Hope In Our Eyes #GoldStarAwards2017Winner

Colorful and Sweet (Aspen)

We arrive in the Capitol early the next morning, and Alyana comes to collect me. We exit the train, then take another sleek, black car to the Remake Center, where our prep teams and stylists will ready us for the Tribute Parade tonight.

Once we arrive, we're escorted to separate prep rooms by Alyana. Olive is sent into one, and I am sent into one right next to hers. The room isn't necessarily big or small, and it consists of metal tables, white tiles, and a hell of a lot of hair products, tools, makeup, and cleaners.

My prep team consists of three ditzy Capitol people; an eccentric blue-haired girl named Ele, and two guys with colorful tattoos named Gred and Shanti. The three make an odd bunch with their inhuman features and shrill Capitol accents.

First, I am hosed down and stripped of most of my body hair, then Gred cleans, drys, and styles the hair on my head, snipping some of the longer patches with scissors so I end up with a short, spiky cut. Ele is focused on my makeup, and Shanti observes nearby and pops in when the others need help.

"Oh, you just look so handsome!" Ele squeals, clearly pleased with her work. "Are you ready to see?"

I give her a nod and she hands me a small mirror to gaze in. My complexion has been perfected, my cheeks have a slight blush, but that may just be from the attention I'm getting from the prep team, my eyes are lined in forest green and navy blue makeup, while my lips are painted a soft pink that is almost, but not quite, natural looking, and my eyebrows are perfectly shaped and angled. The main feature though, is the trail of vines running from my left temple, down my face, around my neck, and across my right arm to my fingertips.

"Wow..." I mutter. I admit I'm impressed. I hardly look like the dirt covered boy who spent his days in the fields back home in 11."Oh, don't you just love it!" Ele shrieks. It's more of a statement than a question. "Uh... Yeah." I say. (A/N: So positive, don't you think? XD)

"Let's call Glitz!" Shanti says excitedly, then they all file out of the room, leaving me alone with my reflection.Glitz turns out to be my stylist, a very prim and proper older woman with silver and aqua hair and mint green skin dressed in tight, black clothes. She isn't as annoying as everyone else I've met in the Capitol, she's actually sort of quiet.

"Of course, it is essential that me let your district's industry be the star in your getup for the parade, so your district partner's stylist, Xato, and I, were thinking of focusing on the berry bush aspect of your district. Agriculture, of course, consists of more than just berries, but the things are very colorful and sweet, which could be a good angle to play." Glints explains.

I don't fully follow, so I just nod. Colorful and sweet. Olive could definitely pull that off.Then, Glitz retrieves my costume from an Avox, a mute slave for the Capitol. The Avox can't be more than my age, and he looks miserable, even though he tries to keep his face unreadable. I can't help but feel sorry for him.

"Don't stare." Glitz says. "It isn't wise to associate with Avoxes. Now let's get your costume on."

I stand solumnly while Glitz dresses me in skintight, forest green pants with a belt of brown, leather vines, and brown, leather boots that turn to vines mid-shin and travel up to my knees. My chest is left bare, because Glitz wants to show off my fit body, she says, and a brown cuff painted intricately with forest green vines and navy blue berries is strapped around the top of my left arm. The final touch is a crown that resembles dark green and brown vines hung heavy with deep blue berries.

"What do you think?" Glitz asks after she's done.

What do I think? I feel vulnerable with so much bare skin showing, and the crown is a little heavy, but I say simply, "It's fine."

Then Glitz leads me down to the ground floor of the Remake Center, which is where the Tribute Parade starts. Once we're down, we meet Olive and Xato, Olive's stylist, at our carriage, which is made from sturdy metal and is pulled by strong, brown horses. Olive looks absolutely beautiful in a getup similar to mine. She has on the same skintight pants, with a navy blue dress over it that hangs near her hip on the right and past her knee on the left, brown, leather boots that turn to vines at her ankles instead of her shins, and a leather belt like mine that sits just above her hips. She has a cuff like mine on her right arm, and the same vine-like, berry-covered crown as mine. Her makeup is the same as mine, the only difference that the vines painted on her skin start at her right temple and end at her fingertips on the left, rather than vice versa.

"You look very nice." I whisper to her as we board the carriage, and she smiles shyly. "Remember to smile, and look confident! And stay colorful and sweet!" Glitz trills as the Panem anthem begins to play and the carriage from District 1 starts to pull out. I lift my chin and give my best toothy grin. Olive looks radiant beside me, her eyes and smile alive with excitement and nervousness for the parade, colorful and sweet.