Pretty As a Primrose (A Hunger Games Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

"Wake up, dear. We have a big day ahead of us!" Comes Effie's high pitched voice. I sigh and sit up, listening as her heels click down the hallway. I get up and pull on some clothes from the dresser, feeling tired and groggy. I head down to the dinner cart and see Peeta, Haymitch, and Effie already sitting at the table waiting on me. Surprisingly a glass of orange juice sits in front of Haymitch instead of a glass of alcohol. I pull out the chair and sit down.

"We should arrive at the Capitol in exactly 40 minutes and then you'll go to the remake center where they'll fix you up and send you off to your stylists. Then tonight we'll have the Tribute Parade!" Effie says. I wonder what she means by 'fix us up'. I brush it off and look down at my plate which was stacked high with pancakes. I grab a bottle of syrup and pour it over the pancakes, watching it slide down.

"These are delicious!" Peeta exclaims, his mouth full of pancake. I giggle and stuff my own face. The pancakes were so fluffy and sweet! I have never had such good food in my life, I was lucky just to have food in my stomach everyday. Katniss worked hard to keep us all fed. I felt tears springing into my eyes again, every thought seemed to remind me of home in some way.

"You'll get over it. The sooner the better though." Haymitch says roughly. He must have noticed the tears welling in my eyes. I nod quickly and wipe at my eyes with the back of my hand. After I finish eating, I get up and go back into my room. I walk into the bathroom and look at my reflection. Puffy eyed and pale skinned, I didn't look like myself. My hair was still in the two braids my mother had done for me for the Reaping, I was too tired last night to think of taking them out. I decide to leave them in because I want to look nice when I reach the Capitol. I sit down on the soft, feathery bed and realize how I miss my Buttercup. If he were here now, he would see how upset I am and sit on my lap purring and rubbing up against me. Soon enough I can feel the train begin to slow down, we must have arrived.

"Prim, it's time to go," says Peeta from outside the door. I pull myself up off the bed and head out the door, wondering what the Capitol will be like. I've only seen bits of it on TV when they show programs from the Hunger Games. I step out of my room and look out the window, catching a glimpse of the huge crowd waiting outside just to see us. Their loud cheers can be heard all the way in here, they must be desperate to see us for the first time. The people begin to fade as the train goes through a dark tunnel and into the Capitol train station. Effie hurries us off the train and into a building that I am guessing is the remake center. Effie takes me to three people, she says they're my prep team now. I look at them, staring at their freakish appearances. Flavius had orange curls that looked like they were drowning in hairspray. One of the two girls, Venia, had blue spiky hair and gold tatoos on her face. The other girl named Octavia has green skin that reminds me of some of the patients my mother treats. All of them have the odd high pitched Capitol accents.

"Now lets get started," Venia says in her Capitol accent as she helps me up onto the table and begins to rip the waxing strips off my legs. I bite my lip and stare up at the high ceiling of the remake center.

"That hurts," I whine. Venia shakes her head, the spikes staying perfectly still as her head moves.

"Almost done." She says. Finally after the last strip has been forcefully yanked, I sit up and they bathe me in a smelling liquid that I don't recognize at all. It makes the stinging on my legs almost disappear which I am thankful for.

"Who did your hair?" Flavius asks me, sliding his fingers down the braids.

"My mother" I answer in a small voice. He nods slowly and smiles.

"I think we'll leave it in, it's perfect" he says. I nod and he steps away, having no work to do on my hair. Octavia takes one of my hands and carefully paints on a layer of black paint on each of my nails, then does the same with my other hand. She places my hand under a light that makes my hand feel warm.