The 37th Hunger Games: The Beauty of a Pearl

Chapter Five

I awake the next day with a ray of sunlight shining on my eyes through a crack between the curtains. Rolling over to face the other direction I bury my face in my pillow. I still have that feeling you get after crying; the feeling of redness in your eyes, a lump in the back of your throat, sadness in your heart. I don't want to get out of this bed, but today is the day we arrive in The Capitol so I force myself to get out of bed and take a shower. I stare at the shiny white wall of the shower and only find a little bit of comfort from the feeling of water pouring over my hair. After hopping out and drying off I walk to my closet, opening it up and feeling overwhelmed by all of the colours. Inside of my closet is clothes made for every size, shape and style. I run the tip of my fingers over the edge of the clothes, feeling the different fabrics. I know that the outfit I wear today will be important as today is the first day The Capitol will see us in person. I choose a simple red dress and black heels. I want to give them that fierce but feminine look that they adore. It may not be me, and I don't usually wear dresses but, hey, why not wear them while I still can?

As I walk out to the main carraige I see that the others are already there, sitting around the table eating their breakfast. 

"Nice to see you waited for me." I say sarcastically, joking.

I sit down, making an effort to choose the seat furthest away from Damian. I pour some museli into my bowl and top it off with some fruit. I begin to eat and look around at the others. Nathaniel nibbles at his toast, everything about his actions and body language making him seem like a scared lamb. Damian doesn't take his eyes off of his cereal and Seraphima sits in her chair, poised and elegant looking. She wears a red dress with a full skirt and silver shoes that glitter in the sunlight shining through the windows. Did she ever not dress like she was going to a fancy ball? Today her hair stays down, the gold strings and chestnut colour of her hair looking beautiful against the red of the dress. I feel a strange pang of jealousy. I could never pull that off. As I'm admiring Seraphima, Damian breaks the silence.

"Well, since we are all here now I should tell you that you will arrive in The Capitol shortly and I want you both to look out the window and wave and smile and all of that stuff. Most Capitol people are simple minded and easily pleased."

Seraphima raises an eyebrow at Damian's remark about Capitol citizens, but she keeps her mouth shut. However, a glint in her eye shows that she agrees, and that she isn't one of those people. That's another thing I admire about her. She isn't fake and artificial like so many of the others. She's honest and genuine. 

"You'll each be taken to your prep team who will prepare you for your stylist." Damian continues. "They'll fix everything they can about you. Hair, nails, skin, the whole load. Your stylists will observe you and finish planning your outfits for the Opening Ceremony. I'll meet you and take you from there."

"Be nice to your prep team." Seraphima adds, making me jump a little as she hasn't been talking and I didn't expect her to. "They may seem irritating and fussy but they are only trying their best to give you a chance."

I can tell that comment was directed at me, as we all know that Nathaniel would never say anything even remotely rude to anyone. I smirk slightly and finish my breakfast. I see Nathaniel look up and a glint appears in his eyes. I follow his gaze to the window that is now filled with blurring colours.

"Looks like we have arrived."

~~~~~~~~~

The bright lights on the roof make my eyes hurt and make the faces of my prep team appear even more peculiar. My legs ache and my feet feel like they had been rubbed raw. I try not to flinch as one of them plucks my eyebrows with long, thin tweezers.

"Ugh, look at her hair!" One of them says as she holds a wisp of my dry hair in between her fingers.

"You lot from 4 spend too much time in salt water!" The other one pips in.