I was in a big white room, being operated on. I really don't remember what happened before that. The last thing I could recall was hearing my name announced as Victor. But now I was here. I vision was incredibly blurry and my eyes were only half open. A sharp pain ran through my legs and I let out a muffled groan. "She woke up! Quick, give her more anesthesia!" I heard one of the doctors say. I gazed up to see someone placing something over my mouth. I closed my eyes and fell back into unconsciousness.

When I woke up later, I was alone. My legs were really sore and it hurt a little when I stood up. I had been moved from an operating room to a small bedroom. There was a fresh change of clothes so I switched out of my hospital gown and into those. Unlike most of the stuff the Capitol put me in, I liked this outfit. It was just comfortable jeans, a light green shirt, and a dark green jacket to go over it. I didn't wear the jacket though. I realized my hair was still in a ponytail from the arena, so I undid it and let my hair fall down. I ran my fingers through it a couple of times to try to untangle it a bit. But it was still pretty messy so I gave up and resolved to take a shower later. Then it dawned on me, I was a Victor. I had won the Hunger Games. A sense of pride and accomplishment washed over me. I could go back to District Seven. I really wanted to go home. I'd be rich. I was as a little bit giddy as I left the room. I had just won the Hunger Games!

"There she is!" chimed Puff perkily as I entered the hallway. She rushes up and hugged me, and although I normally would've thrown up or knees her in the stomach, I realized that I was a little happy to see her. Back in District Seven she represented the Capitol, one of the main reasons I hated her. But now, in this moment, she reminded me of home. After a few seconds she released me, "Oh, we just knew you could do it! I'll admit, I had serious doubts in the beginning, but you really pulled it out in the end! You put on a great show too. Fooled just about everybody in the Capitol with that act of yours, myself included! Have you had anything to eat recently? You must be famished! Come, we'll get you some of the Capitol's finest food. Only the best for a Victor!" Puff rushed away giving orders to random people about having some food prepared for me. Then I noticed Brittany sitting in one of the chairs. Puff's exuberance must've been overshadowing her presence. Brittany stood up, "Congratulations." "Thanks," I replied. "The doctors said that you'll make a full recovery, but you're legs might be a little sore for the next couple of hours." I recalled my injuries from the arena and scanned my body. The cut on my chest was gone and so were the burn marks on my arms. I rolled up one of my pant legs and looked at my ankle. It was all there, but some marks were visible. "The algae from the water burned through a lot of your legs. The doctors were able to regenerate the parts of you body that the algae ate through, however." explained Brittany, "the marks on your ankle are actually from the medicine they used." I nodded in understanding. "Where's Flip?" I asked. "He..." Brittany began, searching for the right words, "...won't be joining us. He's a bit angry at you." "Why the hell is he angry at me?" I asked incredulously, "Is he mad that outlasted his pet Wyatt?" "Pretty much," replied Brittany, "He thinks you made a mockery of the system, or something. It's weird. I haven't tried to figure out what he meant. He's being stupid." "At least I won't have to deal with him again". I scoffed. "If only you were that lucky," said Brittany, "You'll have to work as a mentor with him next year." My head fell back as I cursed silently under my breath. I did not want to mentor next year, let alone mentor with Flip.

"Unfortunately, you have a pretty busy day." began Brittany as I audibly groaned, "In a few hours, you'll be presented to the public for the first time in a big parade through the Capitol, followed immediately by an interview with Caesar. Then you'll go to a gala hosted by President Snow where he'll crown you as a Victor and have dinner. Also, during the gala, there will be a public viewing of your best highlights from the games. After you get through all of that, you'll board a train and get to go home. Got that?" I nodded, "I think I can handle it."

