bloodsport - cato hadley.

[9] be a people person

ONLY ONE DAY REMAINED UNTIL THE GAMES WERE SET TO begin, twenty four hours before Silver and twenty three other tributes were locked in an arena until only a single one remained.

The experience of being in the Capitol and training had distracted her from the reality that was coming way too fast for her liking. Now, it felt like there was a clock counting down, every moment, every second that passed by was all leading up to her demise.

It became clear that during breakfast that day that Reese had a similar feeling, because he not only looked very pale but he barely spoke a word and seemed to be stuck in a haze.

"So, tonight are the tribute interviews, where they're going to show you off to the world on live television" Finnick began, just the thought of being thrown back in front of those bloodthirsty Capitolians made Silver nauseous, during the parade it annoyed her enough to have to smile and wave.

This was entirely different, now she was going to have to talk in front of the whole nation, how in the world was she supposed to make them like her? Back in District 4, Silver was the quiet girl who kept to herself, that was just who she was and now she would be forced to portray a completely new person.

"And to prepare for it, Effie and Petra are gonna be coaching you guys on stage presence" Finnick went on to explain. "So basically how to act for the camera?" Silver raised an eyebrow, "Exactly" said Finnick.

"The whole point of this is make a lasting impression on the audience and to earn a lot of sponsors, and that requires you guys to use any means necessary to get people to like you." Petra told them. Despite how important their advice was, Silver had zoned out and stared down at her breakfast, picking at it with a fork.

The table then fell silent and Silver only realised why when her head snapped up to find everyone giving her a pointed look. "What?" Silver's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, this only caused Effie to let out a sigh, "Oh, boy. We alot of work to do."

Following Finnick giving them a detailed explanation of the interviews and breakfast were the most frustrating five hours of Silver's life, Effie and Petra had her doing things from walking in heels with a book on her head to figuring which angle she could play out.

During interviews, it was common for the tributes to adopt a discernible persona to gain the audience's interest. Whether it was funny, charming, arrogant, any tribute that decided to portray themselves this way always seemed to win the crowd over. But unfortunately, for Silver it was proven to be much harder to find a persona that could she could play right.

Her, Effie, and Petra had been at it for hours and so far it was not going well. For Reese, it was already decided that he would playing the adorable, innocent little boy angle, which wasn't much of a stretch for him.

"Look, Silver. It's only three minutes you're gonna be up there, you have to make the crowd think they know you." Petra reminded her, at that point Silver was minutes away from snapping and collapsed onto the couch.

"Well, how am I supposed to do that when I can barely keep a conversation going?" Silver sighed, her voice get increasingly strained.

"You're going to have to, or else-" Effie began but by then Silver had hit her breaking point, "Or what, Effie? You'll give me another lecture?! I'm not gonna act like some perky, stuck up bitch walking around like she has a stick up her ass because I'm pretty sure you have enough of those here!" She blurted out.

Effie's face flickered with shock, but not surprise because at that point, Silver's outburst was expected. "There she is! There's the feisty girl I like!" Petra exclaimed with a satisfied smile and catching everyone off guard. "This right here is the girl that's going to earn herself tons of sponsors, I want fierce, determined Silver, not quiet, reserved Silver!"