Chapter 1: 75th Reaping

I tug at my blue dress as I wait on the podium with my six fellow Victors. I really don't know why I have to wear it, since as a Victor, I should no longer be in danger of being Reaped.

For this is a Quarter Quell year for the death match known as the Hunger Games. Ever quarter of a century, there is some twist to the fight to the death amongst the 12 districts of Panem that adds some spice. This time, childhood sweethearts will be Reaped as the tributes.

District 12 has not done too bad a job for itself over the years. Even if we are seen as one of the loser districts. In 75 years, we have had seven wins. One of them was the previous Quell. Another was last year. My win, alongside with my district partner, Peeta Mellark. I've never been alive to see a tribute of ours win, other than myself. District 12 outranks five others for number of victories, and ties two more. But it would be nice to actually witness a District 12 tribute come back alive…. other than myself. After the Dark Days speech, Mayor Undersee reads our names:

"The Victor of the 2nd Hunger Games: Anya Hart!" An 89-year-old woman shakily stands with the help of her colleagues. One of the very first Victors. It's a miracle that she's still alive. Most Victors don't live past their sixties, and those that do are treated with great respect.

"The Victor of the 13th Hunger Games: Duke Vedaldi!" Duke is in his late 70s, but still ruggedly handsome.

"The Victor of the 14th Hunger Games: Raab Ravenott!" Raab is only a year behind Duke, I think, which requires bringing up an interesting commonality between all five of our Victors: they all won at 16 years old. And Raab is probably the only one who has married, and broken what is known as the Victors' Code, forbidding attachments. He wed an old shoemaker's widow, after she lost both her children to the Games.

"The Victor of the 16th Hunger Games: Cassiope Fletch!" It is rumored that Cassiope - who has been alive as long as the Games have been in existence - married a kindly Peacekeeper many years back, but entirely in secret. Only a Toasting of bread - District 12's marriage tradition, and no official registry with the Justice Building. But these rumors have never been confirmed. The Teens - so, really, 60 years ago - were the heyday for District 12 wins. We almost got a Hat Trick, three in a row, but were denied by a loss in the 15th Games.

"The Victor of the 50th Hunger Games, or Second Quarter Quell: Haymitch Abernathy!" Haymitch is only 41 and a drunkard. Good for a laugh, as he sways whilst trying to stand.

"The Co-Victors of the 74th Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!" Huge cheers.

Our district escort, Effie Trinket, now bounds to the microphone to begin the Reaping.

"Lillian Everdeen!"

I nearly topple into Peeta in shock. I thought she was safe! The only sweetheart she ever had was her husband, and he's been dead for six years. So….. who else could she have been involved with? I feel like this Reaping has now become a huge invasion of my mother's own privacy.

"Steffan Mellark!" Oh. My. God.

My mother was involved with Peeta's dad?! I give Peeta a look, but I can't tell if he is surprised as I am to also see one of his own parents take the stage.

The tributes shake hands and are escorted into the Justice Building.

When you get to have as many Victors as District 12 does, not everyone has to go. So I am shocked when all six of my companions join me on the train.

We will be a motley crew for mentoring. Anya is far too old, has no business coming along. She is practically senile, and will likely be dead in a few years. But Duke looks after her well enough. Haymitch will drink till the liquor runs out, so he's largely useless, but Cassiope will keep him in check. And Raab? Raab is just there. To diffuse the tension; he's always good for a laugh.

Steffan and Peeta are talking in low whispers. I just give my mother a look of pure confusion. And hurt. Why would she feel the need to keep this from me? That there was anyone else other than my father? Her relationship with the Baker - the father of the man I am now essentially betrothed to - had to have occurred while she was still a Merchant - a schoolgirl's fling that didn't last.

Once we begin mentoring, we start to go in a Kumbaya circle, giving little bits of advice and often finishing each other's sentences. With seven people, it's going to be crowded.

"And the other districts, especially 5 and 7, will be looking to us," Duke warns. "We are the only non-Career district that ties them now."

"Because 5+7=12!" Haymitch crows drunkenly. We all stare at him.

And it gets even more crowded once we reach the Capitol.

The paparazzi are all over us, everyone dying to know how, with the unusual nature of the Quell twist, the names Mellark and Everdeen are in contention once again.

The Chariot Parade passes quickly, as it usually does, and we are soon in the penthouse suite. Training begins the next day, over three suns and moons.

With the twist, all of the tributes are past Reaping age, and there is quite the variety across generations for former sweethearts. Steffan and my mother, Lillian, do well over the three days, sticking to themselves out of familiarity and self-preservation. My mother pulls a 7, respectable score for someone who does not have a killer's bone in her body. Peeta's dad actually beats her, at an 8.

Cassiope and I train my mother for the interviews. Anya joins us, but falls asleep and stays asleep in a chair. I honestly wonder why we brought the old woman. Surely, Steffan against four rambunctious guys, one of them his own son, will be lively.

That fourth night is the interview session with Caesar Flickerman. The moment my mother takes the stage, Caesar asks her, "We're dying to know! These Everdeens must be really susceptible to those Mellark men! What kind of relationship did you have with Steffan?"

Mother bites her lip and refuses to look at me. "We were childhood friends growing up, and our families were really close. But... after I met Katniss's father... we drew apart."

"Can you kill him when the time comes? Steffan?"

Mother answers honestly. "No, Caesar. I'm a Healer, not a killer."

Then it's Steffan's turn. He largely gives the same response as Mother regarding their long-ago relationship, even down to refusing to kill her if it came to it. It really is a sick twist on the part of the Capitol. But if sweethearts can't bring themselves to murder each other, it could blow up in the Capitol's face.

Peeta holds me in his arms tightly that night.