After the next two hours, I was starting to doubt if I could handle it without tearing someone's head off. The "makeover" the stylists were giving me was worse than when I first arrived. Apparently, I was a mess from the arena and that they also needed to make me look "extra special" since I was a Victor. Then the main stylist guy - I had already forgotten his name, but I didn't really care - put me in the shiniest gold dress he could find and put my hair up into this weird bun, except it wasn't quite a bun. Didn't really matter what it was, I hated it. I tried my best to play nice with my designer, but I lost it when he put me in six inch heels with heels that were so narrow they eventually came to a point. Apparently, it was the high point of fashion. But I realized that now that I had won, now that I was a Victor, I didn't have to put up with this shit anymore. I didn't have to put up an act, I didn't have to pretend I liked what my stylist was doing (although the dress was sort of nice). So, as soon as the stylist was finished accessorizing me, I took my shoes off and handed them back to him. "What are you doing?" he had asked, mystified. "Handing these shoes back to you," I explained in a mocking tone. "No. You're wearing those shoes." he replied commandingly. "I pushed the shoes out more and gestures for him to take them. "Listen..." he began, but I cut him off. "No. You listen. I'm a Victor. I think I can decide what I want to wear." As I said this, I began individually plucking the clips out of my hair and letting it fall down. He seemed to die a little each time a clip hit the ground. "Get it through your head," I said, impatiently dropping the shoes on the ground, "I'm not wearing them."

I turned and walked away proudly. Not only was his jaw on the floor, but I didn't have to wear those stupid shoes anymore. I walked a past a dresser with scissors on it and couldn't pass up the opportunity to make my outfit even better. My dress fell to around my ankles and had an obnoxious train, so I took the scissors and cut off a good four inches from the dress. The train and other material fell to the ground and I might've heard the stylist squeal in agony. I smiled as I put the scissors down and kept walking. I spotted myself in a mirror and wondered what the big deal was, I looked much better this way. I might even just go out on the parade float barefoot.

It was nice knowing I didn't have to be all nice and fake anymore. I could just be myself. When random Capitol workers said "hi" to me, I just ignored them. When Puff was going above and beyond giving me instructions for the parade, I told her to shut up and get on with it. Maybe I could have been nicer. Maybe I could've tried to go along with the charade the Capitol was having for me. But I had just won the fucking Hunger Games. And I was in a pretty irritable mood to boot. Plus, I still didn't really like people, so I didn't think the people were going to take to me very well.

Puff had ushered me outside and to an enormous float. It was about twenty feet high and I had to climb a ladder to the top of it. There was a throne at the top that Puff instructed me to sit on, and she informed me that her, Brittany, and Flip would all be sitting in a circle of seats below the throne. Nothing in the parade was to be higher than the throne. I had to wait up on the top of the float for twenty minutes while everybody else got set up for the parade. Flip and Brittany arrived and Brittany gave me a gentle smile. Flip didn't even look at me. Asshole. "At least try to look like you're enjoying yourself." scolded Puff, regarding my posture. I was leaning forward in my seat and had my head resting in my hand. I must've looked bored out of my mind (I was). But when the parade finally started, I tried my best to look like I actually cared.

Another person in my position might've described the parade as amazing. Spectacular. Even outstanding. We went through almost the entire city, as seemingly everyone from the Capitol gathered to adore and fawn over me. The Capitol itself was luxurious too. Every turn brought something fascinating, that I can't even begin to compare to District Seven. But something felt wrong. I might've enjoyed, but I didn't feel good about the situation. Like I should stop waving and smiling and be screaming and swearing instead. But I couldn't completely identify the emotion I was feeling. It wasn't just anger or sadness. It was a bit more complex than that. But I decided to push it back for now and just get through the parade.

The parade immediately segued into an interview with Caesar. Once I stepped off of the float, I was escorted back into the main building and backstage to wait for my cue. "Just get through this." I told myself, still unsure why I was so uneasy about everything. "Don't trip." Puff had warned me.

"And here she is. The Victor of the 69th Hunger Games, ladies and gentlemen I give you, Johanna Mason!"

