A Hunger Games Story

Chapter 3

Rhonda and her team spent all day working on me. They died my hair in a temporary bright red and let if fall in several curls. They polished my nails in a pretty burnt orange. They put yellow and gray swirls around my eyes. Then they finally dressed me in a yellow silk gown.

Then I was finally ready for my interview. I went to the City Circle and took a seat. I was going to be second to last. Ceaser Flickman was dressed in exactly the same thing as always. He also always looked the same and had the same hairstyle. The only thing he ever changed was his hair color and his makeup. It was very disturbing. Yes, it was definitely uncanny.

The first interview was a blonde, emerald eyed girl. She was tall and wore a see-through gold gown. I waited as the buzzer went off every three minutes. I didn’t really pay attention until that Katniss girl went up. She acted weird. It’s like she had multiple personalities. Stupid, unladylike, shallow. I could see she was trying to get the crowd to like her. I had a feeling this wasn’t her real personality. Then she twirled. She looked like an absolute idiot. Ceaser asked her a few more questions and the buzzer went off. Then her friend Peter, no Peeta walked up on to the stage.

While I’m listening to Peeta’s interview I admit a have a laugh or two. He was hilarious. Then Ceaser asks him if he has a relationship. Then he says he’s had a crush on a girl forever who just happened to be Katniss. Well look at that, star-crossed lovers. After this I feel a little bad because I was determined to win this thing. Winning would involve killing them. Suddenly the buzzer goes off and it’s my turn to speak.

I can feel my heart leaping out of my chest. “Have a seat Ms. Chestnut,” Ceaser tells me. “Are you okay? You seem a little pale.”

“Oh I’m fine, just a little nervous.”

“You’ll do wonderful dear,” he says with an endearing smile. “So the day you were called on the reaping, you fainted. Were you scared?”

“I didn’t want to leave my sisters. I didn’t want the fear of losing. I’m determined to win though.”

“I’m sure you are. You pulled a twelve! How amazing. Tell me how you did it.”

“Well I couldn’t do that. It would be against the rules. I can tell you that I tried my best though.”

“Well it looks like your best was the best.”

“Well thank you, Ceaser. That really means a lot.”

“Oh anytime, anytime. You’re a very charming young lady. How old are you again?”

“Thanks again. I’m fourteen; I’ll be fifteen in two months.” Then the buzzer went off.

“Well I hope you do very well in the games. Good luck, and thank you.”

“No, thank you,” I said while smiling. I didn’t even pay attention to Harry’s interview. I was still scared even though Ceaser said I was charming. Hopefully people liked me and would want to sponsor me. They were the only ones I was trying to impress. After Harry, we stood for the anthem.

I saw Katniss avoid getting in a car with Peeta. It was obvious she was embarrassed. I stepped into a car myself, and waited to get back to the Training Center. I went to go eat when I got there. Our entrée was cream and rose-petal soup. I re-watched the interviews, I tuned out though when it was Katniss’s interview. I did listen to Peeta’s though. The showed how flushed Katniss’s face was when he admitted how he felt about her.

After dinner, I went to bed. This was my last day of freedom, tomorrow I would be in an arena for who knows how long. I was horrified, but resolute. I had to be tenacious if I was going to win this thing, and that I was.