When Stars Fall: A hunger games fanfiction

Chapter 4

I woke with a frown. My head hurt and I didn't get much sleep, despite the super comfortable bed. I kept waking up from these horrible dreams of all of the terrible stuff that might and probably will happen in the arena. I watched Glenn get killed so many times and even I died a gruesome death in a few.  I had a couple dreams of him betraying me and murdering me. I was almost positive he wouldn't do that. He is my best friend. Right?When I awoke, my pillow was drenched in what I thought to be blood but was actually my tears. I am weak.

I quickly shoved on a t-shirt and a pair of pants, not caring about them matching and huffed out of my room. When I got there I saw Glenn, Lucinda, Clayton, and Kali sitting at the table eating an assortment of foods.

"Good morning!" Lucinda called happily.

"Good morning yourself," I mumbled sitting down as far away from her white grin as I could. How could someone who is sending children off to die be so cheerful.

"Well now that little miss sunshine is here we can actually watch the reaping because all of you decided to stay in you rooms all day," Kali said, taking a sip of some brown liquid and roiling her eyes. Kali likes to get things done.

I sat down and looked at the assortment of food. There were fluffy eggs, a pile stacked high with toast, any flavor of jam you can think of, and fruit that I couldn't even pronounce the name of. We rarely got food like this in district 6. I thought of how much the tributes from 12 would be enjoying this. I filled up my plate and decided to take a sip of the dark brown liquid in front of me. It was extremely bitter but lessened the ache in my head. I wrinkled my nose. Clayton passed over a cup of a lighter, creamy brown liquid and I hesitantly took a sip. This was much better. It was creamy and chocolatey and warmed me up on the inside.

"You can pour a little of the coffee into the hot chocolate if you want to," Clayton said. I did that and it was very good. My parents never drank coffee so there was no need to buy it.

"Pay close attention. You'll have to kill these people in a few weeks," Kali said glaring at us. She pressed a button and the tv flipped on to the previous days' reaping.

We watched as the tributes from Districts 1,2, and 4, the careers, were reaped. From 1 there was a huge, demented blonde boy, at least six feet with a strange look in his eyes and a girl with blonde curls with so much red lipstick on, it looks like her lips were bleeding. She had on a lot of gold jewelry too. The boy's name is Dimitri and the girls name is literally Luxury. She must be rich. From 2 there was a small boy with bulging muscles and ink patterns running up and down his biceps. His name is Elias. His district partner was medium sized dark girl who was biting her lip. Her name is Greta. She has slight muscles but doesn't look very fierce. The rest of the tributes from 3 and 5 look like kids compared to them. And then they got to 6. I watched my name get called. My confusion and then Atlas's name got called and Glenn volunteering. You can see the horror in my eyes as he steps on the stage. And then they are showing district 7. Everyone else was small and forgettable. There was a twelve year old though. Her name is Chrissy. She looks so small and delicate and she was crying uncontrollably. She's from district 10. And then they got to district 12 and I saw the drunk mentor, Haymitch on stage. Both tributes were frail fourteen year olds who wouldn't make it past the second day. Even though he was drunk, Haymitch knew they had no chance compared to the other tributes. I could see him shake his head as the doors close on the screen. And then it cuts black.

"Watch out for the careers. They already have been trained and know how to kill," Kali said.

"Ohhhh. You guys! We'll be arriving at the Capitol soon!" Lucinda interrupted, clapping her hands excitedly.

I didn't listen to what they were saying next. My mind was still stuck on the children that would be killed. This is a game of kill or be killed that I didn't want to play. We are children. Forced to grow up too soon and kill. How can they tarnish such a pure heart and force a 12 year old murder.

The train slowed to a stop and Glenn and I were dragged off the platform in different directions to prepare for the tribute parade, where they would show Panem the 24 tributes they would watch die.

I was hurried to a table and stripped of my clothes. I fought the urge to cover my body as the things they call Capitol citizens washed and prepped my body. They look like birds. Skin dyed a rainbow of colors, feathered and bejeweled clothing, whiskers, horns, and tattoos littering their bodies. They were so freakish looking, I didn't realize what they were doing until they pulled a strip of wax from my body and ripped off a line do hair. I winced as they waxed my body raw.

"Oh sorry dearie," one of the prep team member fluttered,  "We forgot to tell you our names. I'm Clinisa, she's Elvira, and he is Jalus." They each in turn waved at me and continues puttering around my naked body fixing any last imperfections. They finished filing my nails, slathered me in a soothing lotion over my raw body, and gave me a soft, fluffy robe.

Elvira skipped out of the room and sang:

"Devika! She's ready!"

"Who's Devika?" I asked Jalus.

"Oh she's one of the best stylists in Panem," he answered, an excited glint in his electric blue eyes.

In the next few seconds, a woman with big, springy rivulets stepped in.

"Helloooo," she said mysteriously, "I'm Devika, your stylist for the tribute parade and interviews." She had on a neon yellow body suit  and huge gold hoop earring. She had on purple lipstick and matching purple coloring on her eyelids. She changed her face so that her tongue was slit and it hissed in and out as she spoke.

"Welcome to the Capitol," she said flourishing her hands to dismiss my prep team.

When I said nothing she said, "A shy one aren't you."

"No," I said, "just trying to figure out if you can get any uglier."

As soon as I said this her animated smile drooped off her face.

"Feisty. Good for the interviews," she muttered.

"What am I going to wear for the parade?" I asked as she led me to are room filled with an assortment of supplies.

"Oh I have a few ideas," she said this with such a grin I suddenly wished I hadn't been rude to her. It was customary for the tributes to reflect their district with their costume. So I would be in something to do with transportation. But she would be dividing what I wear. The sponsors also get to see the tributes for the first time and they start their bets. I might end up dead because of whatever she puts me on.

"What am I wearing," I asked more urgently.

"As I told you, I have a few ideas," she said calmly, her grin growing larger.

And a few ideas she did have.

A/N
Thank you for still reading. There will be some more Haymitch in the book. And we will meet some of the other tributes in the next few chapters. Remember to leave comments and critiques. Have a good day and stay healthy.