Just A Game-Phan/THG

The tribute parade

A/N: Ok so first of all, I'm so sorry for not updating in... 18 days (whops) but I've been really busy and kind of dealing with major writer's block... So this chapter is kind of short (I'm sorry) have fun reading and I'll see you in a week! :D

*POOF* Julia out! *brofist* ^.^

I immediately stop.

  “Was that the Game Makers?” I choke out.

  “Yes” Samantha snaps. “And you better not let them know it was you who stole their champagne!” I didn’t know it was that bad.

  “What will happen if they- they find out it was me?” I mumble, not wanting to hear the answer.

  “Oh nothing. They might get mad but that’s all” I breathe out.

  “Nothing more?”

  “I was only joking, you should’ve seen your face!” I sigh.

  “It wasn’t funny. I thought they’d kill me” I pout, feeling myself sober up a bit. We arrive to a room with the number two on it, with a door just as red as the sofas. As Samantha opens the door, I’m greeted with three people, one girl and two guys, staring at me. At least I hope they’re people, because they definitely don’t look so. The girl has long curly hair, coloured dark pink and a tail in the same style. Her eyes are huge and blue, and her skin has a pink tone, as in real pink, not human skin pink. She’s wearing a black fluffy skirt and on her shoulder I see a tattoo shaped as three balloons, two blue and one yellow. She reminds me of a show I think is called My Little Pony, that Zarah used to watch back home.

  “Oh! You must be Philip!” She squeals in high-pitched voice. Of course, silly capitol people with silly capitol accents.

  “I guess” I sigh, already wanting to get out of here. A tall guy with green hair full with flowers orders me to take my clothes off. I give them a confused look and the other guy with sunset orange hair opens his mouth.

  “Well, otherwise we can’t make you look good for the tribute parade!” I sigh. Let the torture begin.

The clock is ticking and when I’m starting to think I’ll be stuck here forever, Pinkie claps her hands together and sigh.

  “We’re finally done!” She squeals. I’m dressed up in a small robe. My hair’s been cut into what my mom would call an ‘emo fringe’ and they’ve dyed my hair ebony black. The stylists leave and through the door walks small woman. She’s so young and looks like a sweet, innocent girl. Her orange red hair falls around her shoulders as she makes her way to me.

  “I’m Miranda, I’m your stylist” She speaks and her voice is so sweet and innocent you’d think she was a girl if you saw her. “So, are we getting started or not?” She asks as she’s fixing with something with her back turned to me. She turns around just in time to see me nod.

It’s two hours later and I’m dressed in a shimmering gold body suit. A sheath is attached to my back and my face is covered in golden glitter.

She switches off the lights and presses a button on my suit and suddenly, I look like the sun. Not like I’m burning but I’m actually shining, I’m reflecting and shining like the brightest star in the sky. The sheath is shining even brighter and with every movement it looks like a burning sun. I can’t help but be amazed.

“Wow” is all I’m able to whisper in a moment of pure shock. Miranda turns the suit off and leads me out to Emerald. She’s dressed in a deep golden dress. It looks like a typical wedding dress but its gold like my suit and has a cape attached to her back. Red, orange and yellow streaks have been braided into her hair and her eyes are covered in black eye shadow. Her lips are coloured with deep red lipstick, almost black, and when Miranda turns the lights on, she looks like the queen of the sun. The light from the dress illuminates her face and makes her eyes look even bigger. Our arms are covered in glitter and the parts of us that aren’t covered in light sparkles like a fire. Our costumes may look boring and lame when the lights are turned off, but the room will be dark and if we’re the only ones with some kind of light source, the eyes will be on us, I think as we’re being led out to the carts. I turn around to see the girl I think is from district 8 staring at me. Her dress is made of leftover fabric pieces and her eyes are covered in blue eye shadow. The stylists must’ve been pretty bad, because she looks kind of lame, and so does the boy standing next to her. I look at them for a while until I realize that it’s the brown-eyed boy standing only a few metres away from me. I can feel his stare burning into my neck as I turn around. “Phil c’mon, he’s from district 8 don’t be stupid, he’s just a boy, he’ll die soon” I sigh. I slowly turn around to find him there, still staring at me. I build up my courage and walk up to him, keeping my head high and my arms crossed. 

  “What are you staring at then?” I snap, turning my head to see Emerald nervously trying to wipe her hands on her dress. I open my mouth to speak as he opens his mouth, but the words are stuck in my throat.

  “Nothing, why are you even bothering to care?” His voice is like an angel chorus, it sets of fireworks in my stomach. I stop myself and put on my ice cold mask again.

  “Uh-, nothing I just- um” I stutter and starts walking away. “Oh my god Phil what were you even thinking? Are you mad? This guy is from District 8! He practically killed your brother! Don’t talk to him anymore” I think as I walk away. His voice. His sweet, beautiful voice. I try to calm myself as I take Emeralds hand and pull her into my arms.

  “We’re going to be ok, Emerald. We’ll just go out there and rock the place, okay?” I say as I feel her body shake against my chest. Miranda arrives together with a tall, muscular guy dressed in a forest green suit. I catch his name as Josiah as we’re being led onto the chariots. Miranda switches our costumes on and I happily notice that we’re the only tributes with some kind of light source on our costumes. I take a deep breath. Let the parade begin.

The anthem starts playing as District 1 enters. The pair I think is called Brianna and Ryan are dressed in royal-looking deep blue suits. The girl is wearing a long, fluffy dress with what I think is real ferret fur. Her hair is styled with glorious locks covered in silver glitter and her eyes looks twice as big as when I saw her at the reaping. The boy is wearing a deep blue suit with a black cape and the same fur as on the girl’s dress.

The crowd screams are cheers as our chariot enters. I can’t help but feel the feeling of victory as the crowd even bothers to find our names in the programme.

  “Emerald! Philip!” I hear them scream. I catch a glimpse of myself on a big screen, and what I see is breathtaking. My skin looks like its shimmering, the cape looks like a burning sun and with every small movement I make I shine bright like a star. As night begins to fall, our costumes illuminates the room, and I even see a few tributes glaring at us. I silently thank our stylists for giving us a big opportunity in The Games. Emerald looks like the queen of the sun. She dress’s light makes her eyes look huge and the coloured streaks in her hair add to the experience. With every movement, her dress sparkles and shimmers like the brightest star. If this doesn’t make us stand out, I don’t know what will. The anthem fades out and president Shields enters the stage.