Based off The Hunger Games; Against All Odds.

Chapter 8

I slept throughout the night without any nightmares. It was a blank and dark sleep. I was actually happy. The amount of confusion was giving me a headache. When I woke up, it was past noon. Almost 1:30. Before I could even focus, my prep team bursted in. Aloe walked in after them, looking normal for once. His suit was a pale gray color, instead of his usual fluorescent attire. He looked at me and smiled, calling in Aymellie with my dress. It was absolutley amazing. It was long, atleast to my ankles. It was a beautiful green color, and had shiny accents on the edges. My jaw dropped at the sign of its beauty. My prep team quickly slipped it on and got to work on my hair and makeup. Kirby sat quietly on a stool and did my nails. I was scared that she would make them like hers, long and pointy. Instead she painted them a pale green with rhinestone accents. They accompanied my dress perfectly. My hair was in bouncy spiral curls, and my bangs were pulled back. I had on the same color green eyeshadow, and my eyelashes were unnaturally big. They also worked me into tall sparkly high heels. I never saw myself like this before.

We made our way into the lobby of the training center where the other tributes were. Pearl looked the most beautiful there, with her shiny white dress accented with lots of gold accesories. She was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. The other tributes looked at me with their jaws dropped. I couldn't exactly walk very well in the heels, but I kept my walk sturdy. I had to show them I didn't care about what they thought, I was strong.

That is where I saw Clark. He had on a striking dark green suit, with his hair perfectly straight and shiny. He looked up at me and his face froze. He smiled and gave me a wink, which almost made my heart stop. I was almost fangirling over him. All I could think of was if he liked me or not. All signs pointed to yes, but still a hint told me no. I decided to ignore it and focused on what Aloe was trying to tell me.

"Keep your head up. Have a big smile. Laugh with everybody. Be truthful. Look over at me if you get nervous. They are going to love you, I guarantee that." he said. He smiled and walked us into a cab. We drove for a while in silence when Johanna piped in. She had on a dress, which was a first.

"Listen shark bait," she said. "Don't get too worked up. I can already tell you are scared out of your wits." she began laughing. I gave her a look of disgust and turned my head. I looked out the window of the cab. The Capitol was busier than usual. We arrived at our destination and stepped out of the cab. The citizens of the Capitol were amazed at how we looked. The ladies almost died at Clarks feet, which was typical. But some of them looked at me with a sign of jealousy. I laughed to myself and gave them a big smile and wave. It amused me that they envied me

We walked into the building where thousands of Capitol citizens were lined up. They screamed names from up in the stands. It was a madhouse. We walked on the stage one at time. We took our seats and begun interviews. Disrtict 1-6 went by really quickly. Before I knew it, it was my turn. I did as Aloe said and walked sturdily over to Caeser Flickerman, with his blue hair and makeup.

"Erabelle Odair. The name just slips off the tounge easy, doesn't it?" he said with a big smile. Caeser always had a way of working words. I laughed and smiled right back.

"So, the Capitol must know about your story, would you care to share?" he said. I looked over at Aloe. He signaled me to begin.

"Well, I was born in District 4. I was taken away because Snow thought I would rebel against the Capitol. I was raised in District 7." I said. The crowd gasped.

"We can't forget your infamous father, Finnick Odair." he said smiling at the audience. "What is he like?" he asked. I gulped and looked at Aloe again. He mouthed the words 'Shake it off.'

"I never met him." I said, not making eye contact. I looked back at Clark to see his reaction. He seemed shocked that Caeser asked such a question.

"Oh dear, I am so sorry." he said. The buzzer rang that indicated our time was over. "Lets give it up for Miss Erabelle Odair, ladies and gentleman!" he said holding my arm above my head.

I took my place back next to Clark as he walked over to Caeser. The crowd cheered in awe.

"So you are the Clark Maxwell everyone is talking about, huh? You seem to be the next hip thing here in the Capitol."  Caeser said. Clark smiled wide and shrugged.

"I guess. It seems everywhere we go, they are screaming my name. A lot of girls envy Era though. I never doubted they wouldn't, considering she is so beautiful." he said with a smile. My jaw dropped at what he had just said. Was he leading me on? Did he really think of me like that?

The Capitol awed and cheered. Caeser smiled and nudged Clark's arm.

"I see a little romance maybe?" Caeser said laughing.

"She is more like a little sister." Clark said.  My jaw dropped and tears began to sting my eyes. A sister? Did everything we went through mean nothing to him? I bit my tounge and sucked in my tears. My face was red in anger. I didn't notice that the cameras were showing my reaction. 

The buzzer rung and he walked back over to me and sat next to me. 

"What did I do wrong?" he said. I rolled my eyes and watched the rest of the tributes do their interviews. I found out that Kasha was only 13, and Barley was her brother. That must be really hard for them and their family. My anger began to calm down until after we left. 

"Era, what is your problem?" Clark said. I scowled at him and rolled my eyes again. "Era I didn't do anything wrong!" We got out of the cab and returned to the Training Center. 

"You really want to know what is wrong?" I yelled. "I'm in love with you, idiot!!" I ran upstairs with tears pouring out of my eyes.