Skimming Stars (Hunger Games fan fic)

Chapter 6- waves and waving

 Going back to school tomorrow :-( so i am not going to be able to update as much :-( Hope you like this next chapter. Vote and comment and stuff

Emily XX 

The crowd is deafening. They all cheer for their favourite but as far as I can tell there are no clear names meaning everyone is supporting different people. I can hear people shouting Cyan but I can’t hear anyone cheering for me. It takes me a second to realise that I am glaring at them. Probably why no one is cheering for me. I try to smile but as far as I can tell it sort of looks like a grimace.

 I relax my face muscles. Smile. Think of something that makes you smile. I open my eyes and all of a sudden the shiny streets of the capitol ripple and move. I make myself imagine that there is water lapping around the horses’ feet. The sea appears out of nowhere lapping around the stands where the people are sitting. A genuine smile brakes out on my face. I raise my hand in the air imagining running it through water.

 Sponsors help you win. Smiling helps you get sponsors. Smile.    

 I wave at people. I can hear some people shouting my name. My smile widens. I listen out for other names trying to work out who is popular with the crowds. Cyan’s name is called a lot. I also make mental notes of the names Marcus, Cleaverly, Bron and Ash. I think back to the recap of the reaping that I watched on the train yesterday. I wish now that I had paid more attention. Could it be yesterday morning that I had stood with Finnick in the sea? I am sure that Marcus is from one and Cleaverly and Bron are from two but I can’t place the name Ash. I think back to yesterday. I can only remember a few people that didn’t come from one and two and only the faces not the names.

 A frail boy from 5 who kept on coughing. A girl with dark hair and olive skin from 12 who looked like she had never had a decent meal in her life. Why have I only noticed the ill children and not the ones who could pose a threat to me? I thought some more whilst continuing to smile and wave.

 Eventually as it begins to go dark we rolled up in to the city centre. I stop waving and smiling and focus on the balcony waiting for President Snow. He appears and makes a speech but the only thing I can hear are Finnick’s words bouncing around in my head. “He’s worse than you might think”. How bad is he? To make Finnick have nightmares about him he must be pretty scary. I stare at the old man. He has a white beard and hair. He glances around looking each or the tributes in the eye at the end of his speech. I see Cyan glance away from his stare. I don’t know if this is out of respect or fear. I hold his gaze staring in to his cold eyes. Just before he looks away I curl the edge of my lip up slightly. I don’t know why but it satisfies me to show him I’m not scared of him. I’m not sure if this is brave or stupid.

 Probably stupid.

 I don’t know if it is my imagination or not but I think Snow holds my gaze the longest and glances back to me before he turns and leaves the balcony.

                                                                    *

I jump down from the chariot and look around to see Mags and Finnick walking towards us.

“Well done, you did brilliantly” Mags congratulated us.

“Come on, I’m hungry” says Finnick jumping ahead a bit.

“You don’t know what hungry is Finnick Odair” I retorted. I would have felt guilty saying this in front of some of the tributes because compared to some of them none of us did but we were already out in the hall.

“Where’s Fliss and Ruebel and Cyan’s stylist?” I ask Mags who is walking next to me.

“There” she replies pointing towards the three of them who are standing next to the elevator. We all crowded on the elevator. When we are all in Mags pushed the button on the lift panel that says 4. We zoom up. I stand next to Finnick and Fliss basically presses herself against him. For some reason this really bothered me. Then I have a wickedly cruel idea that will probable make everyone think I’m mad but I think it will be worth it to see the look on her face. I bend over double next to her clutching me stomach.

 “Damn motion sickness. Why now?” I say.

 Fliss leaps back terrified that I am going to be sick on her. She presses herself against the other end of the lift as far away from me as possible, her face shocked. I look around at everyone. Finnick and Cyan are smirking at Fliss’s reaction. Mags is looking at me like I am mad seeing as I spend half my life on a boat. All three of the capitol people act hysterically, panicking and banging on the lift doors to get out.

 The lift doors slide open and they bolt down the corridor. I look around. There is a corridor with what I presume to be bedrooms behind the doors and at the end there is a large open plan area containing a large dining table and a sofa area with a large TV screen and a large window that looks out on to the capitol.

 On the table there is a feast.  Mags, Finnick, Cyan and I sit down at the table and Ruebel, Fliss and Cyan’s stylist who I don’t know the name of join us once they are sure I am not going to be sick on them. Because Fliss didn’t come to the table strait away I sit in between Finnick and Mags. Cyan sits on the other side of Finnick.

“So” says Cyan “let’s talk strategy. What do we need to do in training tomorrow?”

“First, do you want to be trained separately or together?” asks Mags.

 I pause. Ideally I would like to train and do strategy separately from Cyan so he doesn’t know what I will do and what angle I will take to win sponsors but at the same time I don’t want to offend Cyan as he could be a strong ally and being from the same district it makes sense for us to work together.

“Separately” we both say together.

“I mean no offence” Cyan says quickly.

“None taken”

“I just want to do strategies alone”

“Me too”

He nods before turning back to Finnick and Mags. “Any tips for tomorrow? I mean this doesn’t matter coz you would just tell us the same thing” he asks them.

“You want to intimidate them and make sure they know you are strong, that way they will want to be allies with you” explains Finnick.

“It also makes us a bigger target. They will know what we can do and want to knock us out of the competition” I point out

 “Yes that is a risk but you want allies”

 Do I? For the first time I consider if I actually want allies. I mean I can’t trust them and eventually all of them are going to try and kill me. Then again if I ally with the careers I can get all the supplies at the Cornucopia instead of grab some stuff and run for it and district 4 is traditionally a career district.

 “And remember” continues Finnick “the career pack is decided before the games in the training. It all depends on how you act tomorrow and the next few days.”

 “No pressure or anything then” I say sarcastically.