The Hunger Games | Rilaya

The Interviews

Effie's knocking on the door, telling me to wake up and remind me that there was another "big, big, big day!" ahead.

I get up and take a quick shower, then head down to the dining room, where Riley, Effie, and Shawn were in a huddle, talking in hushed voices. While that does seem odd, my hunger got the best of me.

"So, what's going on?" I ask, shoveling a lamb stew into my mouth. It was possibly the best thing I've had at the Capitol, and that's saying something. "You're coaching us on interviews today, right?"

"That's right." Shawn nods.

"You don't have to wait until I'm done. I can listen and eat at the same time." I say.

"Well, there's been a change of plans. About our current approach." Shawn says.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Riley has asked to be coached separately." Shawn says this so casually, as if it didn't matter at all.

Betrayal. That's all I felt. Because, yes, it did matter. The girl who gave me the bread, who gave me hope, who gave me her jacket, who gave me her kindness, who made me fall for her, was now trying to kill me.

But, I couldn't let her win. I promised Prim that I would be the one to come home and I wasn't going to let my feelings get in the way of that.

"O-okay." I say. "So what's the schedule?"

"You'll each have four hours with Effie for presentation and four with me for content." Shawn explains.

After four torturing hours of Effie instructing me on what to do, it was finally time for lunch.

"Well, that's the best I can do." Effie sighs. "Just remember, Maya, you want the audience to like you."

"And you don't think they will?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Not if you glare at them the entire time." Effie remarks. "Why don't you save that for the arena? Instead, think of yourself among friends."

"They've betting on how long I'll live!" I couldn't hold my anger in anymore, not after four hours of it. "They're not my friends!"

"Well try and pretend!" Effie snaps. She takes a deep breath in and smiles at me. "See, like this. I'm smiling at you even though you're aggravating me."

"Yes, it feels very convincing." I scoff. "I'm going to eat."

I stomp off to the dining room, where Riley and Shawn were already sitting, both in good moods. This makes my think that the content session would be an improvement over the morning with Effie, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

After lunch, Shawn and I were in the sitting room, where he just stood there and frowned at me for a while.

"What?" I ask, starting to get annoyed with his stare.

"I'm trying to figure out what to do with you." He finally says. "How we're going to present you. Are you going to be charming? Aloof? Fierce? So far, you're shining like a star. You volunteered to save your sister. Cinna made you look unforgettable. You've got the top training score. People are intrigued, but no one knows who you are. The impression you make tomorrow will decide exactly what I can get you in terms of sponsors."

"What's Riley's approach?" I find myself asking. "Or am I not allowed to ask?"

"Likable." Shawn answers. "She has a sort of self-deprecating humor naturally. Whereas when you open your mouth, you come across more as sullen and hostile."

"I do not!" I shout.

"Please." Shawn scoffs. "I don't know where you pulled that cheery, wavy girl on the chariot from, but I haven't seen her before or since."