The 4th Quarter Quell

Chapter 8

Cass and I sat in the living room waiting for our results. Ceaser Flickerman appeared on the screen, "Well, we'll the moment we've been waiting for, the ranking results are in. From district 1, Xander with a score of 10, Sparkle with a score of 11. From district 2, Grove with a score of 9, Tigir with a score of 10," Of course the careers would get scores of 9 and above. "From district 3, Yvens with a score of 6, Harmony with a score of 8,. From district 4, with a score of 9, Timor, Regina with a score of 8. From district 5, with a score of 11 is Caspian," I heard Caspian let out a sigh of relief knowing he scored the highest. "And Stephanie with a whopping score of 12," I looked up in shock, with almost the same surprise I had when I had gotten reaped.
Caspian and Emarie both congratulated me whilst Gregorio gave a nod of approval, "Maybe you two do have a shot at winning," He said.
"Alright you two now we've gotten that out of the way you now need to meet your stylists!" Emarie chirped, "You still need to get through the interviews," she said, "Come along now," She gestured us out the door.
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We went down the elevator to what appeared to be the second to bottom floor. Two people, dressed as frivolously as Emarie stood waiting for us. One was a man in what would be his 30s but it was hard to tell from all the surgery, the other was a woman in her 50s, embellished in shiny gems and extended whiskers. "Stephanie this is your stylist Laurie," Emarie guided me towards the woman, "And Caspian, this is your stylist, Diggory,"
"Come on, I have a lot to show you," The woman smiled at me which I reciprocated back. Laurie led me towards a room on the far right of the floor. The room although spacious appeared small, like a broom closet because of all the clatter and mess. "I have this gorgeous dress ready for you," Laurie pulled out a dress from a closet. I gasped, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, floor length, with straps and a sweetheart neckline in a stunning shade of gold and silver highlights, "I had it made to look like your district," she sighed happily.
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I had put on my dress and waited with the other tributes who were waiting for their interview. Sparkle from district 1 was doing her interview which was going really well. But I still had no idea what to expect.
"You'll be ok," I told Caspian, who looked mortified.
"I don't know what I'll have to say," he said.
But before I could respond Flickerman said, "Please welcome Caspian Phipps!" A roar emitted from the crow took Caspian's attention.
"So Caspian we all saw what a brave stunt you pulled when you offered to take the place of that boy, was he a friend?" Flickerman asked.
"No," Caspian murmured.
"Then what could have prompted you to volunteer?" Flickerman laughed.
"I wanted to be with my best friend until the end," Cass said with a little more confidence. Most of the crowd 'aww'
"So do you think you'll win with Stephanie?"
"I will, theres no doubt about it," Caspian stated with a sense of determination.
"We'll there you have it folks, Caspian Phipps!" Flickerman concluded as Cass left the stage.
"Next up can we have a round of applause to Caspian's one and only Stephanie Browning!" A loud roar of cheers signalled me to appear on the stage.
"So, as it was revealed to us a few minutes ago about your charming friendship with one of our tributes. If we didn't have this 2 victor rule do you think Caspian would have followed you into the arena?"
"I know he would and somehow find a way for us both to come out,"
"Bold statement. On the topic of bold, that was some score you pulled. A whopper of 12/12 and your boyfriend, with an 11. With that kind of score do you think it would help you of any sort in the arena?"
"Of course it would, it's changed our tactics to winning,"
"Excellent! Thank you for joining us today Stephanie, we hope both you and Caspian come back for the victors interview!"