Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.
This was supposed to be my year. The year I brought glory and riches to my district. But District 12 ruined it all.
I was supposed to wow the crowds during the chariot parade. They were supposed to cheer my name. I had waited to hear them my entire life. "Adair! Adair!" And District 12 ruined it all.
I was supposed to impress the gamemakers with my skills. My archery skills were better than any of the other Careers. They earned me a nine. But District 12 just HAD to get an eleven.
I was supposed to mesmerize the crowd with my sob story during my interview. How my parents were killed in a fire, how my sister and I were given to the orphanage by my perfectly healthy grandmother, how we were adopted by people who treated us like slaves. But the boy from District 12 just HAD to confess his love.
I was supposed to be the brutal girl from 4, the one who wasn't afraid to get her hands bloody, like Ms. Shimmery Idiot Glimmer, the ditz from District 1. Instead, Clove makes three kills during the bloodbath (including my District partner, who was dead weight) and I make only one. I can't challenge her or anything, because Cato would kill me. Those two had chemistry that I didn't want to mess with.
That was supposed to be me, the one who spotted her in that small pond. Instead, I was pushed to the back of the pack by Lover Boy. When Glimmer missed Fire Girl with that arrow, I just stood there and fumed silently. I wouldn't have missed her, that bow was put in the cornucopia for me. But Glimmer claimed it, even though she has no archery skills whatsoever, so I had to make do with a spear.
I didn't bother asking for a try. The others would just look at me like I was crazy. So instead, I helped make camp, trying to ignore the humiliation that was creeping up on me. I was the only one of the pack who stayed up besides Lover Boy, but he doesn't count, he only got in because the girl from his district's apparently a big threat to the saftey of the Career pack. He just stared up at Fire Girl's sleeping form. I was the only one who caught the bird child in the tree next to her, the one who pointed out the nest.
I should have waken the others up, but Cato would kill me if I did. So instead, I ignored her and eventually fell asleep. Big mistake.
The nest was dropped onto us. "To the lake!" I scream, swatting the tracker jackers around me. I run off into the woods, a few feet behind Marvel. I hear Glimmer fall in the clearing now far behind me, screaming. Marvel turns around, ready to go back to help her, but he sees my head shaking. He steels his nerve and nods, then starts running again. I trip over a log.
"Marvel!" I scream. He turns around again. I reach out my hand for him to help me. I'm sorry, he mouths. My eyes widen as I realize what he means. He grimaces, then runs off. So much for my so-called allies. I feel two stings on my neck, then three through the legs of my pants. The world turns purple and sea-green. The trees around me grow hair alarmingly fast. As the wasps engulf me, I realize that maybe it wasn't supposed to be me after all.