The 60th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter Three- Tributes Parade

The next morning, we woke to Hestia banging on our door.

‘Up! Up! We’re coming up to the Capitol! We’ll be there in half an hour! Quickly! Get dressed, get breakfast! UP!!’ She shouted. Today she is wearing a dress with a pattern of piano keys and a black and white wig.

I come into the dining cart, wearing denim trousers and a plain white blouse. I eat a breakfast of eggs and a strange-though delicious- juice. We eat in silence, until Hestia squeals; ‘Eepp! There it is! The Capitol! The glorious Capitol!’ Alexis and I share a glance, and then stand up and go over to one of the small windows.

I gasp. Before us are tall, glass buildings, glittering in the sunlight. Cars and trains speed down the wide roads while huge houses line the streets. Some of the cars and houses are different colours, pinks, blues, yellows, green, all the colours of the rainbow. Suddenly we plunge into darkness, but after thirty seconds the train slows, and we open out into a huge station, full of people cheering. These people don’t look like people from home, they’re wearing strange clothes, just like Hestia’s.  They look ridiculous, all in different colours, wearing wigs and some with dyed skin. There was one woman who had striped skin and whiskers. They are all waving and shouting, some bearing banners with my name on it. I wave back at them, smiling happily. Alexis does the same. Once we stop, Enobaria escorts me to a huge waiting room, she leaves and I think of what my stylist is going to dress me in. District Two isn’t that bad off, masonry. Some districts are very unlucky, District Twelve for example, coal, or District Seven, lumber.

After a few minutes, a plump women with curly dyed white hair and violent electric blue eyeliner.

‘Valerie Ravenwood? Come with me please. My name is Daphne.’ We walk into a room with what looks like a hospital bed. Inside, a man with shoulder length gold hair and a woman with lilac tinted skin and hair. ‘This,’ gesturing to the man, ‘is Hero. And this, is Tatiana. We’re your prep team.’ She gave me wide smile. The next second Hero and Tatiana suround me.

‘Eep!! You’re just gorgeous darling! Look, Daphne, look what we’ve got to work with this this year!’ Hero exclaimed

‘Wow, wow, wow! Look at your hair! Look at those eyes! Are your legs hairy dear? Will we have to wax them? Take your clothes off there dear, put this robe on. Oh Lord, look at your nails! We must fix them. A nice rounded one, I think.’ Tatiana was all over me, taking my blouse and jeans off quickly.

‘Er-em- Ouch! What? My legs? Watch!’ I was suddenly on the bed, their too large eyes looking over my body.

‘Oh, yes. We must wax your legs.’ Hero said, shaking his head.

Over the next few hours, I was waxed untill my skin was raw and red, my nails were filed and shaped into perfect ovals, my eyebrows were plucked and my hair was brushed and curled to perfection. My eye make-up is smokey, my eyelashes cast shadows over my defined-cheekbones.

‘Ah, perfect. We’re ready now, darling. Hero, could you go get Roman please? Thank you.’ Daphne beamed down at me, clearly impressed with their work. Thirty seconds later, Hero joined us with a women, who must of been Roman. She wore huge, red, high heeled boots, a short black silk dress, and a red wig that made her head look as if it were on fire.

‘Hello Valerie! My name is Roman, though I’m sure you’ve heard of me.’ I hadn’t. ‘I’m quite famous actually, for my fantastic designs. You are going to be the most fabulous tribute Panem has ever seen!’ she beamed at me. ‘Now come on, I want to show you what you’re going to be wearing tonight! You’re going to love it! Everyone always love’s my designs!’

She leads me into another room. It’s empty, apart from a clothes rack with a black sack hanging on it, a big box and a mirror.

‘Take off your robe!’ she says as she walks over to the rack. She takes the sack off and I see what looks like a a plain,black pants. She gives it to me and I step into it. Then she gives me a gray tank top, showing my belly buton. Then Roman goes over to the box, and takes out shoulder guards. She straps them to my shoulders, then she puts a sheath of rubber knives to my thighs.

‘Just the shoes now!’ she sqeuls. She goes back to the box and takes out gray knee high boots. ‘Put them on!!’ Once I do, she gives a gasp and claps her hand to her mouth. ‘Look in the mirror.’ She whispers.

In the mirror, I see a girl that does not look like me. My hair flows over my shoulder-guards. I look vicious, scary, ready to go into battle. You would not want to mess with me.

‘Thank you Roman.’ Say what you may about her, but she is a fantastic stylist.

*

Alexis is dressed just like me, except he is not wearing a shirt, his toned chest is exposed. When we get to the bottom floor of the Remake Center, everyone is staring at us, terrified. I hear the boy from District One snap at a young girl, district eight, as she whimpers. ‘Oh shut up. The knives aren’t real. Anyway, they hardly want to kill you now. We’re saving the fun for the arena.’ He laughs, then high-fives his district partner. They both have light blonde hair and blue eyes, handsome. Typical traits of District One. The boy looks eighteen, the girl younger. Fifteen, sixteeen, maybe.

‘Hey!’ the girl shouts at us. We go over to her. ‘I’m Ruby, this is Blaze.’ We tell them our name, but no sooner then Blaze says ‘So, about our alliance-‘ Hestia is rushing over, nearly falling in her fifteen inch heels

‘Children! You must get ready! Plenty of time to talk about alliances in the training! Come on now!’ We follow Hestia to our chariot, pulled by two coal black horses. I take a moment to look at my competitors. None look very good. District Four are dressed as fish, Seven as trees, and-oh god- Twelve are completely naked, covered in coal dust.

We all get into position. District One first and then us. With a jerk our horses gallop forward and I am shocked by the noise. All around me the ridiculous Capitol people are shouting my name, and Alexis’s. We are the favourites by far. We do not wave. Just stare ahead, vicious, deadly. I love it.