Chapter 21

"My god! What the hell did you do to your hair?" her stylist screeched. Blake was trying to hide her smile.

"This won't do, the capital is expecting you to enter through the pod with long beautiful hair. Why do you have to make my job so difficult?" The purple haired lady complained.

"Why do the games have to be so difficult?" the brunette smirked. The gal sighed. She fiddled with Blake's short uneven hair for a while, then came up with an idea.

"Your top hair is long enough to tie back, but your lower hair. Hmm, we'll just have it half up, half down. Then, I'll just trim it so it's even" the Purple lady grabbed a hair tie and a brush. She pulled back part of Blake's hair. Then lifted her ponytail, she started cutting off all of the dead ends and uneven parts. The lady took over fifteen minutes perfecting it.

"What is your name?" Blake asks. The stylist was stunned by her question.

"You finally ask something about me, wow. I was beginning to think you were one of those tributes that doesn't get to know anyone so they don't hurt others. I'm Fuschia, I've been styling district 4 tributes for 2 years now." Blake smiled at her comment about her.

"I was that tribute, but now I think it's worth knowing some people" Blake relaxed from her tense state.

"Well, I'm glad you're no longer a heartless monster. Now, next time if I style you, do not, and I mean do not cut your hair without my permission. Understand?" Fuschia scolded. Blake nodded her head. Her hair was finally perfected to Fuschia's standards. Blake didn't recognize herself in the mirror. It was like she was staring at a horrified child.

"If you don't survive, I'll make sure to put all of your dresses on display at my boutique" She smiled at me through the mirror. Blake turned to face her.

"Then some other capital brat will wear it!" Blake frowned.

"Then survive so a capital brat doesn't get it, you can buy it from me!" Fuschia squealed with excitement. Blake rolled her eyes. Fuschia gave her a hug, then kissed her forehead.

"I wish you had stopped the 'heartless monster' act so we could have known each other better" Fuschia whispered in her ear.

"Me too," Blake sighed as she let go of her stylist. The mustard lady entered the room, surprised.

"What have you done to your hair?" the lady ran over and started panicking.

"I don't want to be what the capital wants me to be. I want to be Blake Grey the entire time. Not the Blake Grey that Caesar Flickerman was jealous of. Or the long haired brunette that had all of the women jealous. I want to be me." The mustard lady looked at her confused.

"Enough of this nonsense, off we go to the plane!" the lady strutted out of the room. Blake glances back at her stylist, laughing hysterically. She knew the lady was jealous, Fuschia was one of the only citizens in the capital that understood her. Blake waved goodbye and followed the escort out of the tribute center. A humongous plane was on a platform. It must be taking them to the arena. She sat in one of the seats on the plane. She sat in between Xyla and Jaxx, with Koland across from her. Koland stares at Blake weirdly. He then sent her a nod, and she did the same. A dark lady came around injecting all of the tributes with something in their arm.

"What is that?" Xyla asks cautiously.

"A tracker, so we don't lose you in the arena." The lady then moved onto Blake.

"Give me your arm." She grips Blake's hand with her nails. Blake scrunches up her face. She hated the feeling of the woman's nails in her bare skin. The lady injects Blake with the tracker, then moves onto Jaxx. Blake sighs in her seat. She notices other tributes staring at her strangely. Eloi finally pops the question.

"What happened to your hair, Blake?" Eloi smirks, hoping to embarrass Blake.

"I cut it, isn't it obvious? I can give you the same one as me when we enter the arena" Blake smirks back. Eloi adjusts himself in his seat, he starts to feel uncomfortable. Adele smiles at Blake.

"I like it, it looks good on you. Eloi, let's just give you a little trim when we get there. Just a little off the top of your head." Adele mimics her hands to be scissors and pretends to cut his hair off the top of his head. A couple of the younger tributes laugh as Eloi slaps Adele's hand. Everyone went silent, then a man spoke.

Guys, I just want to let you know. If I kill you, it's nothing personal. You guys are all great, but we're just playing the game we were born for" Lalo let out a small smile and sat down. It left all of the tributes speechless, no one was willing to kill the other. They had all grown close, now it was the most difficult part, saying goodbye to the people they knew. No one would ever be the same after the cannon goes off. The plane landed, everyone was escorted by a peacekeeper to their pod rooms. Blake entered hers, she saw her blonde friend standing in front of her. The door shut from behind, making her look back.

"I thought I should say goodbye before you left, I didn't know what your game plan was. I hope you make the wisest choices in there." He gave Blake a tight hug. Electricity shot through her body, tears were streaming slowly down her face. Finnick pulled away and wiped them off her cheeks.

"You'll be just fine. You will survive, I won't let anything happen to you" Finnick grabbed a jacket from a hanger, he gave it to Blake for her to put on.

"I overheard a peacekeeper saying It's a desert. They might only have one water source. Get there, and grab as much water as you can. I will see if I can persuade some of the citizens."

"Thank you," Blake spoke softly. The jacket fit tightly to her body, making her feel secure. Blake for some reason felt like she needed to do something. Her body and heart were yearning for it. She grabbed Finnick's face and pulled his lips to hers. She felt the same electricity as before, but stronger. Finnick grabbed her waist, kissing her passionately back. She could feel his tears on her nose. Blake pulled away, wiping off the fluids on her face.

"20 seconds remaining" A monotone voice on a speaker spoke.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. This makes the situation so much worse. Pretend that it didn't happen." Blake turned away from him and entered the pod with regret. Finnick grabbed her hand and spun her around to face him.

"I promised your brother's that you would come back home alive. Promise me that you'll fight?" he begged, she stared at his hands, then back at him.

"10 seconds remaining."

"I won't make a promise that I might not be able to keep." She let go of his hands, and entered the pod. The doors closed in on her, trapping Blake in a claustrophobic tube. She could see Finnick through the glass pod. His eyes were bright sea green, she hated to see him cry. Blake shouldn't have kissed him, now it makes the situation even more tragic. Finnick wanted to scream, he couldn't believe it was actually happening, the girl he fell for was leaving him. He placed his hand on the glass, she did the same. Their hands became unaligned as the platform moved her up the tube. She soon couldn't see him. Blake's heart dropped, she was terrified. This could be her death. She didn't want to die. She wanted to go home! Her whole body was shaking as she stood up. The pod had finally stopped moving. She could see a whole desert, a deserted land of nothingness. 23 other tributes surrounded the tumbleweed looking cornucopia. To her left was a boy named Iken from district 10. To her right was the young boy named Tylan that she met at lunch. Blake tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ears, getting her legs ready to pounce towards the cornucopia.