Amber Scott- District 3 Tribute

The Interview

  After Shanna is done talking, I go to my bathroom and take a shower. Then, I put black leggings and a long green shirt on. My ankle feels better, so I decide not to ask for a brace. I brush my hair out and go back into the living room, where Shanna is pacing back and forth.
  "Myron still isn't back! I don't know where he could have gone, darling, and if he doesn't come, we will have to leave without him, and I will forever be known as the escort that couldn't successfully deliver their tribute to the interviews!!" Shanna says hysterically.
  "That and if Myron is not seen at the interviews, he will most likely not get sponsors, which will mean that he will die," says Kilee. She is sitting at the table, eating a sandwich. I hadn't noticed her.
  "Oh dear, I hadn't thought of that!" Shanna says with a wail.
  Then the front door opens, and Myron stomps in.
  "Myron, where were you?!" Shanna exclaims. "I thought you weren't coming, and then you couldn't have gone to the interviews, and then you wouldn't have gotten sponsors, and then you would have died! Not to mention making Amber late! That was very wrong of you! And not you don't have time to take a shower before the interview so you will look like a hooligan!"
  Myron opens his mouth to say something, but Shanna cuts him off. "Never mind, we have to go. Hurry!!!!"
  She flounces out the door, and Myron and I follow. We walk back to the building where they prepared us for the tribute parade. Shanna directs me to the right, and Myron to the left. I walk down the hall, and am greeted by Annora.
"Hurry up. I don't know why you're late. We are running out of time. Come on, don't dawdle."
I follow her into the same room as last time we were here. She directs me to a chair. I sit, and she snaps her fingers at the tiny assistant. Her hair is in a huge bun that resembles a beehive. It looks as if it is going to topple over. She gets out her huge box of makeup, and sets to work. She uses a tremendous amount of eyeliner and mascara. My eyelashes are about twice as long as their normal length. Then, she adds some kind of cream to help define my cheekbones. To finish it off, she adds some sparkly green eyeshadow.
  Then the yellow haired assistant comes over to do my hair. After much jerking and pulling, he gets it into an elegant twist on top of my head. He then sprays it with some foul smelling liquid, and gives it an approving look.
  Annora grabs my arm and jerks me over to the door, saying to the tiny assistant, "Bring the dress and the shoes, quickly before we're late."
  The assistant scurries off and returns with a large cart with a bar from which is hanging a bag. I guess they didn't want the dress to get messed up. On the bottom of the cart, there is a pair of shoes. They are green flats, and they are covered in what look like real emeralds.
  Annora marches me out the door and over to yet another large, white building. We go to a small back room. Annora proceeds to walk over to the cart and pull the dress out of the bag. It is a floor length gown. It is form fitting on the bodice, and tight around the legs. Around the knees, it flares out and the bottom is covered in a sea of emeralds. The bodice is pale green with darker green glitter. The sleeves are long, and at the wrists they fan out in the same way the bodice does. They have lace that flows down for at least two feet.
"Get undressed and put this on," Annora barks at me.
I take off my shirt and pants and take the dress from Annora.
"Careful!" she exclaims. "You'll wreck it. Give it back." I hand it to her, and she instructs me to put my arms over my head. I do, and she slides it over my head. Then she stuffs my arms through the sleeves, all the while telling me not to be so rough, as if I'm the one stuffing my arms through the sleeves.
When the gown is finally on and properly adjusted, Annora gives me the shoes. I slide them on, and walk over to the mirror. The dress looks amazing. I thought I would look faded and pale while wearing it, but that's not the case. The makeup that the tiny assistant put on me makes my eyes stand out, and my cheekbones look defined. Normally, my hair is down and hiding my face. Now, it's swept back and you can see my entire face. For the first time in my life, I look stunning.
Annora disagrees. "Humph," she sniffs. "I suppose it will have to do." Gee, what a boost of confidence.
Annora marches me out to a building adjacent to the building where the Tribute Parade was held.
