The First Annual Hunger Games (Book 1)

5. One Good Thing

The train is pulling through a tunnel and everything goes dark. I stare out the window trying to make something out of nothing. The light grows, soon we're out of the tunnel and that's when I see it. The Capitol.

If I didn't know any better I'd say it was beautiful. The buildings climb into the sky, taller than any of the trees at home. Everything is bright and full of light. The people wear ridiculous outfits that would stand out if everyone else wasn't dressed the same. The sun reflects of the skyscrapers. Even the cars are neon.

I look over at Roxen who can't seem to look away. "They have to make everything bright to make up for the lack of bright people," I say. He glances at me and returns to the window, too entranced to get the joke.

The train slows down and people start to notice it's not an ordinary train. Someone spots us and soon everyone's pointing to the window where we stand. They start waving and jumping and doing anything to get our attention. Who knew you could get so popular overnight?

"Alright you two," Tullis comes up behind us. "You don't want to just look at it, do you?"

We peel away from the window and are escorted out of the train. The people cheer when we come out, but we can't acknowledge because we are put in a car and driven across the city. They take us to a building that looks the same as the rest and we go inside. Tullis takes me away from Roxen and through a series of halls and doors and things called elevators. Finally we arrive in a room where three people wait for me.

"Hello dear, we're your prep team!" one says. "I'm Tanz and this is Edel and Nettelle." She gestures to the man and woman women beside her. They all smile, but it seems like more of a cringe to me. "We're going to get you ready for your stylist."

"I thought my stylist was the one who was supposed to get me ready," I say as they lead me further into the room. There's all sorts of equipment that I have know idea what it could do. I sit down in a chair and they surround me.

"We have to give her something to work with." Ouch. Tanz turns to her coworkers and rattles of instructions that I quickly forget.

I don't know how long I'm in there, it seems like hours. They get all the hair off everything but my head, then they put some sort of lotion on me that must be magic because it makes my skin smooth, it even gets rid of the callouses on my hands. They fix my broken nails and paint them with clear polish. My hair is hydrated and the natural curls actually look good for the first time in my life.

"Alright," Tanz takes a step back to look at me. "I think you're ready for her."

"And who is she exactly?"

"Inala, she is brilliant. She designed the outfit I'm wearing," Edel says. I skim over his cheetah print filled suit and decide I don't want to meet Inala.

"Alright stand up and turn around in a circle," Nettelle says. I stand, feeling all their eyes on me.

"This way." Tullis nods at the prep team and leads me to a new room. "Wait here for Inala." She leaves.

I sit on a couch. The room is filled with plush furniture just like the train was. I sink down and relax for what feels the first time in weeks, closing my eyes.

"Don't you just love the way people look when they don't know they're being watched?" I jolt and sit up. "Don't worry, I don't mean that in a creepy way. It's just interesting when people aren't putting up a facade. I quite enjoy it." The woman walks over to me and sits down. Her hair is pulled into an intricate updo, one side of it is white that fades into the black that is the rest of it. She has a black hat made out of tool on her head and her dress is filled with diamonds large ones at the neck that grow smaller as they go down. Her skin seems artificially pale and her lips accent it with a deep red.