All Time Hunger Games

“Portia!” Jack complained, jumping around in the suit and tie he was wearing. “Why do I have to wear this monkey suit? I’m getting hot and I can’t feel my feet!” Jack whined pointing to his dress shoes.

“Sorry Jack, do you want me to leave?” Alex asked, giving Jack a wink and a nudge with his elbow. “The way I talk gets the ladies going. It must have the same affect on you.”

“You would like to think that wouldn’t you, handsome.” Jack whispered in a sexy, hushed tone as he pinned Alex against the wall seductively.

Portia shook her head and chuckled at the immature boys. “Jack, I kinda prefer that you don’t look like a hobo today. It’s important.” she told him.

Jack let out a loud, dramatic sigh, releasing Alex from the wall. He made his way over to the couch in the corner of their holding room and sat down next to Zack, who refused to put on his shirt.

Just then, John walked into the room. He panned the room, turning his head from side to side to inspect every square inch. He waltzed over to Rian and looked him over slowly, starting from his head and working his way down. “Not bad,” John commented, giving Portia a satisfied nod. Rian popped his collar and very narcissistically replied, “That what all the ladies seem to think too.”John rolled his eyes in disbelief. He really should’ve saw that coming.

Soon enough, Effie, Audrey, and Cinna entered the premises.
“She’s breathtaking.” Alex says under his breath. Audrey was wearing a red dress that was as fiery red as her spirit. It was a sweetheart neckline that showed off her collarbones and create curves in all the right places. The top appeared to a laced corset embellished with silver beads around the rim and small stars just before the skirt. The skirt was ruffled and that stopped just before her knees followed by a trail that was also ruffled, and went to the floor. Her auburn hair had braids and twirls that led up to a bun in the back. Beautiful diamond and ruby earrings hung from her ears.
Jack elbowed Alex, making him pop-out of his only little world. Jack just winked and whispered, “Alex, you’re staring.” A small smile appear on Alex’s face as he went back to staring at Audrey, who was practicing walking with her heels. More like tripping, Alex thought.
“Good! You’re all here.” Effie addressed everyone in the room interrupting Alex’s train of thought.

“Boys! Audrey! Sit on the couch!” John demanded. Jack and Zack made room on the tic tac sized couch all five of them were ordered to sit on. To make more room, Audrey sat on Alex’s lap. Alex really didn’t mind at all.

John paced back and forth in front of the couch, stopping every so often thinking he had collected the words he wanted to say, but continuing to walk back and forth when they didn't come out of his mouth. All five pairs of eyes watched him, waiting to see what he had to say.

“Don’t say anything stupid” John finally managed to get out. Everyone in the room stared at him blankly. “It’s interview day, probably one of the most important parts of the games. Today is the day you either win over the public or... well let's put it this way, you will for sure not make it out alive if you don’t ace this interview.”

Alex quickly gave Audrey a quick ‘don't worry’ hug around the waist. He could tell she was panicking.

“John calm down” Alex told him. “We do interviews all the time. We’re a band. We’re used to the press.”

“You’re in a band...” John said, placing his hand on his chin, glancing up, thinking. He quickly got excited from the idea that came to him. “Boys! You need to talk about your band as much as possible. Talk about your music, how you met, stuff like that. This could really work for us! This could really work for us!” John said over and over again. Soon he calmed himself down from all the excitement and took a deep breath. “Just don’t do anything you will regret!”

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The boys were silent, trying not to make eye contact with the other tributes around them in the room back stage. The girl from District One was interviewing right now. Being from District 12, Alex, Jack, Rian, Zack, and Audrey would be last.

The only one that wasn’t avoiding everyone else was Zack. He looked around the room for the gorgeous girl from District Nine, Jenna. He quickly caught sight of her from across the room, standing next to, who he assumed to be, Nathen, the boy from her district. Her back was turned to him, so he couldn’t see her beautiful face. She was wearing a blue dress that was two shades darker then her eyes. Her back was bare, except for the two straps that crossed in the middle of her shoulder blades. The clothing came back just before her butt and the skirt went straight down. Leaving his friends, he ran up behind her.

“Hi” Zack said as quiet as he could so he wouldn’t startle her. A smirk crawled onto Jenna’s face, making her dimples appear, as soon as she heard his voice. She turned around slowly, but fast enough to make the slight curls in her hair bounce. When she saw Zack, though, she immediately started laughing at the sight of him. He was wearing a tie, black dress pants, and a matching dress jacket. No shirt in site.

“What?” Zack said confused, he only said one word and she was already laughing at him.
“Wh-what are you wearing?” She said through her laugh, when she finally controlled herself she said, “I think you might of forgot something?”

Zack looked himself up and down, then looked down his pants, “Nope! I remembered to put on underwear this morning.”

Jenna immediately began laughing again. “Oh, oh, good! I was worried! You can’t do the interview without underwear, it’s a big no-no here.” Jenna’s laugh was one of the most prettiest sounds Zack had ever heard. Zack couldn’t help but laugh along with her, her laugh was as contagious as the common cold. “Now really Zack, why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

Zack’s huge smile quickly changed to a serious face, “I have to accent my assets.” Zack made a gesture to his abs before making a sexy pose, complete with a duck face. This won another lovely laugh from Jenna as she joined him in posing. Zack may appear to be the quiet one, but Jack isn’t the only one who knows how to make a joke, or... please the ladies.
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“Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome, also from District One, Josh Ramcee!” Josh walked out onto the stage to join the announcer in the center. The crowd roared for him. His confidence was through the roof, especially after Sabrina’s interview went so smoothly. Nothing could possibly go wrong! The crowd quieted down and the questions began to flow.

“So Josh, tell me about how you felt at the reaping when your name was called.” The announcer asked.

