The Hunger Games Fan Fic Chapter Three

Will Nerver
   
I wake up from the sound of the door. Lifting up my head lazily, I can hear Arnolds voice, telling me it's time to get up. No, not get up. Get up, up, up! I don't understand if he means it in a polite or mean voice. Doesn't matter. Either way, I don't want to get up. The bed is so comfortable, I could live my life in here. But then I remember her. Soroya. I open my eyes wide open and jump out of bed as quick as possible. Brush my teeth, my hair and put on the regular clothes as yesterday. I look in the mirror before leaving. Make sure everything is alright. Hair – check. Teeth – check. Clothes – check. A good smile – ch--. Wait. I try my best to smile, but nothing comes out. Just another awkward facial expression. I'm guessing I can't smile because of the knot in my stomach. I can't shake the feeling I might have to fight against her in the Games. I might have to kill her. I might to watch helplessly as someone else tortures her, or kills her right in front of me as I stand and do nothing. This might happen. But I just accept it. Those eyes closing forever. I shake my head quickly and smile confidently in the mirror. Okay smile – check. Now let's go eat!
    
I walk into the dinning room and there she is – still wearing that dress. Her hair was tied up to a pony tail, clearing her pale face. This time I don't look away and smile. I'm glad to see she gives me one in return. Yes, I made her smile! I sit down next to her and watch as they give us breakfast. Are those… pancakes? At least Arnold said so. I feel like I've had them before, but I don't know why. With orange juice, strawberries and wiped cream they are delicious. Lena hadn't us a cup of 'hot chocolate' and once again – amazing. I can't believe in a few days we'll be eating a bunch of tried up … leaves, I guess? From the thought of that, I hold back a flinch and eat the rest of the breakfast, even thought I'm full. I lean back lazily and rub my stomach. I feel kind of silly, so I giggle a little. Suddenly the unexpected happens:

"Hey, I'm full, do you want this strawberry?" Her voice was as soft as the sheets I slept on last night. And the fact that she's talking to me makes my heart go insane. The knot in my stomach turns into a million butterflies and I feel the urge to throw up all my food. I can't eat anymore. If I do, I might burst. So I just stare into her eyes. At first, she feels a bit uncomfortable, turning her gaze slightly, then returning it to me, not looking at me straight in the eyes. But then she keeps her gaze locked onto mine. I feel like the world has stopped. Just her and me. Those deep sea colored eyes… I feel like I can swim into them. Endless. It's like colors change. I snapped a few second later, realizing I've kept in onto her for almost a minute.
     
"Um Yeah sure… Thanks." I take it from her, careful not to touch her fingers, since I'm afraid lightning might strike and take the train down. I eat it without regret and I notice she is still looking at me. Not in the same way I might. As if I did something silly. Well, I did – I starred at her for a minute! A minute ! She must think I'm some weird… idiot, or something. I turn to catch her looking at me and I expect her to turn her gaze away, with a blush. But she just keeps it onto me. I give a sheepish smile and she giggles slightly, turning her head to head hot drink and taking a sip from it. I made her giggle. Double score! Suddenly, I noticed Arnold calling our names and pointing to the window. It was incredible. The city was huge, and it was one of the most beautiful things I've seen. First was the ocean early in the morning or late at night. Then it was Soroyas eyes. And then it was this – the Capitol. I know this city is trying to kill us for fun, but this is amazing! The two of us head for the window and stare in amazement. I notice her waving at a few people, grinning and giggling. I try to do the same. I think it might be a bit weird waving to strangers like this, but then I find it very amusing – most of them laugh and wave back. A group of people laugh when they see us and start waving like insane. I notice a few boys winking and sending kisses to Soroya. That makes me angry. I still continue to wave, but I feel the urge to kill them and yell at her. But why should I? I don't own her to do that and she can do whatever she wants. That makes me kind of sad. But seeing her casually roll her eyes and laugh along, I think she found it more of a joke than flirting. I saw the train slowing down and approaching the train station. Great, more cameras. As we make our way through all the people, I see Soroya casually smile at the cameras. I try my best to follow in her footsteps like in the train, but a simple wave and awkward smile did it, since as soon as I lifted up my head, the flashes of the cameras went insane.
   
