Here we go! The second chapter of Orchid, how exciting!
Enjoy!
Read!
Love!
:3 Aly_Chan
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When we got to the capital we were immediately pulled into separate rooms and groomed excessively. In the end my short blonde hair that I cut by hand, was neatly trimmed and silky, after much begging I was allowed to keep the barret daddy gave me, so it was now clipped in my hair holding my cheek length bangs back. I walked into the dinning area and sat next to Joshua. Across from us, Haymitch was drinking his weight in alcohol, peeking at me with a pained expression and then drinking more. Effie Trinket was at the head of the table smiling at all of us even though there was visible discust in her eyes when she looked at Haymitch. Joshua and I glanced at each other and shrugged as we dug into the rich Capitol food. I had never eaten so well, but being as small as I am I couldn't eat much and even then i felt slightly sick but not as sick as Joshua looked. He was practically green and hunched over on his seat. Feeling bad for him I stood and offered him my hand which he took gladly and walked to my room with Haymitch and Effie's eyes on us as we left,
"Thanks Orchid."
"No problem" I said smiling at him.
He sighed and plopped down onto his bed, running his hand through his white blonde hair and looked up at me.
"Why did you help me? Same District or not we are supposed to be enemies."
I smiled sadly at him.
"I'm 5 foot nothin and 96 pounds soaking wet. I can run real fast but I have no upper arm strength. I can't hunt meaning in the arena I can't survive off the land. I'm 12 years old and expecially against the careers I stand no chance. I'm going to die Joshua. But you might win for our district, so if I see you ill help because i know once go into that arena I'm not leaving alive."
I patted his shoulder and walked out leaving him dumbfounded on his bed.
JOSHUA POV
I watched Orchid leave and thought about what she said. She was right about everything of course but seeing a 12 year old girl so resigned to her death was heartbreaking.
"I will try to win this for you Orchid, I promise" I mumbled to myself as I prepared for bed. As the lights switched off and I slipped into the soft, comfortable Capitol sheets I had one last thought before I drifted off;
I promise.
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ORCHID POV
I don't know what made me say all of that to him, but I felt like I could trust him, like he was an older brother to me even though we haven't known each other very long. The days before we headed into the arena seemed to blur together. The legendary chariot ride through the arena was nothing special. Josh ( Joshua had finally forced me to call him Josh now) and I were in coal miner overalls, our faces smudged with black coal. Mine practically swallowed me, my short blonde hair was ruffled and dirty looking, fake tear tracks cut through the grime on my face and my eyes were watery from the loose coal that got in them. My stylists had spoken with Haymitch and Effie and decided to give me the innocent tomboy look. Josh and I waved at the crowd, getting a few awes here and there. After that we had a few days of coaching and training with the other tributes. The career pack had already formed making me stick close to Josh for protection. They were big and scary, not to mention deadly and i was no match for them. Thinking about it logically, I decided to learn some basic snares and traps at the different stations. During the private practices for the judges I made knots and climbed all the way to the ceiling earning me a 5 in the judging. Finally it was the day of the interview, my hair was pulled back with numerous hair clips, a few flyaway pieces framing my face. I had on a blue loose fitting dress with a brown rope belt and flat brown sandals to match the belt. I was after a girl named Nita from District 11 who was three years older than me and had jewel green eyes that reminded me of Josephine. I took deep breaths as I waited for my turn. Josh put a reasuring hand on my shoulder and pushed me forward as Ceaser Flickerman called my name. I smiled and waved at the crowd as I entered and sat on the seat next to Caesers. He was orange this year.
