THE EVE OF THE GAMES. Possibly the most hated day of the entire Hunger Games event. To people like Sage; it was like a slap to the face. The majority of tributes despised the Capitol and being there, but it was their last chance to win over sponsors from among the Capitol citizens. Besides that daunting task; it was the day before the games. It was when everything really felt real, it was like a dream you had when you were sick. Sage could remember a whole week before Katniss was born that he had been incredibly sick; every night he would start burning up. During those nights he'd have the strangest dreams, ones that didn't seem real. Then when he'd open his eyes, he'd still see it in front of him and it wouldn't go away until his mother had a cool rag on his forehead. He wished this was one of those dreams. He wanted nothing more than to wake up...

"Perfect," Marcel said with a huff of air, satisfied as he gave Sage one last look over as the as the trumpets sounded— signaling Ceasar Flickerman's entrance to the stage and the signal for the tributes to finish preparing. "Cinna?" Marcel asked, "Thoughts? You plan on being a lead stylist in a few years, right?"

Cinna nodded as Marcel turned Sage to look in a full length mirror. "It's definitely memorable."

It was as obnoxious as his look for the parade had been. It was a solid black suit, and within it was gold stitching that gave off of the illusion of a burning coal. They had also cut his hair a bit, which would take some getting used to— he hoped that his mother would be pleased that they managed to. It was something he would have protested back home.

"It looks sharp, don't you think?" Marcel asked as he put his hands on Sage's shoulders and gave him a firm pat. "I think I've really out done myself," he added.

Cinna stifled a bit of a snicker.

"Well, I'll be in the crowd, second row." Marcel said as Sage turned back to face him,  "If you get nervous or anything, Haymitch and I will be in the second row." he assured him.

Sage nodded, he was really nervous about the interview— it was just talking, and he would have no trouble with that. He was more anxious about what tomorrow morning brought.

"And I'll be waiting back here for you," Cinna added, "as soon as you're done I'll meet you back here."

Sage gave Cinna a curt nod, and then Marcel before he glanced at the small television where it showed Ceasar interviewing Cirus from One. Sage watched as Cirus smiled at the blue haired interviewer— Cirus was much bigger than Sage. Sage was fairly confident that if it came down to him and Cirus, he'd have a bit of a chance. But then again Cirus had years of training under his belt, Sage didn't. He had hunting as a advantage, and Cirus probably did too.

It wasn't until there was a knock on the door that Sage looked away from the screen. His eyes met Haymitch as soon as he stepped into the small room.

"Well don't you look nice," he said with a sigh, and what sounded to be his usual sarcasm, before he glanced at Marcel and Cinna. "can we have the room please?"

Marcel gave Haymitch a daring look; see, Marcel still wanted Sage to play on the fact that he didn't want to be there. But he and Haymitch tended to have different ideas about how Sage should woo the Capitol and any future sponsors. But he didn't put up a protest to Haymitch's request, Marcel and Cinna left the room— as Cinna did so he gave Sage a small nod and smile as if to wish him luck.

Immediately Haymitch pressed a button on the side of the screen of the television and unmuted it; Marcel wanted it muted while he finished his work. Filling the room with the voice of Caesar as he wished the boy luck and went on to introduce Jules from One. Haymitch let out an aggravated sighed.

"Did Marcel have this on mute the whole time!?" he asked sharply, "Sage, he's not a mentor. Please don't listen to him."

Sage felt a small ball of panic begin to form in the pit of his stomach, "Why?" he asked, "Why does it matter if it was on mute?"

"Because you should be listening to all of this. Sure, you got some of the gamemakers to like you, but this is your chance to make everyone like you." Haymitch said, standing between Sage and the television.

"- thank you! You're too kind, Ceasar." Jules smiles as she reached across the small space between the two chairs and grabbed Ceasars hand. "Really, I'll be sure to remember that during our next interview."

Ceasar laughed, "Ah, such confidence! I love it! Jules Spencer, from District One!"

"You need to know what each of them are going for," Haymitch said as the crowd began to roar with cheers. "Besides Marsh, Jules is another favorite." he told Sage as Jules walked from the stage.

Sage could see why Jules would be a favorite— even in training she never let herself look tired or irritable. In fact she was quite enjoyable to work with by the looks of it. Sage had spoken with her briefly during their second day of training as the climbing station, she was engaging and seemed nice enough. If he was a Capitol citizen, Jules would probably be one of his favorites.

"Most of your sponsorships will come from people who like you, not because they'll think you win. Your score wasn't outstanding— you have sisters, right?"

Sage nodded.

