I remember her now. So does Finnick. I looked at him and he shook his head. But I have to. She can't go in the arena. But why hasn't someone volunteered yet? I have to do what's right.
"I VOLUNTEER!" I screamed.
The girl suddenly turned around. She saw me and ran away to someone who I bet was her mother. I walked up the stage proud, proud that I was a career, when I really wasn't. I finally reached Dremliy, and she held my hand up.
"What's your name deary?" she asked.
"Annie Cresta." I said.
"Let's have a round of applause for Annie Cresta!" she clapped along with a few others.
I looked in Finnick's direction. He made eye contact with me and looked away quick.
"Boys now." Dremliy said as she pulled a name from the big glass bowl. She opened it up and read it. "Collin Thresin!" she cried.
A boy from the 13 year old section stepped out slowly. But a big, tall strong boy from the 18 year old section ran up and volunteered. His name is Julio Ramierez. Dremliy was babbling about other useless junk, but we just shook hands and Peacekeepers brought us away. His hand was big and muscular, just like the rest of his body.
I was sitting on a couch, waiting to see if people came to visit me before I die. After a minute or so, my mother ran through the door, face stained with tears.
I got up and hugged her. "Don't cry. I'll be fine."
"I know you will." she whispered. "Just please try, Annie. Try." she said one last time before she was separated from me by Peacekeepers.
The next person to visit me was Finnick. He came in and I ran into his arms. I must've stained his shirt with my tears, but he didn't seem to care.
"Why did you volunteer!?" he said not letting go of me.
"That little girl, she was the one from the training center, she- she wouldn't last a minute." I sniffed.
"I know. I'm sorry. You did the right thing. But you can win. No, you're going to win," he said putting his hands on my shoulders and looking into my eyes.
"But what if I can't. What if I starve, or dehydrate? Not everyone does from a sword Fin." I said.
"I know, I know." he said. "Some die from knifes." he joked.
I managed a laugh through my heavy sobbing.
A peacekeeper came in and told him to leave. He hugged me one last time and was dragged out the door.
"I'll see you later." he winked.
"Bye Finnick!" I choked out but he couldn't hear me.
No one came after him. I have no one else to care about. Then Dremliy came in and told me it was time to get on the train. We're really close to the Capitol, so she said we'd be there by tonight. We were on the train and Dremliy told us to sit on the couch and wait for our mentor.
A few minutes later an old woman in about the 80's, walked in. She was short and had white hair.
"Hi." Julio said.
"Hello kids!" she croaked out cheerily.
"I'm Julio, and this is Annie." he said.
"Julio and Annie, what sweet names!" she said. "I'm Sylvia, but just call me Mags!"
She's so happy. I like her. She seems like a sweet old lady. I wonder what games she won.
"What games did you win, Mags?" I asked.
"The 12th." she replied. "What are we in now, 50th?"
Me and Julio chuckled.
"74th, Mags." I said.
"Oh my!" she gasped. "74th already! Time flys when you live in the Capitol. You're from District four, I believe."
"Yes." Julio said.
"Of course!" she said.
We munched on some snacks for a while until Dremliy came in and told us we were in the Capitol. Julio and I let Mags go in front of us. She waddled slowly, as if her legs were hurt. She seems to sweet, poor old lady. It was so big, so fancy. But the people were dressed so strange. Strange makeup, clothes, hair, even faces we're dyed or altered. It just isn't right here in the Capitol.
We made it to the building the tributes were staying in, and the lobby was nice. Way better than back home. Finnick is probably balling his eyes out. I feel bad, but the little girl couldn't go. I had to volunteer. I'm surprised no one else volunteered first. We checked in and they had to take a sample of blood, just like at the reaping.
We got on an elevator, and Dremliy pushed the button with a 4 on it. It didn't take long at all. It was huge and so beautiful. Before we got to explore, Dremliy brought us to our fancy huge rooms to clean up before dinner.
"Be down in an hour!" she piped.
I felt the softness of the quilt on the bed. Too bad it's only for a few days. I got up and went in the huge bathroom. More fancy than the rest of the Capitol. A huge closet filled with normal and crazy Capitol clothes, two huge sinks with big mirrors and lots of cabinets and drawers, a big bathtub, and a big shower. Everything is so big here. They make the tributes feel relaxed them throw them in the arena with nothing.
I peeled my reaping clothes off, and stepped in the shower. My dirty brown hair should probably get washed, or Dremliy will throw a hissy fit. I turned the water to hot, and looked through the various shampoos. I pressed a button that dispensed coconut shampoo on my head. It was one of the few that don't make your hair curly or frizzy or anything else. I finished the shower and got out. I wrapped the towel around my wet body and went in the closet. I put on some sweats and a navy blue T-shirt. I checked the time quick, and it was almost time to eat. I brushed my hair with my fingers quick and hurried to the stairs, but Julio was also running and he almost ran into me.
"Sorry!" he said.
"It's fine." I said walking downstairs.
At the table, Mags and Dremliy were sitting, but two people I didn't know we're also sitting there. Stylists.
The man stood up and shook my hand.
He had blonde hair with blue and orange streaks, and a bit of makeup on to fix his eyes.
"I'm Carden, your stylist." he said.
"I'm Annie." I replied.
I sat down across from Carden, and Julio beside me. An avox with brown hair came in and she started to serve us with different foods I've never seen before. I wonder how Finnick felt when he saw all this food. He's rich and all, but no one on the districts have ever seen as much food as this. I put something that I guessed was chicken, only because Finnick caught something that tasted like this before; and he called it chicken. Chicken is Fins favorite food.
I had some creamy white stuff, that Dremliy explained was "mashed potatoes". It was really good. We had something called corn, turkey, (my favorite food) and some stuff called salad. It had green fluffy things, some red juicy things, brown crunchy squares, and some orange crunchy sticks. We had two cups; one had cold orange juice in it, and the other had warm brown liquid with white creamy stuff floating on top with marshmallows. It was really good, and it was called hot chocolate.
Afterward, we watched the Reaping's on TV. District One and Two both had volunteers. District Three was two small little kids. Then it showed Dremliy picking the girl from the training center, and me volunteering. Then it showed Julio volunteering for the 13 year old. None of the other districts really stood out. The kids from 7 were both 18, and the kids from 9 both volunteered and they looked about 17 or 18 also. Big competition down there. From 11, the girl and boy were both tiny. District 12s kids looked strong too, and I mean career strong; not district 12 strong. Dremliy told us we had to go get ready for the tribute parades tonight.
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Hey guys I gained like 10 fans today. Special face. :D. But yea I really hope you like this book because I've worked really hard on it. I'm about halfway done with chapter 3 do I'll post soon. :) hope you enjoy. :D
