Part 4- The Parade

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I get woken up by three complete strangers, who I assume are my prep team.

"Hello, Brianna!" I don't like how they know my name, "We're your prep team! I'm Jay, this is Artemis and Miquela!" Jay says, pointing at each one of them as he introduces them. They're energetic, dressed in what I assume is the height of fashion in the Capitol at the moment. They all look both 17 and 37 at the same time. It's very disconcerting. Jay has indigo hair and a pink beard. His skin is very lightly purple, and he's in a purple suit. Artemis has got pale, powdery blue skin and white hair with a white dress. Miquela is the least alien-looking one out of them all, but she's far from normal. Her hair is so big it's a miracle she can get through doors, and her skin is scarily white. Her dress, however, is very very slim and vibrant orange. Her silhouette would probably be equal to a lollipop. They immediately start fussing around me. I hear little snippets such as "A very good base", "This will be fun", "No zits or blemishes, i see. That's the good thing with 4, the seawater helps skin," and "We won't have to do much". I have no idea how to take this. They drag me out of bed as I yawn and put me in the bathroom.

"Wash as best you can," Artemis says, closing the door. I come out the shower 10 minutes later and they push me back in.

"You can't be done yet! 20 more minutes," Miquela says, despite the obvious fact that I am finished. I go back in and take my time before going back out again.

"Only 15 then, but good enough," Jay sighs. I have no idea how to react to this.

They wax me, which I've never heard of until now, and it's the most painful feeling in the world. Then they move on to makeup, which I'm very thankful is light. It's glossy pink lipstick with a little sliver glitter on my eyelids. They do add the signature crazy Capitol eyelashes i've always hated, though, but thankfully they aren't too long at all, but floaty and light. I have a pearl necklace, and an ornate pearl ring. My hair is in a ponytail to the side, with the hair on my left side held back by a fishtail plait leading into the ponytail. My hair is wavy, slightly bushy, and below my shoulders. I don't know how they got it frizzy but I sure hope it doesn't stick.

After they leave, i wait for a few minutes, and a golden human being enters the room. She has golden hair, golden skin, golden makeup, a golden dress, golden everything. The only things that are not gold on her are her emerald green eyes, the emerald pendant on her necklace and her emerald brooch. It's an overblow for my eyes.

"Tristiana," She says, holding out her hand.

"I- uh- Brianna," I answer.

"I know. Now let's make you shine!" She says. Shine? I don't really want to shine if this is what shining is! "Oh, no, not like me," She says, reading my face, "Yes, our fashion can be very startling to the districts. But me and my partner, Josepha, your district partner's stylist, will dress you in just the right amount of sparkle and shine,"

"Sounds good," I say. Tristiana leaves the room momentarily but then comes back with two hangers. On the first is a long, beautiful dress which will definitely reach the floor. It's sea blue, light and silky. There's fishing nets wrapped around it, and the headdress is a crown of seashells. It's slightly transparent, but on the second hanger is a two-piece swimsuit. It's dark blue and the top one is a strip to go around my chest, and the other part is just a pair of leggings. Tristiana shakes the dress. It moves lightly and magically, and it shimmers, like the ocean. There's not much structure to it but there's a silver, sparkly belt , giving it shape. I'm absolutely stunned.

"Go to the bathroom and put on the underneath one," She tells me. I change out of my dressing gown and into it, and it's nothing special. I come out and Tristiana helps me put on the dress. She positions the crown and spins me around to look in the mirror. When I see myself I gasp. I'm amazing. I'm like some sea goddess. I have an amazing figure, too. My skin and the under layer are just visible, but not too much so I still feel decent. Well, I'm not sure what my definition of decent is, after being from district 4, where kids up to about 7 run around the beach nude and no one could care less, but I know I'm not indecent, else I wouldn't be wearing this. I walk into the living area and everyone gasps. I see Bruce is already there and he looks amazing, too. He's wearing about the same as me, but with nothing covering his chest, obviously, and no belt. His leggings are much shorter than mine, probably to show off how strong he is, and instead of a dress, it's more of a jumpsuit.

~

We're both shoeless, but the two stylists allow us to wear slippers until we get on the chariot. We're accompanied by our mentors and Amanda. We walk into the hall where the chariots will be for the tribute parade and it's insane. Bright costumes, talking people, it's insane. We all stand by the district 4 chariot until Beaufort pats Bruce and I on the backs,

"Go socialise," He says to us, walking away. This inspires Finnick and Annie, Amanda, and the two stylists to go off. Lila starts talking to another woman with the same motherly look to her, apparently called Cecilia. This leaves Bruce and me. We decide to just stay with the horses. We sit there for a few minutes, feeding sugar cubes and apples to them, taking some for ourselves occasionally. Then we hear the voice of Caesar Flickerman, the main presenter for the hunger games, start talking. Everyone loves Caesar. He's very entertaining and cracks a lot of jokes and I can't wait to get interviewed with him.

"Welcome to the 87th Hunger Games tribute parade!" he says. This is everyone's cue to stop talking and get on the chariots. We take off the slippers and get on. They all wish us good luck.

"Hold hands, smile, and wave!" Josepha tells us as we're lined up. District 1 goes first. They're dressed like royalty since they're the luxury items district and everyone loves it. Next is 2, then 3, and now us. We ride into the sunlight and hear a big crowd. We both start waving.

"District 4, the fishing district, are some sort of water/ fishing spirits! I love the creativity!" Caesar says. The chariot makes its way around, before stopping around the presidents' podium. He makes some boring speech, which I ignore, and instead look at the tributes from 1 and 2. The girl and boy from 1 look similar with blonde hair and brilliant bone structures, but the girl from 2 catches my attention. She has bright red hair and is covered in freckles. The boy next to her has brown hair and looks lethal.

Later, in the elevator, the district 12 people join us. The stylists start talking about fashion immediately, complimenting each other's styles, talking about what they'll do next year, etc, Amanda and the 12 escort chat about Capitol things, and Finnick and Annie start talking to Katniss and Peeta, the legendary winners of the 74th Hunger Games. They were called star crossed lovers because Peeta was in love with Katniss. There was a rule change in the arena, making it so they could win and go home together, so they found each other and Katniss fell in love with Peeta, but then the rule change was redacted. They decided they would rather die than live without each other. The Head Gamemaker that year decided to retire, as he knew none of his other games could ever compare. It's a beautiful love story and they're the only pair of victors ever. There's been a lot of rule changes around them. Haymitch, the other mentor, a drunk, starts talking with Lena and Beaufort. Then there's Bruce, the two district 12 tributes, and me. They look malnourished and unhealthy, which makes me feel a bit bad for growing up healthy and fed, and very bad for them. The boy looks about 12 or 13 and the girl seems a little older than me, maybe 16 or 17. I smile at them awkwardly and they smile back. I'm thankful when we come to our floor so the awkward encounter is over.

We get into the apartment and everyone tells us the sponsors will have a hard time choosing who to sponsor, showering us with compliments. I change out of everything, wipe off the makeup, disattach the eyelashes from my eyelids, and change into some Capitol-registered clothes that are already in the drawers. I need something comfortable, which my reaping dress isn't really. I go into the main area and everyone is watching the recaps, pointing out all the best ones, choosing their favorites (not counting ours), etc. I sit down and join them until dinner arrives. I take a little of everything that I've not had yet, except bread, obviously. Over dinner, we talk about the parade, and how it's training day 1 tomorrow. They remind us of everything we were told yesterday before we go to bed.

I have trouble falling asleep, but I force myself to by closing my eyes and thinking about home to distract myself from the fact I'm trying to fall asleep, though it takes a while.

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