can hear Tafida and Gizmo talking about something on the other side of the closed door, but it's so lowly mumbled that it's impossible to make out.
The hushed murmers go silent for a minute, and then your door is pushed open by Gizmo who has a bright smile on her face, and a black dress bag on a hanger in her hand.
"Ok dear. Lets go ahead and get you all dressed up," she says, but it's obvious that she wasn't as excited as she normally was, even if only by a tiny bit. Whatever Tafida talked to her about just outside your door must have not been good.
Reaching up, Gizmo hooked the hanger on the rack on the door, and started to help you unzip and unbutton all of your tribute parade clothes. Seriously who puts zippers on sparkly, polka dotted tee Shirts? When you were left in your undergarments, Gizmo spoke up again.
"Close your eyes," she stated, giving you a bright smile. You couldn't tell if she was genuinely excited, or just putting on a show for you so you would actually get into the dress.
"No I think I'll keep my eyes open," you retort, giving her a dark look.
"(Y/n) please? I promise this won't be like the tribute parade. Tafida made me have you wear that. It's my first year as a designer, and she doesn't exactly trust me, but I picked this one out, and it really isn't bad," she started blabbering on and on about the dress. Looking at her expression and listening to the tone in her voice, you realized she was being genuine.
With a sigh you stood up and held out your arms, telling her that she could put the dress on you. "Just don't stab me in the back," you say in a serious voice, but Gizmo chuckles.
"Promise," she says, holding a hand up as if she was swearing. Only then did you close your eyes.
The next few minutes were sort of complicated. Gizmo was trying her best to guide you into the dress with no sight, and there might have been a few trips and stumbles, but eventually she was able to pull the straps up over your shoulders. The dress felt very light, making you assume that it was either very short, or very thin. Neither of those options sounded very pleasing.
"Can I look now," you ask, patting your hands around the dress to try to create a mental image of what it might look like.
"Not yet. The makeup crew is going to do your hair and face while I go grab the shoes, and then you can look."
Begrudgingly you follow her orders. Once the make up crew comes in, they lead you backwards, making sure you keep your eyes closed. They start poking and brushing your face with tools you could only guess the names of without seeing them, and probably even if you did see them. You can feel them pulling on your hair as they talk about one of the other makeup crews, and how they don't stand a chance against you.
You hear the door click open, and who you assume to be Gizmo gasps. You hope it was because she thought you were pretty, and not because your makeup crew had just burnt off a chunk of your hair.
"My dear, you look beautiful," she tells you, and it almost sounds like she is holding back tears.
"Well can I look now, or am I going onto the stage with a blindfold," you retort in a sassy tone, suddenly eager to see what you look like.
"Oh fine fine. Come over here," Gizmo tells you. Your makeup crew leads you over to her, your eyes still shut, and Gizmo takes your hand. "Ok 3... 2... 1... open."
You open your eyes, and you cannot believe what you are seeing. The person standing in the mirror was a completely different being. How could this still be you?
The dress you had on was something you had never seen before. It was almost impossible to describe it. The top half was a navy blue lacy material, with sequins stitched into the fabric, and a string wrapping around the back of your neck, leaving it with an open back. The skirt of the dress had blues, pinks, and purples mixed in with each other to make it look like a galaxy. The front end came up just above your knees, while in the back it dragged along the ground just a little bit.
Thankfully your makeup crew had gone light on the makeup. All they put on you was some dark blue eyeshadow to match your dress, and a natural looking lipstick. They obviously wanted the dress to be the main attraction on you.
But your hair is what you felt like was the best part. You almost couldn't tell which blew you away more, the dress or the hair. They had made a braided crown across the top of your head, with the rest of it hanging down in loose curls. Together it all looked beautiful, and you still couldn't believe this was the same girl who had just changed out of a pink polka dotted tee shirt.
"Is this still me," you ask, needing confirmation they hadn't somehow switched you out with someone else's body. Who knows. They capitol probably had something that could do that.
"Yes dear. This is definitely you," Gizmo whispers, still blown away by how you looked. It took your designer a minute to snap out of her trance, but eventually she stepped in front of you.
"Final touch," she says, holding up a pair of bright blue earrings in her hand. She gently secured them into your newly pierced ears, and stepped back.