We entered a building and were led to a glass elevator. As we started to go up, I felt more and more sick, looking down at the height. I felt even more nervous then when they called out my name. Oh, no, actually scratch that. Nothing can make me feel more nervous than when they called my name. I try my best to look up, but everything is moving so fast, I can barely hold on. My hands turn into fists and I shut my eyes. I started to pant heavily and I can feel like I'm going to faint. If Lena starts babbling, I might! Anything anyone says right now will come out as 'blah, blah, blah…'
   
"Will?" I hear someone call me. I'm still trying my best to ignore everything around me. I can feel that my feet are giving in. I might fall down and break the glass, making everyone meet their doom. But that would mean me falling. Falling down. Out of such a long distance!
   
"Will." No, no. I can't fall down. I can't stop thinking about the distance between my feet and the ground. Every second feels like a lifetime and the more I think about it, the more I want to jump out. But I can't jump out. If I just jump out, I'll fall. Oh God, why does this have to be such a long trip!
   
" Will!" I force to open up my eyes only to see Soroya put her hands around my face and slightly pull it down, so it can level up to her. My heart starts beating wildly and right now all I can focus on is her. Her eyes are locked onto mine, filled with care. Her hands are warm and soft, gently letting go. She made sure I would keep my eyes onto her, alright, but why? Did I really seem that nervous that she could tell.
   
" Are you okay?" She asks calmly, letting her hands drop. I can still feel the heat from her fingers on my cheeks and I wait as it slowly fades away. Now that I've felt her touch on my face, I want to hold her. I want to warm her the same way she warms me. But I can't. Because it would be weird. Not only weird, but … I can't. I just can't. She might be one of the most beautiful creatures I've seen, but I can't have her. She can't be mine the way Ullary belongs to Res. She just can't be.
   
"Yeah. I'm… alright." I gulp and give her a shy smile, not taking my eyes away from hers.
    
" Are you sure?" She asks again and lifts up her eyebrow. I can sense care in her tone. Not only that, but I can feel it, heating me up. Not as much as her touch, but I can still feel the warmth from her. I didn't feel lightning, as I thought I would. Usually, when I like a girl, that's what it feels like when we touch. But with her, it's not like that. It's more like… Every time I even glance at her, for a second, I can't seem to take my eyes away. I could stare at her all day. And I can feel as safe as ever. Safer than I feel at home, safer than when I was little and my mother would sing to me for goodnight. I could stay like this forever.
  
Before I can answer the elevator stops and I can feel myself grab onto something and panic again. 'Oh God, did we crash?! I am dead?! No… What happened then?' I can tell I'm holding very tightly onto Soroyas shoulder, so I just let go, ready to apologize when she giggles and walks out. Oh… We're here. They lead her up to another room, while they drag me to the other one, away from her. I try my best to watch as she walks away, but they shove me inside and close the door. I sighted and then noticed it – two women and a man. Looking at me weirdly. I glanced at the door, then back at me. Can I run out? Because I feel like they're going to eat me and then turn my corpse into one of them – what used to be people, but now look like a wooden stick with a lot of glitter on it. The women were skinny and tall, but I'm guessing the giant high heals made them look like that. One of them had blue hair, all the way down to her waist. She had a lot of make-up on her and her clothes looked like the sun had thrown up all the 'shinny' things it had and slapped it onto her. I don't think I should look directly at her, or else I might go blind. The other one had normal—wait, wait… Now that I look at it, I can see it's not brown hair, it's orange. Sure, orange hair normal. She was also pretty tall, but I think she would look giant without the heels, unlike her 'friend' over there. Her clothes are more… animal-like, then shinning. Zebras, tigers, other animals. Anything that had fur was glued to her. Her orange hair hid her neck, but was shorter than the other one – it was around her chest. Her earring were around the size of my fist. I wonder if someone could use it as a bracelet. The man just seemed…. Odd. His hair was a normal blonde color, but you could tell he wore make-up. I man with make-up – sadly, something I will never forget. He wore tight, bright yellow pants, with a zebra top and… what appears to be a scarf? But it's warm outside, why wear that inside? I just don't get them.
   
