Losing my Head (Hunger Games Fanfic)

Training

President Snow approaches the podium, at the end of a balcony from his mansion. The crowd goes silent, as all twelve chariots are lined up, facing Snow. He addresses us. "Welcome Capitol members and Tributes! We are gathered here today to celebrate the beginning of the 70th annual Hunger Games!" The crowd cheers. He has them wrapped in his fingers.

"This year's Games were specially made! Tributes, make sure you use all of your skills. This year's Games will be an unusual one indeed. Mentors must make sure they train their tributes well, or there will be consequences. The importance of..."

I tune him out of my head. Like a true politician, most of the things he says are probably unimportant. I catch Finnick's eye in the audience. I expected him to be goofing around, not giving a damn. But instead, I see him giving his full attention to Snow. He looks concerned, and his brow is furrowed.

The President finishes speaking, and the crowd applauds politely. Manter and I are wheeled toward a building. Finnick, Cassandra, and our two stylists are there. I turn to Finnick, "You seemed to be really focused on his speech there."

Finnick shrugs, "Well, everyone is supposed to. I'm not different from anyone else." I nod my head, but that seemed to be a lie. During the speech, everyone looked either bored or excited. Finnick looked worried. I should probably stop tuning out speeches, I'm missing out important stuff.

The group of us walk towards the elevator. There are twelve buttons, and Cassandra thumbs Four. That makes sense. It's probably one district per floor.

"Hold the door! Wait!" two people come rushing towards the elevator. I look up to see the District Twelve tributes, the ones awkwardly covered in nothing but coal dust, and a few pieces of coal to hide very little of their privacy. I can't blame them for running to the elevator. I would be as eager to be out of view if I was dressed like that.

The girl quickly presses the twelfth button, and makes sure the doors close. I respectfully avert my gaze, not trying to look at either of them. Manter seems to be doing the same. Finnick seems to be acting as if nothing is wrong, and this is everyday life, being stuck in an elevator with two naked coal people. Cassandra doesn't look uncomfortable, she looks excited.

"Oh my! Who's idea was it to dress you two to the bare bum? I don't think they'll get far in Capitol fashion trends, eh?" she asks our two guests. The boy's face blushes bright red, and he starts to stutter, "Um- it was my- I mean our designer. Er- he thought- I mean she thought that it would be interesting."

Finnick looks the boy in the eyes. "What were you two's names again?"

The girl answers, "Um I'm Jane, and he's Tyler." Finnick just nods.

The elevator door finally opens, and we are relieved from the awkward situation. The six of us quickly left into our floor. I gasped at what I saw. Beautiful decor laced around the room, with modern furniture in every space. I jump when I realize two strangers I haven't met are staring at me. I turn to Finnick, "Who are-".

"Avoxes" he interrupts me. "People that broke the law in the Capitol. Their tongues were cut out, so they can't talk."

He sees my horrified expression on my face, and smiles kindly, "It won't happen to you, unless you're planning to become a terrorist."

I give a nervous laugh, and can tell that he also fears one day becoming an avox. He looks around anxiously, at every corner of the room, and that's when I realize every move we make is being watched. My privacy was left behind in District Four.

I leave to the shower, and take off my costume. I try and figure out how to turn on the shower. When finally figuring it out, I let the hot water rain on me. I close my eyes and for a moment, I'm back on the beach of District Four.

I walk out of the shower and see everyone has already begun eating dinner. I take a seat between Manter and Finnick. I take any food, since I have no clue what any of them are. I sip a greenish soup and let the hot liquid trickle down my throat.

"So... now that everyone's here, we have to talk about training." Finnick says.

Everyone stops eating, except for Cassandra and Manter's stylist, who seem very fascinated with the food. "Well?" I ask.

"Well, it's one of the most important parts of the Games. Training is what prepares you to live or die."

I shrug my shoulders, "I'm not going to last very long though. I might end up dying at the Cornucopia."

Finnick's eyebrows furrow. "Well training will make you or break you. If you really feel that way, work hard on training. Then you can actually win!" he says a little hotly.

I don't know why, but I can start to feel myself get angry. It's still such a strange feeling for me. Why have I become hostile since the Reaping? "It won't do me any good! I'd rather die near the beginning, than the end, to avoid less torture!"

Finnick stands up from the table now, angry, "Damn it Annie! Stop thinking like that! Did you listen to the President's speech at all!"

"Something about the Games being exciting-"

"No! He said, 'Mentors, train your tributes well! Or there will be consequences!' Your life isn't the only one on the line here!"

I sit in confusion. The Capitol can't kill him. They would have no reason to, and it would be too obvious. "Why would they kill you?-"

"I wasn't talking about myself!" he shouts, which I flinch at. He storms off to his room. I've never heard Finnick shout before. Charming, camera-ready Finnick doesn't shout. The boy I might have had a crush on in the third grade, never shouted. In a way, I feel as if I've actually met his true self.

I turn to the others, "What was he talking about? Who else could they hurt?"

"The Capitol can hurt tribute's families if they don't follow orders." whispers Cassandra. She looks around, as if there might be someone listening to her. "But that's just rubbish gossip, eh?" she adds, falsely.

I sit back down realizing, that children aren't the only ones suffering at the hands of the Games.