Author Games - When In Rome

Interview - Aspirae Nairna

I hate to admit it, but I’m nervous for my interview. I'm waiting behind the stage, watching the ripples in the red curtain as tribute after tribute passes through. A few minutes ago, the girl from Four went in and, apparently, she must look absolutely gorgeous, because all the crowd can do is gawk at her the whole time. I can barely hear what they are conversing about over all the catcalls and hollers, so I don't have the slightest clue of what the Head Of Ceremonies, Ruby Shimmer, will question me.

Following up will be quite the challenge. These past few days, my escort has been forcing me to memorize witty lines and possible answers to the questions Ruby Shimmer might ask me, but I will only resort to them if I must. I’m better off improvising anyways; Cecilia, that pudgy woman in the corner I call my escort, knows about as much as a pig - which doesn’t surprise me because she looks just like one.

Still, my body shakes with anticipation, cold chills running up and down my spine as the minutes tick by. Although the sensation feels odd, I am glad that I’m nervous. It’s good to have a little bit of it in your mind - keeps you from making a fool of yourself.

Just then, a deafening applause rocks the theater and the girl from Four dances back in the waiting room, her sparkly blue dress and pearly teeth temporarily blinding me. Her escort, a man with a short ponytail, embraces her into a bear hug and they do a short happy dance. I chuckle. No matter how good I am, I would never be caught dead hugging Cecelia.

My giddiness is cut short, though, as the booming voice of the announcer welcomes me to the stage. “All the way from District Five, I present to you… Aspirae Nairna!”

Oh god, that’s me. Okay, calm down. Deep breaths. Make sure you don’t trip in those heels. You got this, Rae, you got this.

I walk out on stage.

It’s so much to take in. There are light, so many lights. And people, who range of all the colors of the rainbow and more. Clapping and screaming and the crunching of food enters my earshot. The stage tilts as I stumble over to Ruby. I focus on her curly copper hair, but I can barely walk straight, so I keep my gaze on the floor.

Finally, after the hardest walk in my life, I collapse into the vanilla-colored sofa next to Ruby, my ankles screaming from the silver heels on my feet. She looks quite beautiful tonight. Her reddish hair has been cut to about her lower neck and is curled into tight ringlets. She wears a long, red dress that cuts off mid-thigh length and a pair of stilettos even bigger than mine. She flashes me a smile, her gorgeous green eyes twinkling under the lights, and prompts me with a typical joke. “Well, wasn’t that a rush?”

I have to get into character. The Capitol likes flirtatious, carefree girls, so I might as well give them what they want. I roll my eyes playfully at Ruby. “You have no idea! I have never worn heels before and, wow, it is quite the challenge!”

The crowd laughs at this, which makes me genuinely happy; It’s hard not to be when surrounded by so many smiles and laughs! This interview might not be so challenging after all. The whole goal is to please the crowd, and this one is probably as drunk as Moma is each Reaping Day, so all I have to do is smile and show some skin and they’ll love me.

"How are you liking the Capitol?"

My instincts push out a bunch of nice and sweet words, but on the inside all I can think about are the poor Avoxes. It made me sick to see them go around and serve me like robots. Still, I keep my cool and fool the crowd once again.

Ruby's ever-present large smile is starting to creep me out, but I press onward, gripping my shimmery dress to calm my nerves. "Okay, let's talk about your competitors. Who do you think is the biggest threat?"

One name pops into my mind: Phaedra. She's strong and has a tongue as sharp as knives. I know she's dangerous, so I can't give her any more power. I say, "Uh, I dunno. The careers?"

"Okay, seems like a reasonable answer. And are they the biggest threat, do you think?"

I nod.

Ruby notices that the conversation is dying out, so she quickly changed the topic. "And what about the weakest tribute? Who do you think that is?"

I know a few. I actually am probably one of the weakest, but I can't tell Panem that. I have to go with one of the outlying tributes. Hmm... "Probably a tribute from Eleven or Twelve."

"Okay, good answer, am I right?" Ruby prompts, causing a slight uproar in the audience. "Now, this question might be a bit pointless, but do you think you have a chance at winning?"

Ruby's right; the question is pointless. "I do, but only time will tell who gets to come home. For all but one, our hopes will have been in vain."

Ruby's happy demeanor falters for a quick moment, but she recovers well. "Well, wasn't that deep!" She laughs. "It seems as if our time has run out, but first let's get a look at your dress!"

I rise from my chair, swallowing the lump in my throat. All I have to do is spin and show the crowd all the sides of my shiny silver dress. Come on, just spin.

I do and the crowd loves it, cheers and screams echoing through the theater. Just as I'm about to sit back down, Ruby forces me to spin some more.

That's when my stomach lunges and I feel bile come up my throat. But I oblige; after all, I was told that Ruby was Antonio's favorite person.

I spin and spin and spin. Suddenly my balance falters and I'm on the floor, a pool of yellow vomit lying in front of my face. My vision goes dark and I'm gone.

Way to go, Rae. Maybe Celelia was right after all...