Secrets in Spotlight // Self Para
A pivotal moment was upon them. A moment more exciting than any promotion, more memorable than any dance held in the school gymnasium, and of such sheer importance that their lives hanging in the balance could be saved by the right phrase or look into the camera just because of it.
Gemma radiated preparedness, stationed to step on stage the moment Niko’s friend from District 5 was through with his interview.
Niko continually collapsed inward as he tried on the skin of a version of himself that cared.
The crowd loved her. Gemma basked in the acknowledgement that everything she’d done to impress had seemingly worked. The roar of the sitting audience was all she had dreamed about every night since their training scores were revealed. Their faces didn’t matter. She could replace them with whoever’s face she wanted. Her friends, her coworkers, her acquaintances from Six’s streets.
Seated across from Calix, the young girl elongated her spine and was terribly aware of the rapid drying of her gums as she tried to hold her smile.
“Gemma Raz, everyone!” the man yelled. “You and your district partner Niko have certainly captured the attention of the nation, though not in the way anyone expected! You two media moochers! Have you always been so outgoing?
She instinctively tried to pull at a piece of her hair that wasn’t hanging there at the moment. “I’m a bit of a go-getter,” she explained. “I was taught from a young age to go after everything I want and to never give up on it.”
“That much is clear!” the interviewer expressed. “And so what are you chasing after here? Victory? Do tell.”
Gemma wanted desperately to pause and consider an answer, but silence could be translated to doubt which in turn could result in ridicule. She could not allow for anyone to think she wasn’t certain of herself. Even if it meant lying or faking it without giving Niko a head’s up.
“Of course victory. Being here isn’t something I can say I wanted, but now that I’m here, I recognize all of the possibilities being a victor could provide. There’s change we could make in our home district, experiences to indulge in here, and opportunities I never thought could be so close in reach. Niko and I are eager to make those possibilities a reality.” Lovely, she thought, she was able to rope him in.
The interview continued without even a hint of a snag. Gemma laughed at Calix’s humor and gifted the audience every answer she imagined they wanted from her. She stressed loyalty and teamwork above all. That part was easy. Betraying Niko was a scenario she couldn’t fathom. The only constant of the arena playing in her mind was her best friend beside her. The brick that keep her grounded, the splash of water in the face when sparkles of delusion blinded her. She needed him.
“One last question for you, darling,” Calix said, causing the audience to fall silent. “What advice from your father are you taking into the arena with you?”
Gemma must’ve spoken about her dad much more than she had anticipated, either now or on the live steam from the day before. It was a good thing. She’d make them aware of a detail without even doing it on purpose.
“My father is simply jammed full of expertise,” she bragged on him. “He’s taught me dozens of things, but the most important one has to be his policy on people.” She paused to remember the first time she heard the words out of his mouth. It was such an impactful moment in her life, wisdom that she carried with her as often as she did a pen or her purse.
“Everyone has a purpose in life whether they want it or not. You can either be a stepping stool for others or the one climbing to the top. It’s always your choice.” Her own voice speaking sounded so much like his she shuddered.
“We hope you’ll reach those heights, Gemma. Everyone, the female tribute from district 6!” Calix applauded the girl as she exited the stage. Gemma, in what she could’ve sworn was slow motion, gave the camera one last longing look before she disappeared from view and came face-to-face with Niko.
“How did I do?” she asked whilst the rush of the interview faded off her face and was replaced with the look of analyzing every detail of the last five minutes.
“You want the truth or do you want me to lie?” Niko asked without staring back at her.
She smacked the boy a little harder than she normally would’ve, though being careful not to mess up the fuzz on his jacket sleeve. “Why are you like this?”
“People love you, Gemma,” he explained as though it were obvious. “Asking me if you did well is like asking if the sky is in Six is gray.”
The only had a few seconds of conversation before one was swept backstage for last minute photos and the other was given a countdown to his stage debut. Gemma gazed back. She simultaneously wished him luck, but hoped he wouldn’t do as well as she did. Selfish thinking that she wasn’t proud of.
He wanted to do better, but knew that was an impossible feat. People were shallow and liked public figures they could project themselves onto. They liked personalities like Gemma who would lie to them and be agreeable. Ever since his father had once told him not to move past the outer rim of their home, Niko had found ways to break expectations and move past where he was supposed to.