That was my cue. Caesar stood and applauded as I made my way on stage. "I like your fashion choice." he said to me as I was close to him, gesturing downward. I wasn't sure what he meant, but then I realized that I had actually come on stage without shoes. My stylist was probably pulling his hair out, and that visual made me smile. I sat down in my chair and crossed my legs at the knee.

"Before we begin the interview," Caesar said, "I need to make an announcement. This, unfortunately, will be Ivy Herald's last year as Head Gamemaker." Ivy stepped out onstage and their were sad gasps from the audience. "This will also be the last year you hear my voice making announcements in the arena," Caesar continued over the crowd reaction, "Both of those positions will be filled by Mr. Alan Cromwell!" Caesar gestured with his arm to his right to reveal a man who must've been Alan Cromwell. The crowd applauded for awhile, and when the noise died down Caesar turned to me.

"So, Johanna," Caesar began, "I don't think anybody anticipated what you pulled. I think I speak for everybody when I say that you duped us. You completely duped us. I mean, you had the lowest evaluation score, you cried relentlessly, and you seemed pretty pathetic to me. Why'd you do it? Was it necessary to have that facade going?" I leaned back a bit, thinking over my response in my head. "Well of course it was necessary," I said, "My strategy was to get every single person to overlook me. No one came searching for me, no one hunted for me. When the Careers were chasing me through the woods along with another tribute, my strategy saved my life. They chased her instead of me. My strategy allowed me to breeze right into the top ten. And once I got there, I got to start showing what I was really capable of."

"Let's talk about your actual capabilities then," replied Caesar, "As you know, no one suspected what you were capable of. And I must say, waking up Cinder and instigating a fight between the two alliances was a stroke of genius. But that was only the beginning of what we were going to see. You betrayed your one ally, Mara, in a rather cold-hearted way. Let's talk about that for a minute. What were you thinking the morning you decided to kill your best friend in the arena?" I didn't like this question. I was tempted to just say "pass" but Caesar would've just pressed the issue. So I answered honestly, "Well, she had to die. At some point. I mean, I-There were so many scenarios going through my head, I just, thought it was the best decision at the time." "Do you think it was the best decision looking back on it now?" God damn it Caesar, couldn't you just change the damn topic. "Uhhh..." I said thinking, "Yes. Yes I do."

"But even after you betrayed Mara, I still don't think that anyone watching though you had any shot of winning. There were still three Careers left, plus the other alliance of three. But then, you single-handedly took out that second alliance in under fifteen seconds! How exactly did that happen, what was going through your head? Why were you looking for a cave in the first place?" This question was a lot easier. "Actually, I decided that a cave would be a good place to take refuge. And I knew that in the last few years, there'd always been at least one cave, so I figured the Gamemakers might've thrown one in this year too. Just a hunch. But then I stumbled into it and had the run in with Elodie, Crimson, and Cinder. I was nervous. But I had the knives and I had the axe, so I knew I was prepared. Plus, I figured I'd have the element of surprise on my side. But when I actually stepped out, adrenaline just sort of took over. And then Cinder decided not to die, so I decided to punish her...painfully."

I made sure to throw in that last part. I didn't want Caesar to come back to it, so I addressed it myself. I still felt awful about what I'd done, but it fit my new badass persona the Capitol had for me, and I was sure the audience would like it. Fortunately, I was right and Caesar didn't go back to the topic of Cinder.

"Next question, and this question came from a viewer, where'd you get so good with the axes and knives? We know you were faking your bad evaluation score, but to be able to face off against Careers in head-to-head combat, and take down all three that you faced? Where'd you get so good at fighting?" Before I could open my mouth to answer, three dings rang out. Caesar looked up, disappointed. "Well, I'm sorry folks, but unfortunately, that sound means we're out of time." The audience booed loudly but Caesar shushed them. "Hey, you can all see her later if you attend the President's gala tonight. But we wouldn't want to keep Johanna hear any longer than she has to, she's a very busy woman," he said before turning to me, "Thank you so much, and we'll see you next year when you come back next year to mentor." I shook his hand and the audience gave me a standing ovation as I walked offstage. Ugh, I didn't want to mentor, why did Caesar have to remind me.

