Pieces in the game. (The Hunger Games)

Chapter 6: The aftermath and The Plan.

Lilly's POV.
The Training Centre has a tower designed exclusively for the tributes and their teams. This will be our home until the actual Games begin. Each district has an entire floor. You simply step into an elevator and press the number of your district. Easy enough to remember. I have only ever ridden in an elevator once, yesterday in the Justice Building so I could say my final goodbyes to my family and friends. But that elevator was a dark and creaky thing that moves like a snail and smells of sour milk. The walls of this elevator are made of crystal so that you can watch the people on the ground floor shrink to ants as you shoot up in the air. It's exhilarating and I'm tempted to ask Effie if we can ride it again, but somehow that seems childish. Apparently, Effie's duties did not conclude at the station. She and Haymitch will be overseeing us right into the arena. In a way that's a plus, because at least she can be counted on to corral us around to places on time, whereas we haven't seen Haymitch since he agreed to help us on the train. Probably passed out somewhere. Effie, on the other hand, seems to be flying high. We're the first team she's ever chaperoned that made a splash in the opening ceremonies. She's complimentary about not just our costumes but how we conduct ourselves. And, to hear her tell it, Effie knows everyone who's anyone in the Capitol and has been talking us up all day. I see Katniss slide closer to me and I know she wants to know about the boy from 2, I have to tell her the plan tonight. "I've been very mysterious though," I tune back into Effie and see she's looking at us, her eyes squinted half shut. "Because, of course, Haymitch hasn't bothered to tell me your strategies. But I've done my best with what I had to work with. How Lilly and Gale sacrificed themselves for family, how Katniss has to deal between possibly losing her love and losing her sister. How you've all successfully struggled to overcome the barbarism of your district". Barbarism? I raise my eyebrows when she says that. It really is an ironic concept coming from a woman helping to prepare us for slaughter. And what's she basing our success on? Our table manners?

"Everyone has their reservations, naturally. You being from the coal district. But I said, and this was very clever of me, I said, 'Well if you put enough pressure on coal it turns to pearls!'" Effie beams at Suso brilliantly that we have no choice but to respond enthusiastically to her cleverness, even though I clearly heard Gale and Peeta mutter "Diamonds" under their breath. They are right, Effie not so much. "Unfortunately, I can't seal the sponsor deals for you. Only Haymitch can do that," says Effie grimly. "But don't worry, I'll get him to the table at gunpoint if necessary". I smile softly at her. Although lacking in many departments, Effie has a certain determination that I have to admire. Then Effie shows us to our rooms and tells us to get ready for dinner. I turn and enter the room and stop just inside the closed doors. My quarters are larger than our entire house back home. They are plush, like the train car, but also have many automatic gadgets that I'm sure I won't have time to press all the buttons. The shower alone has a panel with more than a hundred options you can choose, regulation water temperature,pressure, soaps, shampoos, scents, oils and massaging sponges. When you step out on a mat, heaters come on that blow-dry your body. Instead of struggling with the knots in my wet hair, I merely place my hand on s box that sends a current through my scalp, untangling, parting and drying my hair almost instantly. It floats down around my shoulders in a glossy curtain. I programme the wardrobe for an outfit to my taste. A simple blue shirt with black trousers and white shoes.