"Go in there, and wait in line behind the tributes from District 2. You'll go before Myron. If you decide to talk to them, don't tell them about your strengths," she pauses, and gives me a meaningful look. How much of an idiot does she think I am that she needs to tell me not to tell the Careers about my shock device? "There will be a screen where you can watch the other tributes' interviews. When your interview is over, go where they direct you. You'll wait with Shanna and Kilee and watch the rest of the interviews, and then you go back to your suite. I'll see you once more the day after tomorrow, before the Games. That's when you get your token," she gives me another meaningful look. She really must think I'm a moron.
"Okay," I say.
I walk into the building, and see a few tributes milling around. The room is silent, and everybody stares at me when I come in. After they get a good look at me, they go back to staring at the ground, or at the door. I glance around the room, and I see the malicious-looking boy from 1, the girl from 6, and both tributes from District 8. The room is filled with so much tension, it feels as if you could cut it with a knife. Then, the rest of the Careers come in. They go and join the boy from District 1. The four of them stand there, silently evaluating their competition. The beautiful girl from 1 is wearing a short, frilly, pink dress. She is wearing high heels whose height rivals Shanna's shoes. Both of the boys are wearing suits, the boy from 2 is wearing a black suit and the boy from 1 is wearing a deep green suit. The short girl from 2 is wearing an orange dress that is down to her knees. The skirt part of it is covered in ruffles.
While I was gazing at them, several more tributes have come in, Lilla among them. She walks lightly over to me, and smiles happily. Her pale green dress reaches her knees. It is simple, with short lacy sleeves, and it suits her. Her red hair hangs in loose curls over her shoulders.
"Hi!" she says with a grin. "Are you nervous? I am, but I'm sure it will be fine. I mean, how hard can it be?"
She's right. I've watched the interviews -we all have- and Caesar just asks the tributes questions. They answer, and then they leave the stage.
"I'm sure you'll do fine, Lilla," I say. "You're nice, the Capitol will love you."
"Thank you!" Lilla says. Then, Peacekeepers walk up to us and tell us to get in line. Lilla goes towards the back of the line, and I go to the front. I slip into line behind the huge boy from District 2. He is talking in a low voice to the short girl from his district, and she is looking at him intensely.
  I turn around and see Myron leaning grumpily against the wall. He catches me looking at him and sneers at me.
  "Are you going to wow the Capitol?" he says in a sarcastic, falsely enthusiastic voice.
  "More than you will, you sullen dirtbag," I retort. I am so sick of his stupid snide comments and dirty looks. As if I wanted to be here, as if it was my choice.
  Myron sneers at me and then turns to the screen, where Caesar is speaking.
  He is saying,  "And now, our first tribute, hailing from the district of luxury, the blonde beauty, Glimmer!"
  Glimmer fixes a smile on her face, and flounces out the door and onto the stage. Caesar rises and pecks her on her cheek. She laughs, and says, "Oh Caesar, always the gentleman!" She turns to the crowd with a flattered look. They laugh, and she takes her seat, crossing her legs.
"So, Glimmer, a little birdie told me that you volunteered for your friend," Caesar says with one of his trademark grins. "Why did you do that? Was it to save your friend, or because you actually wanted to enter the Hunger Games?"
"Neither, actually, Caesar," says Glimmer with a flirtatious smile at the crowd. "I volunteered so that I could get to meet the famous Caesar Flickerman and all of the lovely citizens of the Capitol!" They eat it up. The Capitol citizens cheer and clap for Glimmer, and she smiles graciously at them before returning her attention to Caesar.
The rest of her interview goes the same way. Glimmer flirts with Caesar, and gives clever answers that makes the crowd go wild. At the end of her interview, Caesar stands up and helps Glimmer up. He pecks her on her cheek again, and she smiles at him. Then, she turns her attention to the crowd. She gives them a wave and one last smile before flouncing off the stage. She won't have any problems with getting sponsors; she is certainly using her looks to her advantage.
