Jaded ||| Johanna Mason

thirteen

The weeks leading up to the games are more unenjoyable for Jade than she thought they would be.

She's been forced to participate in brand advertisements, do interviews about her tributes, see countless other patrons, and attend sponsor meetings.

Normally Jade would have been drinking. It would have made everything so much easier.

But since her encounter with Justice, the girl hasn't touched any alcohol, any unclear liquid. She's afraid of getting drugged again. It was awful, worse than being conscious the whole time.

Jade had to endure all of her Victor duties fully present. And it sucked.

There was more politics in the games than Jade realized. She was expected to have opinions on celebrities and political opponents and laws she knew nothing about.

Sponsors were a whole other beast entirely.

Most Victors had to go out and find them every year. There were a few places they liked to hang out. Some were in bars and restaurants but the majority hung out in an area called "The Pit".

It was a little Hunger Games themed fairground set up inside the arena where the first 7 hunger games were held. They were held in the Capitol with a live audience.

That's where the intense competition happened, where the Victors fought for each sponsor they could scrape together for their tributes.

On the other hand, 1, 2, and 4 didn't have to do that. Not much.

Many sponsors for the career districts were long-time supporters and gave money almost every single year, the careers had the best chance at winning.

There were still the sponsor meetings that had to be taken care of. It was really just the Victor the sponsor wanted to see giving them a pitch on why they should donate their money.

Jade was forced into a lot of them. And she learned very quickly that these people loved the hunger games, loved the taste of fear, they liked the proximity without the real flavour.

So she would bring her throwing knives and toss them just above the sponsor's heads. They'd hold their breath for a moment and then laugh and clap, signing the papers almost immediately.

Eventually, it did come time for Amelia and Ryker to have their individual assessments and final interviews before they went off to the arena. It was their last chance to pull in any sponsors.

Domitia and Odius were still stressed about what Luster was going to do that year. He told them it was business as usual but it was Luster. They didn't believe him for a moment.

All of the careers were given high scores, no one received below a 9.

And for once, Jade was happy she was from District 2. It meant she only had to sit through 4 painfully fake interviews before she got to leave the auditorium.

She pitied the outlying district Victors. Because even though 1 and 2 were fake, at least they could act. Most of the other tributes bombed their interviews and it was physically uncomfortable to watch.

Jade sat with her head against her seat, wishing she had taken earplugs as she waited for Amelia and Ryker to be finished with their interviews.