Sunset on the Reaping

Entertaining the Crowd: Eleanor's POV

I fidgeted with my fingernails, peeling the skin off from the sides. All the nerves I've had throughout the reaping, the bus, and everything else were all starting to catch up to me. I was only 4 tributes away from going up on the stage. "Are you scared?" I turned to look at the boy standing next to me in line.

"No." I said not giving away any emotion.                                          

"You will be."                                                                                                                                                       

"Was that a threat, Baker?"                                                                                                                             

"Take it how you want it. But know this Eleanor Snow, we are here because of you and your bloodline so when I say you are top of my list...just know that you will die and Grandpa won't be here to save you."                                                                                                                                                       

"Oh, Baker, you need to stop lying to yourself. A friend once told me, 'When seeking revenge, dig two graves...one for yourself.' So, Mister Baker, I hope you have that grave ready because in case you haven't noticed there will be no victor this year."

He sucked in a deep breath and buffed his shoulders up, looking away from me. I hadn't noticed that during our conversation two tributes had already gone which meant Callum was next.

"Callum Baker, you're on in 5. Come with me." One of the assistants held out her hand motioning for Callum to walk up the steps.

"Break a leg." He turned back with a look of hate on his face and soon it was just me in the hallway by myself. I watched on TV as Callum was introduced on the screen.

"So, Callum Baker, what do you think about your odds so far?"                                                                                               

"That depends on if we are talking about skill-wise or from a more first-look perspective, I'm just kidding I know I have this in the bag."                                                                                                                        

"I see well confidence is key, is it, not folks..." The crowd all laughed in unison. Barlowe asked a few simple get-to-know-you questions until he got down to the deep stuff. "Now let's get serious for a minute, can we do that? I think everyone saw how mad you were about your name being called out...is there any particular reason for your rage?"                                                                        

"Oh, there is a very good reason, you see I and many of the people in the Capitol fought alongside the rebels in hopes to abolish the old government. Yet here I am about to go into a Hunger Games created for an enemy I fought against."

That little liar, he did nothing for the rebellion, and he knows it. I'm the one who gave the mine bomb information to District 13, not him! The crowd responded with a series of disorganized pleads to take him out of the games, but The Gamemakers had already made up their mind.

"Well, I think that is enough for today, thank you. Callum Baker, everyone!" He bowed and walked off stage. The assistant came back, and it was finally my turn to go up. "All right everyone, let's die down and get serious for another minute. A few hours ago, during the reaping the whole world was cheering for the last tribute to be named, but not in support. So, now, it is our last tribute's turn, here she is everyone...Eleanor Snow!" The doors opened revealing a silent crowd and glowing lights shining right into my eyes. The assistant handed me a microphone before I advanced onto the stage. I could feel the hateful stares of everyone in the room all eyeing me with the same look of revenge. Out of all the things that I've been through today, this scared me the most. "Now Miss Snow..."                                                                                                                                                                                

"Abernathy, please."                                                                                                                                                       

"Excuse me, Miss Abernathy, now I think the whole world wants to know your thoughts because based on your presentation during the reaping...well you were a little hard to read."

I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn't find the words. "I..."                                                                            

"Oh, I see someone has a little stage fright." The crowd laughed at Barlowe's comment.                          

"I refused to take his surname." The crowd went silent again. "Abernathy is my last name, I've lived in District 8 since I was 6 years old, and I still do. Snow never cared about me much like he didn't care about the rest of you." Everyone's mouth hung open in shock at my words. "Snow chose not to care; he was only in it for his interests. He killed my mother..." I mean technically an illness killed my mother when I was born, but she wasn't who I was talking about. The images of her body with a bullet through her head and a gun in her right hand had been engraved in my memory, but now I just had to lie and hope people by it. "His daughter. So no, I refuse to go by the name Eleanor Snow because the only thing that follows that name is death." There was silence before the crowd cheered in an uproar of noise. I caught sight of Effie in the crowd. She had a smirk on her face nodding her head. Tigris, who was next to Effie, had a smile that reached both ears.

"Well, I think that's all we need to hear from Miss Abernathy. Thank you, everyone, and goodnight." The camera cut off and I was escorted off stage to a spot to wait for my designer to take me to my room. The tributes didn't have mentors this year, we were all on our own, so it was up to the stylists to show us around.

"Oh, my dear, that was wonderful! I'm going to need some public speaking tips from you next time I have to give a speech." Effie's bubbly voice said from a few feet away. She clasped her hands together with a happy smile on her face.

"You sure got the District's attention, perhaps the rules will change." Tigris said with a sly smirk on her face.

"You know that probably won't happen, but I guess it's good to have hope," I muttered.

We walked to the elevator. I felt a cold hand touch my shoulder, "Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear." I heard his voice and turned around only to see nothing. I quickly shook the memory and turned back to face the elevator doors as they opened.

"You will be on floor 12, the Game Officials thought it best to separate you from the others, for your safety of course."

They opened to reveal a very expensive-looking penthouse. The walls were pearly white and the floors were marble, there was a chandelier in the middle of the room and a staircase that led up to the second floor where all the bedrooms were.

"I'll leave you to yourself for the night, remember tomorrow is training and then private assessments. Get some good sleep and prepare yourself for tomorrow." Effie left the room followed shortly by Tigris. It was at this moment that I realized I hadn't eaten all day, so that was first on my list. Next, was to get out of this dress and makeup. Then, take a shower and finally sleep.

I hadn't realized how many bobby pins Jessimae put in my hair, I think the total was 27.  I did feel slightly bad about wiping off my makeup seeing a Raj had been so passionate about his art. I hadn't taken a hot shower in months, so it was a nice treat to feel the warmth from the water and steam soak into my skin. I couldn't fall asleep; I'd been thinking about what I'd said during the interview and the way the crowd reacted. My first thought when speaking was to make people like me, and then it was to convince the Game Makers to make the games more fair and add sponsors and mentors. There was no doubt that this Hunger Games wasn't going to be one like the past years, this one was meant to show the world of the truly corrupted minds of the Capitol's children and that meant no survivors.