"Okay, let's fix him!" He snapped his fingers and they started undressing me. What?! I stopped struggling until I realized they were going to change my clothes. But… even my underwear? I felt a bit uncomfortable, being naked in front of these… strangers. But they didn't seem to mind it. So I just went along with it. They starting to brush my hair, fix my nails, which I felt weird about, but they just made them look as if I had never broken a nail. Which is very, very untrue. They wouldn't let me touch my hair, until the brushed it, washed it, put some stuff in it and I could see it looked amazing in the mirror. But what I wondered was it soft as it looked? They left without saying a word. Well, to me. The entire time, they wouldn't shut up. Apparently, a girl named Harley is getting married to a guy with green skin. Wow, impressive, I learned that. After they left, a woman walked in, and my reaction was to turn around, or at least put something over myself. I just noticed a towel they left and I immediately wrapped it around my waist. It's pretty soft. The woman giggled and I noticed the amount of jewelry she had on. If you sold that, you could get food for live.
   
"It's okay, Will. I am a professional, so I'm used to seeing people in your situation. So relax and come put on this outfit." She flashed me a smile and starts to fix up the clothes. I slightly move towards her, still with the towel on, but then I give up. With a sight, I drop the towel and calmly walk up to her. She is a lot taller than I am, but she isn't even wearing heels. Wow…
   
"Okay now, close your eyes, and I'll tell you to open them when you have the outfit on. Okay?" She doesn't wait for an answer and just starts to dress me. I close my eyes and just stand these. Of course, I help her dress me a little, but I don't open my eyes until she tells me to.
  
" Ready?" She can't even hold back her excitement and I can hear her jump around me. I don't even know her name, but I might call her Rexy, since she reminds me so much of a dog that jumps around when you come home and it's happy to see you.
  
"Sure…" I mumble unsurely. When I open my eyes, I can't even recognize myself in the mirror. My black hair was now shinning, exactly like the sea in the middle of the night. When I run my fingers through it, it feels as soft as silk. They cut it a little bit, but I like it – it makes me look dashing. Then comes the face. They had cleaned it up, put a little make-up on it, but barely enough like the man from before. I think his name is Dmitri. I looked down at my clothes and I gasped. My normal clothes were nothing compared to the outfit they had squeezed me into. It was a tux, but it was the most beautiful black I had ever seen. It made my hair look a bit light, like it was shinning. I liked that. The sides, instead of black, were an amazing blue color. They had put a white shirt under the tux with a sea green tie. Sea green…
  
"What happened to my friend? The girl?" I asked, turning my head away from the mirror and onto Rexy. Yeah, I like that nickname.
   
"Oh her? My friend Pat is taking care of her. Don't worry, you'll see her in a minute, just after they fix her up, just like they fix you up." She smiled and gently straightened the sleeves on my tux. Fix her just like they fixed me? And a man? That makes me a bit uncomfortable, since I was naked in front of this woman. And is she's naked in front of a man, just like I was… I tremble slightly, and Rexy laughs out loud.
  
"It's okay! I can tell you're worried, but it's okay – we're professionals, so this is completely normal for us!" She giggles and looks at me again. "I know this is a bit plain, compared to the others…" Ha-ha, are you kidding?! But she was right – I remembered the costumes from before. They were always different. Something, close to the District. Like a few years back, someone from our district had to dress up like fish. But this was plainer – like it's a normal everyday event. I can't say my suit isn't amazing. I just noticed that the tie changed colors when I move. Just like the gills of a fish. Ha, interesting.

"But we thought it would be more unique to try something casual. Everyone else will be wearing something explosive, or even odd. But you two will be a perfect match! You should see her dress – it is breathtaking!" She smiles and spins, as if she is wearing the dress.
  
"There's no doubt in my mind she is…" I smile, picturing her in a dress. I wondered how she would look like…
  
"Oh! Okay now – let's go, sweetie! " Sweetie?
  
Rexy led me to another room and suddenly  me and Soroya meet. Oh. My. God. Her dress was stunning. It was sleeveless, tight around the chest. It seemed to be tight and showing the curves of her body, but before the waist it started to look like an ocean, leading all the way to the ground. Every time she moved, it's like the ocean moved. She was wearing a pearl necklace and earring, which shinned every time her head would turn. It was amazing. And the color of the dress made her eyes look even more blue.
  
She noticed me starring at her and giggled slightly, moving the hair away from her face. I just noticed – they had painted her nails a bright blue color. Her face wasn't covered with that much make-up. Around the same amount as I had. It only made her glow more. Her skin was hair free. It seemed they waxed her. Her whole body, I guess. She stepped towards me and I ran a hand along her arm, feeling how warm and soft it was. She giggled again, but didn't pull away. Only stretched her hand and fix up my tie.
  
