Anise's POV

A ripping sound echoed through the room as I gritted my teeth in anger. I wanted to cry because a woman with aqua colored hair and gold tattoos that were around her face was ripping a fabric from my leg tearing away any piece of hair I had. "Sorry!" She pipes with her Capitol accent that I hated. "You're just so hairy!"

Why do they always talk with a high pitch, barely opened jaws, always ending their sentences as if they're asking a question, always odd vowels, clipped words and a hiss of the letter s? It's so annoying. No one can mimic them.

Her name was Venia and she looks at me with a sympathetic face. "Good news, though. This is the last one. Ready?" I grip as hard as I can on the edge of the table I was on and close my eyes and nod. Then with a final rip of the fabric giving it a painful jerk. It was done.

I've been in the Remake Center for more than three hours and I wanted to pass out. I haven't meet my stylist at all and he must have no interest in seeing me until Venia and the others were finally done with me. They were my prep team and had to address multiple problems. They scrubbed down my body with a gritty loam and removed the dirt and also about three layers of my skin, my nails were turned into a uniform shapes, and right now. Getting rid of all my body hair. Legs, arms, torso, underarms and parts of my eyebrows were stripped off me and I didn't like the feeling of my skin. It was sore, tingling and was very vulnerable. But I didn't make any sign of resistance.

"You're doing very well." A man named Flavius said with corkscrew like orange locks and purple lipstick on his mouth. "If there;s one thing we can't stand is a whiner. Grease her down!"

Venia and Octavia, Octavia was a slightly large woman that had her entire body dyed to a pale shade of pea green, they rubbed me down with lotion that started to sting at first but it starts soothing my skin. They then pull me off the table and removed the very thin robe I was wearing and I was standing there completely naked. I felt awkward and embarrassed but it soon disappeared because they were such strange people and they looked worse than I would look like in a hundred years. They then start using tweezers to get any missed pieces off. Still painful mind you.

The step back and admire their work. "Excellent! You almost look like a human being now!" Flavius says and they laugh.

Says the oddly colored people. But I don't voice it and give them a big and kind smile. Even if it was fake. But it looked like a was very happy and grateful. "Thank you!" I say with fake happiness. "We don't need to look very nice in District 12."

It wins them over completely. "Of course, you don't, you poor darling." Octavia says clasping her hands together.

Venia walks over and puts her hand on my face. "You're such a cute little girl too. But don't worry. By the time Cinna is through with you, you're going to be absolutely gorgeous!"

"We promise! You know, now that we've gotten rid of all the hair and filth, you're not horrible at all! You look adorable!" Flavius says encouragingly. "Let's call Cinna!"

They then run out of the room like darts and I couldn't hate them. It's very hard. They act like idiots a lot but I know that they were actually trying to be nice in a weird, odd way.

I stare at the cold, white walls and floor and I really wanted to get my robe. But I'm sure, Cinna, whoever he was. Would want me to remove it again. I touch my hair and notice that it was in nice, thick curls. I didn't bother talking to my prep team and they just fixed it and said it looked better down and curly. Even if it was naturally straight.

The door opens and a young man walks in and he must be Cinna. I was shocked when I looked at his appearance. He looked so, so, normal. Since most of the stylists are interviewed on television, they change their appearance and looks: dyed, stenciled, and surgically altered. They looked disgusting and terrifying at the same time. But Cinna had closed cropped hair and it looked like his natural color. It was the same shade as mine, also, he wore an all black outfit. A simple shirt and pants, That was it and the only different thing about Cinna was the metallic gold eyeliner that was applied lightly and that brought out the flecks of gold in his green eyes. When I looked at him, I couldn't help but think that he looked attractive,

"Hello, Anise. I'm Cinna, your stylist." He says with a quiet voice that was different than the rest of the people that lived in the Capitol, it was lacking their normal voice tone.

"Hello." I say. He looked like he was in his twenties.