"Next we have our male tribute from District 1," Caesar is saying. "The one and only, the Marvelous Marvel!" He chuckles at his own joke as Marvel walks onto the stage. They shake hands, and they both sit down.
"Now, Marvel," Caesar says. "Did you volunteer for the Games?"
"Now," says Marvel with a cocky grin. "Everybody seems to think that- I'm sure because of my good looks and amazing physique- but no, I did not. I was reaped. I did, however, have to put the boy that tried to volunteer for me in his place." Marvel finishes his cocky statement with a chuckle and a look to the crowd, who laughs with him. It's sick, what amuses them.
The rest of Marvel's interview continues in the same fashion. He is cocky and and arrogant. He is also trying very hard to be funny. Not the smartest tribute, but definitely a threat.
Next is Clove's interview. She is acting sweet, but I've saw how she acted during training. She laughs at Caesar's jokes, and talks to him with a confident attitude. He talks to her about her strengths, and she says she is best at knife throwing. When Caesar brings up the Games themselves, Clove doesn't seem upset at the prospect of other children dying.
"You do what you have to," she says with a malevolent grin. I think she will do more than what she has to in order to survive. She seems vicious and bloodthirsty, like the majority of the tributes from District 2. One of their previous victors had her teeth sharpened into points to commemorate the time in the Games where she literally ripped another tribute's throat with her teeth.
After Clove is finished, it is Cato's turn. I don't pay too much attention to his interview, since I have to go next. I'm worried I will make a fool or myself in front of all of the other tributes. I suppose that doesn't really matter, because with any luck I will be able to use my shock device to escape the games. I'm sure my interview will go fine. I mean, all I have to do is answer questions that Caesar asks me. I don't expect my interview to be extraordinary or memorable, like Glimmer's, and I certainly don't want to appear to be a threat, like Marvel. I just want to appear to be an average tribute with and average interview.
I glance back up and see that Cato is standing up to shake hands with Caesar one last time. A Peacekeeper comes over to me and escorts me to the stairs that lead to the stage. He keeps his hand on my arm until Caesar introduces me.
"And next up we have our tribute from District 3, the one and only Amber Scott!" At this, the Peacekeeper gives me a little shove, and I walk up the stairs and onto the stage.
The lights are blinding, and the crowd is deafening. As my eyes adjust, I look over to Caesar, who is standing and looking at me with his trademark grin.
"Hello, Amber!" Caesar says genially. He takes my hand and kisses it. I smile at him and then sit down. I make sure to face the crowd for a moment and smile at them, as well.
"So, Amber," Caesar begins. "Did you volunteer for anybody at home?"
"No," I reply. "I did not."
"Do you have any family waiting for you back at home?" Caesar asks.
"Yes, I do. I have six sisters. Five of them are younger than I am, and one is older," I say.
  "I see. How did they react when you were reaped?" Caesar asks.
  "My younger sisters were devastated," I say. "We are so close. My older sister, Reyna was upset, but she tried to keep it inside, so she didn't upset me even more."
  "Tragic," says Caesar sympathetically. "Such a terrible thing that you should have to leave your family. I have the best wishes for you."                                   Stupid jerk. As if he doesn't enjoy watching tributes die. His job is just to entertain the Capitol by making the tributes look desirable. But, I have to pretend to be civil, so I nod sadly at him.                           
"So, Amber, what are your strengths? What do you feel that you are good at?"
Well, obviously I can't tell him what my real strengths are, so I say, "Well, I'm good at identifying different types of plants. I can easily tell what plants are poisonous, and which are edible."     What a valuable skill," Caesar says with a knowing nod. "As I'm sure all of you know," he says with a nod to the crowd. "Every year, one-if not several- tributes die from eating poisonous plants. It is an extremely important skill to have."
Caesar continues to blabber on about important skills for tributes to have. He eventually comes back to me and says, "Amber, who are you fighting for? Anyone back at home? Friends? Family? A special someone?" at this, he raises his eyebrows mischievously.
"No, no special someones... yet," I say with a grin to the crowd, who laughs. "I'm fighting for my little sisters. They need me, and I need them. I can't imagine how they would feel if I didn't make it back."       
