5HELLO! (: Thank you so much for the amazing reviews/follows/favorites! If you find any mistakes, please let me know! Here is Chapter 2!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HUNGER GAMES OR LES MIS
"Wake up Darling! Today's a very important day!" I hear Effie's voice ring just outside my door. I groan as I sit up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I soon get out of bed and start to look for some clothes.
Once I put on something suitable to wear, I go into the main room on the train to find just Effie and Enjolras up. I sit down diagonal from Enjolras at a table with all sorts of breakfast dishes. I mutter "good morning' before loading a plate with food.
"How are you, Eponine?" He asks me, eating breakfast of his own.
I swallow my toast before replying. "Fine thanks. How about you 'Jolras?"
He sighs and shakes his head. "Really, 'Ponine? Do you expect me to believe that?"
"I'm fine really. I'm just worn out about all that's happened in the past 24 hours, that's all." I lie, not wanting to talk about it. Enjolras still does not look convinced, but drops it; for now.
"Well Dear, today is the day! You are finally going to get to meet the whole team!" Effie squeals happily and excitedly claps her hands. "You will be pampered and get all cleaned up by some of the Capital's best!"
I scrunch my eyebrows up. "Wait, the whole team?" Enjolras chuckles at my confusion. I glare at him as Effie speaks again.
"Well your prep team of course. Flavius does your hair; he's a genius, Venia works on your facial features, Octavia does your nails, and finally, Cinna is your absolute brilliant stylist. He is new this year, but I've seen his work and it's absolutely to die for!" She finishes enthusiastically.
"What about Montparnasse? Who's his stylist?"
"Oh, well that would Portia. She and Cinna will work together for the Tribute Parade. Tributes always have an outfit that represents their Districts." Before I have a chance to respond to her, Montparnasse walks into the room.
He looks at me and smirks, sitting down diagonal from me, and across from Enjolras. I roll my eyes at him and continue to eat my breakfast. "Good morning to you to, 'Ponine." He says obnoxiously. I tense at the nickname. Only my close friends and my siblings can call me that. I look at him to find him smirking back at me. I stab my sausage harder than necessary, trying not to smack the smug look off his face.
He looks over at Enjolras before he says, "When will we be able to train and what not."
"Training starts tomorrow. Today you guys are seeing your stylists to get ready for the Tribute Parade; that's tonight." Enjolras says.
"Can't wait." Montparnasse smirks before he starts to eat his breakfast.
When breakfast is finished, the train starts to come up to the capital gates. Montparnasse gets out of his seat to get a better look at all of the beautiful buildings, while I stay in my seat. I don't want to see the monstrous place. I look over at Enjolras to see that he was already looking at me. I smile sadly at him while he grabs my hand under the table.
"You alright?" He asks, looking me in the eyes.
"I'll be okay, everything will be fine." Is all I offer. I'm definitely not okay. Everything will not be fine. But I have to try my best for my siblings and friends sake.
Once the train is in the Capitol, we are met with tons of people with extravagant and crazy outfits. I look through the window from my seat, and see bright colors and overly long eye lashes; they look like Effie does.
Montparnasse starts to wave and smirk at the people, while I stay seated. I am not going to get friendly with people whose entertainment is watching kids kill each other. I can see that Enjolras is the same way; he also stays seated.
Once our train stops, we start to head toward a huge skyscraper building.
"Come with me! You both are going to give your wonderful prep teams a visit!" Effie says as we walk through the doors of the skyscraper.
Effie takes us to an elevator and hits a button for the 1st floor downward. I've never been in an elevator before. I've seen them in the mines, but they aren't as fancy or expensive looking as this.
Soon, the elevator dings and the doors slide open to a room with multiple surgical-looking tables and curtain in between each one. There are already tributes (?) from other districts lying on the tables. I look around the room and see that there are 24 tables for all of the tributes. Effie directs Montparnasse and I to a different table and says to wait for our prep teams.
"Enjolras and I are going to our room. Remember manners!" She yells as the elevator doors shut.
I stand by the table, waiting for my prep team. About 2 minutes later, a man and woman show up in front of me. The man is a little on the short side, pale, with brown hair with a thick orange streak in the front. The woman also pale and is tall with white hair with hints of teal, and long purple eyelashes. They introduce themselves as Flavius and Venia. Flavius tells me to lie down on the table. I do what he says, and they soon start to work on me.
They don't talk after that, they both just wax, pluck, cut, scrub, and trim. About 2 hours later, they finally finish.