He didn’t even remember what the first few questions were. They all seemed generic and, again, shallow. Nothing he could answer with any sort of depth. Calix’s face looked like a clown’s, pulled back and held in-place with some sort of advanced make-up technique that he figured was supposed to look good. Niko spent more time visualizing what they’d do to him to make him more presentable.
What is your favorite thing about the Capitol so far? What skills do you plan to show-off in the arena? Who do you plan to work with?
His answers prior must’ve been short or lacking, but the longer the heat of the lights above made his neck sweat, the more he wanted off the stage. The role of calm and cool under pressure was getting so old despite being adjacent to his normal behavior. He itched to be rid of it. “Gemma, obviously,” he answered. “There are other tributes I’ve met, but most of them were psychopaths so,” he tailed off, pointing a thumb to where the others waited for their turns.
The audience reacted with shock as directed by the host, who had shifted gears entirely from his previous guest. “So Niko, we have to admit we did some digging on you. Scandalous, I know, but you should feel honored! Is it true that you aren’t originally from District Six? But instead from the savage wilds outside of Panem’s secure borders?”
The boy stared at the host with confusion. It wasn’t like his origin story was a secret, not when anyone who asked why he didn’t understand holidays or know how to behave in certain situations got an answer as to why. “Savage is one way of describing it, but yah. That’s where I’m from.”
“Meaning you aren’t really from anywhere, are you?” Calix was quite obviously fishing for a reaction and Niko wasn’t about to give him one.
“The wilds are a place,” he explained, eyes purposefully aimed into the camera instead of at Calix. “I was born there, grew up there. There’s more than just Panem, you know. Peacekeepers still do patrols there all the time.” It didn’t make sense to him why the government didn’t just claim the land outside of Panem’s borders as their own. Nobody owned it and they didn’t want anyone out there. To add it to part of the country made more sense than forbidding it outright.
Calix’s weird face stretched in a devilish manner. “Thank you for bringing me to my next and final point, Mr. Bello. As I mentioned, we dig some research into you and where you came from” Niko was quiet again, listening to Calix speak. What more was there? His parents lived with him in the wilds and they’d been separated when he was five. There was nothing more to tell.
“Peacekeepers in the year 109 did sweeps of the areas immediately outside our country’s borders, which is where they found your family, hiding from their responsibilities in Six. Your parent’s base was infiltrated and disbanded, while you were graciously taken back to Six to live a normal life.” Calix paused again for the audience to take in the information he was feeding them. Niko slouched in his chair, disinterested and frustrated that his interview was lasting longer than he planned.
“What you don’t know is that the peacekeeper task force assigned to that mission was stationed in District Six. Their captain? A man named Richard Raz. Gemma’s father!” Calix gasped, as did the rest of the audience before turning to each other in louder-than-appropriate conversation about the bomb dropped.
Niko’s breath was tight inside his chest with nowhere to go. His eyes fixated on Calix’s satisfied grin, he could’ve leaped out of his chair and attacked him if it weren’t for a miniature Gemma sitting on his shoulder. Gemma, the sole person in the world he trusted beyond lending a coin. He wanted to be alone with her. He wanted more truth than what was being said. Did she already know or were her insides stirring as much as his were?
“Thanks for the update, Calix,” Niko finally answered, decisively keeping his dignity. A meltdown or outrage wouldn’t be good for the image they’d built up, if there was even a they anymore. He wasn’t so sure now. It mostly depended on what Gemma thought of it all. He could almost hear her denying it already, but this was cold-hard fact. Blaming her for her father’s actions would be stupid, but it was exactly the kind of thing she would think he would do. “That’s five questions though, right? I’m out.”
He stood up and nodded to the audience, walking out as Calix hastily gave him away. If he had missed up his plans for ratings or highlight videos, good.
Somehow he wasn’t expecting Gemma to be the first person he came into contact with. Her eyes were watery and he immediately dismissed it. “Quit it,” he demanded of her sternly. “This doesn’t change anything. He didn’t even dig up anything good. What happened in the past has nothing to do with us.”
He said it with the upmost belief, but it was apparent in the way he didn’t gravitate towards her and in how her eyes didn’t glow like stars that something had indeed changed.
Gemma reached for him instead in a warm embrace partially blocked by the clothing they wore. “I could never hurt you, Niko,” she choked through tears.
“I know,” he replied, the hurt taking the place of shock as he wrapped his arms around her. “You wouldn’t.”
