I set the wardrobe settings to what I would be comfortable with. I took a quick bath that completely rid of the makeup that I thought would take about half an hour to remove. The hot air that came from the shower wasn’t unpleasant. It made me dry in seconds, and my hair was perfectly styled and had a bounce to it.

I wanted to keep my angelic look progressive, so I chose one of the flowing dresses in a light color that had resembled my dress from the reaping. The bracelet that my father made was still on my wrist. Alta had not asked me to remove it when she saw it while I was dressing earlier. In fact, she even commended my father’s handiwork. That made me like her better, I think.

Alta and Beagan were at the dinner table, along with Lolly, Aldo and Mari. I took my seat next to Xavier, who had washed off the light makeup that they had also applied to his face and body earlier.

“What I told all the people that kept asking about you two was that you were talented in fighting, despite those pretty faces,” Lolly turned at me, “especially yours, Serena! Everyone couldn’t stop asking me about the beautiful girl from 4!” She then turned to our mentors, who were listening attentively as Lolly spoke. “I know your strategy for Xavier was to exemplify him as a strong man despite the disadvantage of his age. And I know that you want to keep Serena beautiful, which would mislead them from figuring out that she is actually a real contender. The sponsors have such a weakness for beauty that her additional skills would only be an addition.”

Beautiful. I couldn’t believe that so many people found me so. With all the makeup and glamorous clothes, I probably did seem exceptionally attractive, especially with the other scrawny tributes that looked frightened. Now, I was just plain and exhausted. It had been a long day.

The television switched on and the parade was replayed. There were commentators talking about possible contenders this early in the Games. They did not ignore the obvious Careers, who looked stunning and powerful.

I watched awkwardly as the camera closed up on my face as I smiled and seemed like I was having the time of my life. Aldo nodded approvingly.

They even displayed my little display of reassurance towards Xavier. Mari said, “Very good. At least they know that you care about each other. There’s a little bit of affection. Audiences love that, and not just cold-blooded killers.”

Xavier didn’t bother to try to get along. It seemed that all his effort to seem pleasant had been exhausted. He gave a small smile of recognition to show that he understood, but he remained silent for the rest of the show.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll be heading to bed now,” he said, standing up.

Mari called to him. “Don’t forget. It’s the first day of training tomorrow.”

He disappeared into the hallway. That meant that all the attention would be towards me for the rest of the time that I was at the table.

“So…” Aldo said, and I knew what he was going to say before he even said it. He was my brother, and he had spent a few years fending off boys from me already, “…about this boy from District 2 then.”

“What about him?” I asked feeling amused. He was trying not to be too obvious with his concern, since he was also my mentor and he had to think strategy and not just his own conflicting overprotective tendencies as my brother.

“What’s up with the kissing?” Mari said, being the forward one between the two of them. She had less of a problem with it. “Is there something to gain from it?”

“My image as the beautiful, desirable tribute from District 4 will not go to waste, when an equally desirable tribute like Slate is interested,” I said, although that wasn’t really what I planned. It was just a little bit of fun before going into the arena, but I doubted that me saying that would have responses of approval. What I said just came from the top of my head, but it seemed to make sense. “He was the one who started the flirting, so I just went along. If he ends up believing it, then even better for me.”

“It makes sense, if you think past the initial attachment that this may lead to,” Alta said, defending me. “I say that she keeps doing this. I even encourage a little slips of indiscretion, like them sneaking off somewhere or tapes of them talking. It will give the crowd something to talk about.”

Mari nodded. “We can even collaborate with the mentors from 2 to make a plan.” She turned to Aldo to get his insight. “It’ll be very good publicity. They’ll want to keep the two of them alive in the arena to see what would end up happening. Would he protect her in the arena, or will they end up turning on each other after they realize that they will never work out?”

“I didn’t say I liked him, Aldo,” I pointed out. “I’m merely suggesting that it’s something unusual. Have you ever heard of two tributes getting together when both of them know that it won’t end well? They just couldn’t resist. We’re even from different districts, and Career tributes at that.”

I could imagine Slate and his mentors arguing this same exact topic right now. I wondered what his countenance toward me would be tomorrow. Their strategies would be decided tonight, and whether this thing, whatever it was, could produce to be advantageous for both districts.

“You might as well have a little fun before you start killing people.” Aldo managed a smile. He understood me better than anyone in this room. He knew that Slate would just be someone who I would use to take out my nerves. He would be a very good distraction. I had a few admirers back home, after all. I just never had the nerve to tell any one of them that I wasn’t interested in being involved with someone when I was still eligible for the reaping.

I had been planning to find someone for me and allow myself to open up when the time came when the Hunger Games was well behind me.

Obviously, that didn’t happen.

I’ve had only kisses with two other boys. Well, three if I counted Caleb suddenly kissing me when he visited me. Those two boys had been sweet and caring. My first kiss had been when I was fourteen. He had been a tribute the same year. Suffice it to say that he didn’t come back home to me. I don’t think it would be smart to tell that in the interviews though, considering I was now starting this issue with Slate.

That was how I decided that I wouldn’t divulge in this silly game of romance until I decided that I could take it seriously. I gave in to the second boy when I was sixteen, so it was just last year. We tried it out for a few months, because I genuinely did like him and he was relentless in his pursuit of me. I eventually gave in, but came out of my little bout of happiness after I went back to my initial decision to wait until I was out of the eligible candidates for the Hunger Games.

Say what you will about people from District 4, but nobody can deny that the people there were not shy about their feelings. They were charming and easy to love. This was why it was easy to act like I loved every moment as the Capitol citizens cheered for me.

“Go ahead and get some rest, Serena. You’ll be up early tomorrow,” Aldo said, dismissing me.