"It's time to take you to Cinna." Flavius says as she helps me get up. Once I'm standing, I follow Flavius out of the room into a hallway with 12 doors on each side. Each door that is facing each other has the same number on it. She tells me every boy and girl from each district has their own dressing rooms with the number of their district on the door; girls are on the right side, and boys are on the left side.
We walk to the end of the hallway to two doors that have the number 12 on them. She opens the door on the right and I step in.
I look around the room and see a metal bench against the far side of the room. I move over to it and sit down. A few minutes later, a dark skinned man comes into the room. He is medium height with short black hair and gold eyeliner.
He quickly introduces himself, "That was the bravest thing I have ever seen in my life. My name's Cinna." I 'm surprised by his forwardness, most people here just congratulate me on being in the Hunger Games.
"Eponine." I say as I shake his hand.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'm here to help you in any way that I can." He says as he lets my hand go and sits down on a stool next to me. "Now tonight, you have the Tribute Parade. They are going to take you out and show you to the world."
"So you're here to make me look pretty." I say skeptically while I accusingly narrow my eyes at him.
"I'm here to make an impression. You need sponsors after all." He says. I immediately respect him for defending himself. Cinna is definitely better than I thought he would be.
"You aren't like I thought you would be, I actually like you. You aren't crazy conceited and egotistical like everyone else here is." I say bluntly.
He laughs and says, "Well, the capital hasn't rubbed off on me yet." He jokes. I crack a small smile. He quickly gets back on topic. "Usually, they dress people in the clothes from their district."
"Yeah, but ours are coal miners." I say.
"Correct, but I don't want to do that, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't either." I shake my head. "Good. I want to do something they will remember, not just a stupid costume like all of the other districts." I let out a small chuckle.
"Good, because I don't either." I say more relaxed at his presence now.
He smiles softly at me. "I thought so. Now let's make a costume to remember."
Several hours later, I am dressed head to toe in black, shiny skin tight leather material. My hair is in an elaborate braided up do and my makeup is just black winged eyeliner. I look over at Enjolras and see him staring and me. I smile and look him in the eye. I observe in confusion when I see something that looks like amazement in his eyes. I quickly look away as Cinna starts to talk.
"Now it's not real fire, you guys won't feel a thing." He explains. I look at the torch in his hands and see the "fake" flames. I just nod and try not to think of burning to death.
Montparnasse and I soon get on our chariots and get ready to go out to the world. District One's chariot soon starts to move forward. Several seconds later, I hear cheering. Right before our chariot is about to move, Cinna lights us on fire. I panic for a minute before I remember that this fire is just a fake flame. Calm down Eponine, your fine. I think to myself.
A few minutes later, we are exposed for all of Panem to see. Thousands of people are in the stands, wanting to get a glimpse at this year's tributes. The crowd goes crazy when they see our costumes. I look straight ahead, before I look up and see my face on banners above. I quickly remember what Cinna and Enjolras said. I've got to make an impression, if people don't like me, I won't get to see my family again. I think. I hear the fire burning behind me, before I come up with an idea.
I tentatively start to raise both of my arms. Montparnasse looks at me as if I'm crazy before looking forward again. I continue to bring my arms up until I have both of them up in the air confidently. The crowd gets even louder and starts to yell and scream. I see many people pointing and staring at me. I face the crowd, keeping my arms raised. Montparnasse does nothing but lamely wave at the crowd.
Once the chariot comes to a stop and our flames go out, I finally put my arms down. When President Snow comes to his podium, the crowd quiets so he can say the same words he does every year.
"Welcome, Tributes to the 74th annual Hunger Games. We select courage, and your sacrifice." He says as the crowd starts to cheer again."We wish you a Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor."
Once President Snow retreats, so do the chariots and we are soon back in the building, where Enjolras Effie, Cinna, and the rest of our prep team is waiting. Once we get to them we are immediately met with praises.
"That was amazing Eponine." Cinna says
"We are all everyone's going to be talking about! Oh, I'm just so proud of the two of you! Very nice manners out there!" Effie squeals.
"Great job guys." Enjolras says. I look over at him. He winks at me, smiling softly. I fight the urge to blush, but am saved by Effie.
"Now come! We are going to have a celebratory dinner!"
We all load up on an elevator and are soon heading to the 12th floor. Seconds later, Effie is leading us into a huge room.
"Each district gets their own floor, and since we are twelve, we get the pent house!" She excitedly says. I try to listen but am distracted by how nice everything is. I am amazed how there are people starving to death in district 12, and here there are fucking heated plates and holographic TV's. The thought makes me furious, that out president is so cruel and evil to us. That the people here are so spoiled and never have to worry about food or money, but rather about what clothes to wear or whether or not their hair and nails are the new trendy color.
