The Hunger Games

9

Betrayal. That was Alec's first thought, which was weird. For there to be betrayal, there would have had to be trust first. Between Alec and Maia, but that had vanished the moment Maia's name had been called out as tribute.

They were tributes. They weren't supposed to trust each other.

On the other hand, though, Alec was glad they could stop pretending to be friends. It was for good. The Games would start in two days and trust would only be a weakness. Whatever had triggered Maia's decision making, which Alec supposed was related to his score from the night before, Alec should be nothing but grateful for it. Perhaps now they could accept that they were actual enemies, not allies or friends.

"Okay." He said, after he remembered he was supposed to say something, "So, what's the schedule?"

"You'll have four hours with Lydia for presentation and four hours with me for content." Magnus replied, "You start with Lydia, Alec."

Alec had no idea what it was that Lydia had to teach him that would take four hours, but she ended up working him down to the last minute. They went to his room and dressed Alec up in a fancy suit that barely allowed Alec to breathe, and some even fancier shoes that made Alec miss his hunting boots so much.

She taught him how to walk properly and with class. Alec struggled, because he was rather harsh with it, but if Lydia could walk in high heels the whole day, he could manage those shoes. When he finally made it through walking, there was sitting, posture (Alec found out he had a tendency of fidgeting with his shirt and ducking his head), eye contact which Alec did poorly, hand gestures and smiling.

Smiling was all about smiling more. Lydia made Alec say hundreds of stupid phrases that started with a smile, while smiling, and finished with another smile. By lunch, Alec was pretty sure the muscles on his cheeks would never work again.

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

"And you don't think they will, do you?"

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

"They're betting on how long I'll live!" Alec burst out, "They aren't my friends!"

"Well, try and pretend!" Lydia snapped back. Then she regained control of herself and offered him a beautiful smile, "See, like this. You're making me aggressive but I'm still smiling."

"Feels very convincing," Alec grumbled, "I'm going down to eat." Kicking off his uncomfortable shoes and finally taking off the suit, he got dressed with his usual choice of clothes and left the room.

Maia and Magnus seemed in pretty good moods, so Alec thought the content session would go better over the morning; he couldn't have been more wrong. After lunch, Magnus took him to the living room and directed him to the couch, where he sat in front of him and simply frowned for a while, in silence.

"What?" Alec ended up asking.

"I'm trying to figure out what to do with you," Magnus said, before sitting up properly and pulling out his flask and leaving it on the armrest. "How we're going to present you. Are you going to be fierce? Charming? Soft? So far, you're shining like a pretty star."

"You volunteered for your sister to save her, Lorenzo made you look unforgettable, you got the top training score. People are intrigued, Alec," he continued, "But no one knows who you are. The impression you make tomorrow will decide exactly what I can get you in terms of sponsors."

Having watched the Games and the interviews his entire life, Alec knew what Magnus was saying was true. However you appealed to the crowd, whether it was for good or for bad, always ended up in your favor.