Haymitch seemed to relax a bit, "Sage, you need to use that. Tug at some heartstrings, hell, say one of them is sick and you entered your name extra so they could get what they needed. I don't care what you say, but the better sob story you make, the better." he explained, he seemed more manic than normal and as Haymitch stepped closer to Sage with his arms crossed, although he still looked like his normal self; miserable. The smell of whiskey wasn't there. This was Haymitch taking his position seriously? Waiting until the eve of the games to give any advice? "What about a girlfriend? You have one back home? He's going to ask you."

Sage nodded, "Yeah-"

Haymitch quickly began to shake his head, "No, no, you don't. Sage, your sponsors are going to be from two types of people; the people who want to see a underdog win this year, and the people who want you to win so they can be with you afterwards."

Sage furrowed his eyebrows for a moment confused by what he said; but then he could remember how he half heartedly had to listen to Octavia go on about how he was a favorite among her friends.

"Like...with me?" Sage questioned, cringing even at the thought...

Haymitch nodded, "Believe it or not though, those ladies will be your ideal, sponsors." he assured him, "So that's your story— big brother risks everything for sibling and is also painfully single because of his dedication to his family."

Sage didn't say anything. What was he supposed to say? Haymitch had been to the Capitol numerous times now, he knew what the people in the Capitol wanted. He had mentored enough tributes to know what worked and what didn't. He knew what would help Sage make it further in the games and what wouldn't.

      There was a chance Haymitch was right, Sage knew that. But the thought of lying about Ella during the interviews— it didn't sit right with him, for obvious reasons. For all he knew, if Ella was going to watch the interviews— it could be the last time that he sees him alive. He could very well be one of the first tributes to die in the morning...

      After his meeting with Haymitch, a peacekeeper escorted Haymitch out and Sage to the line of tributes. Nobody spoke to one another, everyone stared straight ahead towards the stage. The sound of the crowd cheering and applauding the tribute on stage— it made Sage feel sick to his stomach. They were all so happy to see them on stage, and they'd be equally as happy tomorrow when the same tributes they cheered for were killed. The closer Sage got to the stage, the more his stomach began to do flips. He still had no idea if he was going to do what Haymitch told him to— he knew he didn't want to, but he didn't want to be doing any of this. But there he was, only a few short days after the reaping; being paraded around as some sick type of entertainment.

"Next, all the way from District Twelve— Sage Everdeen!" Caesar's voice snapped Sage out of his thoughts and sent a chill down his spine; this was his last chance.

      The peacekeeper who was standing at the front of the line stepped forward, as if to help Sage to the stage— so Sage quickly went on his way. As he neared the door, his stomach kept churning violently, and he began to feel his heartbeat quicken— so much so he could hear his own pulse in his ears. It blocked out some of the cheering from the waiting audience— from waiting potential sponsors. District Twelve never had a huge amount of sponsors. What if Haymitch was right? What if he didn't go with the story Haymitch had told him and he had none?

      As Sage stepped onto the stage, the lights were brighter than he had thought they would be. They never looked that bright, at least not that Sage could remember from watching at home. Briefly, Sage caught himself blocking some of the light from his eyes— then as if it was natural— which none of this was, he turned his hand outward towards the crowd and waved. He felt a sickening smile appear on his mouth. He remembered watching these and wondering how the tribute from twelve could even pretend to be happy— and now he knew why. It was their last chance to make people like them.

      Sage made his way across the stage lit extravagantly with blue, pink, and purple lights in addition to the spotlight that followed him to the center where Caesar stood. His hair was slicked back and a deep shade of blue to match the blue lights, and he had blue eyeliner framing his eyes. He stood waiting for Sage with a grin on his face as he held a hand out for Sage to take— the two shook hands; and it was at that moment that Sage could here the applauding and cheering over his out pulse and breathing that had been echoing in his head.

"Sage!" Caesar exclaimed dramatically as the two shook hands, "It's such a wonderful pleasure to finally meet you in person." he added as the two sat down in the plush seats.

Sage didn't feel the smile leave his face, "Thank you, Caesar. It's great to finally see you in person," he began, "you don't see blue hair very often in Twelve."

The crowds cheering and applauding quickly morphed into laughter.

"I'm sure you don't," he added with a smile, "tell me, what have you found that you have enjoyed the most since arriving?" he asked before looking out at the crowd.

Easy enough, he thought. This was a question he didn't need to lie about at all. "I've enjoyed the food to be honest," he said, and that was all he was able to muster out at first, but the crowds small laughter made him want to keep going. To give them more to like about his interview, about him. "especially the sweets. Nobody in Twelve makes chocolate chip cooks or brownies like you do here in the Capitol."

Caesar laughed, "Of course, of course," he paused, "but surely there are people you miss back home?"

Sage sighed heavily, his eyes moving to the crowd to quickly scan for Haymitch and Marcel. But the lights were too bright, he couldn't see them. He was on his own...

