Forbearance • A Cato Hadley Story

1.10

Livia stood straight up against a white wall, waiting for her turn to go on stage and formally introduce herself to the world. Her fingers played with the hem of her light gold dress. The blonde looked beautiful in her shorter dress which highlighted each curve of her body perfectly. It looked so good on her that both Marvel and Cato would steal a glance at the girl every moment they could. At the moment Glimmer was on stage talking to Caesar, acting quite a bit more flirtatious than her usual self. But anything to get sponsors, right?

A few minutes passed when Marvel was escorted away from his place in front of the teen. With an exasperated sigh Livia turned so her back was pressed against a wall and her fingers had gone from messing with the hem of her dress to playing with her fingernails that were painted an almost natural shade of pink. Her eyes stayed focused on her hands and mentally prepared herself for the stage, knowing if she continued to watch the show she would freak herself out.

The oldest Perez daughter wasn't fond of being in front of large crowds but as Enobaria had told her 'doing well in the interview means more sponsors which means a greater chance of living' and she wasn't going to let herself die in that arena. Not when she had to get home to Chloe. "You alright, Liv?" Cato asked from behind her, placing a somewhat comforting hand on her shoulder. The girl looked up at his large figure and nodded silently.

He, of course, didn't believe her but just nodded before going back to whatever he had been doing before. It didn't take a genius to know that she was lying but he didn't want to stress her out more so he left her be. Ten minutes or so after their little exchange, two female escorts came down the marble stairs to fetch the blonde from District Two. She took a few steps forward and took a deep breath just before a strong hand gripped her wrist.

The girl quickly snapped her head around and caught the eyes of her district partner, looking at him questioningly. "Good luck." he told her with a small smile as he let go of her, earning a small smile back from her almost ant sized figure next to him. "You too." she replied before turning back around to follow the escorts backstage. Just as she arrived Caesar started to announce her arrival to the audience.

Livia shook her hands of the invisible nerves that she could feel resting on her fingers and stood straight, ready to enter the stage covered in bright lights which she was sure would blind her when she stepped out. "Next up, we have yet another volunteer! She's from District Two and you may know her as the Capitol's Golden Girl!" Caesar announced enthusiastically. The crowd cheered loudly at the mention of Livia's new found nickname, causing her to smile as she realized that the people of the Capitol really did like her.

"It's Livia Perez!" the blue haired man yelled, throwing his arm to point where the blonde momentarily entered from. The crowd went wild and increased their volume while she walked over to Caesar. She kept her smile on and waved at the audience happily, earning a few waves back. Once making it next to Caesar the pair smiled brightly at each other before sitting in the two big white chairs, the man giving the blonde a hand as they sat down.

Once the cheers had quieted and the blue haired man could be heard he turned to Livia and lifted the microphone to his mouth. "Hello, Miss Livia. How are you doing?" he asked kindly. The blonde smiled at him, looking out into the crowd. "I'm doing amazing, Caesar. I'm so excited to be here." she told both him and the audience who cheered in response. Livia internally smiled to herself as she heard the crowd before the man went to speak again.

"Now, why did you volunteer for these games? Of course, coming from District Two it wasn't surprising but we would love to know your point of view." he explained to both the teen next to him and the people in the crowd. The girl pondered for a moment to gather her thoughts and leaned towards the microphone, a frown forming on her face.