Lost

I hated them. I absolutely hated my prep team for stripping me of my hair. My whole body was stinging from them pulling my hair from my legs, my underarms, my arms, and my eyebrows. A woman with light pink colored skin with silver tattoos running in swirls on her body and hot pink hair was currently brushing through my hair while a man that oddly resembled a robot rubbed my body down with some sort of oil, relieving my body of the sting from the waxing and the plucking.

It seemed like an eternity until I was done, standing in front of the prep team as they circled me to make sure that they didn't see anything out of place. Soon enough, the woman in pink, I think her name was Glo, clapped her hands together in glee before saying in her high Capitol voice, "You look so much better! We'll go get Ralen now!"

I forced a smile on my lips, before nodding my head. Soon, I was left alone. I let out a sigh and looked down at my perfectly shaped nails. I didn't really have time to think until someone walked into the room and I looked up. I assumed it was Ralen. He was exactly how I imagined him to be, a basic Capitol citizen. Though his skin was his normal white color, he had black tattoos going down his arms and legs. His face was pretty bare, except for the disturbing red eyeliner on the top of his eyelids. His hair was very short and red, matching the eyeliner on his eyes. He kind of scared me.

"You're quite attractive. Maybe you'll make a bigger impact than I thought," He mused.

"You're quite scary," I said, raising my eyebrows at him. I probably shouldn't have said anything, but I'm going to be dead in a few days, so it didn't really matter to me. However, he only laughed and nodded his head.

"Yes, well.. this isn't about me, this is about you. Let's get started, shall we?"

It took quite a long time for Ralen and the prep team to get me ready for the parade. I spent hours in the chair while they worked on my hair and make up. Ralen had told me how I would be dressed for the tribute parade, and it wasn't anything new. District ten was all about livestock, so most of the citizens worked on slaughtering the animals for meat and getting milk from the cows. Most of the time, we were dressed as cowboys. This time was nothing different, but Ralen wanted to put a small twist on it. Finally, I was able to look at myself in the mirror. I stared at my reflection in shock. My dark hair was in soft curls down my shoulders and chest. I had a smokey eye, making my already dark brown eyes seem almost black as it faded in with the black shadow on my eyelids. My face was completely clear, none of my freckles showing, and they made my face seem more sharp with the makeup that they used. My lips were coated with a red lipstick and light lipgloss and they had dusted my body with fine shimmer, so everything was natural besides the eyes and lips. I looked dark, which was quite the contrast of what my brother wanted from me. But, this was just the parade, so I'd have the chance to show my angle later.

"Well?" Ralen asked, his voice anxious.

I looked up at him and smiled at him, before answering, "I love it, Ralen. Thank you."

"I know it's different than what Derek wanted, but I had already had all of this figured out," He explained and I nodded. He motioned for me to stand as he walked over to my outfit, which I hadn't seen yet, "The twist that we've put on your costumes this year is, if you hadn't already guessed, dark. A dark cowboy and cowgirl." I looked at the outfit and bit down on my bottom lip, but nodded. Soon, I was in the outfit and looking at myself in the mirror once more. I was wearing a black cowboy hat with red trimming around it. Everything about the outfit was black, with red. Just like Ralen, I noted. The shirt was more of a cropped vest. It was black and stopped just before it reached my belly button. The skirt was poofed out and black, but it had red detailing on the ends of it and a belt at the top of it with a large buckle for detailing. There was a rope attached to the skirt, which I guess stood for lassoing cows to catch them. Lastly, I was in boots that stopped just before they came to my knees. It was simple, it was dark.

"Wow," I heard my brother say as he looked at me, "My baby sister is all grown up now."

I let out a small laugh and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around him, "It's time. Come on," He whispered. We all walked out of the room and towards the carriages. My heartbeat sped up and I grabbed onto Derek's hand as we walked into the area. All of the tributes were there, having last minute adjustments made to their costumes. I refrained from biting on my lip in nervousness, so I wouldn't get red lipstick on my teeth. We walked over to our carriage and met up with Riley. He was dressed like me, in black, so we matched.

"Well, you're looking mighty fine, Miss Garner," Riley commented with a grin.

"Not so bad yourself, Ri," I said with a small laugh. They added a little more red lipstick to my lips, before letting me onto the carriage. I looked over at my brother and he walked over to me.

"You look like you're about to throw up. Take a deep breath and put on your game face, you'll be alright. I'll see you after the parade," He said, kissing my cheek before giving me one last hug.

I did as he said and took in a deep breath, before slowly letting it out. Then, I put on my game face. My eyes narrowed into a glare and I looked around the area to check out the other tributes. Every district looked good this year, which only made me more nervous on the inside. My eyes met the boy of District two, his name was Preston I recall. I looked him over. He was dressed in a warrior's costume. He had a smirk on his lips and narrowed eyes at me, trying to play mind games. I didn't falter for a bit, just glaring at him. Finally, I just looked away and looked over at Riley, who was also glaring at Preston. I tapped his shoulder and rose my eyebrows at him, "We don't need to be making enemies right now," I whispered.

"He's staring at you like you're a piece of meat," He whispered back, a frown forming on his lips.

"Then let him stare. He's not bothering me one bit," I said, raising my voice from a whisper. He nodded and said nothing more. I stared straight ahead, not bothering to look at other tributes. I didn't want another stare down from another tribute. The doors swung open and the carriages began to move.

Oh gosh.

My nerves were trying to get the better of me, but I kept on my glare. When we pulled out into the audience, my eyes shot around and my hand raised up to wave. We were making a bigger impact than we thought, because we were the only tributes dressed in such dark clothing. I blew a few kisses towards the audience, breaking my glare as I noticed the audience acting as if they were catching the kisses. I looked up and noticed that Riley and I were on the screen, taking up a generous amount of air time. I looked back over to the audience and waved more, occasionally blowing kisses. Flowers were thrown towards us and I caught a red rose, it matching my outfit. I kept it in my hand and blew a kiss in the direction that it was thrown. Looking over at Riley, I noticed that he was looking at me and I smiled at him. He grabbed my hand just as we pulled up to the front of the hall in front of President Snow. He stood up after District Twelve stopped and started to make his speech.

I tuned him out because he always said the same thing each year. Welcoming us to the Capitol, wishing us luck in the arena.. it was always the same. And it was always a bunch of bull. I let out a sigh of relief when the carriages started to move out of the hall. When the carriage pulled to a complete stop, I let out of Riley's hand and jumped out of the carriage before being pulled into a hug by my brother.

"You did great, just like I said you would," He whispered into my hair. I noticed some of the tributes staring at us in disgust. Did they not know we were siblings?

"Thank you," I whispered back. He kissed my forehead before letting me go. I looked over at Ralen and he had a huge grin on his face.

"You made me proud, Faye," Was all he had to say. I looked around at the other tributes and most of them had looked away, except for the District two boy and the group from District eleven. I just gave them all a small smile before walking off with my brother.