"Of course," Sage replied, "I miss my sisters most of all."

The crowd aw'ed in response.

Caesar held a hand to his chest, "How sweet, and did they come see you after the reaping?"

     Sage felt his stomach drop to the floor, he hadn't don't much thinking about the reaping it self or his moments saying goodbye. He had focused on where he was, what he was doing— and what he thought Katniss and Prim were doing. Not what they had done.

Sage nodded, finding it a bit hard to even speak. He didn't want to talk about that, he didn't want to talk about them or saying goodbye to them...

"And what did you tell them?"

"That I would win," Sage said quickly, "I promised them I would actually."

      This earned a loud response from the crowd, and as Sage looked out— he couldn't see them clearly. But he could imagine them sitting back, whispering to one another with a hand on their chest as they told one another how sweet that was. And how unlikely it was too.

"And I promise, Caesar— I don't break promises." Sage said, hoping it would lighten the mood a little bit. Which it did, because there was a rumble of laughter from the crowd.

"I'm sure you don't," Caesar replied, the grin reappearing on his face. "are your sisters all you miss? You don't have a lovely lady back home?" he questioned, leaning against the arm of the chair with a curious look in his eyes. 

      Sage felt his heart begin to pound against his chest, his fingers gripped the soft material on the arms of his chair. And as Caesar finished his question— the crowd began to cheer. Was it really that interesting of a question? He attempted to find Haymitch one more time, but again, saw nothing— but he was however able to catch a glimpse of a few kids, a bit younger than him who all looked at the stage— at him eagerly waiting for him to answer...

"Is that really that important, Caesar?" he questioned, as soon as his words left his mouth he knew that it wasn't the right answer. So he quickly threw in, "Why can't we talk about the cookies again?"

The laugh he earned from the crowd and the loud sigh from Caesar was reassuring.

"Alright then," Caesar paused, "does she like cookies as well?"

"You aren't going to give it up, are you?"

Caesar shook his head before motioning to the crowd, "They are dying to know, Sage. You can't leave them wondering!"

Sage sighed heavily, he knew he'd hear all about this from Haymitch. "Yes, Caesar, I do have a— what did you call it?" his words earned the biggest applause from the crowd. He hoped that was a good thing, he hoped it was proving Haymitch wrong.

Caesar laughed, "a lovely lady."

"Well, she's just the loveliest." Sage said quickly, not giving the crowd enough time to quiet down.

"I knew that someone like you must have had someone," Caesar replied, "sometimes even more than one." he laughed, earning a laugh from the crowd to.

Was Sage supposed to laugh too?

"No, no," he said, forcing out a small chuckle. "just the one, promise."

This time Sage heard a loud awh from higher pitched voices from the crowd.

"By the sound of it, it's safe to say that you have many of our viewers seeing you as Panem's very own modern-day Prince Charming." Caesar said with a laugh, earning a roar of laugher from the crowd that Sage couldn't see. "So you don't break your promises." Caesar added, changing the subject.

Finally.

Sage smiled, "That's right, I don't."

"So how about this," Caesar began, sitting forward in his seat, and Sage mimicked his position. "if you promised your sisters that you would win, and you don't break your promises, right?"

Sage nodded, "Right,"

"Then I promise to have some very special sweets for you when I see you again." Caesar said, dramatically pointing a finger to Sage.

"I think that would be perfect." Sage replied, "I'll be looking forward to it." he added, smiling as Caesar reaches for Sage's hand has he stood.

Caesar shook Sage's hand once more, "Well then, best of luck to you, Sage." he said before moving his hand to Sage's shoulder and used his free hand to motion to the crowd. As if he was presenting him to them. "From District Twelve, Sage Everdeen, everyone!"

       The cheering and applause that Sage received as he offered a wave to the crowd— he knew he had locked in a place among the tributes. He could feel it now, he knew he had won at least some people over. And he had done it on his own, he hadn't done it with Haymitch's story.

As soon as Sage stepped off of the stage, he felt his shoulders slump as he let out a long huff of air. As if he had been holding his breath the whole time. Once the lights, the cameras, and all of the eyes were off of him he felt the knots in his stomach return— and on top of that, he could feel his palms began to sweat again. He thought he had done enough, said enough of the right things— but there was a small part of him who thought that maybe he should have done with Haymitch said.

"You did great," Cinna's voice snapped him out of his own head as Cinna emerged from further back stage and put an arm across his shoulders. "if you didn't get any sponsors from that..."

"You think it went good? That people liked me enough?" he asked as the two of them made their walk to the elevators.

Cinna looked at him and sighed, "Sage, they loved you."

AUTHORS NOTE;
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! This is probably one of my favorites so far. Be sure to let me know what you think!

Stay classy!

*edited*