Pregnant in the Games

Chapter 8: The Interviews

"I'm pregnant," I said to Haymitch, pretending that he was Ceaser Flickerman. Haymitch, Katniss, Peeta, Talon and I all sat together in a small room, practicing for our Interviews.

"You have to say it with some passion. This is your baby girl we're talking about, not a rock," Haymitch criticized.

"I'm pregnant!" I said again, this time with lots of enthusiasm. I opened my eyes wide and had a beaming smile on my face. The corners of Talon's mouth curved up a little bit, but there was no real smile. No laughter.

"I'm being serious, Willow. The Interviews may be the most crucial part of the pregame preparation. The Parade is a good introduction, the training is helpful. But the Interviews is what makes people fall in love with you. It's what kept Katniss and Peeta alive and I need you to use the interview to keep yourself alive," Haymitch replied. "Plus, you're not exactly happy that you're pregnant. You're going into the Hunger Games. This is more of a tragedy. So you need to sound somber."

It had been easy to ignore the challenges ahead of me for the past few days. I was more focused on winning the Games then the pregnancy. So Haymitch's word were a cruel reminder. I looked away from Haymitch, trying to quickly blink away the tears.

"I'm pregnant," I whispered. I didn't try to make my voice sound sad;it did it all on it's own.

"There. Much better," Haymitch replied, clearly unaware of my sadness episode. Finally, the tears retracted and I looked back towards him.

"I'm not in the mood for this right now," Talon said, clearly wanting to leave. I have been noticing his pain this entire training session. "Do I really have to be here?"

"I think that you should stay," Katniss said.

"I know that you're hurting Talon," I said, reaching across the table and putting my hand on top of his. "But the games are in two days. We have Interviews tomorrow. I understand that you want to be alone. But I think that you need to focus on doing what you need to to keep yourself alive. Right now, the Interviews is what will be keeping us alive. So let's just finish this and then you can be alone all you want."

Talon didn't say anything, but did a small nod. The practice for the Interviews continued, with us running through different situations. We learned about how to charm the audience and how we should speak when they ask about the pregnancy. By the end of the session, I felt very confident in my abilities to make the Capitol love me. All I need now is for the sponsors to give up their money and Cinna to make me look beautiful.

By the time we had finished the training session, it was past lunchtime and all of us were hungry. We dug deep into the food, eating to our heart's content. After the meal, I went up to my room, wanting to spend some time alone. I wanted to just focus on my Interviews without having any distractions. I need to nail these Interviews tomorrow, otherwise Talon and I will be fighting through the Hunger Games alone.

I had only been in my room for about ten minutes before someone knocked on my door. I groaned. It must be Haymitch. He was still a bit unhappy about my attempts to charm the audience. He said that I was mediocre, at best. So he's back to try to fix the holes.

"Yes, Haymitch? Are you here to tell me that I'm as charming as a slug?" I said with sarcastic enthusiasm.

"Actually, no. I think you're much more charming than that," a familiar voice said through the door. My heart dropped. I knew that voice. I would know that voice anywhere. It was the voice that I had cherished for three years. I longed to hear that voice, especially since I had left District 12. It's a voice I had terribly missed. I instantly launched myself out of my bed and opened up the door to see Luke standing there, a beaming smile on his face and a sparkle in his beautiful blue eyes.