fallen ~ 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙤

Clean

I stumble onto my feet and look out of the window at the vast Capital. I press my hands to the glass and soak it all in. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people cheer and clap. My eyes almost burn from all the colors of their attire, waves of neon are as far as the eye can see. There are wacky hair styles and creepy long eye lashes and eyebrows that have been way over plucked.

"Welcome to the Capital." Brutus says.

"Cato, Come here! You have to see this, it's amazing!" I tell him. He tiredly gets up and stands next to me. I watch his expression very closely, at first he looks overwhelmed, then all of that nervousness turns into a sexy smile. I look back out the window and wave at the people we pass. I'm so caught up in the moment that I haven't realized the train has stopped until I look up at two large monitors broadcasting our arrival live to the Capital. I look back at the people and put on my most sophisticated smile. They all start laughing historically. What? Am I doing this wrong? Do I look stupid? I look back up at the monitors. Oh my gosh. Cato has put his nose onto the glass. He leans his head down and it looks like he has the nose of a pig. Then he raises his eyebrows up and down and puts on the stupidest smile I have ever seen. What is he doing? The crowd is laughing so hard I can see their flashy makeup start to run. I don't know if this will help us get sponsors at all, Capital people like mature and sophisticated tributes. Right? I kick his leg. He jerks away and ends up slamming his head into the glass. It makes this big thunk and the crowd starts cackling.

"Clover, what was that for?" He demands. He doesn't look angry but he sure as heck sounds it.

"It's Clove, and do you really think acting like a four year old is going to help us get sponsors?" I ask him.

"I'm charming them." He says and turns back to the window and waves.

"Charm them? You call that charming? But if I was in the crowd, I would send you a parachute. You wanna know why?" I ask him.

"Why?" He says out of the corner of his mouth and continues to smile.

"Because I would feel bad for you, I'd think you'd have a mental condition or something." I say. He gives me a sarcastic look.

"Ha, ha, very funny." He mocks me.

Suddenly, two peacekeepers grab both my arms and lead me into another car. Two others do that same with Cato. They lead us out of the train and into a secret underground passage tunnel that leads us to the Capital building. It's a very tall gray building. It's so plain. You'd think it'd be ten million colors considering what the people are wearing. But it's not. It's just gray.

I'm immediately ordered into a small, dark room. They told me to wait for three girls named Trisanne, Orchid, and Cece. While I wait, I get changed into a hospital gown, it's a pale blue color like the sky in District 2. In other words, its not very pretty.

I'm startled as the door opens and three ridiculously dressed girls strut into the room wearing seven inch heels. They must be Trisanne, Orchid, and Cece.

"Hello, Miss Kentwell, how are you today?" One girl asks. Each girl is wearing a different color. The one in purple asked me the question. The two others are wearing pink and blue.

"I'm fine. What is your name?" I ask.

"I'm Orchid. The one in blue is Trisanne, and the one in pink is Cece." She says. I look at them. They both smile and pick up a few shiny tools from a hole in the wall.

"Shall we get started, girls?" Orchid asks. They both nod.

"What? What are you getting started on?" I ask.

"The cleaning process, we have to clean you up before the tribute parade tonight!" Cece answers.

Cleaning? They are going to clean me? I don't really know how I feel about that.

"Um, okay. Will it hurt?" I ask.

"Just a smidgen." Trisanne says. They all walk over to me at once with sharp silver tools. I close my eyes and let them work their magic.