As soon as I stepped offstage, Puff ambushed me. "Excellent interview. Absolutely excellent. Much better than your last interview," she said to me, winking. "Now, you'll get an hour to eat something of you'd like. But don't eat too much, because the President's Gala is only a few hours away. You'll have a chance to shower and you'll need to change your outfit. Please listen to your stylist this time." She looked down at my feet and cut dress with a look of disgust and contempt. She shoved me into a small dining room before rushing out. She seemed incredibly stressed for some reason; she must be incredibly busy right now. The servants in the room looked at me expectantly and I saw the vast array of food on the table. I hadn't eaten since I woke up, but I didn't feel like eating. "No thanks," I told them politely before excusing myself.

I walked (okay, maybe I ran) through the building searching for an empty room. I caught several odd glances and a few people asked me where I was going, but I just ignored them. After going through several hallways, I found a room with nothing in it but a cushioned bench. That would do. I locked the door behind me as I entered the room. I needed to relax. I needed to think. Something was wrong with this. I laid myself out on the bench as if it were a bed and was going to start thinking some things over, but then I fell asleep.

"Wake up! Wake up! I said wake up!" someone shouted at me. I felt hands on my shoulders and the feeling of someone shaking me when I opened my eyes and saw Puff's angry expression. "Johanna, what do you think you're doing? No one's been able to find you! You didn't shower! You didn't eat! You barely have time left to change clothes, because you're not wearing the same outfit twice! Drek has laid out some lovely selections and you have the choice of which outfit you want, but you need to hurry! Be ready in fifteen minutes!" Puff had dragged me into another room where my stylist (I had already forgotten his name again) had laid out five rather Capitol-like outfits. Hadn't he realized that I hated the Capitol clothes? I looked at what I had to work with. I found the flattest shoes I could find (three inch heels) and put them on. They were black and uncomfortably tight, but I dealt with it. Two of the outfits were dresses, and I immediately ruled those. There were two pairs of pants, and I had to choose between the lesser of two evils, purple or red. Since the purple was a bit darker, I chose that pair. I randomly found a white shirt that was probably meant to go under several layers of other stuff, but it was the most ordinary piece of clothing there. So I just put that on and left it at that. Puff would probably call my choice of clothing "skimpy" or something, but she wasn't going to be able to do anything about it. Besides, the shirt was comfy. I completely ignored the accessories and the make up that had been put out for me.

When I stepped out of the room, Puff seemed shocked. Brittany had appeared next to Puff and was struggling not to laugh at her expression. Puff opened her mouth to say something, but she instead rolled her eyes and walked away muttering, "We don't have time for this." Brittany nodded as if to say hello and escorted me in the same direction Puff skulked off in. "The President's Gala was to start promptly at 6:00. It's 6:04." Brittany told me, "Don't worry about it though. It looks good to be a few minutes late." We walked a ways before Brittany spoke again, "Your choice of clothing probably wasn't the smartest. You're supposed to look grand and beautiful when President Snow crowns you. And aside from the heels, it looks like you might've just rolled out of bed. People might think you're being disrespectful." The only thing I said in response was, "Funny, the shoes are the one part of my outfit I wish I could get rid of."

We walked down a long hallway toward two enormous doors. When we reached the end of the hallway, two servants pushed the doors opened and revealed the massive spectacle inside. The room was enormous and elaborately decorated. There must've been a thousand people in attendance, each one dressed in some spectacularly weird way. A TV took up the entire wall farthest from me, and a large staircase led to a throne on the wall to my right. When I stepped into the room, a horn sounded and the party came to a complete stop. Brittany had disappeared somewhere in the crowd and everybody stared me. A few seemed taken aback by my clothing at first, but most stared at me in fascination, as if I were the most important thing they had ever seen. "Ladies and gentlemen!" a mysterious voice from somewhere boomed, "Please welcome, the Victor of the 69th Hunger Games, the guest of honor at this year's President Gala, Johanna Mason!" And then the crowd erupted into applause, with some shouting and whooping loudly in celebration. A number of people even threw their hats into the air. The party continued but people continued to applaud or cheer when they say me. I walked toward the center of the room where I found the food. There was a triangular table set up in the middle of the room with three giant turkeys placed in the center. An array of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and desserts lay placed around the turkeys, leaving very little of the tabletop visible. Nope, still not hungry.