"Just give me a moment, all right?" He asks and he walks around my body and takes in everything with his eyes. I felt completely awkward and he touched my curled hair. "Who did your hair?"

"I did." I tell him.

"It's beautiful. Simple and very well done." He tells me and I give him a small smile. It wasn't fake like the ones before.

I was surprised. He wasn't annoying or flamboyant at all. He wasn't trying to look different or act different or looked at me like a piece of meat. He was calm and he seemed to be acting like himself.

"Are you new?" I asked him. "I've never seen you before." The rest of the stylists are familiar and well known. Some have been around since the day I was born. But he wasn't.

"Yes, this is my first year in the Games." Cinna says.

"And they gave you District 12?" I asked him. The new ones always go to other districts never 12.

"I asked for District 12." He says without any other kind of explanation. "Why don't you put on your robe and we'll have a chat."

I put on my robe and I felt much better. I then followed him through a door and into a sitting room. There were two couches facing over a low table, the walls were blank and the fourth was completely glass, so you could see the city below. It seemed be around noon judging by the sunlight. Cinna tells me to sit on one of the couches and takes his place across from me. He presses a button that was on the side of the table and it splits and from below rises a second tabletop and it held our lunch. Chicken and chunks of oranges that were cooked in a creamy sauce that smelled delicious. The sauce was laid on pearly, white grain, tiny green peas and onions, rolls that were shaped like flowers and for dessert, a pudding that was the color of honey.

I look at the food and think about what I would have to do to get this food. I've never bought chicken before. I've never been able to pay for it. I've only seen a wild turkey once and never again. I know that they sell it at the Hop but almost nothing was worth the same as turkey. I've never been able to afford an orange. I would have to trade Prim for her goat milk, that could try to be cream but it wouldn't taste the same. I could try to grow trees but the soil around where I live isn't good enough so they wouldn't be good enough. Onions could be found in the woods. I don't know what kind of grain it is. I only have bread once or twice a year. It all depends on if Gale shares any and if they would sell any for what I'd catch. Pudding, I'm not sure. No matter how long I hunted I probably couldn't make it to the area to find pudding. I'd probably die by then or give up. All this would take over a year to collect.

I wonder what's it's like to eat food like this everyday. Even better food. A press of a button is all he had to do. While we had to hunt for days or weeks to get a good amount of food to live off of and sell. Is it that easy to get food here? I don't understand why these people just wait for tributes to come in and die so that they could be amused.

I look up from the food and Cinna was staring at me. "How despicable we must seem to you." He says.

I guess I had a sour look on my face. But it's not like he's wrong, all of them, are despicable.

"No matter." Cinna says when I don't answer him. "So, Anise, about your costume for the opening ceremonies. My partner, Portia, is the stylist for your fellow tribute, Peeta. And our current thought is to dress you in complementary costumes." Cinna says. "As you know, it's customary to reflect the flavor of your district."

For the opening ceremonies, we're supposed to wear something that shows your district's principal industry. District 11, agriculture. District 4, fishing. District 3. factories. So if you're from District 12 like us, then it would be some type of coal miner thing. So, baggy miner's jumpsuits are not becoming. So our tributes end up with skimpy outfits and hats with headlamps. One year, our tributes were completely naked and were covered in black powder. The black powder represented coal dust. it was awful and did nothing to win the favor of the crowd. So, I have to be ready for the worst.

"So, a coal miner's outfit." I say duly.

"Not at all." Cinna says and I look up at him. "You see, Portia and I think that coal miner thing's very overdone. No one will remember you in that. And we both see it as our job to make the District 12 tributes unforgettable."

I felt some blood in my face disappear. Naked for sure.

"So rather than focus on coal mining itself, we're going to focus on the coal." Please don't say coal dust. "And what do we do with coal? We burn it." He says and looks deep in my eyes and I look at him confused.

"You're not afraid of fire, are you, Anise?" He asks me, grinning, at my expression.

