“Quit fidgeting,” my stylist, Diamonta Dyllans, chides in her preppy, far too high pitched voice. Her claw- like fingernails tilt my chin up, and she powders my face with something shimmery.
“Sorry,” I mumble, closing my eyes as she goes for yet another powder.
“Nervous?” she asks.
“Well, I’m human, aren’t I?”
Her magenta lips open to reply, but only one syllable slips out before a heavy knocking comes at the door. “Ms. Dyllans,” a stagehand pops her head in, “is Jonah ready yet? He’s on in four.”
“Ah yes, yes,” Diamonta chirps, patting my back. I stand up, gaining my footing in the uncomfortable dress shoes she put me in. I’m not dressed too extravagantly; only in a simple, yet timeless black suit, the only pops of color being the golden- wheat shade of my tie and hair. My prep team took at least an hour to comb it and get all the tangles out, so now it’s not tousled, but ‘elegantly tousled so it’s stylish.’ Tomato- tomahto, if you ask me.
“Knock their socks off, my golden child!” she over- enthusiastically exclaims, giving me one last once-over in the mirror, then straightening my tie. “Oh who am I kidding,” Diamonta giggles, “no one in the Capitol wears socks anymore! So blow their stilettos off!”
My stylist is still laughing uncontrollably as the stagehand leads me out of the room and to a hallway beside the stage. I catch Emerli Hale, my district partner’s, gaze as she’s walking off.
“And now, for District Nine’s other half— Jonah Ryelin!”
Before I’ve even processed those words, I’m being pushed out onto stage and blinded by lights. I stagger around for a moment, before spotting a bright, sequined red gown and heading toward it.
Ruby Shimmer, an iconic Capitol interviewer known for being an airhead and well, sparkly, is there to greet me. She gestures toward a leather chair across from her, and I obediently sit.
I got to keep my head up, stay strong, fake a smile, and move on. Take whatever comes to you with ease, and you’re set in life.
“Hello, Jonah!” Ruby giggles, flipping her pale red, near pink, hair over her porcelain white shoulder. “Pleasure to meet you! Now let’s jump right into it, shall we?”
I nod, tapping my foot to the sound of the theme music to shoo the tenseness out of my system.
“So, tell me, how are you liking the Capitol?”
I let a little laugh escape my lips before replying. “Well, Ruby, everything is pretty sweet.”
“Sweet, sweet like candy?” she giggles, putting a bony hand on my arm. I begin to flinch, but quickly catch myself and smile at her. “How so?”
I could launch into detail about the poverty District Nine is in compared to the luxury of the Capitol, but that’s a much too sentimental topic. “It’s,” I pause to steady my voice, “different. The epitome of living in luxury and glamour.”
“Wow! You’re so adorable,” Ruby gushes, the audience whistling and hooting in what I assume to be agreement. I mumble out a thank you, and Ruby and I share another (meaningless) smile. “Anywho,” she giggles, “let’s continue. Now Jonah, I’m sure that everyone is dying to know— why’d you volunteer?”
I give her a confused look. “I didn’t, ma’am,” I say, forcing myself to chuckle.
“Oppsie!” the naïve interviewer exclaims, “That was the other girl from your district! And please, stop it with the ma’am business; you make me feel old!” She stops to laugh in the most ditzy way possible, “Okay, ummm, who stands out to you the most? Are they the biggest threat?”
“Well,” I begin, leaning back in my chair and shrugging my shoulders, “the career tributes always intimidate me, and yes, I’d say so.”
“No elaborations?” Ruby wiggles her maroon eyebrows. I shake my head, wearing a sly smile. “Okaaaay,” she sighs, drawling out the word in a way that I assume is trying to be convincing. I give her yet another grin and shake my head forcefully. “Fine,” she says, “Continuing. So, who do you believe to be the weakest tribute?”
“Oh, everyone has a fighting chance,” I answer, not missing a beat.
“Everyone?”
“Yep,” I say, popping the ‘p’, and giving her a head nod. “Definitely. There’s a one in twenty four chance of living for everyone, and the margin only lowers as the game progresses.”
“Interesting,” Ruby chirps, licking her red lips. “And everyone includes you, I assume? Do you think you’ll win, Jonah?”
I slouch in my chair and chew on the inside of my cheek. “ ’Course I can’t count myself out,” I grin at her, “It may not look like it, but my will to win is strong.”
Ruby opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.
“Because all those other tributes, the careers, the weak ones, all of ’em, they’re dreaming of success; only thinking about being the victor. Illusions. But I’m working hard to actually get there.”
She puts her hand on my knee, looking at me with a sympathetic expression that is obviously fake. “And why is your will so strong? What’s waiting for you back in District Nine?”
School, a tiring ten hour job, and practically providing everything for my mom and dad.
“My heart is. I might be here, in the Capitol, right now, but my heart is with my parents back in District Nine.”
Then the buzzer goes off, and I stride calmly away.
YOU ARE READING
Author Games - When In Rome
Random{FULL} Antonio Silver is flailing. Rumours are circling that he is going to lose his position as head game maker to someone else, and Antonio is tense and stressed. Unsure of what to do, Antonio tries to make what appears to be his final year his be...
