【饥饿游戏】37

The creature standing 1 before me in the full-length mirror
has come from another world. Where skin shimmers 2 and eyes
flash and apparently 3 they make their clothes from jewels. Because
my dress, oh, my dress is entirely 4 covered in reflective
precious gems 5, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that
accent the tips of the flame design. The slightest movement
gives the impression I am engulfed 6 in tongues 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 7.
Cinna dismisses the team and has me move around in the
dress and shoes, which are infinitely 8 more manageable than
Effie’s. The dress hangs in such a way that I don’t have to lift
the skirt when I walk, leaving me with one less thing to worry about.
“So, all ready for the interview then?” asks Cinna. I can see
by his expression that he’s been talking to Haymitch. That he
knows how dreadful I am.
“I’m awful. Haymitch called me a dead slug. No matter what
we tried, I couldn’t do it. I just can’t be one of those people he
wants me to be,” I say.
Cinna thinks about this a moment. “Why don’t you just be yourself?”
“Myself? That’s no good, either. Haymitch says I’m sullen 9
and hostile,” I say.
“Well, you are . . . around Haymitch,” says Cinna with a grin.
“I don’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’t stop talking about you. No one can help but
admire your spirit.”
My spirit. This is a new thought. I’m not sure exactly what it
means, but it suggests I’m a fighter. In a sort of brave way. It’s
not as if I’m never friendly. Okay, maybe I don’t go around loving
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’re addressing a
friend back home. Who would your best friend be?” asks Cinna.
“Gale 10,” I say instantly. “Only it doesn’t make sense, Cinna. I
would never be telling Gale those things about me. He already
knows them.”
“What about me? Could you think of me as a friend?” asks Cinna.
Of all the people I’ve met since I left home, Cinna is by far
my favorite. I liked him right off and he hasn’t disappointed
me yet. “I think so, but —”
“I’ll be sitting on the main platform with the other stylists.
You’ll be able to look right at me. When you’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 might be, really.
“Especially if what you think is horrible,” says Cinna. “You’ll try it?”
I nod. It’s a plan. Or at least a straw to grasp at.
Too soon it’s time to go. The interviews take place on a
stage constructed in front of the Training Center. Once I leave
my room, it will be only minutes until I’m in front of the
crowd, the cameras, all of Panem.
As Cinna turns the doorknob, I stop his hand. “Cinna . . .” I’m
completely overcome with stage fright.
“Remember, they already love you,” he says gently. “Just be
yourself.”
We meet up with the rest of the District 12 crowd at the
elevator. Portia and her gang have been hard at work. Peeta
looks striking in a black suit with flame accents. While we look
well together, it’s a relief not to be dressed identically. Haymitch
and Effie are all fancied up for the occasion. I avoid
Haymitch, but accept Effie’s compliments. Effie can be tiresome 11
and clueless, but she’s not destructive like Haymitch.
When the elevator opens, the other tributes are being lined
up to take the stage. All twenty-four of us sit in a big arc
throughout the interviews. I’ll be last, or second to last since
the girl tribute precedes the boy from each district. How I
wish I could be first and get the whole thing out of the way!
Now I’ll have to listen to how witty 12, funny, humble 13, fierce, and
charming everybody else is before I go up. Plus, the audience
will start to get bored, just as the Gamemakers did. And I can’t
exactly shoot an arrow into the crowd to get their attention.
Right before we parade onto the stage, Haymitch comes up
behind Peeta and me and growls 14, “Remember, you’re still a
happy pair. So act like it.”
What? I thought we abandoned that when Peeta asked for
separate coaching. But I guess that was a private, not a public
thing. Anyway, there’s not much chance for interaction now,
as we walk single-file to our seats and take our places.
Just stepping on the stage makes my breathing rapid and
shallow. I can feel my pulse pounding in my temples. It’s a relief
to get to my chair, because between the heels and my legs
shaking, I’m afraid I’ll trip. Although evening is falling, the City
Circle is brighter than a summer’s day. An elevated seating
unit has been set up for prestigious 15 guests, with the stylists
commanding the front row. The cameras will turn to them
when the crowd is reacting to their handiwork.