A few hours later, I am dressed in what will be the most sensational or deadliest costume in the entire opening ceremonie (It's different than what Katniss wore). I was wearing a black and red dress. The dress had a soft fabric that was soft and nice looking. It was decorated with red and black jewelry from my waist to my chest. They died my hair black and it had red accents. They changed my hair from my braids to multiple curls that looked thick and beautiful. I was also wearing dark red shoes, a black, grey and white headpiece and red, black and yellow earrings that had multiple circles on them and then they came together and made a deep red jewel. He was going to light the jewels on the bracelet on fire and the black part of the dress on fire.

"It's not real flame, of course, just a little synthetic fire Portia and I came up with. You'll be perfectly safe." He says and I nod.

They then made me put on make up. I had light red lipstick and was wearing mascara. He then gave me a black, red and dark brown bracelet that had a chain around it and it surrounded my middle finger. I asked him why he changed my hair and he said. "I wanted to accent the circles in your hair. Free and flowing." He said dreamingly. "Anise, the girl who was on fire."

I then realised that Cinna, was indeed, a complete madman.

Peeta walks over to me and he was wearing a dark red dress shirt and a black dress jacket with multiple black patterns on them. His pants were black and he had dark red shoes, that were the same color as mine. He also had a the same matching bracelet on his arm. It was even connected to his middle finger like mine. Our costumes complemented both of our outfits. His stylist, Portia, and her team were all around him and were giddy with excitement talking about how nice we looked together. Except Cinna. He seemed weary as he accepted the congratulations.

We were then whisked down to the bottom, level of the Remake Center, which was a gigantic stable. The opening ceremonies were about to start and pairs of tributes were being put into chariots and were being pulled by teams of four horses. Ours, was coal black. They were very well trained and didn't even have to be guided. Cinna and Portia direct us into the chariots, then they arranged our bodies in different positions and then moved off to talk to each other.

"What do you think?" Peeta asks me. "About the fire?"

"I can't do anything about mine." I tell him. "Almost everything is on fire. I can't just rip off all my clothes."

He laughed and nodded. "Mine is the jacket and the bracelet that we're wearing."

"I know we promised Haymitch that we weren't going to do anything, but this?" I say looking down at the short dress that reached to about mid thigh. "Plus, this dress it too short."

"Where is Haymitch, anyway?" Isn't he supposed to protect us from this sort of thing?" He asks.

"He's been drinking so much alcohol. It's probably not a good idea to have him around us, open flame." I joke.

We both start laughing. We were nervous about the Games and right now, nervous about turning into two human torches.

The opening music beings and we are able to hear it easily because it was blasted around the entire Capitol. Massive doors slide open and they reveal the crowd-lined streets. The ride would last about 20 minutes and it ends at the City Circle, where they will welcome us, play the anthem and escort us into the Training Center, and that will be our prison until the Games begin.

The tributes from District 1 ride out in a chariot that was pulled by snow white horses. They looked beautiful. They were spray painted silver and had tunics that glittered with jewels. District 1 makes the luxury items for the Capitol and there was a loud roar from the crowd. They're always favorites.

District 2 then gets into position to follow District 1. Then in no time we were approaching the doors and the overcast sky and evening hour light were turning grey. Tributes from District 11 were rolling out and Cinna walks over with a lighted torch. "Here we go then." He says and before we could even react, he sets the black parts on fire and as if on cue the jewels do as well. I wait for the heat but nothing comes. There was only a faint tickling feeling. Cinna stares at us and sighs in relief. "It works." He puts his hand under my chin and smiles. "Remember, heads high. Smiles. They're going to love you!"

He then jumps off the chariot and has one more idea. I couldn't hear what he said because the music drowns him out. He shouts again and gestures.

"What is he saying?" I ask Peeta looking at him. He looked dazzling because of the fake flame. I must be too then.

