Chapter 14

19 1 1

by llamasinpyjamas

by llamasinpyjamas

I slept well that night, for the first time since the reaping, and woke up actually feeling fully awake, which was useful, since how today is no doubt going to be a very long day. I went to meet Seamus in the living room because he had asked Freddie and I to see him at 9 and it was now 10 minutes to. Freddie was late, not by much but late was late. Seamus wasnt happy about it but he let it pass anyway, Jordan and Kara came in and took Freddie and I out of the room and back to the dressing rooms that we had gotten ready in just before the opening ceremony, except now it was filled with a bunch of new dresses. The next few hours were filled with me trying on a dress, having my make up done, Kara taking a picture, me changing into another dress and repeating the whole process again.

About 15 dresses later Kara and I sat down to discuss the outfit I would be wearing to the interview that evening. We had just reached a decision when a bell rang, and Kara told me we had to go. She took me back to the living room, and sat me down on the big sofas that were set out in front of the massive flat-screen television, to see how we all did in training.

After a couple of minutes, Darcy Otterbatch appeared, about to give us out scores. The pair from Leeds, Louise and Felix, did exceptionally well, both scoring 10 out 12, but the two from Newcastle, Zoe and Dan, both got 6's. Freddie and I were next, as we saw 'Manchester' pop up on the screen and then fade away. My picture came up and Darcy said "...and now from Manchester, Orla Richie, with a score of..." She paused, as she had done with the others. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, expecting the worst, and then "....7". Not as good as I would have hoped, but not as bad as I had expected. And then it was Freddies turn:

"...and also from Manchester, Frederick Richie, with a score of...." I couldnt quite believe what came next: "....9". WOW!! that must be a first!! A 12 year old getting a 9!

"Well done Fred!!" I screamed, and I went to give him a hug, but he was just curled up in a ball on the sofa. "Whats up?" I asked him. He just shrugged, not saying a word. what was wrong with him? he had just recieved an AMAZING score and he wasnt even happy about it!!

"Come on Doll" Kara said in a less enthusiastic way than usual, normally, her calling me 'Doll' would make me feel better, because I loved it when she called me it, but it didnt this time, I didnt think anything could. Freddie was unhappy, and that made me unhappy. Kara tried to cheer me up whilst she got me ready for the interview, I attempted at covering up my real feelings by platering a fake smile on my face the whole time, but I dont think she was falling for it.

After I had been made up, we went back into the living room and met up with everyone else. Freddie was wearing a white suit with matching shoes (Jordan must have realised that Freddie looks his best in a suit). At 7:30 the interviews would start, so we left at 7, only stopping when we got behind stage. By this time it was 7:20, and we were getting lined up in running order, waiting to be called up.

The music started to boom around us as the show began. Darcy came on, wearing a dress that looked like something a Gypsy bride would wear on her wedding day, except it was baby pink in colour. She introduced us one by one , andf the tribute at the front of the queue stepped out, much to the delight of the crowd. After not too long it was my turn. I stepped out onto the stage, and saw the crowd cheering as I walked over to my seat.

It wasnt as easy to answer the questions as you might have thought. There was only so much you could say without getting into serious trouble, so when Darcy asked " So Orla, 7 ay, well, tell us, what happened in there?" I replied with :

"Ahh, well of course I'd love to tell you Darcy, but I'm afraid that is classified information" I tapped my nose with my index finger and winked at the crowd, which they seemed to love. Eventually the buzzer went, I was out of time. I stood up and made my made my way off the stage, strutting more than walking, giving the crowd a little wave as I went. I was struggling to walk in my purple stilletoes, but I think I managed to hide it well. On the way out, I caught myself in the mirror and realised how glamorous I looked. My dress shaped my body perfectly, it was purple and flowed gracefully in velvety ripples from the waist down, my dark hair in casual curls, framing my face.

I looked back at the stage and saw that Freddie was already a good way through his interview. He seemed much more conversational with Darcy than he had with anyone else. The crowd were going wild, so much in fact that you could barely hear the buzzer signal the end. Freddie got up, shaking hands with Darcy, and left. He came up to me and gave me a massive hug, which took me by surprise.

"Well you've changed your tune" i said sarcastically, but then I saw that he was upset. "Whats the matter?"

"You know what" was all he said, and he buried his head into my dress. It took me a while to understand what he meant, but then it struck me. Tomorrow we enter the arena. I stroked his hair, trying to comfort him in any way that i could. Then seamus told us that we had to be getting back, but we stayed just long enought to hear Darcy call out:

".. LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!"

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A/N WOW that was a long chapter (for me anyway) so the games are about to begin!! I dont know why but i wanna say something that i only realised whilst i was typing this chapter up.... ITS A YEAR AGO TODAY SINCE THE HUNGER GAMES MOVIE CAME OUT!!!! now yes yes i know i wasnt a fan of it then but everyone at school was talking about it and i realllyyyyyyy wanted to see it so yeah i thought id just share that with you. Thabks for reading guys, i will update soon but for now remember:

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