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Betrayal That&039;s the first thing I feel, which is ludicrous For there to be betrayal, there would have had to been trust first Between Peeta and ree to give me bread, the one who steadied me in the chariot, who covered for irl, who insisted Hay skills was there so him?
On the other hand, I&039; friends Obviously, whatever thin connection we&039;d foolishly forin in two days, and trust will only be a weakness Whatever triggered Peeta&039;s decision - and I suspect it had to do with - I should be nothing but grateful for it Maybe he&039;s finally accepted the fact that the sooner we openly acknowledge that we are enemies, the better
"Good," I say "So what&039;s the schedule?"
"You&039;ll each have four hours with Effie for presentation and four with me for content," says Haymitch "You start with Effie, Katniss"
I can&039;t iine what Effie will have to teachdown to the last own and high-heeled shoes, not the ones I&039;ll he wearing for the actual interview, and instructsThe shoes are the worst part I&039;ve never worn high heels and can&039;t get used to essentially wobbling around on the balls of my feet But Effie runs around in them full-time, and I&039;m determined that if she can do it, so can I The dress poses another proble around my shoes so, of course, I hitch it up, and then Effie swoops down on , "Not above the ankle!" When I finally conquer walking, there&039;s still sitting, posture - apparently I have a tendency to duck estures, and swith a s with a s from overuse
"Well, that&039;s the best I can do," Effie says with a sigh "Just remember, Katniss, you want the audience to like you"
"And you don&039;t think they will?" I ask
"Not if you glare at them the entire time Why don&039;t you save that for the arena? Instead, think of yourself a on how long I&039;ll live!" I burst out "They&039;re not my friends!"
"Well, try and pretend!" snaps Effie Then she composes herself and beah you&039;re aggravating ," I say "I&039; to eat" 1 kick offhs
Peeta and Hay the content session should be an i After lunch, Hay room, directs me to the couch, and then just frowns at me for a while
"What?" I finally ask
"I&039;ure out what to do with you," he says "Hoe&039;re going to present you Are you going to be char like a star You volunteered to save your sister Cinnascore People are intrigued, but no one knoho you are The iet you in ter watched the tribute interviews allIf you appeal to the crowd, either by being huain favor
"What&039;s Peeta&039;s approach? Or am I not allowed to ask?" I say
"Likable He has a sort of self-deprecating humor naturally," says Haymitch "Whereas when you open your mouth, you come across more as sullen and hostile"
"I do not!" I say
"Please I don&039;t knohere you pulled that cheery, wavy girl on the chariot from, but I haven&039;t seen her before or since," says Hayiven me so many reasons to be cheery," I counter
"But you don&039;t have to pleaseto sponsor you So pretend I&039;ht me"
"Fine!" I snarl Haymitch takes the role of the interviewer and I try to answer his questions in a winning fashion But I can&039;t I&039;ry with Haymitch for what he said and that I even have to answer the questions All I can think is how unjust the whole thing is, the Hunger Ga to please people I hate? The longer the interview goes on, the more my fury see out answers at hiot to find another angle Not only are you hostile, I don&039;t know anything about you I&039;ve asked you fifty questions and still have no sense of your life, your family, what you care about They want to know about you, Katniss"
"But I don&039;t want the s that mattered toup!" says Hay," I say
"Well, you better learn fast You&039;ve got about as ," says Haymitch
Ouch That hurts Even Haymitch must know he&039;s been too harsh because his voice softens "Here&039;s an idea Try acting humble"
"Humble," I echo
"That you can&039;t believe a little girl fro&039;s been more than you ever could have dreamed of Talk about Cinna&039;s clothes How nice the people are How the city amazes you If you won&039;t talk about yourself, at least co it back around, all right Gush"
The next hours are agonizing At once, it&039;s clear I cannot gush We try ance Apparently, I&039;m too "vulnerable" for ferocity I&039;m not witty Funny Sexy Or mysterious
By the end of the session, I a soe has crept into his voice "I give up, sweetheart Just answer the questions and try not to let the audience see how openly you despise the an outrageous nu outbeing in the Capitol by sirl with the red hair comes in to turn down my bed, her eyes widen at the mess "Just leave it!" I yell at her "Just leave it alone!"
I hate her, too, with her knowing reproachful eyes that call me a coward, a monster, a puppet of the Capitol, both now and then For her, justiceAt least my death will help pay for the life of the boy in the woods
But instead of fleeing the roooes to the bathrooently then cleans the blood fro this? Why a her?
"I should have tried to save you," I whisper
She shakes her head Does this iven ," I say
She taps her lips with her fingers then points to my chest I think she means that I would just have ended up an Avox, too Probably would have An Avox or dead
I spend the next hour helping the redheaded girl clean the rooe has been dropped down a disposal and the food cleaned away, she turns down my bed I crawl in between the sheets like a five-year-old and let her tuck oes I want her to stay until I fall asleep To be there when I wake up I want the protection of this girl, even though she never had irl butover me My lessons with Effie and Hays to Cinna He&039;s my last hope Maybe he can make me look so wonderful, no one will care what comes out of my mouth
The tea satin, stenciling patterns on ns on oes to work on ins at my left ear, wraps around ht shoulder They erase my face with a layer of pale e dark eyes, full red lips, lashes that throw off bits of light when I blink Finally, they cover old dust
Then Cinna enters hat I assume is my dress, but I can&039;t really see it because it&039;s covered "Close your eyes," he orders
I can feel the silken inside as they slip it down over ht It must be forty pounds I clutch Octavia&039;s hand as I blindly step into lad to find they are at least two inches lower than the pair Effie hadThen silence
"Can I open my eyes?" I ask
"Yes," says Cinna "Open the before th mirror has come from another world Where skin shimmers and eyes flash and apparently they make their clothes from jewels Because my dress, oh, ems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flaives the iues of fire
I am not pretty I am not beautiful I am as radiant as the sun
For a while, we all just stare at me "Oh, Cinna," I finally whisper "Thank you"
"Twirl for me," he says I hold out my arms and spin in a circle The prep team screams in admiration
Cinna dismisses the team and has me move around in the dress and shoes, which are infinitely s in such a way that I don&039;t have to lift the skirt when I walk, leavingto worry about
"So, all ready for the interview then?" asks Cinna I can see by his expression that he&039;s been talking to Haymitch That he kno dreadful I am
"I&039; No matter e tried, I couldn&039;t do it I just can&039;t be one of those people he wants me to be," I say
Cinna thinks about this a moment "Why don&039;t you just be yourself?"
"Myself? That&039;s no good, either Haymitch says I&039;m sullen and hostile," I say
"Well, you are around Hayrin "I don&039;t find you so The prep team adores you You even won over the Gamemakers And as for the citizens of the Capitol, well, they can&039;t stop talking about you No one can help but adht I&039;ests I&039;hter In a sort of brave way It&039;s not as if I&039; everybody I meet, maybe my smiles are hard to come by, but I do care for some people
Cinna takes my icy hands in his warm ones "Suppose, when you answer the questions, you think you&039;re addressing a friend back home Who would your best friend be?" asks Cinna
"Gale," I say instantly "Only it doesn&039;t s about me He already knows them"
"What about me? Could you think of me as a friend?" asks Cinna
Of all the people I&039;ve met since I left hoht off and he hasn&039;t disappointed me yet "I think so, but - "
"I&039;ll be sitting on the main platforht at me When you&039;re asked a question, find me, and answer it as honestly as possible," says Cinna
"Even if what I think is horrible?" I ask Because it ht be, really
"Especially if what you think is horrible," says Cinna "You&039;ll try it?"