Sweetest Downfall

I sat in my chair with my knees shaking; I had gotten a five on my skills, a five! I would no doubt lose sponsors and with the way I looked right not I’d be lucky if I could scrape them back. Caesar called over the first tribute, Emilyn, the boy from District 1. I had to listen carefully to each and every one of these interviews, if I could play on the other tributes’ emotions while in the arena I could trick them into letting me live if we came into combat. With my thoughts racing I had missed the initial questions Caesar asked Emilyn, but I quickly refocused and listened.

“So Emilyn, you were one of three tributes who volunteered for the Games. Why’d you do such a thing? Caesar asked, it was an obvious answer, Emilyn was a Career and the boy that was drawn very clearly was not.

"Well, that boy, he was just so tiny and frail and I couldn't let a boy with no chance go into the Games. I offered my life to save his." Emilyn said blankly, his face was as monotone has his voice.

"That was very kind of you," Caesar said and all I could think of was what angle he was trying to play. He had the looks of a God, especially with what he was wearing today. The way the gems on his cheeks were shining made him look prince-like. "We all saw that you scored a seven on your session with the Gamemakers. How does that make you feel?"

"Good! I certainly didn't expect it," He cracked a smile, he was pleased with himself. I smiled kindly, knowing that I was in the background shot, for the cameras had quickly panned on the tributes sitting.

"What is your goal for the Games?" Caesar asked, his suit twinkling like lights got my attention and I blanked out the answer by accident. "Well of course, time's almost up but I have one last question for you. What's waiting for you back at home? A girl? Family?" This caught my attention and I quickly snapped my head up and watched his reaction.

"I, uh," Emilyn’s face fell, it was like he was having a mental battle with himself and Caesar’s face turned apologetic for asking the question. After a moment Emilyn collected his thought and regained his monotone stature. "Have some family."

The buzzer rang and I saw Emilyn jump a little from the loudness of it, I think we all did. He shook hands with Caesar and walked slowly back to his chair, his face was clouded and I wished I could comfort him. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to win this and that I was willing to throw it away for a broken tribute, but the fact that he had to think so hard about his answer made my heart hurt for him. I missed the first half the girl’s interview but I quickly tried to catch up.

“It’s not that I can’t handle myself, I can.” She said and Caesar lightheartedly laughed. “I just don’t think I should I gotten such a low score.” She was challenging the score that the Gamemakers had given her.

“A seven isn’t too bad a score, Presh. Some of your fellow tributes didn’t score as high as you did.” I could feel the eyes of everyone shoot to me, I had gotten the lowest score, even the twigs from District 12 had both scored sixes.

“Well no, I could have scored a five,” She laughed. I felt my cheeks burn and I bit my lip. I couldn’t interrupt, that was very much against the rules and conduct of the interviews. As if on cue the buzzer rang and her time was up. What a way to end, Presh, it was just too bad that you’re stylist couldn’t change your personality. When she turned to walk back to her seat she locked eyes with me and grinned. She knew I was listening and she knew that I knew she had a special beef with me.

I picked up on pieces from the District 2 tributes; the boy had a soft spot for blondes. He said his dream girl was blonde hair, blue eyes and Caesar had poked fun saying that it was a shame that there weren’t many blondes in District 2. The girl had dark brown cropped hair that kept falling in her eyes, she had said that she had a love waiting for her at home; she was eighteen but could easily pass for someone as old as twenty-six. The District 3 boy struck me, his name was Cyrus. He had been the one who was glaring me down at training and he had managed to intimidate the audience who had before been cheering and yelling out replies to statements tributes had said. Before I realized it Caesar was waiting patiently for me to walk up to him.

I slowly got up from the chair, not truly trusting the four inch heels Lomet insisted I wore. I made my way over to Caesar and he shook my hand and I could tell he was slightly taken back by the strength in the grasp. “Hello, what would your name be?”

“I’m Shay, sir.” I said softly and he just chuckled and patted my soft skinned shoulder.

