Against His Odds - A Hunger Games FanFiction

Chapter 6

Iris woke up the next morning, a bit of excitment fluttering in her chest. Today was the day of the opening ceremony, when her, Chad, and the other tributes will ride on carriages to the training room.
     She got up and went downstairs to eat breakfast by herself. After that, she undressed and got in a nice, warm shower. She had to be clean for it. Iris guessed that Chad was also in the shower. She began to think about the ceremony. What would the dress look like, she wondered. She wouldn't even dare think about the Games. It was too much for her to think of killing her best friend.
     After the shower, Iris blow-dryed her hair and walked back into her room to find her stylists waiting for her. "Time to get ready!" Eddison exclaimed. Iris sighed.
     She found herself in the room with mirrors in it again, with her stylists around her giving her orders such as, "Put this on," or, "Hold still!" She had to close her eyes for them to put on her makeup. After many minutes of hard work, they had her look at herself in the mirror.
     Iris was bedazzled. Her long, brown hair was up in a beautiful messy bun. She wore a long, yellowish-whitish dress that mixed with a light green at the end. The top of her dress was a clear fabric, with a thin cape draping from it. Her sleeves were big and poofy, and they were clear, just like the shoulder area, but she had petals sticking out a small bit for shoulder pads.
     "What do you think?" Eifa asked, stepping up by her. "I-it's beautiful!" Iris answered. Tyler stepped up. "It represents an iris flower. Neat, huh?" He said. Iris nodded. She suddenly felt movement on her left side and turned to see Chad standing by her. He had a similar outfit, but it was a suit with a smaller cape instead of a dress with a long cape. "Isn't it cool?" He asked. Iris nodded.
     "We've also been thinking of your outfits for your interveiw," Eddison said. "What do you have so far?" Iris asked curiously. Eifa answered first, "We were thinking a nice, white dress that faded into yellow sparkles the farther up the waist it went. We might make some adjustments, though." Eifa stopped and continued, "Oh! And also, we need to tell you when the pollen will be activated. We have a button, so on our cue, we will activate it."
     "Ha! District 12 will have a mouthful of pollen!" Odis joked, stepping into the room with Presley. Presley gently slapped him. "Don't be so rude!" She snapped. Odis just rolled his eyes.
     "Well," Presley continued, "It's time to go to the carriages! Let's go!" They all followed Presley out of the mirrored room and down the hallway.

     Iris found herself getting into the carriage with Chad. Once seated, Iris and Chad flicked their capes over the back of the carriages. "Ok. Just smile and wave," Tyler said. Iris and Chad nodded. Tyler finished, "We will start the pollen when it is time."
     Iris looked around. District 3 had dark blue outfits on with colorful circuits running through it. District 2 had outfits that seemed to resemble blacksmiths. District 7 had outfits with different shades of green on it, and they carried plastic axes over their shoulders. Iris wondered how that would stun the crowd.
     Suddenly, light flooded into the room as the doors were opened. The beating of drums and the sounds of trumpets told her that the carriages were off. She heard the wild cheers of District 1, followed by silence. That must be because of Heather in District 2, Iris thought to herself. She knew District 3 hadn't gone yet, but she suddenly heard the rapid outburst of cheering. She smiled, knowing that they must be cheering for Heather.
     The carriages kept moving, and soon, District 11's carriage was off. The people in the crowd cheered for them. After all, they gave those people food. Suddenly, the crowd went hysterical. At first, Iris was confused. Then she realized why they were cheering so wildly as a speck of pollen flew in front of her. She smiled boldly and waved. Chad did the same.
     Chad leaned over to her. "How can we get them to cheer more?" He whispered. Iris thought about it and remembered seeing tributes in the previous games hold hands. She grabbed Chad's hand and raised it up. Chad, confused, went with it. The crowd went even more balistic than before. The pollen, the smiles, the cheers and the holding hands. That's what made this moment so fun.
     The carriages finally rounded the loop. Iris watched President Snow as he stared intently at Heather. She felt so bad, but at the same time, she wondered why he wasn't stopping the Games.
     Darkness filled the carriages as they stopped inside another building. Iris and Chad hopped off. Iris couldn't help but laugh a bit as she saw one of the District 12 tributes with pollen covering parts of their suit. He glared at her intently. Iris recoiled a bit and turned away.
     She spotted Heather and Jonathan getting off of their carriage. Iris ran up to them. "Hi," she greeted them. Heather and Jonathan looked at her curiously. Heather was the first to speak. "Hello," she said, "I'm sorry you had to be picked in the Games. If only..." she trailed off. Jonathan nudged her. "It's an honor to be in the Games. Although you probably are most likely to die, you still get awesome food and get to honor your district!" Jonathan said. Iris laughed. "Well, I'll see you on training. Bye!" Iris said, running back over to Chad. It was great to meet the President's daughter. She had just wished it wouldn't be in that way.