Without even thinking about it, Josh started to tell his story. “I was kinda excited actually.I’ve been training for this my whole life it seems like.”

The announcer nodded and continued with his questions.“Your brother was in these games a few years ago, wasn’t he?” he asked.

Josh’s face dropped. The announcer asked the dreaded question. Five years ago, his brother, Ian, had competed in the Hunger Games. Like Josh, he had trained almost his whole life and was an expert sword fighter. He taught Josh almost everything he knows. Ian made it into the final three, but not any further.

Ian made the mistake of giving his trust to a girl, from a different district, who clearly wanted to use him. Soon enough, when she had his trust, the girl killed him while he was sleeping. The one person that may have taken Ian’s death harder than Josh was Sabrina. She engaged to Ian. They were in love for years. Before he left, he told Sabrina she was the reason he would win. When he didn’t, Sabrina was devastated. The two of them mourned for years. There wasn’t one person Josh would rather have there in the arena with him than Sabrina, the one person who felt his pain and would look out for him. Sabrina felt Josh was making the same mistake with Audrey as his brother did.

The day she saw the love of her life fight his last fight was the day Sabrina swore she would protect Josh. The day Josh saw his best friend die was the day Josh promised to win the Hunger Games. He would win for Ian.

Josh, still choked up slightly by memories of his brother finally answered the announcers question. “Yeah, five years ago. I’m determined to win this for him.” he told the man making him spill out his inner sadness.

The announcer nodded and placed his hand on his back. “You should be proud to be following in his footsteps. Josh Ramcee everyone!”

The announcer held up Josh’s hand victoriously while the crowd cheered loudly. Josh walked off stage with his head drooping and tears in his eyes. he couldn’t get Ian off his mind. He hoped not to follow completely in his footsteps...

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Zack, Rian, Alex, and Jack watched Audrey’s interview from the TV back stage. The guys were the only ones who remained in the room. They watched the announcer ask the young, timmed girl they had come to know answer all his questions. He asked about District 12, about her family. He even mentioned the boys a few times.

“Yeah, they’re really sweet” she told the man. “We have really become a family, the five of us. Alex, especially, has my back. He’s great and a really amazing friend.”

“A friend you say” the announcer said raising his eyebrows up and down. “From what I’ve seen looks like more than a friendship to me.” He pointed to a screen in between them that showed a montage of moments Audrey and Alex shared. Even the footage of Alex giving her the rose during the tribute parade was in there.

Audrey’s cheeks turned as red as the color of her dress at sight of all the pictures of them together. The announcer gave her a look and said “yeah... ok... just friends.”

Jack put his arm around Alex’s shoulders. He laughed and said “Looks like you were right, buddy. Your voice really does get the ladies going...”

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“Ladies and gentlemen, this year District 12 had the amazing opportunity of having three extra tributes added to an entry. Everyone please welcome Alexander Gaskarth, Jack Barakat, Zachary Merrick, and Rian Dawson.” The announcer gave a welcoming gesture towards the stage entrance pointing to the four boys joining him on stage. They all shook the announcers hand, sat down, and waited to answer his burning questions.

“So boys, tell me about your life in District 12?” the announcer asked.

“Our whole six hours?” Alex asked, creating laugher to flood over the rest of the boys. “We don’t really live in District 12. Our tour bus broke down so we were just stuck there for a while.”

The announcer looked confused. “Then how did you get your names into the reaping” he asked.

Zack, Alex, and Rian all looked a Jack, who was slowly sinking in his chair, trying to stay unnoticed. “I think Jack is the one to explain that predicament...” Rian suggested.

Jack huffed loudly. “Well to make a long story short” he started, annoyed that is was even brought up. “I was hungry,there was grain, I had a stupid moment, it happens. I’m half blonde too. That really doesn’t help” Jack concluded, pointing to his skunk hair.

“Interesting” the announcer said, nodding his head up and down trying to comprehend their story. “So where are you from then?” he asked.

“Towson, Maryland” Rian told him.

The announcer stared at him blankly. “Never heard of it” he replied. “You said you were on tour, what for?” has asked.

“We’re in a band,” Alex broke in. “All Time Low!” he told the announcer.

“Never heard of you either...” the announcer admitted. “But maybe you guys would like to play something for us...” he suggested.

“We don’t have our instruments” Zack pointed out. The announcer gestured towards a rising curtain that revealed all the band’s instruments, all set up and ready to go.

“What do you say boys?” the announcer asked. The crowd began to chant their names hoping to hear them play just one song.

Zack, Jack, and Rian all looked at Alex. “It’s your call” Rian told him. Alex looked back stage where he saw John standing, watching them. He gave Alex the “ok” nod. Alex wasn’t one to disappoint, if the crowd wanted to hear a song, it be a song they’d never forget. Alex smiled and nodded back to John. “Let’s go boys! We have a show to do!” The four boys jumped up and walked over to the instrument.

“HERE’S A SONG I WROTE ABOUT A STRIPPER!” Alex yelled into the mic, a smile plastered on his face. Finally, there was something that boys knew how to do.“I got you picture. I’m coming with you. Dear Maria count me in” Alex sang. The crowd raived and danced around listening to All Time Low play. “Make it count when I’m the one who's selling you out.” Alex belted out every lyric like never before. Jack jumped around like an idiot strumming his guitar like there was no tomorrow along with Zack. Rian banged on his drums like it was the first time. All Time low had never played a show quite like this.

The band went into the final words of Dear Maria. “I got your picture. I’m coming with you. Dear Maria, count me in.” The ended on a strong not instantly creating a roar of applause from the crowd. The smiles evident on their faces

Alex, Jack, Zack, and Rian took their bows and thanked their new fans. At that very moment, only one thought was on all four of their minds. This might very well be All Time Low’s last performance...