An array of random people would occasionally approach me and congratulate, ask me incredibly random questions, and talk about the party. I tried to entertain these people at first, but after the first three groups I was already sick of them. My responses to them became cold and heartless and I tried to avoid these people as much as possible. It even escalated to the point where I simply ignored them and pretended they weren't right behind me trying to get my attention. I skulked around for about thirty minutes trying to avoid interaction as much as possible.

"And now," boomed the mysterious voice, "as we prepare to formally crown the Victor of the 69th Hunger Games, we celebrate the year's events by reliving them." The TV came to life and Brittany appeared out of nowhere to usher me towards the giant staircase. I ascended the steps and sat on my throne, and I noticed there was a similar structure on the opposite side of the room where President Snow sat.

The highlight reel began at the countdown, completely skipping over the week of events before the games began. I didn't really want to watch all of this, I'd already lived it. At the very least, I might be able to answer a few questions I had. The first question I had was answered almost right away with the sound of an explosion. The boy from District Six (Ash) had intentionally stepped off of his platform. He had just closed his eyes and taken a step forward. The thought sort of disturbed me, that he was so distraught and had lost all hope that suicide seemed like the best option. For him, maybe it was the best option. Better go out quick then possibly die from a slow and painful death, I guess. Still, it bothered me. They also showed how the second alliance had gotten so many weapons without beating the Careers for control of the cornucopia. Turns out that Elodie had been extremely sneaky and fast. The others would draw the Careers away from their weapons and Elodie would steal a few items. Then they'd take their bounty back to their camouflaged cave (Crimson had made the tarp).

They showed some of Caesar and Claudius' coverage of the Games, and I noticed that I got little to no screen time at the beginning. Caesar was talking about the odds and how sponsors were going to be very important over a scene of the Careers by a campfire. The Careers were talking about their lives, their districts, their families. And then I realized what the horrible feeling was that I'd been feeling all day. It was the same feeling that had bothered me after I'd killed Cinder in the cave. Family was one of the things I never really had, and I had been a part in tearing more families apart. Siren had talked about her two younger sisters, her mother who owned a flower shop, her friends back home. And I had taken Siren away from them. Visions of Siren's head being crushed ran through my head as I thought of her family and friends who had lost someone they cared about. The Capitol was evil. The Hunger Games were evil. And that's why I hated the idea of celebrating my victory, because we were really glorifying an event that ruined lives. It was inhumane, and everyone in the Capitol ate it up.

The rest of the viewing was just as bad, as my emotions fluctuated between anger and hate. I forced myself to zone out during scenes I didn't want to relive (Mara's death, scenes characterizing the Careers). I thought of District Seven, the pines, my tree fort; it made the time go by quicker. I noticed that Caesar and Claudius's positive commentary regarding me grew exponentially, and by the time I had secured my cave they were thinking I could win. "She's a sneaky one, that Johanna," Claudius had quipped, "You never quite know what she's going to do."

I made sure to turn away when they showed me stumbling into the cave for the first time, not wanting to see what was about to happen. I didn't have to see what was happening, but it was impossible to block out the sounds, and Caesar was giving moment-by-moment analysis. I heard the crowd cheer and I gaped in horror when I realized what they were cheering at. According to Caesar, I had just poured algae into Cinder's wound, and the crowd loved it. As if I needed more proof that the Capitol was evil. From that point on, the crowd cheered whenever I killed someone. When I stabbed Iris, they cheered. When Siren got squashed, not only did they cheer, some even laughed. And people were shouting at my image on the TV screen as I fought Jett, as if their actions were helping me win. And then, finally, it was over. I never wanted to watch that again.

