Effie Trinket was quite sure she was cut out for a job in government. She was very good at smiling, after all, and making other people smile, which seemed to be the point of the Capitol. Sure, she had heard that the government was a bit more sneaky, but she could be sneaky. She'd lied plenty before, and people believed her. So, when she applied for a government position, she was quite sure that the tests would come back saying that her aptitude was unparalleled, and she would have an incredible job. Maybe she would delegate. She didn't think delegating was very hard, and it sounded very important.

However, she quickly found herself placed at the bottom of the totem pole, drawing the names of the children in District 12 who would compete in the Hunger Games. There were advantages, obviously. She only had to work once a year. She got to be on television. The other districts could be quite terrifying too, with their competitive volunteering process. District 12 always went so quickly and quietly when she watched the broadcast, so she assumed her job would be fairly boring. Make a few announcements, explain a few behind-the-scenes procedures, and be bored, bored, bored.

She wasn't bored, though. She was horrified.

No one had told her that there would be a boy and girl sobbing in her train. The tributes on television were always so brave, but these were scared children. The thought struck her to the core, that she was really looking at children - the same age she had been when she had started choosing her favorite boy out of her parade of suitors. That these children were so afraid to die, that they weren't eager for the chance. She raced away that first game - the seventieth Hunger Games. She hid in her train car and in her room and she cried a lot. She could barely bring herself to watch the broadcast, though the smiling part was easy. She was quite used to smiling no matter how she felt - it was a very important trait in the Capitol.

The next year - the seventy first Hunger Games - she managed to stay with them longer, and noticed Haymitch wasn't doing his job. She spent that year coaxing him, asking him politely to put down his liquor, asking him to be more polite to the people in the Capitol to help the children in the ring get sponsors. "Smile!" she told him, putting on her own winning smile. Her teeth were a lovely, friendly shade of blue that year to make her smile more encouraging. It didn't matter. Haymitch tossed back his drink and glared at her.

"They're dead," he told her, reaching for yet another bottle. "They're already dead."

Soon, the seventy second Hunger Games had arrived. She was far more insistent this year. She ordered all the liquor be removed from the train, but it backfired. Haymitch was screaming and shaking, and a Capitol doctor explaind that Haymitch had to drink, had to have some level of alcohol in him. He would do all these scary things if she took away the alcohol, because it had messed with his brain so thoroughly. The doctor said that it would happen for weeks. So Effie gave up and tried to do Haymitch's job for him, as sneakily as she could telling others in the Capitol how charming the children were in District 12. She was told if she continued to influence the audience in her tributes' favor, she would be fired.

So, for the seventy third Hunger Games, Effie looked at the two children, crying and shaking in her train, and she smiled at them warmly, gesturing to the food.

"All for you," she said. They dug in before the tears had dried on their face, and she sat across from them. "Use your table manners. No one will sponsor a slob. And be sure to tell me what you like! You know, I can get you more of anything at this table. Anything you've ever heard of, as much as you want. For the next few days, you can have absolutely anything. All the food, all the clothes, absolutely any material you can imagine can be in yours. Just ask me."

The girl sucked a finger clean and reached for her fork, eyes wide. "My mom, she said that one time her dad had saved up for her birthday. She didn't have brothers or sisters or anything then. Well, she said she got a strawberry covered in chocolate. I've never had chocolate or strawberries. Can I have one of those? Either of 'em. I don't mind. Just one. Just one before…"

Effie's throat tightened, but her smile never moved. "Of course. You can have more than one. You can eat until you burst."

"Oh, that'll help them," Haymitch snorted. "Using a fork and chocolate strawberries. That'll get them out alive."

She said nothing. She brought the girl chocolate strawberries. She brought the boy every kind of meat the Capitol, surrounded by little bowls of dipping sauces for him to try. The girl begged for exotic things, things she'd read about in the few books her school's library had to offer, and Effie brought them all - even ones the girl had never heard of before. She learned that the girl's name was Maggie, and the boy was Steven. She let Maggie have her make-up kit. She taught Steven how the shower could be a tub, and showed him how to fill it with bubbles and set the water frothing.

Effie was quite cut out for a job in government. After all, she was very good at smiling and making other people smile.