Something Worth Living For [THG] // Finnick Odair

VI

"The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart."

-St. Jerome

We go back to our floor, and every kind of food is already waiting for us. I sit next to Ryle again, and Carlyne takes the seat in front of me.

"Everyone was looking at you." Carlyne states. "The crowd was crazy when they saw you, they loved you."

"Only because of you." I say to him.

"Now they will remember you and maybe some even will want to sponsor you." Ryle's stylist says to us.

"The prettiest ones are the ones with more sponsors and the two of you have a unique beauty. Your scores also matter, and since you are from a career district, you have more chances of getting sponsors." Carlyne tells us in one breath.

Carlyne drinks some of his wine and orders a bit more. Brutus and Lyme are also ecstatic. I don't even think I was that great, the dress was beautiful. But me? I am just average or even less than that.

"Now enjoy and celebrate, because you have a hard but important day tomorrow." Enebry says.

"First day of training." Brutus adds. "You'll want to give a good first impression, to both, the gamemakers and the tributes, to make alliances and such, but don't worry about that now."

Again, we have nothing to do that day, I change into normal clothes, or what is called normal here, for me is really fancy stuff but here in the Capitol it's considered plain clothes. Brutus and Lyme call Ryle and me to watch the Tributes Parade. They, the prep teams, the stylists and Enebry cheer at the end of it, they are so excited about it.

As I see myself, I notice the change. From weak girl to confident girl. I see the smile, the attitude, my dress that shined all the time. And I can't help but think, what did my parents think? They obviously watched it, everyone watches the game.

Maybe I impressed them a bit. Maybe I impressed my District. Maybe my parents thought I was pretty again. A tear falls from my eye, something that hasn't happened since I was four. I never cry.

I jump from my place in the couch earning weird looks, especially from Brutus and Lyme, Carlyne calls after me but I ignore him, I don't mean to be rude but I just want to get out of there. I wait for the lift and get inside of it. I don't even know where I am going, I find myself outside of the building, in a beautiful garden. Another tear falls then.

For a moment I forgot about what my parents think, what my father said to me. What my schoolmates think, because for some reason I was always the worse of the class. I was the slowest learner. Would they think different of me now? Probably not, it was just a parade. I looked great but I did nothing spectacular.

"Are you alright?"

I jump in surprise and turn around quickly, doing a little scream in the process. I put my hand over my heart, which is beating fast and hard, and then I look at the owner of the voice.