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Aislin leaves the room to give me privacy while I put on the outfit. Once I'm done, I head to the mirror to see just how bad it is. Horrible. It is absolutely horrible. I feel completely exposed in these clothes but there is nothing I can do. I place a hand over my bare stomach and another over my partially exposed chest. The low cut plaid shirt makes me feel half naked. And I almost am! Oh, if my father could see me I would be dead. Suddenly, I realize he will see me. When we ride through the Capitol on those horses, he will see me on tv. My cheeks turn read as I imagine the reaction my family and Archer will have. Am I really able to stand that much embarrassment?
Now that I am dressed, my prep team comes in to do my hair and makeup. They have been ordered to do natural colors for the makeup except for the lips which are to be a bold pinkish red. Brodlyn and Narsisco must force my hands off my body to paint the nails the same color as my lips. With my stomach now exposed, I notice how unflattering it looks. My ribs are very easy to spot since I've gone hungry most of my life. Starlin seems to notice as well.
"You would look so much better if you gained a few pounds." she says, patting my stomach. "I swear, you district kids always seem so skinny. It's not fair!"
I must bite my tongue to refrain from snapping at them. No, it's not fair for us to starve and barely weigh anything while they stuff their faces and get fat. Not fair indeed. I try to tell myself they don't know any better, because they don't, but it doesn't help much. After they've done the final touches and put my hair into two pigtails, which look really stupid, the trio leaves the room with Aislin coming in soon after.
I stand before the mirror again, hands covering my sickly small stomach, while Aislin looks over my prep team's work.
"I see they've followed instructions." she says as she circles me slowly. "Very nice."
Though her words make it sound as though she is pleased, I can see a faint hint of sadness in her eyes. The same feeling I get wearing this outfit. Aislin stops behind me and catches my eye in the mirror.
"What do you think?" she asks.
"Honestly?"
She nods slowly, putting her hands behind her back.
"I hate it." I blurt, throwing manners out the window.
To my surprise, a smile breaks out on Aislin's face.
"Me too," she says.
Confused, I tilt my head at her reflection in the mirror and ask, "Then why design it?"
"I didn't," Aislin admits, hitting me with another surprise. "What me and Ryder's designer, Thayer, designed was completely different. But, as you probably don't know, all of our clothing designs for the tributes must first be run by the game makers and they thought these outfits-" She gestures to my cowgirl clothes. "would make things more... interesting and catch the eye of Capitol citizens."
I raise my eyebrows, unable to believe the little tail.
"What did you want to dress us in originally?" I ask out of curiosity.
"Well," Aislin sighs. "Long ago before the games and the districts and Panem, there was an activity young girls and boys could take up. Horseback riding. They would compete in events like racing and jumping. The outfits the young girls would wear were very elegant and modest. Centuries before that, they would wear magnificent dresses! Can you believe that? They had to ride sidesaddle of course but still... absolutely lovely."
Aislin's eyes glaze over as she stares off, picturing the outfits in her mind. She finally shakes her head and comes back to earth.
"Anyway," she continues. "Thayer and I were planning to have you and Ryder wear something similar to the more modern riding uniforms. They were marvelous, if I do say so myself, but they obviously did not impress the gamemakers and the designs were turned down. That's when we were ordered to go with this angle. And I must admit, I absolutely despise it."
I want to comfort Aislin, for she seems so upset by the whole ordeal, but I don't know what to do. So, I stand there, staring at myself in the mirror with eyes full of hatred. It was the gamemakers that had done it then. They had swooped in and made it so things were worse for me. It seems they are very good at that sort of thing. I want desperately to get back at them, but how? Was there a way to shove it back in their faces?
"Aislin!" I say, startling her a bit. "Did you ever actually make the outfits you had designed originally?"
When she nods, I smile and say. "Well, I guess Ryder and I are going to be changing again."
Her face brightens at my words. A large, white-toothed smile spreads across her face and she claps her hands together excitedly.
"I'll run and get the outfits!" she squeals, rushing out of the room.
I've changed my mind. I really like my stylist.

Name: Reba Vazquez
Age: 12
Gender:Female
District:#8

I wanted out. I knew that as soon I was on the train, watching my district get farther and farther away. I was still wearing the back and red shirt with the cream coloured skirt that I had worn at the reaping. I look at the mirror in my room. I like the outfit even less now that I see myself in it. This was simply awful. The Capitol was going to force me to kill people while letting the rest of the world see it. This felt like a major invasion of privacy. Suddenly, I didn't feel so good. I was going to puke for sure. There was a bathroom just down the hall and I made it just in time. I walked swiftly back to my room and shut the door. Out of habit I looked at the dresser and found it bare, unlike the one at home. My dresser had a picture of my father sitting on it. He died when I was 9 so I could still easily remember him. What would he think if he had been alive to see me chosen at the reaping? Maybe he had seen me though. He was in Heaven after all and weren't you supposed to look down at loved ones from Heaven? I thought about the process of The Hunger Games and worried when I thought about the horse ride up to the president's mansion.

I look out the window and find that it's a lot easier to stare at what's passing by than think about what's to come. I thought back to my goodbyes. 9 year old Aaron had come in and told me to win because I was his favourite sister. I laughed. I couldn't stop myself. Aaron of course didn't realize at that time that I was his only sister but I had understood what he had meant all the same. I looked around the room. My prep team hadn't arrived yet but I didn't mind. I didn't need someone to force me into clothes that I helped make and then shove me off like some prized turkey at a fair. I didn't need someone to look me up and down like there was something wrong with me. The longer my prep team took, the longer I would wait before meeting my stylist. It seemed like a good time to try and get some sleep. The room felt so unknown to me and I longed to be home again. I was so wound up in myself that I couldn't even remember what boy had been reaped with me. I closed my eyes and forgot about The Hunger Games for a few glorious hours.