Wave ~ Hunger Games [1]

twenty-three

+ high heels +

I stood in a large empty room, Daria standing in front of me as she opened up a shoe box she was holding, revealing a pair of shoes with a large heel. She smiled at at me as I stared back at her, an Avox running over and taking the box from her as she grabbed the shoes out, the red haired servant leaving the room swiftly as Daria set the shoes on the floor.

"I'm hoping you're better than the girl last year" Daria said as she held out her hand, steadying me as I sipped the shoes onto my feet. "She was an academy volunteer" I said to her, making her sigh as she let go of my hand, taking a few steps back as she looked at me. "That does not mean she was light on her feet" Daria replied as I looked down at my feet, my toes squeezed into the small boxes of the shoes.

I had a mid shin length dress on, the white shoes contrasting against my tan legs as she nodded her head at me. I hadn't tried to move yet, standing still in my spot as I looked back up at her, awaiting an instruction. "Have you ever worn heels before?" she asked me, my eyes instinctively looking down at her own shoes which had a heel which were a lot larger than mines.

"I barely wear shoes" I told her as she let out a sigh, nodding her at me slowly as she closed her eyes for a moment. "Small strides towards me now" she said to me as she waved her hands towards herself, making me take a small step. It wasn't as difficult as I had anticipated, my toes hurting as I wobbled a little bit, but managed to regain my balance.

I walked over to her unsteadily, every time I got close to Daria she took a small step back until she was near the wall behind her. "Now turn" she said to me as I stood small steps, turning around as she let out a sigh, taking a small run around me as she shook her head at me. "Not like that, you look like a child" she said to me as she showed me how to swiftly turn on the balls of my feet.

She held my hand as I practiced it a few times, my dress swinging around me as I got a bit dizzy, reaching out my other hand and grabbing onto her wrist. "I'm not here for you to knock down" she said to me as I stopped spinning, Daria snatching back her hand as she rubbed her wrist, the white paint she had on her skin a bit smudged as she tried to fix it with her thumb.

"Sorry" I said to her as I ran my hand through my hair, my vision a little bit blurry as I let out a breath, looking down at the ground as I squeezed my eyes closed. "No worries, I need to get you in a good shape for your interview, theres nothing worse than a tribute who's stumbling out the stage" she said to me as she let out a breath, walking to the other side of the room as she turned to look at me once again.

"How high will my heels be tonight?" I asked her as I walked over to her slowly, trying to hold my arms naturally as I swayed from side to side a little bit, having to stop. "I have no clue, Calix will determine that one" she said to me, clasping her hands in front of her as I continued to walk over to her, letting out a small breath and hoping that for my sake they wouldn't be too high.

!

I sat on the sofa with both Mags and Talisa sitting across from me in arm chairs, Talisa's hair pulled up tightly and for one of the few times a glass of alcohol no where near at her hands. Ridley was now with Daria, working in his presentation for his interview tomorrow, presumably already having been trained on his angle with both the mentors.

"There's got to be a good angle you could get at" Talisa said as she looked over at Mags who nodded her head. "I think Velvet is going for the sexy route" I said quietly as Mags nodded her head at me, looking down as she let out a small breath in thought. "I think you've just got to be yourself" Mags told me as I nodded my head, expecting a bit more from the pair of them.

"You need to give something for the uppers to latch onto, as soon as you get into those games we need them to approach us with little persuasion" Mags said to us as I nodded my head at her, already knowing. "Caesar asks some personal questions" Talisa told me, crossing one leg over the other as she leaned back in her chair.

"Be witty, make them laugh" Talisa listed as she pointed at me, giving me a stern look. "Make them love you" she said to me, making me nod my head as I brought my legs up onto the couch, crossing them and pulling my dress over my knees. "Should I cry on stage? People normally do that, does that do well?" I asked them as Talisa rolled her eyes, shaking her head at me.

"Don't bother, the people in the Capitol don't want to see your tears"  she said to me, making me nod my head as I looked over at Mags who was also nodding her head at me. "They simply don't care" she told me as she gave me a sympathetic look, making me swallow harshly, my throat dangerously dry as I clasped my hands in my lap.

"Why would they, they make us kill each other for a TV show" I said quietly, looking down at my hands as Talisa let out a breath, nodding her head at the avox standing at the door, indicating that she was needing a drink as the avox turned and left to get her one. "Mention your family or something, they'll eat that up" Talisa told me as I nodded my head, knowing that Caesar was presumably going to ask about them anyway.

"Okay" I replied quietly, secretly hoping that he wasn't going to ask me about my family back home, because I have a feeling that if even for a moment I think about my family I will probably end up tears. I had watched enough interviews in the past 16 years to know that every tribute had their own angle they wanted to portray to the public, and for me, it apparently to be as genuine as possible.

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A/N: here's another chapter for you
i'm currently rereading the hunger games books right now and I've genuinely forgotten how much I love Peeta ugh he's amazing
so please vote and comment and i hope you are all safe and healthy