"The crowning ceremony will commence in thirty minutes." chimed the mysterious voice again.

Taking cue from President Snow, I descended from my throne and rejoined the mass of people on the ground. "Johanna! Perfect," came the voice of Puff. I turned and saw her appear from the crowd with two men in red suits. "These men are named Xerxes and Gondor. They were two of your sponsors who pitched in money to send you items when you were in the arena," she continued, "I'll just leave you three here to chat." Puff turned and walked away, leaving with two random men who I knew nothing

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Xerxes, extending his hand. I shook it and Gondor offered his hand too, which I shook as well. "You're probably curious as to what we'd like to discuss," said Gondor. I nodded my head and wished that they weren't looking so I could roll my eyes. No, I don't want to know what you want to discuss. You could leave right now and my life would be no worse than if you stayed, it'd probably be better. "You see," said Xerxes, clearly not hearing my thoughts, "We, in the Capitol, like helping each other out. And when someone does something nice for you, it's only customary to return the favor later. Well, as your friend told you, we were two of your sponsors. We contributed a significant amount of money to get you that pillow you slept on in the cave. Now, since we did something for you, we feel it's only fair that you help us out a bit now." I didn't like where this was going. Xerxes continued, "You see, me and my friend here own a large coat business, which distributes throughout the Capitol. But recently, we've had a bit of competition and our sales have been falling quite a bit. In fact, we might go under if things don't start to turn around. Here's where you come in. We'd like you to do a bit of advertising for our business; it'd really help us a lot. You'd have to stay here for a few extra days, but that wouldn't be much of a problem." Oh yes, it would be. I wasn't staying in the Capitol any longer than I had to. "I'm sorry," I began, "but I really don't want to." I probably could've been more polite about that, but I wasn't exactly in the best mood. Xerxes and Gondor seemed taken aback. "Well let us know if you change your mind," said Xerxes before excusing himself, Gondor following close behind.

I skulked around the room a little more, continuing to avoid interaction as much as possible, when Brittany came up to me in a panic. "Did you say 'no' to the coat advertising?" she practically screamed at me. "Yeah. There's no fucking way I'm staying here any long than I have to." I said rather coldly. I turned away from her but she grabbed my shoulder and whirled me back around. "You don't seem to understand this, or maybe you're just not aware of the political situation, but those men are very good friends with President Snow and even have some dirt on him. If their business goes under, it could have negative repercussions on Snow." Brittany replied. Her argument still hadn't changed my opinion, "So what! I don't care what happens to President Snow."

"You don't get it do you?" said Brittany angrily, "If something bad happens to President Snow, something bad happens to whoever caused it. And in this case, blame could easily get pinned on you if you don't help with the damn advertising!" Brittany was really freaking out about this right now, "And you don't have a choice. I've already scheduled for you to stay an extra two days. You can't leave." She turned and left.

This sucked. I wanted to go home. And it's not like I could just walk home by myself, I needed the Capitol to let me go home. And right now, that wasn't happening. I went up to one of the servants and asked where the restroom was. She pointed towards them, not speaking. When I found them, I went in, realizing I was the only one inside. There was a small window at the top of the far wall and I stood on my toes to look through it. Outside was a small garden; a few bushes lay immediately in front of the window. I climbed onto one of the sinks and reached over to open the window. Once it was open, I stuck my arms through and began to pull the rest of my body through. It was a tight fit, but after a bit of squirming I had gotten my torso through. Once I got my hips through, my legs went through easily and I fell forward into the bushes.

I righted myself and just sat against the wall. I didn't want to go back in there. I didn't want to do any advertising. I didn't want to stay in the Capitol. I didn't want to go back to the party. But then again, I didn't want any of this, did I? I didn't want to not have a family. I didn't want to get reaped. I didn't want to fight for my life, or kill other people. I didn't want to go through all of this post-victory shit. Yet, I did. And I'd probably have to go through a bunch of other stuff I didn't want to go through.

