Peeta's Story- The Hunger Games

Chapter 10

"Will you just sit still?" 

Someone on my prep team, a man with green hair and tattoos around his eyes, snarls at me to stop moving. 

I immediately freeze, but before I know it, I'm fidgeting again, while the exasperated team tries to do funky things with my face. After hours of scrubbing, my skin feels raw and exposed and I watch warily as a woman approaches me while holding a long, silver probe.  

"I'm Lourdes," she says happily, her purple curls bouncing up and down.  

I flinch as she takes my hand, still holding the Unidentified Sharp Object. She smiles at me and says "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." I am hardly reassured by this. "I'm only going to clean your nails," she says in what she seems to think is an encouraging voice. 

I open my mouth to argue, but decide against it. Instead, I lean back to watch her stab my nails brutally, cleaning the dirt from underneath them. She has a round face, and like the rest of the residents in the Capitol, she looks quite... interesting. I will never understand the fashion sense of the Capitol, which is just another thing that sets them apart from the rest of Panem. 

She gets up and brushes herself off, evidently done harassing my hands. "Sal, I think he's ready, don't you?" 

The man with the green hair looks me over and sighs resignedly. "I guess we did all that we could."

He presses a button by the door, and it flashes. "Your stylist, Portia, will be here soon. Help yourself to some food if you'd like." He gestures to the table full of treats and sweeps out of the room. 

Lourdes sees me looking at the doorway uncertainly, and laughs. "Don't mind him, he's just super grumpy lately." Her expression changes as she sees me eyeing the food. Unfortunately, she notices my slow migrating towards the food table. "You can eat all you want, but you better not get too dirty again!"  

I shoo her away impatiently.

"Toodles!" she says, and she's out the door. 

The table is filled with everything to satisfy my needs- sugar, sugar, and more sugar. I pass the time sampling all the treats, until I get too bored and go sit on a chair. To my delight, the chair is one of those revolving ones, and I have so much fun spinning myself around childishly to notice the door open and close.  

I stop as I hear someone clear her throat. This must be Portia. I sigh as I realize she actually looks rather normal, not kooky and crazy like those stylists I've seen on TV. She has wavy brown hair and light brown eyes, and other than a golden butterfly tattoo on her cheek, she could almost pass as a wealthy District 12 resident.  

As she steps into the light, I realize her brown hair is also streaked with red, but it's more subtle and much less ostentatious than Lourdes and Sal's hair. She smiles at me tentatively and says, "You must be Peeta." 

I nod, and she examines me. "Lourdes and Sal did a great job with you. How did you like them?" 

"Errr...." I say, at lost for words. 

She seems to understand what I mean. "Don't worry, Sal seems mean, but he's like that with everyone, and you'll get used to Lourdes." I nod my head up and down, feeling like a bobblehead. 

"Alright," Portia says, "Let's go get some food and chat about what you will wear tonight." 

I pointedly look at the table of sweets in the room. "Oh," she says hurriedly, "or if you're too full, we can just talk."  

I groan with a sigh of relief. If I eat one more thing, my stomach is going to explode. I follow her to another room and sit on a bright orange sofa. She chooses a pink recliner, and pushes a button on its side. Immediately, her lunch pops up, a delicious looking pasta dish. 

"So," she begins conversationally, "My partner Cinna and I were thinking about what to do for your costumes." I groan inwardly, hoping it's not another cheesy coal miner outfit. "We wanted it to stand out, and really grab everyone's attention. It needs to represent District Twelve and capture the essence of the place." 

"Um," I venture, interrupting her monologue. She looks at me curiously while I ask quickly, "Will the costumes be inappropriate? 'Cause the only things I can imagine that are stunning and unforgettable are quite.... mature." 

She laughs at me incredulously. "Heavens, no! Something like that would never capture the spirit of District 12. Instead of focusing on the coal, we will be focusing on what we do with the coal- burn it. But don't worry, you won't be burnt to a crisp; I won't allow it."

She yells for my prep team to come in. 

Hours later, after I have been attacked by makeup, I am dressed in a simple black long sleeve and matching black jeans. On my shoulders, Portia places a cape decorated with orange and yellow. This is obviously supposed to look like fire.  

"Now don't worry," she says. "Cinna and I designed a special type of fire that won't harm you at all. Just don't mess with it, and it will look amazing." 

I feel my jaw drop. "You're going to light me on fire?" 

"No, no, no. Silly boy." she says, brushing my hair out of my face. "I'm just going to light your clothes on fire, no worries." 

I try not to let the idea of being turned into a Peeta crisp- or pita crisp, pardon the pun- bring me down too much, but it's kind of hard to be happy when you're going to be roasted in an hour or two. Portia gleefully leads me over to Katniss's room. She is wearing almost the same outfit as me, and I can't help feeling glad that I'm not going to be the only one cooked alive. I can see the frenzied expression on her face as Cinna explains the cape to her, and I laugh. Did I look that panicked when Portia told me? 

"Calm down, sweetheart," Cinna says, exasperatedly, "it WON'T hurt you!" 

Katniss catches my eye and we share a sarcastic glance. "Fine, whatever," she says, and sighs. 

Before I know it, we are whisked down into the bottom level of the Remake Center, and the opening ceremony is about to start. My palms are sweaty, and I feel foolish in my costume, looking at everyone else's glamorous looks.  

Portia pushes me onto the chariot, and I see Katniss being forced on by Cinna. "I'll pull your cape off if you pull mine off," she hisses, and I nod vigorously. 

Portia seems to be in a state of panic. "It's almost time, it's almost time!" She runs around panting while Cinna chases her around. 

I hear the music begin and know that soon I'll be out in the limelight. I hear Cinna yell something at us as he lights our capes on fire, but I can't hear what he says. Katniss looks just as confused as I do, and even a little scared. I reach out my hand to comfort her, and she takes it, giving my hand a weak squeeze. I smile at her, and then we're out in the spotlight.

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guess who edited? that's right! MOII