𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑.

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

Rosie watched the TV across from her plush bed.

The bed was massive, she realised if she positioned herself in the middle and stuck all her limbs out, she wouldn't even have a pinky hanging over the end. The sheets smelled of roses and were silky smooth. The entire room was a shock when she walked in, while not big—not by The Capitol's standards at least—it would've been larger than both her living room and kitchen put together.

Her brain had enough of dissecting all the grandiosity she found herself surrounded by; the luxe sheets, crystal clear TV screen, and the food Toby never stopped eating. It disgusted her, how the people in The Capitol lived, knowing people a few hours train drive away were starving to death. She knew they lived a different life than she did, but seeing it was another thing. She truly began to believe they didn't see the people where she came from as real people, Rosie thought that they had been programmed to think they were some kind of other being, a being that they were morally allowed to hurt willy-nilly. Because how else could you see the anguish on a screen and not feel an ounce of empathy?

So far, Rosie had only met one person from The Capitol, that being Zavir, and she lived up to her thoughts and predisposed opinions.

She left the main carriage after Kit passed out, his head tipped back and almost inhuman snores ripped from his chest. Toby was still there when she retired to her room, the button holding the waistband on his grey trousers popped open after he threw in the towel on his personal eating contest. Zavir had left shortly before Rosie, Rosie thought it may be due to the fact she kept sending sideways glares at her Escort.

"We have a few stand-out moments from this year's Reaping, don't we Claudius?" The Capitol's favourite presenter Caesar Flickerman, an eccentric man perpetually dressed in brightly coloured wigs and flamboyant suits that went with whatever hair colour he chose that day, spoke to his co-host, Claudius Templesmith, a man Rosie could only describe as looking strange. She thought it was perhaps something to do with his small facial features clustering up on his yellow face, leaving himself a big forehead, but she couldn't be sure.

Claudius nodded, glancing down at the cards in his hands, his fingernails were painted purple but shifted to a multitude of different colours when he moved. From where she'd be half paying attention she knew on those cards were the Tribute's names and what Districts they came from. "We sure do!" The strange-looking man looked at the camera, a fake smile on his face as he laughed. "Plenty of unexpected moments, you never can predict these things." Drama hung off every word that came out of the blond man's mouth.

"We shouldn't make the people wait any longer, should we?" Caesar asked rhetorically, to which Claudius made a show of shaking his head.

Rosie couldn't help but scoff, once again frustrated at the song and dance, and how they drew every second they could from the events.

"They've waited long enough, let's get to our favourite moments," Caesar smiled widely, showing off his fake, white teeth. "Now, we'll start off with the moment that I can't stop talking about—"

"I don't think anyone will stop talking about it for weeks," Claudis hyped the moment up.

"We are, of course, talking about District 9's female Tribute, Rosemary Aldine!" As he spoke the screen was split so the audience could view the moment Rosie turned to face the cameras. She was pleased with how composed she looked, she looked stiff, but not scared. She was also relieved the angle of the cameras didn't give The Capitol a show they weren't bargaining for.

The presenting duo could clearly see the video the audience was watching, the camera zoomed in on Rosie as she scanned the crowd.

"I simply can't get that little dress out of my mind! She's clearly someone who takes their appearance seriously—and as people of The Capitol, we know a thing or two about that," Claudius laughed, Caesar turned to him and also laughed.