Голодные игры
Chapter 9
AsCinnaturnsthedoorknob,Istophishand."Cinna."I’mcompletelyovercomewithstagefright.
"Remember,theyalreadyloveyou,"hesaysgently."Justbeyourself."
WemeetupwiththerestoftheDistrict12crowdattheelevator.Portiaandherganghavebeenhardatwork.Peetalooksstrikinginablacksuitwithflameaccents.Whilewelookwelltogether,it’sareliefnottobedressedidentically.HaymitchandEffieareallfanciedupfortheoccasion.IavoidHaymitch,butacceptEffie’scompliments.Effiecanbetiresomeandclueless,butshe’snotdestructivelikeHaymitch.
Whentheelevatoropens,theothertributesarebeinglineduptotakethestage.Alltwenty-fourofussitinabigarcthroughouttheinterviews.I’llbelast,orsecondtolastsincethegirltributeprecedestheboyfromeachdistrict.HowIwishIcouldbefirstandgetthewholethingoutoftheway!NowI’llhavetolistentohowwitty,funny,humble,fierce,andcharmingeverybodyelseisbeforeIgoup.Plus,theaudiencewillstarttogetbored,justastheGamemakersdid.AndIcan’texactlyshootanarrowintothecrowdtogettheirattention.
Rightbeforeweparadeontothestage,HaymitchcomesupbehindPeetaandmeandgrowls,"Remember,you’restillahappypair.Soactlikeit."
What?IthoughtweabandonedthatwhenPeetaaskedforseparatecoaching.ButIguessthatwasaprivate,notapublicthing.Anyway,there’snotmuchchanceforinteractionnow,aswewalksingle-filetoourseatsandtakeourplaces.