I push these feelings down though, and go to my room to change into comfortable clothes to eat dinner .
After a very exhausting dinner, I head straight to my room. I sit on my bed for myself for about 17 minutes, before Enjolras comes walking in.
"You were great out there 'Ponine, I mean it" He says. I groan and fling myself back.
"Thank you, really, but can we please not talk about this? This is all I've been hearing all night and I just want a real conversation." I say to him. All we talked about during dinner was how everyone went crazy over us and how amazing we were out on the chariot.
"Sure, anything for you." He says as he sits down on my bed. I sit back up and smile at him. I mutter a quick 'thank you'. "You looked beautiful out there by the way."
I look up at him shocked that he said that. Sure, I know that I have a good body and my face isn't exactly the worst, but I never thought I am considered beautiful, especially to guys who look like Enjolras. I always thought that beautiful was blonde hair and blue eyes; like Cosette, not me. Hearing those words come out of Enjolras's mouth makes them so much more real.
"Thank you Enjy."I say as I give him a small smile and a kiss on the cheek. When he blushes and looks away, my smile widens.
"Don't call me that." He says, trying to hide the redness on his cheeks. I smile at him and put one of my hands on his cheek. We look in each other's eyes for a few seconds before he starts to move closer. He looks down at me, as if he's asking for permission. I answer by closing my eyes and leaning in closer to him. Just a little closer and my lips will finally be on hi-
"Eponine! Come here! It's urgent!" I hear Effie shout. I spring up from the bed and glance apologetically at Enjolras when I hear him groan. When I get out of my room, I go to the living room where Effie is seated. She starts talking to me about color schemes she should wear and stuff only Effie would care about.
About an hour later, she finally lets me go. I walk back to my room to find Enjolras still on my bed. He smiles when he sees me.
"Hey." I say,"Sorry for about what happened it won't happen again I promise." Once those words came out of my mouth, his smile falters a little.
He scrunches up his eyebrows in confusion. "Wait, what?" He asks.
"Um, well the almost kiss. I know that you don't like me like that. It won't happen again, I swear on it." I promise. My words seem to make him furious because his shoulders tense and his face turns all red. He looks like he can scream at me at any moment but manages to control himself.
"What did you just say?" He asked tensely, looking me straight in the eye.
Now I'm the one who's confused. "I just said that you don't like me in that way so I won't try anything on you again."
He runs his hands through his hair in frustration before speaking again. "You don't get it do you?" He asks me, pointing at me as he looks like he's about to die of frustration.
"Get what?" I say as I scrunch up my eyebrows, even more confused.
"Ugh just forget it." Is all he says before he storms out of my room. I sit on my bed and try to think of what I did wrong. Why is he so mad? Was it something I said?
I don't let myself think of it anymore and decide that there are more important things to worry about. Like how the fuck I'm going to make it out of this alive. I change into a night gown and get into bed. A few minutes later, I am met with peaceful slumber.
The next day I'm woken up early by Effie (again). She hands me a "uniform" that all tributes wear for training. The uniform is all black with maroon and silver strips on the short sleeves along with number "12s" that occupy both. I quickly put on the skin tight material and head outside to the dining room.
Once I am in the dining room, I quickly eat my breakfast before Montparnasse and I are escorted to the training room. Effie soon stops right in front of a huge door.
"Well, here we are! Make sure you are nice to your fellow tributes!" Fellow tributes that are itching to get my blood on the floor, I think. And with that, Effie leaves us to head back to our room.
I step forward and the huge doors automatically open. I quickly walk over to where the rest of the tributes are. By the looks of it, it seems that we are the last district there. I try to blend in with the crowd and not get noticed by the people who are going to kill me.
That doesn't work out, however, when Montparnasse comes over and bro-hugs with a guy (Cat? Camryn? Cato?) from District 2. I have no idea how that happened, and I have no doubt in my mind that Montparnasse is going to join forces with the careers and leave me in the dirt to fight for myself. When I really think of that happening, it's not all that surprising; I mean it is Montparnasse after all.
Once we are given the directions and rules, we are soon off to train. While everyone heads straight to the weapons (Montparnasse included, with the careers in tow), I head to the edible resources station. I already know a lot of edible plants from the woods in District 12, but who knows what the arena id going to be like.
About 20 minutes later, I feel a presence behind me. I quickly turn around to see a little girl who looks about 12-13, standing behind me. She is beautiful, with dark skin, gorgeous curly black hair, and deep brown eyes. She reminds me of my siblings; the mischievous look in her eyes reminds me of Gavrouche, and the obvious shyness reminds me of Azelma. My chest tightens when I remember why she's here.