"I think he says for us to hold hands." He says and grabs my right hand with his left. We look back at Cinna and he nods and tells us to move closer. Peeta removes his hand and puts it around my shoulder and holds my other hand with his left. ( http://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-photo-couples-hugging-and-holding-hands-standing-over-white-background-100374626.jpg) We look back and he gives us thumbs up. The fire was completely surrounding us and he was the last thing we saw.

The crowds alarm was changed to cheers and shouts of "District 12!" Every single head turns our way, pulling away from the other three chariots in front of us. I was surprised at first when I look at how breathtaking we looked. I actually blushed deep red and so did Peeta. We looked like we were surrounded by fire and we looked amazing. Cinna didn't make either of us wear a lot of makeup. I only had on massacra and red lipstick on. Besides my dyed hair that was it. Peeta and I looked like a couple. Peeta seemed to notice it too, so he pulled me closer. This'll give us a lot of attention.

Remember, heads high. Smiles They're going to love you! That's what Cinna said. Since he and Portia were right about the dresses why not this. I move my chin up higher and beam at the entire crowd, I started waving at the crowd and leaned on Peeta more. I might of fall if he wasn't there. The Capitol was going nuts. They threw flowers and roses. I actually managed to catch on and smiled even more brightly. They even said our first names, most of the time the Capitol doesn't even bother looking for our names.

The music was pounding, my heartbeat accelerated and I couldn't help but feel excited and happy. Cinna was right and he gave great advice. No one will forget me or Peeta.

I felt a beat of hope from my heart. Maybe I actually could get sponsors while in the Games. I shouldn't think that I don't have a chance in the games. I do and this was proof of it.

Everyone was cheering our names.

I then look at Peeta's hand noticing how hard I was holding it and how hard he held my shoulder. I was about to loosen my grip but he stopped me and gripped my hand harder than I gripped his. "No, don't let go of me." He says. "Please. I might fall out of this thing."

"Alright." I tell him and he kissed my forehead and the crowd became louder. "Seems like they really like us."

"We've never had a two tributes come out as a couple after all." He says smiling at me and the crowd. "And I think it's working great." I nod in agreement and notice we were getting closer to the City Circle.

As we went closer to the City Circle the chariots started to fill the loop. These buildings were filled with the most prestigiou citizens of the Capitol. Our horses pulled our chariot right up to President Snow's mansion, and we stop moving. The music then ends.

President Snow was a small and thin man. He had paper-white hair and he was the one who gave us the official welcoming. He stood on the balcony. It had always been a tradition to cut off the faces of the tributes during the speech, but we were getting a lot more time on the screen and the darker it becomes, the harder it becomes to not notice our flickering of fire. The national anthem plays and they do try to not focus on us but fails when they only give the rest of the tributes a short time and then hold on us as we circle around for a final time and then disappear into the Training Center.

When the doors finally shut the prep teams ran to us and were talking and babbling a lot. They gave us many compliments and I returned them with a smile. I look around and see the other tributes giving us death glares and we literally, outshone them. Cinna and Portia then help us down and they take off the black parts of our outfits and my jewelry, besides the one that we both wore. Portia extinguished them with a spray that was from a canister.

I was pretty much glued to Peeta and my shoulders were sore. We then started massaging our hands and taking off the hand jewelry. We pass them to Cinna and Portia.

"Thanks for keeping hold of me. I was getting a little shaky there." Peeta says.

"More like you were holding me." I tell him. "I could've fallen over too. But, luckily no one could tell."

"I'm sure they didn't notice you. You were engulfed in flames. You should wear flames more often." He says. "They suit you." He then gives me a smile that looked so kind and sweet that I had to give him a big one in return.

"You look good too." I tell him.

Even if one of us or none of us make it out. I might as well make friends while I'm here even if someone else is going to kill him.

I stare up at Peeta and give him a quick kiss on the cheek and we both blush and look away.

Might as well