The Celebrity Hunger Games

Chapter 26: The Opening Ceremony - Part One

District 1

District one have always been the wealthiest district, so it made sense for them to portray that in their outfits for the opening ceremony. Nathan Sykes was excited. He was one step closer to competing in the Games and bringing victory to his District. His stylist, Lea Michele, liked the colour gold. He hated it. Her outfit idea was to have him covered in gold from head to toe. He was wearing a gold shirt, gold pants and had shimmers of gold spray painted into his hair. He looked in the mirror, admiring how good he looked. He was a career tribute and he wanted everyone to know it.

Ariana Grande, on the other hand, was not a career tribute. She was wearing a gold mini-dress, gold heels and also had bits of gold spray painted into her hair. She couldn’t take her eyes off of herself. She had had a total makeover and was worried that her mother might not even be able to recognise her as the Opening Ceremony was live. She got a 7. Not as good as Nathan, who had received a 9, but good enough to make her seem some sort of a threat. She needed that angle, to stop her from being killed. She tried to smile at herself, to pretend that she was smiling at her mother, but she couldn’t. Her anxieties about the Games wouldn’t leave her face, and she knew that this made her a target. If the other tributes saw how scared she was, they would prey on her instantly. She couldn’t let that happen.

They were going first. They would ride out in a chariot, letting the outside world see them for the first time since their scores, to see who they have become. Nathan looked at Ariana when he thought that she wasn’t looking. She looked good, he thought. Not good enough for her life to be spared, but good. He smiled at her when she caught his eye and he noted that she looked nervous. He didn’t want to give her false hope, but he also didn’t want to appear weak, so he looked on ahead, trying to look strong, as the chariot began to move.

She had smiled back at him in nervousness. Her heels made her his height, but they also made her shaky. Her biggest fear would be falling out of the chariot. She noticed Nathan staring straight ahead, and was surprised when she realised she could see straight through his rouse. He was trying to appear strong. As the chariot began to move, she lost her footing and had to grab onto Nathan’s arm for support. She smiled apologetically and faced the crowd. She was overwhelmed with the amount of people that were there. She had only just begun to wonder what she was getting herself into.

District 2

Taylor Lautner admired his outfit. One of District two’s greatest exports were weaponry. The stylist, Diana Argon, had come up with some clever ideas. They would be dressed in silver, to simulate a blade, from a knife. They then would carry a rubber weapon. Michelle Keegan would have a knife, and he would have an axe. He thought this would be a good idea. They would be remembered as the tributes who could fight, the tributes who could win the Games. He had scored a nine. It was a great score, enough to secure him as one of the career tributes. He hadn’t wanted to compete in the Games, but at least now he had a fighting chance.

They had tried to make her resemble a knife, dressed in silver. She thought it looked like a copy of District one’s gold idea, but she knew better than to bring it up. Her make-shift knife would have to be held at an awkward angle for it to be seen by the cameras. She practiced as they waited, praying that she wouldn’t drop it. “Are you alright?” Taylor asked her. She nodded still concentrating. “Just practicing on not dropping this thing” she replied, dropping it in the process. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine” he said, taking his place in the chariot. She picked it up and followed him, holding the knife tightly.

As the chariot began to move, he held the axe in his left hand. It wasn’t his strong hand, but it was the hand that the cameras would be able to see. He could sense Michelle’s anxieties over dropping her knife, and he hoped that she wouldn’t as it may make her seem weak. As they were opened to the public, the noise caught both of them off guard. Michelle immediately dropped her knife. Her face went red and she didn’t know what to do, so he did the only thing that he could.

She had been stupid. She knew that the crowd were going to be there, but she hadn’t expected to be screaming quite so much. When she dropped the knife, she looked around to see who had spotted. A lot of people had. Then they began to cheer. She was confused, why were they cheering? She turned to Taylor, looking for answers. She saw that he no longer had an axe in his left hand. He had dropped it. He had dropped it for her. ‘Thank you’ she mouthed at him. He shook his head slightly, brushing it off. But it meant more to her than he would ever know.

District 3

District three’s primary industry was electronics. Niall Horan had no idea what his stylist, Naya Rivera, had planned until the morning of the opening ceremony. She dressed them both in black, from head to toe. Then, they each had half a heart on their chests than would light up when the chariot began to move, signalling not only the electricity that their district was famous for, but their love for each other, which no other district currently had. He thought this made him look weak, too sensitive, but this was good. He had scored an 8. Appearing sensitive would put people at ease, they wouldn’t expect him to be able to fight, which could only work in his favour.

Miley loved her outfit. The heart across her chest made her happy. It strengthened her love for Niall and it made her happy that all of the people watching her would know how she felt about him. She had signed up for this, so she decided that she couldn’t feel bad. So many people were picked, and they didn’t want to be, they couldn’t fight. She had chosen to do this, so she couldn’t back out now. Plus, she got to be with Niall, who she never wanted to spend a day without. Apart from the impending deaths of the tributes, maybe including them, what could be better?

The hearts were connected to the chariot so that when the chariot was moving, they would be lit up, and when the chariot stopped, they would stop shining. He climbed into the chariot and took Miley’s hand to help her into the chariot after him. She clung on tightly, not ready to let him go. He didn’t mind this, she kept him sane and steady. As much as he didn’t want her to be in the Games, he couldn’t imagine going through this with anyone else.

As they were pulled through, Miley could feel the warmth from the fake heart on her chest. It was comforting to her and made her feel good. She knew she loved Niall, and he completely loved her, so what was wrong with showing this love to the people in the arena? She smiled to the people around her, the ones screaming down at her. This didn’t faze her, she was kind of used to it. She had been watching the Games in previous years and knew this would happen. The only thing that made her feel completely sure about doing this, was Niall’s hand in hers. Nothing else mattered.