The 70th Hunger Games: A Little Love

Chapter Seven

Dear Diary,

I didn't really find much time last night to write about the interviews, so I'm going to be doing that today.

After coming to my room and writing for a bit, I took some time to truly admire the artificial windows. If I focused close enough, I could almost smell the salty air back home. Almost.

Velerio knocks on my door about an hour later, and I hear his excited voice ring out "time to get ready for your interview!" I smile as I know I'm going to be seeing Burundi again, and I wonder what she's going to have me wearing for the interview, if I'll get to feel like a princess one last time.

Percy and I exit our rooms at the same time, looking at Velerio expectantly. He normally has some sort of advice for us whenever we do something pertaining to the capital. He does not disappoint:

"You two are cute. You're likable. Play on that. Make them like you. Hell, make them fall in love with you, in your case Annie. It's easy"Velerio advises, his hand on my shoulder with a small wink. I nod my head and make my way to the same room where I met Burundi before.

Dressed head to toe in a jumpsuit made out of some sort is sticky orange fiber, Burundi's outfit takes me by surprise. She sees the shock on my face, and laughs. "Don't worry sweetie, you won't be wearing anything like this. But, how does this look?"

She points towards a dress hanging right near the mirror. It was a light shade of blue, somewhat like the color of the sky on a sunny day. The dress had a rather deep neckline, one that would show off just the sides of my cleavage to the people of the capital. The dress had no sleeves but instead had one strap that went over my head and around my neck.

What I liked best about it though was the skirt. The actual dress had a rather short pencil skirt, the same shade of blue as the top of the dress. But the skirt had small pieces of silk that reached down to the floor and were all different shades of blue. I saw indigo, baby blue, sky blue, and so many other shades that I don't know the name of. "Oh Burundi, it's beautiful!" I exclaim.

She makes no haste in helping me get dressed into it, giving me a pair of blue heels that were—thankfully—lower than the ones for the tribute parade. After I'm dressed, she uses a hot iron of some sort to curl my hair, curling every section of hair except for my red bangs. She then lines my eye with a small black pencil, and puts a pink gloss on my lips.

"Burundi, this is amazing. You're so talented," I compliment as I do a slow twirl in the mirror. Without thinking, I hug her, something that I do at home without a thought. "I'm sorry, should I not have done that?" I ask her nervously, biting my lower lip.

"No no sweetheart it's totally fine! Now go out there and show them who you are! Don't worry about impressing some men." She gives me a small push and suddenly I'm waiting in line amongst the other tributes.

I see a sea of people behind me, and a short group in front of me. No matter what I think though, that first group is going to take hours to get to me.

The girl with the sparkly hair walks up to me, a big smile on her face. "District four, right? That dress is absolutely stunning! Have you trained before?" I shake my head no, but smile at her nonetheless.

"Yeah, I'm Annie, district four. Thank you. No, I haven't trained but I am a competitive swimmer back home. Your hair is absolutely stunning, is that makeup?" I question, glad to be striking up conversation with her.

"For not training, you're phenomenal! Cicero told me about your work with the knives. You're going to do great in the games," she flashes a big, white smile at me. "I'm Sparkle, from district one. And no, it's not makeup. I got my hair genetically altered to sparkle, in hopes that it would draw some capital support to me when I volunteered for my games," she flips her hair over her shoulder, laughing softly.