"It could be different, you know," said someone nearby. I looked up to see a young woman looking down at me from the bathroom window. She pulled herself through but did so in a way that allowed her to land on her feet. "Who are you?" I asked, glaring at her. She chuckled a bit and I scanned her over. She didn't exactly look like someone from the Capitol. Her clothes were...ordinary. For the most part, her shirt was bright orange and her pants were yellow. She had light brown skin and wavy black hair. "I'm your friend," she said smiling. What? "You're most certainly not the first person this has happened to," she said, "To be unhappy with the situation they're in even after they win the Hunger Games. And it doesn't go away." I still didn't know her name, let alone what she wanted, but I was intrigued by her statement so I let her continue. "They don't leave you alone. It starts as one favor now, but sooner or later you end up a slave. They can ask anything they want of you - and trust me, they'll want a lot - and you'll have to do it."

"Who are you?" I tried again. "My name is Vanessa Redding," she said. Definitely not a Capitol name. "And now I have a question for you, too. What do you think of the Capitol?" I didn't expect that. I was surprised at the question, and even though it was probably smarter to lie and say I loved the Capitol, I felt like I could trust her. "I hate the Capitol," I muttered. She seemed pleased with my response, smiling. "Then here," she said handing me a folded up piece of paper, "This will tell you how to get back to District Seven."

She got up to leave but I stopped her, "What did you mean when you said that they don't leave you alone?" She turned back around to face me, "You know Finnick Odair, right?" "Of course I do," I said, "Just about every girl in my district wanted to get in bed with him." She frowned slightly, "Well every important female political figure in the Capitol already has. And he's still on the Capitol leash. Don't end up like him. We'll keep in touch."

Then she disappeared into the garden. I sat there for a few minutes collecting my thoughts. What did she mean by 'we'll keep in touch'? Was she telling the truth? I figured she was, who would lie about something like that? What would be the gain? And her details fit with everything I'd learned so far either through observance or from Brittany. And what do I do with these instructions? I read them over and everything seemed like it would work. According to Vanessa, Xerxes carried the dirt on President Snow with him in his jacket, so I'd just have to steal the evidence from him and get rid of the blackmail. Then I'd be free to go. The tricky part was getting him to take off his jacket, but Vanessa's instructions had that on there too. I had to use the outdoor control system to turn up the temperature in the party so everyone has no choice but to hang up their jackets. I looked at the map Vanessa had provided and saw that the controls were...a few feet to my left. I turned and saw a set of dials, meters and switches on the wall. These weren't the normal controls; these were the manual ones that they used if one of the computer controls malfunctioned. But in this case, the manual controls would cause the malfunction. I read the instructions on how to work the switches and turned the heat as high as it would go. Then, I busted the pipe controlling the air temperature so that the computers inside wouldn't be able to fix it. Of course, I didn't know if my actions were really doing anything or not, I was just blindly following the instructions.

I walked back to the window to reenter the party and could feel the heat radiating from the restroom. So it did work. I examined my clothes quickly and felt lucky to see that I hadn't gotten my white shirt dirty. Then I jumped up and clung to the sill of the window. I was able to lift myself up and pull myself through the window without anybody noticing. People in the Capitol must not have to use the restroom very often.

I went back into the large room where the party was and could see lots of people going in and out of the coat room. When I saw Xerxes walked into the room, I immediately entered after him. The coat room consisted of two automated racks that acted like elevators. When one row of hangars was filled, it was lifted up and a new row of hangars was exposed. Xerxes put his coat on the left rack as I slinked my way through the crowd of people. Fortunately, everybody seemed to be too preoccupied by the intense heat to look down and notice me sneaking by them. I was almost at Xerxes' coat when the last hangar on his row was filled and the row began to lift up. Acting quickly, I reached out and grabbed onto the bar supporting the hangars as it pulled them and me upward. My motion was so swift and the row moved away so fast that it would've been hard for someone to see me get pulled away with the coats.