"You look very dashing, don't you?" She grinned and put her hands behind her back, once again looking me straight in the eyes. I just smiled carelessly, this time running my hand through her soft hair. It seemed lighter now. She smiled, turning her head to the side at me.
  
"You look beautiful, Soroya." I smiled, looking her in the eyes. There were no words to describe how beautiful she looked. It's as if someone painted her – the perfect girl and brought her too me. I didn't even think about the fact that in a few days I might fight against her. The only thought in my head was… She is beautiful. I wanted to hold this moment forever. It's like she knew and stared back into my eyes. I wanted to touch her perfect face to much, I wanted to hug her, kiss her and stroke her hair. But I could only smile and watch as Arnold cocked his head behind and grinned.
   
"My, my. Aren't you two enjoyed the closeness!" He grinned which made the two of us blush hardly. I took back my hand and shoved them both in my pocket. Arnold laughed and patted me on the back while he hugged Soroya with the other arm.
  
"It's okay. I must say, you two suit each other very much." He smiled, walking away and starting to talk to Lena about the chariot ride. I felt a bit weird – Arnold saying we look good together, but he didn't say tonight. Does he mean usually? I didn't want to question his words, because it might be weird asking what he meant. But Soroya didn't mind, so I just ignored it.

Her stylist straightened her dress a little, lifting up her chin with his hand and flashing a charming grin. I felt myself clench my teeth so hard, I thought they moved. Once again, we rode the glass elevator again, but this time the ride seemed to go by quicker. I closed my eyes again and I felt Soroyas fingers gently touch my hand. It calmed me down and I could see her look with the corner of my eye. She really cared and she kept stroking my hand gently until we stopped and all walked out. What I liked most about this were our horses. Dappled grey with white stockings and the mains were clearly painted black. But they looked amazing. I petted one of them and it started to rub its head in my suit. My reaching was to laugh, but Rexy quickly pulled me away and started to clean me up, one hair at a time.
  
"I get that they're cute and all, but they will ruin your suit!" She started to blab while she picked all of them off. I looked around and was surprised to see how clean the stables were. All of the chariots were fixed, different colored horses in front of each. I liked the District 12 horses – Friesians, as Soroya said.
   
"I really like horses, so I can tell you each breed and color. At least what I know from books." She grinned and petted the horse next to her. She looked amazing with our white horses next to her. She said they were Arabian and the main wasn't colored – it was a natural black. I found it amazing. Once again the horse tried to rub its head in me, but I just gently petted its forehead and it seemed to like it, since its eyes started to flicker.
  
"I like this one. He's pretty friendly." I grinned and petted him again. Soroya giggled a little and headed to the horse next to me, stroking its main gently.
"She."
"I'm sorry?" I frowned slightly.
"It's a mare. You like her. She's pretty friendly." She smiled and tapped her nuzzle with her finger. I grinned and watched Soroya enjoy the mares company, until Rexy and Pat told us to get on the chariot behind them. As we stepped on it, I felt a bit unbalanced. And afraid, seeing no one was going to get on with us. What, the horses are going to drive themselves?! Pat calmed us down – they were trained to follow the chariot in front and they don't get scared or anything from all of the lights. I calmed down, but wondered how the first chariot drives itself. Well, not my problem.
   
"Try to wave at the crowd. Most of them might be your sponsor so…" Lena told us with a smile and crossed her fingers.
   
"Wait, so we're just supposed to wave and smile?" Soroya asked, leaning it towards Lena. What was interesting was that Lena was on my side, so when Soroya leaned it towards her, I could smell how nice her hair smelled – vanilla, wow… I wanted to burry my face in it, but I just looked away. Look at Lena, look at Lena ! I quickly turned my head to her, my cheeks a bit red.
   
"Well yeah. That's all." She grinned and headed in another direction. Soroya nodded as 'Yeah, simple enough! Except for the fact that millions and millions of people are going to be staring at us!' She leaned back in her seat and sighted, her foot taping nervously. I think this time she's the nervous one. Oh, so, getting picked for the Hunger Games, going there to die, is completely understandable, but when you have to stand in front of people – Noooo, I can't do this. Stage fright. I understand how she felt, the same way with me and the elevator. That devil beast.
  
