The Hunger Games - Peeta Mellark (1)

}9{ - Star-Crossed Lovers

The next morning she was exhausted- no matter how much better the room was than her own- she couldn't bring herself to sleep very well, if at all.

So when Brutus pounded on her door at the crack of dawn she was not particularly pleased.

He only herded her towards the breakfast table and Pluto who sat at it.

His signature blue was still apparent, but his outfit had hues of silver and purple.

The first four hours Livia spent with Pluto.

He had her working down to the last minute.

They went to her room and he put her in a full-length gown and high-heeled shoes- not the ones she would be wearing for the actual interview- and instructed her on walking.

The shoes were the worst part.

She'd never worn high heels and couldn't get used to essentially wobbling around on the balls of her feet.

The dress posed another problem.

It kept tangling around Livia's shoes so- of course- she hitched it up, but then Pluto swooped down on her like a hawk, smacking her hands and yelling, "Not above the ankle!"

When Livia finally conquered walking, there was still sitting, posture- apparently she had a tendency to duck her head- eye contact, hand gestures, and smiling.

Smiling was mostly about smiling more.

Pluto made Livia say a hundred banal phrases starting with a smile, while smiling, or ending with a smile.

By lunch, the muscles in Livia's cheeks were twitching from overuse.

"Well, that's the best I can do", Pluto said with a sigh, "Just remember, Livia, you want the audience to like you."

"And you don't think they will?" Livia quizzed.

"Not if you glare at them the entire time. Why don't you save that for the arena? Instead, think of yourself among friends." Pluto explained.

"They're betting on how long I'll live", Livia burst out, "They're not my friends."

"Well, try and pretend!" Pluto snapped. Then he composed himself and beamed at Livia, "See, like this. I'm smiling at you even though you're aggravating me."

"Yes, it feels very convincing", Livia mutters, "I'm going to eat."

She kicked off her heels and stomped down to the dining room, hiking her skirt up to her thighs.

Brutus and Cato seemed to be in pretty good moods, so Livia was thinking the content session would be an improvement over the morning.

She couldn't be more wrong.

After lunch, Brutus took her into the sitting room, directed her to the couch, and then just frowns at her for a while.

"What?" Livia finally asked.

"I've gotten Cato's themes- easy. All that's hard to do is find your theme." Brutus started, sliding into a chair beside her.