"A very noble sentiment," Caesar says with a grim look on his makeup covered face. "Thank you, Amber." He rises, and I do too. He embraces me, and then says to the crowd, "Amber Scott!" I wave to the crowd, who goes wild, and then I walk off the stage. When I get off the stairs, a Peacekeeper grabs my arm roughly and marches me off to a small room with a couple chairs and a screen. Shanna, Kilee, and Annora are waiting for me.
Shanna walks quickly over to me and says, "Oh, darling, you did brilliantly! Such a touching story!"
She is overly emotional. I said all of five sentences; Caesar did all the talking. Kilee doesn't look up from the screen, nor does Annora.
"Come sit and watch your competition," Annora barks at me.
I walk over and sit next to her. Myron is taking to Caesar. He isn't saying anything special. He is talking about his skills with mines. Caesar is looking at him with a rapt expression, which I'm sure is fake. Nobody could be that interested in Myron talking about the inner workings of a mine.
When he is finished speaking, it appears he is out of time, because Caesar immediately stands up and says, "Myron Green!"
The crowd applauds, but Myron does not receive as much applause as Glimmer or Cato did. He slumps off the stage in his usual fashion, and a moment later he arrives in the room. He doesn't look at any of us, even though Shanna is fawning over him. He throws himself into the nearest chair, and stairs sullenly at the screen. The District 4 girl is up. She speaks in a very soft voice; I can barely hear her. The boy from 4 seems cocky, even though he is among the youngest tributes. The tributes from 5 have fairly uneventful interviews, although the girl from seems highly intelligent. The tributes from 6, 7, and 8 have average interviews. None of them seem like very big threats.
Lilla comes out onto the stage with a huge grin on her face. She situates herself in the chair, and looks comfortable and at home. She is charming and sweet and the crowd loves her. When Caesar announces her name once more to the the crowd, they cheer and clap as loud-if not louder- than they did for Glimmer.
The male tribute from 9, Greyson, answers Caesar's questions in a soft, quiet voice. Caesar is having to repeat almost everything he says for the crowd to hear.
The tributes from District 10 and 11 are normal, and have average interviews. However, the tiny girl from 11 seems very sweet and shy.
Then comes the girl from 12. She seems a little confused at first- I don't blame her, the lights and the noise really are disorienting. But then, she warms up to Caesar and is talking about her dress. Then, she stands up and spins around. The bottom of her dress goes up in flames, and there are gasps from the crowd. Her stylist must have a thing with fire. She stops twirling, and the flames go out. Once the girl regains her balance, Caesar takes her hand and holds it up in the air.
He exclaims, "Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire!" She leaves the stage, and Caesar introduces the final tribute, the stocky blonde boy that threw the weight at the spear cart. He laughs and jokes with Caesar until Caesar asks him if he has anyone special back at home.
"No, no one in particular," he says.
"Now that can't be true!" says Caesar with a look to the crowd. "With a face like that? You must have dozens of girls fawning over you!"
"Well, there is one girl..." says the boy reluctantly. "I've known her for forever, but I don't think she even noticed me until the reaping."
"Well, I'll tell you what," says Caesar. "You win the Hunger Games, and when you go home, she'll have to go out with you!" He looks very pleased with his solution.
"Well, that won't really help me." says the boy with a glance to the crowd.
"And why ever not?" asks Caesar confusedly.
"Because..." the boy says hesitantly. "Because she came here with me."
There is a tremendous gasp from the crowd. This will make for good publicity, the story of the doomed lovers.
"I'm sorry," says Caesar in a sad voice. "It seems you are out of luck."
The boy nods, still staring intently at the floor.
Caesar and the boy stand up, and Caesar announces, "Peeta Mellark!"
That concludes the interviews. Tomorrow I have the individual training, and then the Games the day after that. I am so scared for the Games, and I am clinging to the hope that my device works, and that I'll have time to activate it. I have to, I just have to have time.