"Oh," she whispers, covering her mouth as she tried to hold back tears. "You look just like your mother."
Her statement stopped you in your tracks. How did she know you looked like your mom?
"W-wait. You- you knew her," you ask in disbelief.
She has a sad expression on her face as her mouth opens and closes multiple times as if she's trying to say something, but nothing would come out.
Suddenly a pounding could be heard from the door, and without waiting for a response, Tafida comes bursting in.
"Come on! Come on! We're going to be late," she snaps.
Her claws grab onto your arm as she drags you out of the room, still speechless from what your designer had just said.
"No wait-" you gasp, trying to jerk your arm out of Tafida's grip to run back to Gizmo. You look back just as the door closes, the last thing you see is Gizmo's heartbroken face.
...
Within minutes you're standing in line behind eight other tributes with Peter behind you. All of them were either dressed in fancy dresses like you, or wearing nice tuxes with dress shoes.
Your mind was spinning from what you had just found out from your designer. How did she know your mom? Your mom never went to the capitol. Maybe it was just someone who looked like you that she was thinking of? Nothing made any sense.
"You look nice," Peter says from behind you, making you spin around towards him. The smirk on his face tells you he's teasing you, but it sounds exactly like something Minho would say. It actually sounded like something Newt had said to you before.
There was nothing you could do about what Gizmo said right now, so you decided to take a deep breath and think about it later. You shook the thought away as you reached over to Peter and ruffled his hair, completely messing it up.
"I'm sure the girls will go crazy for you," you laugh.
"They won't with the way they had my hair," he pretends to stress, continuing to run his fingers through his hair to mess it up even further. "I mean seriously. They used like three whole bottles of who knows what, and I can't have them ruining this," he gestures to his now crazy and tangled hair.
You were about to make another comment when two men from the camera crew come rushing back stage, telling the first person to walk out. The girl, you had never found out her name, struts out onto the stage, her skin tight, red dress showing off all of her curves.
And that's how it went for the next twenty minutes. Girl, boy, girl, boy. Until it was your turn to go out next. You were bouncing on your toes as Ceasar continued to ask the tribute from before you a few questions.
"Hey your gonna step on my toes if you keep jumping around like that," Peter jokingly snaps.
"Oh. Sorry," you apologize numbly, continuing to bounce on your toes as the crowd applauds the tribute.
"Now lady's and gentlemen I think this interview could be interesting. Let us welcome Ms. (Y/n) (L/n)," Caesar announces as the cameramen urge you to go out on stage.
You walk out into the spotlight without tripping over your feet, and you silently thank your parents for not giving you the clumsy and uncoordinated gene. The crowd cheers as you walk over to the seats positioned on the stage, one for the tributes, and one for Caesar. The interviewer holds his hand out for you as you lower yourself onto the seat, the applause dying down.
"Hello Ms. (L/n). Now before we get started I just wanted to say that your dress is absolutely gorgeous," he emphasizes the word as the crowd cheers again.
"Why thank you Caesar. My designer really is good at her job," you smile, showing your blindingly white teeth.
"Yes she is. So onto the questions for the night. How are you planning to win? Do you have any special skills or techniques we should know about?"
"Well even if I did I couldn't tell you now could I Caesar," you giggle flirtatiously, mentally wanting to puke all over your dress. Just another reminder that you had absolutely no chance of winning the games cause you had no special skills.
"They always say that," he sighs before clearing his throat. "Ok next question. Who's the boy at home?"
"I'm sorry," you ask, completely confused.
"Oh come on (Y/n)! There must be a boy at home! A beautiful young girl like you! Tell us about him!"
"Well I uh-" you couldn't seem to get a single sentence out. It's like the question made your mind go blank. Should you tell them about Newt? Or should you lie? "Ok you caught me," you giggle. "There is a boy. He's uh- he's kinda my work partner. We only got to work together for a few weeks, but we grew really close to each other, and now I think I have feelings for him. I just never got to tell him before I left for the games," you lie smoothly, the last part coming out as a sigh. You really hoped Newt and Devon weren't watching the TV right now.
"Well what you need to do is win these games, and then when you go home, he'll have to go out with you. I mean beauty, bravery, and strength! How could he not love you? Right folks," he asks the crowd excitedly, and as if on cue they were cheering again.
