Hopeless

Chapter 3 - Chariots and Interviews

The other districts rode out ahead of us. Our costumes sucked, so no one paid any attention to us when our chariot rode in. Nobody called for district 12. Nobody screamed our names.

The opening ceremonies went by in a blur. I can barely remember the president reading some speech, which I think told us the rules of the hunger games, like we didn't already know them.

When our chariot rode back through the doors, I scowl at the other groups, who are snickering at our district costumes. I hear Jackson's voice in my ear.

"Just ignore them, eventually they'll learn how good we are."

I shrug, a bit confused. Why was Jackson being nice to me? Probably so I would be easier to kill. Our stylists come in, along with Corina. She smiles weakly and says something along the lines of how great we look, while anyone can tell that she's lying.

We're lead back to our floor to watch the ceremonies on television. I can tell from the video how few sponsors I'll get if I don't do we'll on the interview. And the private training. That's a lot of pressure.

As soon as the program ends, I go back up to my room and collapse onto my bed. I know I won't cry, mostly from being too tired. The world could end right now and I wouldn't care. In fact, I would prefer it. Suddenly, the true weight of the games descends upon me. I am going to have to kill other children.

I sit straight up, about to scream. Scream what? Nothing I can yell will change this. It will just make everyone thinks I'm weak. I can't ever appear weak. Never.

I close my eyes and pretend to sleep until Corina gets me up the next morning. I get out of bed and punch random buttons on the shower. There's way too many, and I didn't think anything bad would happen. But lucky me hit the buttons that turn the water scalding hot, then sprays me with some sort of chemical that makes my eyes water. Not only that, it's beginning to harden and making it hard to move. I force myself back into the burning water and wait for it to rinse away the spray, but the chemical stubbornly stays on.

"Please, just come off me. Please," I practically beg the junk. Eventually, it does, but not before I turn a horrid pink from heat of the water.

I dry off quickly and throw on the clothes I was left to change into before going downstairs. It's a fairly simple outfit, a navy blue tee over black capri pants that were made of a flexible and comfortable material. I can't say I don't like it. I finally pin the copper wolf onto my shirt before going downstairs to greet the day.

Corina and Jackson are already waiting downstairs. Corina frowns when she sees my outfit, until she sees the pin.

"Well, at least you accessorized a little! But it's very understated.... Hmmm.... I need to fix this somehow...."

"Oh, Corina! That's very kind. However, I don't think I deserve any time. Really," I say sarcastically. I hear Jackson chuckle behind me, so I shoot him a quick glare.

"It would be no trouble at all, sweetie!" Corina grins, and grabs my arm. "Let's go try on-"

"Would you look at the time? We really have to be going, Corina! We're going to be late for our first day of training!" I say, looking horrified. Corina glances at the clock and starts freaking out.

"No, no, no! Not on your first day! Get in the elevator! NOW!!!!!"

Jackson and I scurry inside, slightly scared after her huge mood swing. She grumbles a little more on the way down, before we finally reach the training center. My jaw drops. This place is huge.

There are archery ranges, different stations for survival skills, places you can learn to fight.... There's so much I won't be able to do in the short time we have. A young woman comes up and starts talking about how we'll need to learn survival skills along with fighting, blah blah blah. I wish she would shut up so I could start training.