Sugarcubes // Finnick Odair - Hunger Games Fanfic

XIII.

I lift my hand up to knock on the door, but before I can, the door swings open and Blight appears in front of me.

"You can come in," he says, waving me inside with a slight bow. I grin at the formalities and step inside, taking a seat at a table in the center of the room. He sits on the other side of me.

"Okay, so for the next half of the day, we are going to work on the actual content of your interview. I'm praying you'll be better at handling this that Austin." He says, sighing at the memory of the first half of the day.

"I told you; my charm is my biggest strength." I say, winking at him again. He doesn't seem amused this time, however, probably due to the fact that his breath lacks the distinct alcohol smell I've gotten so accustomed to smelling around him.

"Alright, I'll ask you a few questions, as Caesar, and you try to answer them in the best way possible. We'll talk about how you've answered them after you're done."

"Alright."

"Kendria, you volunteered. It's extremely unlikely for someone from the outer district to volunteer – especially a female tribute. Why did you do it?" He asks, putting on an artificial sense of poshness that makes me smile. I decide to play along.

"Well, Caesar," I say, watching his face slyly as he smiles, "To start, the girl that was called on stage – Johanna Mason, or Anna, as I like to call her – holds a really special place in my heart. She's thirteen, and I felt like I couldn't do that to her or her family. In any case, I would have volunteered regardless."

"Wow! You are an interesting case, Ms. Parstons. Tell us, will you, why you would've volunteered anyway."

"My mom and dad died when I was pretty young, obviously not together, but at pretty short intervals. And I was left alone, at the age of twelve to care for my two younger siblings; Danny, that is Daniel, and Lia. We were fine, with the help of tesserae and my day job, but then Danny fell sick and the only way I can help him is by getting Capitol doctors. The only way I can do that is by winning the games."

"Alright break. Remember, you are trying to capture the hearts of the Capitol. By highlighting that the districts don't have enough medical facilities, or that you're only in the games for the money, you're setting yourself up for failure. The reason that you volunteered is Johanna. That will show goodwill on your part, and that will be approved by both Snow, keeping you safe, and the Capitol, getting you sponsors. Get Caesar to talk about your family, which he most probably already will, and then you mention Danny. Don't talk about not being able to afford it. Say that the doctors in seven can't cure him. Blame that on the disease, not the expertise of the doctors."

"Wait, you want me to lie about this horrid place, make it seem like a prized place to live in, put all the blame for me coming into the games on Johanna – and make her feel supremely guilty when she watched the clippings and totally disregard Danny and his illness? Are you kidding?"

"It's the hunger games, Kendria, you can't expect fair play. You've got to spin your stories to make yourself seem more desirable – more relatable. As for the people back home, I think they would rather see you get home alive on some lies then anger people and go down in the games paying tribute to them! You've got to understand how to play it. It doesn't matter how skilled you are. Even the weakest tribute in this mix can win it if they play it the best."

"Milk the Capitol audience for all it's worth, essentially."

"Exactly!"

I look at him with suspicion. I don't like the idea of lying to everyone. I don't like the idea of Johanna taking the blame for me being in the hunger games – something which isn't true, but she'll think, nonetheless.