I stretched my hand and took hers in mine. She seemed a bit shocked at first, switching her glance from me to her hand, but then calmed down. I saw her leg slow down and finally stop tapping. Giving her a sheepish smile again, I rubbed her hand gently and gave her the bravest look I had.
  
"It's okay. You didn't get scared when you had to ride a train, when we went up thousand of feet above the ground, even when they picked your name during the Reaping! But why get scared from peoples looks? They can't hurt you. They can only judge you, and I can sense you don't care about their opinion!" I laughed slightly, trying to look confident. She seemed a bit on edge, but my words calmed her down. I saw her take a deep breathe and sight loudly, but then smiled and mouthed something. Once the chariots were already moving, I was still holding her hand. I gently set it back in her lap and I saw her clench her fist. I wondered whether I should take her hand again or not, but I decided not to. Right before the lights went out and then we were dazzled by the millions of lights from the cameras and the stage, I realized she mouthed 'Thank you.'. That made me feel warm inside. Like I was next to a fireplace. We stood up like the others and I felt her take a step towards me. Once again, the heat from her body was spreading onto me and I felt so much safer. We both started to wave and smile at the crowd. At first, I thought it would be very hard, but remembering the look in her eyes and the smile she gave me right before I let her hand go made me feel confident. So I just kept on waving. She blew a few kisses towards the crowd and I wished I could pop in there and grab it for myself. But no such luck. I wondered if my parents could see me now. Ha, it would be pretty funny – after telling mother and father I wanted to find what they had and later being next to such a pretty girl. What would they think? I think it's pretty obvious that I feel something strong for her. You can see it. I can see it myself! Just look in the mirror, think of her and there goes the fire! I looked at the chariots in front of us and I was surprised to see their stunning outfits. They didn't seem like ours – exactly the opposite! They were unique, odd and well… Yes, simply strange. I felt like if I turned around to glance at the District 12 or 11, I would either see them as flowers or coals. So I just kept looking straight! After the chariots stopped, we each walked down. I helped Soroya, giving her a hand as she picked up her dress and stepped down. I could see the high heels they had put on her and I thought how much her feet must be killing her. Now I wondered how she could walk! But she seemed perfectly fine. Her stage fright was gone and she was looking normal. Just like before. Of course, I felt like the glowed now, but I always think of her as stunning. After a few seconds I realized she was still holding onto my hand. And pretty tightly. Was she nervous? Must be, it was trembling like a leaf. Wondered was it from the crowd and of the pain in her feet. She was ready to fall down when we hid from the eyes of the crowd and she grunted loudly.
  
"God, these shoes hurt so bad!" She stopped, lifting her dress above and taking them off. I saw her legs – incredible! There wasn't a single hair on them. Did they wax them too? Well, of course they did, the waxed her whole body. Whole… Body…
 
"Okay, where are we going next?" Soroya asked Lena as we walked next to them and headed for the elevator again. Soroya let my hand go after she took her shoes off, but my cheeks were still a little red. Her. Whole. Body.
  
"Now we are heading for your room where you will eat, sleep and… everything else! Except for train – tomorrow morning you're going to the Training Center for that!" She tapped Soroya by the head and headed for the elevator. Arnold was yawning already. I'm not sure if he was bored or sleepy. When we walked into the elevator, he put a hand around me and sighted.
  
"You look nice in a suit. We should make you wear them more often. Tell your stylist to make you wear them more often!" He yelled and laughed. Was he drunk? I doubt it – his breath smelled normally, no alcohol. I guess he's just extra relaxed today.
  
"By the way, nice going! You guys did great, I think some people really loved you!" He clapped and stood between me and Soroya. "Especially you, sweetie!" Arnold grinned, lifting up Soroyas face to level up with his. She giggled, a little red and pulled her face away as Lena walked out of the elevator and onto our floor. Arnold just laughed and patted me on the back.
  
"You know, if you don't do something about it, someone else will. Trust me on this one." He walked out, leaving me to slowly walk around the apartment, thinking about what he said. Something about what? My crush? And someone else? Wha-
  
"Wow, it's very nice!" Soroya walked around, looking at everything. I smiled as she just had to touch the material of the couch, pad the dinning table a little. Lena and Arnold were already in their rooms, so it was just her and me. My smile got even wider.