Chapter 10

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The day starts off badly. Partially because I'm awake for all of it. I went to bed early enough, and managed to fall asleep, but I woke up at midnight, shuddering about some dream. I can't really remember most of it. It was something about a spear. So I'm stuck here, shivering in my bed, and trying to think happy thoughts about butterflies and sunshine and not being impaled by sharpened projectiles until the alarm clock goes off, with some capitol lady screeching about the "lovely, lovely morning, Farmphrey. And on that note, let's listen to some lovely music, recorded by the rising star, Selemina Animeles-Who, by the way, gets all of her groceries at YourNeedz- Making your needs available to you since 15 I.E!

Hmmm... Speaking of YourNeedz-shopping child-murderers, I need to go downstairs to talk to Aurelia, as soon as that annoying alarm goes off. I'm willing to bet that if I don't apologize for not wearing her outfit soon, she'll pull some strings so that my interview outfit is made of purple sequins. And I'm pretty sure that even Tarragon couldn't create something that horrendous. I'm not really sure of what I'm going to say, but I figure that if I praise her enough, she'll be fine. At least I hope so. Oh no, what if she doesn't forgive me and she decides instead to-

"I agree with you, Farmphrey! YourNeedz is definitely the way to go when you need high-quality groceries! Now, let's listen to this lovely song, which is climbing the charts, by Carm-"

I'll be sure to shop at YourNeedz when I get a free moment and I'm not also being held against my will in an arena where there are 23 other people who want to kill me. Preferably with sharpened objects. Oh, and I have a tendency to faint and get mild concussions in the process.

I slam on the alarm, and stand up to see a rhinestone-coated monstrosity on the ground in front of me. It's ominous, like a death omen from some higher form of life who didn't get the memo - "Rue Seran is fully aware that her gory death is coming up soon. Any death omens will be a waste. And be sure to remember that Ganda Namadi of District 3 should step under a ladder today."

I decide to wear it. If I close both eyes, I can pretend that it's just a pink shirt. Actually, I could pretend it was a yellow shirt. I could even pretend it was a dress. My eyes are closed, after all. Though closing my eyes may cause some individuals to believe that I'm insane. So I guess I'll settle for squinting and looking straight ahead.

I squinch my eyes all the way through breakfast. It's not fun, but the only other thing to do would be listen to the conversations of others. Which would be a bit nosy, because they're obviously private. Though I can hear some of Aurelia's. She just finished talking to a lady with curly pink hair, and is now whisper-yelling at Tarragon. All I hear is "Idiot... Effie... Trinket.... Pearls... Ceremonies... Sardinia... Fired." So unless there's an idiot out there whose name is Effie who has trinkets made out of pearls which she gave to Sardinia at the Opening Ceremonies... and now she's fired? Whatever. It's probably just some Capitol gossip.

My eye muscles are spasming when Aurelia leans over towards me.

"Tarragon and I just had an... interesting... conversation, Rue!"  I nod.

"Most of it doesn't apply to you, but there's just one little bit that does!"

"Okay. What is it?"

"Rue, why are you squinting your eyes like that? Are you okay?" I nod and push my eyes open with my fingers. They seem to want to revert back to their old squinting position.

"Anyway, I decided that your outfit at the Opening Ceremonies was too terrible for Tarragon to get a second chance. We're firing him. Sardinia is your new stylist."

Author's note: Hi! I have nothing much to say in this author's note, unless you're interested in learning all about my personal life and what I want for Christmas, so I'm just going to go to the deadline. :) It's January 5th. I know that that's awhile from now, but my mom is strictly against any computer time on Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's Day, and New Year's Eve. So it's really just 11 days. :) Thank you for reading! Happy Holidays! :D



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