"Ok this question is pretty interesting. What did that girl from the reaping mean to you for you to volunteer for her?"
A sad expression makes its way into your face as you consider his question.
"She's my best friend. I would never forgive myself if I didn't volunteer for her, and I knew her brother probably wouldn't have either."
Just like Tafida, Caeser seemed to be slightly disappointed with your response, but he took it.
"Ok. I believe we only have time for one more question, so here it is. Your mother left you at a very young age didn't she?"
Where was he going with this? And why did he want to talk about your mom? And why would he say she left?!
"She didn't leave. She disappeared. No one knows where she went," you correct, a hint of bitterness making its way into your tone.
"Disappeared. My mistake. But how do you think she would feel if she saw you right now? Her daughter about to enter the Hunger Games. How would she feel?"
"I-" you didn't know how to answer the question. What would she think? What would she say? How would she feel? "I think she would tell me to be brave. To make it home to my dad and little sister," you say unsurely.
"And I would tell you the same thing," he says calmly before taking your hand in his, and planting a soft kiss on the back of it.
"Well lady's and gentlemen, please give it up for (Y/n) (L/n)!" Again the crowds cheer as the camera crew ushers you out of the huge room. It takes most of your self-control to not burst out in tears. Hoping to get your mind off of your mom for just a few minutes, you decide to wait back stage to watch Peter's interview on the screen.
You could tell he was already having a bit of fun with the crowd, cause he comes running out from backstage, waving his hands around and showing off some of his dance moves on his way to his seat.
"Hahaha this kid has energy! I love it," Caesar exclaims as Peter sits down, a huge grin on his face.
"Why hello, hello, hello Mr. Peter Scratz. And how are you this evening?"
"I'm doing good! I'm really excited to show you all what I can do in the games," he says. It was kinda sad the difference between the Peter you knew, and the Peter that was trying to get sponsors to stay alive in the games. You were surprised it was the same person.
"And we are all excited to see what you have to show us. Aren't we," he calls out to the crowd, and they erupt into screams and cheers, their cry's drowning out the voice in the back of your head trying to talk about your mother.
"Now how have you liked the capitol so far? What are the differences compared to your home district?"
"Well I didn't have people serving me in district 5, so that's a difference. And there are cars here, so I don't have to walk everywhere."
"Well that must be a relief," Caesar laughs. "How about your friends and family? What did they say to you before you came to the Capitol?"
"Well my older brother told me to make the family proud, and my mom told me do whatever it takes to win," he states proudly, but you could tell that under all of the confidence he wanted to break down.
"Well they seem very confident in you! Why is that? Do you have any hidden talents or skills?"
"Well I'm pretty good with an ax. My dad taught me how to use one so I could start working with the power plant early."
"An ax? Wow! So how do you plan on using that skill in the games? Will you use it for self defence? Will you go out to search for other tributes, and will you mostly hunt with it," Caesar asks curiously.
"I plan on doing all three. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to win," Peter states, and you suddenly wish you could reach out and hug him.
"Well Peter I expect you to give us an interesting game, and may the odds be ever in your favor. Lady's and gents, Mr. Peter Scratz," Caesar states calmly as the crowd bursts into cheers. It's easy to pick the crying teenage girls out from the shouting adults as Peter blows them all a kiss. Just as his picture disappears from the screen, he comes running through the curtains backstage, and you rush over to him, enveloping him in a tight hug. He doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around you, returning the gesture. You don't really know who needed the hug more, you or him, but you do know it feels nice to have someones arms wrapped around you, the gesture calming you. You almost wanted to laugh, because even though he was only 14, Peter was already almost your height, so it wasn't like you were having to crouch down to his height or anything.
In an undescribable way, you felt a sort of connection with Peter. Almost like it was your duty to keep him safe and make sure he was ok. It was like you were naturally taking the role of older sister. It was almost instinct due to how long you had taken care of Trinity on your own.
You let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding, and Peter seems to somehow hold you tighter, and it makes you remember another moment with your little sister.
Flashback
It was a bleak, rainy night, and you were sitting in your room, tears silently dripping down your cheeks, and clothes soaked down to your skin. You had just gotten into an fight with Sonya because she had tried to tell Newt how you feel about him, and you weren't ready for him to find out.