I hung on as I flew through darkness, hoping that the bar would stop moving soon. A light shone down from above and I realized that the ride was almost over. The row of coats stopped when it went into a large storage room with all of the other coats. It stopped and moved to the right, so that it was next to the other coats. I let go and went to Xerxes' coat and began searching through his pockets. All of them were empty, but then I found a pocket on the inside. In it, I found a hidden pocket and pulled a small disc out of it. Bingo! I took it and tried to figure out how to get out. The room I was in was now filled with coats and the bars were now going to another room above the one I was in. While scanning for an exit, a familiar flash of purple caught my eye. President Snow's jacket! Funny how some things just work out like that. I went to his coat and found a pocket on the inside that I could put the disc into. Now I just had to figure out how to get out of here.

Thinking, I realized that there had to be some kind of a staircase in case there was some sort of emergency. I scanned the walls and eventually found a door. I opened it, but all that was inside were a bunch of switches. I closed it and kept looking. When I got to the edge of the room, I found another door. This time, it had what I was looking for. I hurried down the stairs as fast as I could, but it still took me a few minutes to reach the bottom, the bar had gone up pretty far. When I reached the bottom, I opened the door slowly, hoping that no one saw me. Peeking out, I saw that I was in a short hallway that connected to the coat room. I quietly closed the door behind me and crept to the edge of the hallway. I peeked around the corner and saw that the crowd in the room was smaller. When I thought no one was looking my way, I slipped back into the crowd and went out into the large room.

Then Puff found me, "Where have you been? The crowning ceremony is going to start any second now! Get up to your throne!" she shoved me towards my staircase and I quickly ascended, taking my place on the throne. Almost immediately after I sat down, the Capitol anthem began to play. I looked across the room and saw President Snow sitting in his chair holding a crown. The people in the room parted as soon as they heard the anthem, leaving an aisle in between my throne and President Snow's. As the anthem continued to play, President Snow descended his steps and slowly walked across the room towards me. He began to ascend my steps and I noticed a microphone stand appear near my throne. When President Snow reached me, I stood, and the crowd seemed to collectively hold their breaths as he reached over and placed the crown on my head. "Congratulations, my dear," he spoke quietly to me. For some reason, at these words anger boiled inside me. The way he said those words, the way he looked as he said them, what those words meant, what he was congratulating me for, what he represented - I hated all of it. He turned to face the crowd and tool the microphone from its stand. He grabbed my hand and pulled me forward so I was right next to him. "Johanna Mason! Victor!" he shouted, lifting my hand into air. The crowd erupted into thunderous applause and I nearly puked. They shouldn't be happy about this. They shouldn't be celebrating the death of 23 of other people. They shouldn't be celebrating me. I looked down and saw Puff, Brittany, and Flip standing together. Puff was cheering hysterically, but Brittany and Flip were only clapping slowly. Maybe they understood too.

After a few minutes of applause, President Snow released my hand and the crowd began to quiet down and disperse. "It was a pleasure meeting you," said President Snow evilly to me, "And I look forward to working around with you in the future." The nausea came back as he spoke to me. If only I could just push him down the stairs...

The party couldn't end soon enough. Wants Brittany told me I could leave whenever I was ready, I bolted for the door. Brittany had followed and led me back to my room. I was hoping Vanessa's plan would work and I'd get to go home tomorrow, but my hopes were dashed when Brittany reminded me about my advertising commitment. I went to bed disappointed, but Puff came bursting in later, informing me of the arrest of Xerxes and Gondor. Apparently, they'd been arrested for crimes against the President (the dirt on the disc must've been pretty bad) and because of the circumstances, I'd leave for District Seven tomorrow morning. Instead of going to bed disappointed, I ended up falling asleep with a smile on my face.