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°¤.~ 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈: 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ~.¤°
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Verity clicked the heels of her black leather platform shoes against the pristine marble floor as she impatiently waited for her brother to be done getting ready. She'd been dressed and ready for over an hour, but did that mean Leander was? No, not at all. Did he care that he was stressing her out beyond belief by not being ready? Of course not, he never did. They were going to be late to the Reaping Ceremony and it'd be all his fault. The Academy would revoke her privilege as one of the top twenty-five students and her life would fall apart. No University, no high paying job in the Capitol, no social standing, nothing.
As an act of god, Leander finally came walking down the grand staircase in the foyer of Madden Manor at that moment. He was dressed impeccably in a black three-piece suit with black leather shoes to match and their father's watch on his wrist. His dark hair was parted in the middle and styled to perfection as glasses rested on his nose like always. Her brother looked grand and every bit the scholar he was.
Verity felt slightly nervous as she hoped she didn't look undressed next to him. She wore a black pencil skirt dress that cinched in at the waist with a white belt and white rose buttons with gold detailing that didn't actually do anything. To make the look less plain, there was white detailing in the collar and bottom part of the sleeves that ended at the end of her forearm. White lace gloves that had previously belonged to her mother covered her hands and a pearl necklace hung around her neck with pearl earrings to match, also her mother's.
While the Academy provided the uniforms they required for daily use, students were required to buy their own outfits for the Reaping Ceremony, the only criteria being to dress fashionably yet solemnly. As done over and over for the last ten years, there would be twenty-four tributes, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve Districts, drawn by lottery to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death in the Hunger Games. It was all laid out in the Treaty of Treason that had ended the Dark Days of the districts' rebellion, one of the many punishments borne by the rebels. As in the past, the tributes would be dumped into the Capitol Arena, a now-dilapidated amphitheater that had been used for sports and entertainment events before the war, along with some weapons to murder each other. Viewing was encouraged in the Capitol, but a lot of people avoided it.
"The staff made you breakfast, right?" Leander asked as he approached her before kissing her cheek softly. "I can't remember if I told them to or not, but either way you need to eat."
"They did, trust me I'm not starving myself." Verity answered, making her brother roll his eyes. As smart as he was when it came to education and business, Leander was forgetful about almost every else in his life.
"Quit the attitude, I know you're stressed out, but you'll be fine." He said, just as nervous as she was. Leander worked alongside Doctor Gaul, Head Gamemaker, doing whatever it was she does in that laboratory of hers. For weeks, he'd been on edge, meeting at the Academy more and more with Dean Casca Highbottom and Doctor Gaul.