Now normally this wouldn't upset someone to this point. Friends fight and argue, but what makes them friends is when they talk and work things out, and then laugh at how dumb each one of them was being. It's just that you and Sonya had never gotten into a fight. The most you had ever done was give the other the silent treatment for a few hours when you didn't agree on which book character was cuter. (I can relate to this on a level that is deeper than personal😂)
You had fought down at the bakery. Minho had left a few hours ago, and Newt was in the back helping the baker with something, and that's when Sonya started talking about telling him that you like him. You panicked, and said something's you wish you hadn't, and same goes for her. Eventually when you decided to leave, that's when Newt stepped out from the back room. He saw his younger sister, and her best friend crying, but you didn't stick around. You slung your lightweight backpack over your shoulders, and ran out the front door, into the pouring rain. You heard the door open behind you a few seconds later, and Newt screamed for you to come back, but you ignored him, turning down a street, and out of his sight.
It didn't take long for you to get home. You were basically on autopilot from having to come home from the bakery so many times. Once you got there, you didn't stop to say hi to Trinity, or to grab a cup of water. You just ran up to your bedroom and closed the door, throwing your backpack on the floor, and crying out in rage. For a few seconds all you felt was anger and hatred, but that eventually melted into sadness and fear. Did you just lose your absolute best friend? How would you and Sonya ever recover from this?
It had only been a few minutes since you ran inside and came up to your room, but you hear three soft taps on your door. You don't respond, assuming it was Trinity, and hoping she would go away. Unfortunately she can't read your mind, so she cracks the door open, making sure you were decent. When she's sees you sitting on your bed, she walks inside quietly, not making eye contact with you. She sets a steaming cup of tea down in front of you on your nightstand, and then sits down on your bed next to you.
It only takes seconds for you to snap out of your frozen state, and you whimper, reaching over and pulling Trinity into your lap. You engulf her in a huge hug, slightly worried you were suffocating her, but she hugs you back just as tightly. You cry into her shoulder, and suddenly it seems like the roles of older sister and younger sister have been reversed. She strokes your hair, just like your mom would when you were younger and upset. She lets you cry into her shoulder for at least half an hour before the tears finally dry up, and you slowly let her out of the hug.
"I'm sorry," you mumble to her, not wanting to look her in the eye after acting so weak. She leans in, wrapping her arms around your neck again.
"Don't worry. Everyone has to cry once in a while," she whispers. You chuckle, before engulfing her in another deep hug.
End flashback
That is what this reminded you of. In this very moment the roles of older sister and younger brother that you both felt were being reversed. Even though you weren't crying into his shoulder, he was the one holding you upright in a non-literal sense. He was the one making sure you still had something to laugh at. He was making sure you had someone to talk to, and relate to. He was making sure you didn't go crazy or insane during the time between now and when the games started.
You were so overun with emotions at the moment, that your brain felt like it was drowning in thoughts.
You hardly remember letting go of Peter, or the elevator ride up to your floor, or the long description of how amazing the rooms were, given by Tafida. You also didn't realize that your designer was no longer with you. Your brain skipped past everything up until you stumbled into bed, and almost immediately fell asleep, letting the dream filled world suck you into it's clutches, not caring when it would release you.
A/n Guys I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post another chapter. I know this is an excuse heard to often, but I really have been overloaded with work. Some days I'm working from 9:45 in the morning to 10:00 at night, and I'm barely even staying on track for all of the work I have to do, and my mom is forcing me to actually stop working so I can get some sleep. And now because of my AP math classes, they literally sent out a warning email that was saying we were going to have even MORE work than were already used to.
It might take a while, but I can promise you that I won't not finish writing this book. That's a HUGE pet peeve of mine is when I find a book I enjoy, and they stop writing it just three chapters in. I promise I won't be that person, but please don't give up on this story even if I only post once a month. I swear I'm going somewhere with this story, and I think it will be interesting and exciting, so please stick with me!
Anyways after that ridiculously long A/n, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy!
Your girl
Annie
(Btw someone asked me why I put Anna sometimes, and Annie other times. Annie is my nickname given to me by my older brother and sister, and I let my friends call me it, so ya)