“No need for formality, honey,” I blushed and apologized. “So, Shay, when you came out for that parade, you were absolutely stunning! Tell us how you felt when you wore that beautiful costume!" He talked with such excitement, and I couldn’t help but feed of off the energy both he and the Capitol audience were sending to me.

"Honestly, Caesar, words can't even describe it. Lomet is an amazing stylist; he made me feel so comfortable in the suit! There wasn't any awkward poking from any part of it!" She smiled and clapped my hands together. It honestly was so comfortable to wear the suit Lomet had designed.

"Well that's a relief, isn't it?" Caesar joked and I could help but laugh with him.

“Oh yes.”

"And what about this lovely ensemble?" Caesar asked and motioned for me to twirl, I smiled at him.

"I can't decide which I love more!" I laughed as I spun around in a circle, the crowd sighed soft ooh’s and ah’s as I came to a stop.

"Well, honey I love you in both! You're just such a sweetheart, isn't she so sweet everyone?" Caesar waited for the crowd to calm down, they had broken out in cheers and I waved at them. "Shay, tell us about yourself. How'd you feel when your name was called?"

"I was...” I waited a moment and thought about it. How did I feel? I was fine until I saw mom and little nine year old Opal.“I was okay until I had to say goodbye to my family. My mother gave me this ribbon, it was my grandmothers.” I felt my throat get tight, even though I didn’t want to seem weaker to the other tributes and possible sponsors I couldn’t stop myself from talking. “I never met her, but I can feel her sometimes, when I'm sad or lonely." I felt the tears threaten to spill and thankfully Caesar spoke before they could.

"Oh,” He cooed, pulling me into a tight embrace. The warmth of him made me feel like I was back home in my father’s arms back when I was a little girl… Back before he was lost at sea. "I'm sure she loves you." The crowd burst into shouts of love and I smiled at them, I even managed to catch one boy, maybe a few years older than me get yelled at by a girl beside him. "That's right; we all love you, Shay."

My buzzer rang and I quickly retreated to my chair, I felt the eyes of other tributes burning into me. I knew they were either branding me as an easy kill or smart for playing on the emotion of the audience. I sucked in a deep breath and before I realized it the District 11 girl was being called. Her name was Ari and I felt like she and I were similar. She looked nothing like me, her dark skin and dark, corkscrew curly hair were polar opposites to my tame golden hair and pale skin but as she turned to sit she made eye contact with me and nodded. We were going to ally, I could feel it and so could she. I tried to search my memory; I couldn’t remember what score she’d gotten. I’d have to ask Herring when we got back to our rooms.

When we were back in our rooms I sat on the sofa with Herring watching the interveiws, I was curled in a ball against him and he had his arm looped around my shoulders. He and I knew that we shouldn’t be becoming as close as we were, but he felt like a father to me and I was something he felt he had to protect in honor of his mother. It was nothing romantic, though we were questioned by Lomet and his stylist, Juniper; it was simply a strong family-like bond we shared. We grew up with the mindset that family came first, and we knew that the other would fight to protect family until the end.

“We need to ally with Ari, the girl from District 11.” I said, and he gave me a funny look.

“She only got a seven,” He replied and I raised my eyebrows.

“And I only got a five, are you saying I’m dead weight because of my score?”

“No, I’m just saying that what if—” I cut him off with another look and he caved. “Fine, but how do you know she’ll ally with us?”

“I just know,” I answered. That look we shared said everything, she needed us and I knew that Herring wouldn’t like it but we needed her too. I had seen her during training, she was fast and she knew plants as well as I knew fish. I patted his leg and got up, and he followed the action. “We’re going to be fine, I’ll protect you, you protect me and when we get Ari, she’ll do the same for us. I can feel it in my bones, now come on, dinner’s probably going to be ready soon.”

“We have to stack up tonight and tomorrow morning. This is it.” He said and I nodded.

“This is it.”