Juliana Carnelian

## Bio

Juliana lived a typical privileged life in District One. Her family were middle class by the District’s standards, so while she wasn’t spoiled beyond belief like some of her classmates, she also never had to worry about where she was going to sleep or what she would eat. She got most of the clothes and gifts she wanted at her birthday.

She was never the most popular girl, preferring to spend her free time out back in her family’s garden. She learned most of what she knew about gardening from her father, who had a green thumb, though his official job was as foreman in one of the mines. He taught her all about plant life, and she appreciated it not just for the beauty of the flowers and vines that crept up the garden walls, but for the power of plants. They started as a seed and bloomed into something entirely different. It was like creating magic.

When she turned 18, she got into university in the Capitol to study botany. She spent a few years there, her parents managing to pay for it while she worked a bit on the side at a greenhouse to earn spending money. In the Capitol, she realized that she didn’t really fit in, and when she graduated, instead of staying where she was, she came home to District 1. She became a private gardener for a Victor who wanted their mansion to have as fine a garden as any in the Capitol. The work was good, it used her mind and body, and she felt happy.

Then she met Octavius. He was kind, at first, a friend of the family she worked for, a trainee at the Career Academy, chosen to volunteer for the 132nd Games, which were fast approaching. He spoke about it all the time, hanging around the garden while she worked, following her around. He was funny, though, had a good sense of humor, and while she wasn’t interested in him romantically, she was glad to have a friend.

A month before the Reaping where he was to volunteer and take his glory, as he considered it, they were hanging out in Juliana’s apartment, watching some vapid Capitol show. He kissed her, and when she pushed him away, he became angry, yelling at her about leading him on. She made him leave, but he began to follow her everywhere. She couldn’t avoid him, he was her shadow, and it became increasingly threatening, turning to see him out of the corner of her eye everywhere she went. He told her that he’d have her, that he’d wear her down no matter what, that she’d have to say yes to him. He said she had no power, no choice, she was a nobody in the District and she should be glad to be with him. And soon, he said, he’d be a Victor, and he’d have all the power and money he could want. That terrified her — what he might be able to do, if that were to happen.

The evening before the Reaping, out of fear, frustration, anger, and some wild thing, she used some herbs from her own garden, mixing them together into a drink to form a concoction that, while it wouldn’t kill him, it would knock him out for quite awhile.

Long enough to miss the Reaping, anyway.

Long enough for her to steal his chance at glory, to show him up, to show him that she was the powerful one.

She watches the Games with vague interest, but has never felt like she connected with them. She’s never cared too much about the dramas that play out on the screen, which is probably what leads her to be as cocky as she is going into it, so sure that she can win.

Juliana can be off-putting and rude, which is why she’s never been particularly popular. Her language is that of growing things and dirt, not of people and words.

When seeing her off, bewildered and confused, her father pressed a packet of seeds into her hand to take with her. This was confiscated immediately by a Peacekeeper, so Juliana has no token.

(+) Honest, Loyal, Courageous

(-) Blunt, Rash, Tactless