The 100th Hunger Games (FAN FICTION)

Chapter 4 - The Tribute Parade

Caramel was very weird. She had dark blue hair up to her chin with yellow eyes and very sharp, steep eyebrows. She was wearing a shimmering golden ribbon in her hair, and a sleeveless black dress with a really airy, thick, gold skirt that gathered above her knees, and wore white stockings underneath. I stood up firmly and awkwardly as Caramel examined me. "You've got a nice body, Biopet." Caramel said. "Violet." I whispered. "Excuse me? I didn't hear you." Caramel said. "Violet. It's Violet. Violet Cosby." I affirmed. "Okay then Violet. Tonight is the Tribute Parade. Do you know what that is?" Caramel asked. "Yes." I said.

"I have designed the parade costumes for you and Zaparee." Caramel said. "Zachary." I whispered. "What?" Caramel asked. "ZACHARY! I SAID ZACHARY!" I yelled. Caramel nodded, and started to laugh. "Put on this dress, sweetie, and your prep team will prepare your hair, makeup, nails and more." I nodded, embarrased. Caramel was acting like I hadn't yelled at her. I went to my changing room and put on the dress.

It was a very tight dress, very light too. It went up to somewhere above my knees. It was way too short for me. It had no sleeves except a almost transparent grey, poofy sleeve started at my shoulders and gathered at my wrist (Only in my right arm). Underneath came semi-transparent pantyhose, a tone of orange-y red, with white rhombuses on top. I wore silver high heels and a short vest made out of feathers the same color of her pantyhose. I struggled to walk in the high heels and went back to the room where Caramel was. "You look stunning, my dear!" She said, in her high-pitched voice.

"I think.. This is really good-looking." I said to myself, quietly. I walked in front of the mirror. "When does the prep team come in?" I asked. Caramel pretended to look at a watch and said. "About.. now." Caramel said. The prep team rushed in through the door and sat me on a chair. While one of them painted my nails a shiny silver color with orange crack-like designs, another curled my hair and did double braids through my forehead, like a headband, while another re-shaped my eyes with black eyeliner and stuck fiery orange eyelashes, applied red lipstick, orange blush and red eyeshadow.

They left me alone in the chair and Caramel took off the straps. "Very beautiful." She purred. I was sent into a room where all the tributes were getting ready. Zachary wasn't a great fan of the look, but he was wearing a male version of my costume. The chariot was a silver color, and the horses were white. I stood there doubtfully as I grabbed Zachary's hand and I helped him up. The girl from district 3 was looking at us, filled with amazement.. or maybe she was looking at Zachary. We took our places as the chariot from district 1 started up, and a few seconds later so did ours.

The crowd of oddly-colored men and women looked around the chariots with energy. A few of them were really attracted to us, watching our every move. I waved in every direction, recieving winks and whistles from attractive men. We took place and President Klaudeen did his speech. We arrived back at the room where we started. Jan and Cato took us to the elevator and got to the 2nd floor. "This is where you will be staying." Jan said, waiting, as the elevator rose up to the 2nd floor. She introduced us to the apartment. It was very big and luxurious.

I took off my costume with the help of my stylists and they removed my clothing and makeup. I was left alone, and took a bath to scrub off everything. I took about 3 hours, soaking in warm water to get me relaxed. I used a special soap only provided by the Capitol that left my skin with a healthy glow. Then I applied moisturizer, following the instructions of a hologram. I put on my underwear and then entered the walking closet.

I looked through the electronic menu and found a picture of a silky pajama, that consisted of a top and pants, of a red color, decorated with flowers. I put it on and walked towards the dining hall, where Jan, Cato, Caramel, Zachary and Ender, Zachary's stylist, were waiting for me. "Honey, the parade went really great!" Jan said. "Good job." Cato said, in a straight, emotionless tone. "Tomorrow you're going training. So are you, Zachary, so have a good sleep." Caramel said.

I nodded. "May you pass me the olive oil?" I asked. Ender passed me a transparent container filled with olive oil, and I served it in my plate. I added salt and dipped a piece of bread. "Violet, you're going to have to look innocent." Cato said. "Excuse me?" I asked. "That is how you'll work. I'll train you for the interview, make you seem innocent.. Then.. in the Games, you need to seem like an easy kill. Stay in hiding, team up with Zachary. Then you can start killing when there are not many tributes left." Cato said. "No! That won't work!" I protested, slamming my fist against the table. "I need to take advantage of the training sessions!" I whined. "You can.." Cato said. "How the heck will I?" I asked. "Focus on survival skills.. then you may work with running. Mainly running and then you may add weapons.. As soon as you master the weapons, miss on purpose and move on to another weapon.. That is how you should do it." Cato said. I nodded. "It doesn't sound that bad.." Zachary said. "You've convinced me."

After we talked about strategies while we filled our bellies all the way to the top, I let out a yawn and didn't bother to cover my mouth. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "You're tired, aren't you?" Jan asked. "No, I'm not tired." Zachary yawned and so did I. "Both of you are tired. I can't blame you, so get to sleep!" Jan said, clapping her hands. I was very tired but I managed to get out of my chair.

I walked up to my bedroom and lay in the soft bed. I ran my fingers against the silky fabric and got in. I undid my hairdo and just put it into a side braid. I let my head hit the pillow and closed my eyes. "Night night, Zachary." I said. Zachary heard me through the paper-thin wall that separated our rooms. "Night night." He repeated.

I couldn't fall asleep yet, so I turned on the TV and watched Capitol channels. I found a comedy show that made me laugh more than usual. It was supposed to be about daily life at the Capitol in a middle-class family. A mother, a father, an older brother, a medium sister and the younger brother. The only reason I laughed was because the father was tatooed through the palms of his hands and had oddly-shaped eyebrows, while the mom had really frizzy curly pink hair, like cotton candy, and brown eyes. Even the little kids had dark blue hair or strawberry pink hair and golden eyes. Very weird.

Some of the jokes were hard to understand, because it had what I called 'Capitol humor' and sometimes the characters spoke in a barely understandable accent. I eventually closed my eyes and was almost asleep, so I turned off the TV and covered myself in the bed sheets and colorful covers. I blinked many times until I drifted off to my dreams.

I had dreams about the arena. Not really nightmares. I wondered about the Quell and what would change. I wondered about Zachary. I thought about my dress and impressing the crowd. I even thought about the interview and Caramel and my prep team.