To Save a Victor

Chapter 17

It wasn't a week after Chess had dropped his bomb on us that Katniss and Peeta came through on their victory tour. Adrian had me dressed in a short blue dress and curled my hair. It wasn't much but it was enough to make me feel like a human again. I had been pulling all nighters with Finnick pouring over books, writing letters, basically trying to get the word out in the most discrete way possible. 

Now I was sitting in a folding chair in the front row of the Victory tour. I had to leave in a few days to head to the Capitol for the President's ball, an event that I had been dreading for months. Hank sat next to me, arms crossed. His presence calmed me down for some reason. I really didn't want to make the guy my human security blanket, but for now, his calm steady demeaner did wonders for my constant state of panic. 

The sound of murmurs from the crowd was loud enough to drown out any individual conversations so I leaned over to him. "Did you hear about District 11?"

 He nodded. 

I had been watching the broadcast when it cut off in the middle of Peeta's speech. Right after he had offered money to the tribute's families. 

"I heard the Peacekeepers shot a man." he said, his voice a low rumble in his chest.  

"That's what I heard too," I sat up straight when I saw the camera turn towards me. 

I smiled and gave a wave. Hank just looked up, his face an expressionless mask. The curtain swung open, Katniss and Peeta walked out onto the stage. They were stiff as they delivered the speech written on the cue cards.  I could see the fear in Katniss's eyes as she clung to Peeta, even though their shoulders barely touched. They kissed each other briefly and walked off the stage. Had I looked like that? Terrified. Terrified that something was going to happen to the people that I loved if I said something wrong. No, I had just been stupid on my tour. Not a thought in my head for the people that I loved. Only vengeance and anger had clouded my mind then. I would not make the same mistake twice. The girl, her name had been Juliette. I saw the bloody stiches in her lips and shuddered. My thoughts came back to something that Finnick had told me after the fact, "Anger makes you reckless. Reckless gets you killed." 

 My mind was still pouring over that sentence when Hank gently took my arm and lead me to the banquet hall where the celebration would take place. I stepped in the room and the alarm bells in my head started going off. Something was wrong. Peacekeepers lined the walls as Katniss and Peeta were paraded through the center of the room and out to the train. I moved, meaning to step forward but a Peacekeeper stuck his arm out in front of me. 

"No contact with the Victors, Miss Beatty."

 I stepped back, wondering what the hell was going on, but Peeta had seen the encounter and made eye contact with me. He smiled and gave me a little wave before turning and whispering a few words into Katniss Everdeen's ear. She looked back and seemed to pick me out of the crowd with her cold grey eyes. I pressed the middle three fingers to my mouth and she looked at me, puzzled. Then they were herded out the door and onto the train.

The theme for the Capitol ball was "Phoenix from the Ashes." No doubt leaning into the idea of the "Girl on Fire," after all President Snow was very original. My prep team was bubbling over with excitement, so much so it was hard not to feed off of their energy. I had been their ticket to the big events of the season, but now as long as I attended the Capitol ball, they could too. While they did my makeup they chattered like the seagulls that always swarmed the beached. They discussed everything, from they were all planning on wearing to the biggest designers, the newest trends, and the juiciest bits of gossip that they could muster. Soon Adrian came in and started on my hair, his heavy rings clinking on his fingers as he braided. Soon he put the finishing touches on my hair before he turned my chair to face him as he fixed one of my lashes.