Clove

Chapter 5

The crowd roars as our chariot rides into the open. My thoughts are flowing through my head and I find myself dumbfounded by the sheer amount of people. Thousands of rainbow people of Panem were howling at the amazement of us. I just stare in amazement, before I snap myself back into my act. Instantly I've got my I-could-care-less face on, as a simply throw my hand up in pride. This sends them screaming. I feel great. Once loved. Like they appreciate my presence. Like I belong here. I actually feel proud... except the crowd is hollering so thunderously, I begin to realize it's no longer towards us.

I decide to take a quick peek behind me, to see the other tributes, and what hilarious costumes must be placed on them. I mean, District One is wearing a pink dress, for crying out loud, I think to myself.

Immediately I see what the crowd is shrieking in amazement about.

District Twelve is on fire. Looking forward again, I put on a smile and pretend that Cato and I are still the stars. He looks at me, and I can tell that he's noticed them as well. He looks frustrated, but we continue to pretend to be careless. Inside, however, I am screaming at those stupid tributes. They think that they can outshine us? Ughh, how I want to show them who's boss. Cato and I will obliterate them.

We stop in front of President Snow, and he gives his long, boring speech. Afterwards we are carried off to take our costumes off. As the avoxes, and Atlas begin to undo my costume, I look over at District Twelve. They're in their own world, happy and shining. I decide to stay in my own world as I begin to remove my makeup. Cato obviously thought otherwise. He is staring at the District 12 girl agrivatedly. Vidia is babbling on, and on, and on about how amazing we were. Enobaria and Brutus meet up with us and join in on Vidia's praise. We both seem to be completely ignoring them. The District 12 girl begins to stare at Cato, after she saw her mentor notice us. They begin to walk off to their room, the girl still staring at Cato.

"Thank goodness you scared her off," I whisper to Cato. He returns my comment with a quiet chuckle.

After the Parade, Vidia leads us to a tall shiny building that I take in is our apartment. This is where we'll stay until the Games. From this point I've almost forgotten about the Games entirely, I've been so involved in all this Capitol stuff.

Inside the doors is a big room filled with desks, tables, chairs, and just a whole lot of capitol stuff. This must be where the avoxes and people work and eat. The whole capitol system seems a little complex and unorganized, but everyone seems to work with it just fine.

The guards escort us past the giant room to a big glass elevator. From inside we can see outside of the building, into the city. The place is covered in brightly colored people prancing around in their ridiculous outfits. Since we are from District 2, but the first floor is the lobby, we are on floor three. By the time we reach our floor I've barely had time to take in the colors of the town, and we are walking into our apartment.

Instantly I am taken in amazement at the size of the room. The ceiling is at least fifteen feet above the ground, which is made of a smooth silver tile. The walls are covered in different colored wallpapers and paints, which all coordinate well with the furniture. To my right is a fairly large living room, with a light blue microfiber couch, and two love-seats that are the same color next to it, making a half circle around a gray brick wall, with a large, clear television screen on it. The carpet in the living room is a bright, electric green. There are red lights dangling from the ceiling, that match perfectly with the red pillows on the couches. To my left is a small set of four stairs that lead up to a dark gray table. There are eight green chairs surrounding the table. The chairs have a very strange shape, with a curved back, and little triangles coming out of the bottom, resembling shark teeth. The middle of the room splits the two areas with a bright red carpet. At the end, the room turns into a hallway, which I'm guessing leads to our rooms.