I smile at her and make a hand motion to tell her to come over. She obeys, and smiles as she walks over to me.
"Hello, I'm Eponine. You're Rue, right?" I say as I kneel on the ground to get to her level.
She nods her head and says, "District 11. Do you want me to teach you what I know about plants?"
"12. And yes, that would be great." I respond. I soon take her under my wing as she is teaches me what she knows about different kinds of plants that are in her district.
Once she is done explaining everything to me, I ask her, "Do you know how to use any snares? I can help you if you want." Something that no one knows about me is that I can make very efficient snares. I also am extremely skilled with a knife, but my main specialty, however, is the bow and arrow.
Rue smile at me and says happily, "Really? Thank you Eponine!" We soon walk over to the snare section. I show her how to build a basic snare that will catch most small animals. After a few tries, Rue seems to have gotten it.
Rue and I go separate ways after that to practice our own skills. I walk over to the weapon station, and pick up a bow and arrow. After putting an arrow in place, I aim at the target and shoot. The arrow goes straight through the dummies heart. I do this a few more times, each shot making a deadly blow on the target.
When I am finally done, I put the bow and arrow down. I turn around to see most of the tributes staring at me. I awkwardly walk away to the camouflage section, the careers eyes following my movement. Great job Eponine! Now they are all going to see you as a threat. I think to myself.
"Look who it is here, a 12." I hear a career say. "You do know that District 12 only has one victor right? There's no chance you're going to see your home again." The same voice says, followed by laughs. I turn around to see Careers from 1, 2, and 4 gathered behind me; Montparnasse included.
"I don't see how it makes any sense for you to be trailing a "12" around with you then." I say, deliberately trying to sound disinterested in our conversation.
"Watch it Girl on Fire, you don't know who you are messing with." Another career says.
"Shouldn't you be saving your energy to kill 23 innocent people?" I say to the blonde guy from 2 that Montparnasse was hugging earlier, then I look at the rest of the careers, "Well, 17 innocent people."
Blondie looks like he is going to say something before a girl from 2 says, "Come on Cato, you can just kill her in the arena, I'll help you."
He just nods and says, "See you in the arena, Girl on Fire."
I smirk and sarcastically say, "Can't wait, Blondie." As the group walks past, Cato purposely collides his shoulder with mine. I soon calm down and start to work on the camouflage.
A few hours later, our escorts pick us up from training. Effie, Montparnasse and I are all silent as we ride the elevator up to our room.
For the rest of the night, Enjolras and I don't really interact with each other. I don't know what's wrong with him. He seems closed off from me, and is trying to push me away; like now, for example.
"Enjolras." I say for the 11th time in a row when he finally looks up from his book.
"Yes?" He asks shortly. I keep my anger down and try the best not to smack him.
"I've been calling your name for 5 minutes. What the hell is wrong with you?" I ask him.
"Oh? Nothing is. I'm just busy." He says to me. I roll my eyes, knowing he's lying.
"Then why haven't you flipped the page of your book that you are so 'busy' with?" I glare at him accusingly. He freezes for a moment, and I know he's formulating an excuse in his head.
"I was just processing this information. It's a very beautiful piece." He says before looking back down at his book, dismissing me.
I glare at him for another minute before I see that he is not going to talk to me anymore. I angrily stomp away, heading straight into my room.
The next day, we have to get ready for our private training session with our sponsors.
"You guys have to try your best to impress the game makers; the higher score you get, the more potential sponsors there will be." Enjolras quickly explains as we head down the elevator to the training room.
Once the elevator doors open, Montparnasse and I step out. "Good luck guys!" I hear Enjolras say just as the elevator door closes. Montparnasse and I walk over to a bench with all the other tributes are sitting. Soon, the boy from District 1 is called in.
About an hour and a half later, my name is called. I get up from the bench in the empty room and head in the training center.
Once I am in clear view of the game makers, I clearly say, "Eponine Thenardier, District 12." Once I see that I got their attention, I pick up a bow and arrow and walk over to aim at the target. I pull the arrow back and shoot.
The arrow goes right into the dummies shoulder; making it a nonfatal hit. When I hear one of the game makers laugh, I get angry. I quickly grab another arrow and shoot it, sending it straight through the dummies heart. I look over at the game makers to gauge their reaction, but I soon find that they weren't paying attention.
I clench my jaw and grab another arrow. Without thinking at all, I shoot the arrow at the game makers. The arrow shoots right through an apple that was inside their cooked pig's mouth. The game makers all turn around and look at me with a look of surprise, shock, and anger on their face.
I bow down and sarcastically say, "Thank you, for your consideration." I put the bow down and quickly head out of the room, wondering what I had just done.
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