The 59th Hunger Games
Chapter 1
I look in our shattered, dusty mirror and grimace. "How could anyone love this?" I mutter to myself while combing my shoulder-length, black hair.
Today was the day of the reaping and also my birthday. It is my last year, and then I would be free from the games. "It's my birthday, I know I wont be picked." I think to myself while standing up and walking to out cramped closet. I rummage through some possible clothing options to wear to my final reaping. Blue dress, no, I wore that last year. Pink dress with polka dots, no, I'll fee like a child wearing that. Is there nothing I can wear!? I slump next to the wall and something shiny catches my eye.
"I haven't seen this dress in such a long time!" I say pulling it out. It's a gold dress with crystals sewn into it almost forming a heart. I will look stunning wearing this; no one will want me to go if I do get picked.
"Come on, Ciara, hurry up. You don't want to be late!" my older sister, Tasha hollers from the lower level of our house.
"Yeah, Tasha, I'm coming." I run down the stairs and sit on a stool so her and my mother can fiddle with my hair and makeup.
"Ciara, you aren't wearing that, are you? It was my old one, and I got picked for the games." My sister says out of breath.
"That's true, but someone luckily volunteered for you." I nod my head, signaling them to start.
My mom sighs and starts putting on mascara. My sister soon starts to tug on my matted hair and I pull back, getting mascara poked right inside my eye. Tears brim from my face and eventually fall onto my stunning dress. Mom and Tasha don't notice a thing.
We get the square and I huddle close to the other 18 year olds. I look around at the square, since we are one of the richer districts; the square is filled with decorations and polished to perfection.
As usual I prepare for the snore-fest. I pretend to listen inventively but start to drift off into the audience. I see my mom and sister standing with bored expressions on their face, as am I.
A loud bang wakes me from thinking of nothing and I jump.
"Ladies and gentlemen, now it's time to pick the lucky tributes who get to go to the 59th Hunger Games." Says the overly ecstatic lady named, Desiree Flames. Just like her last name, her skin is a fiery red with random splashes of orange and yellow thrown in. Her hair is a light blue/ green colour and does not match her skin tone at all. I have to say, she is one of the ugliest Capitol ladies I've even seen watching the games. "Alright, let's start." She steps up to the shiny, pink bowl at the front of the stage (the girls bowl) and puts her hands in. She takes a long time, as if picking the name with the most beautiful presence. After a long hush from the audience, her voice booms from the loud speakers circling around the square. "Ciara Malcom." Damn this cursed dress.
My hands go from, shaking to rock-solid. The closer I get to the stage, my fists release. No tears are seen or heard of from me. I will be okay, as long I have easy opponents, I will be fine. I wait to see if anyone will volunteer for me and no one does. I tilt my head upward and smile into the crowd and search for my mom and sister. I finally spot them through the many thousands of people and see them breaking into tears. I still don't cry, until I hear the male tribute.
"Stone Riviera."
My fiancée.
Happy Birthday Ciara.
Finally, the tears start to come and I don't care if I will be an easy target, I can't compete against him. He walks up and sees me crying. I collapse into his arms and he tries to stop the tears.
"Ciara, you can't cry, we-we'll find a way out of this." His voice doesn't sound very convincing and even he knows, either one of us comes home, or neither. I wait to see if anyone will volunteer for him, but like me, no one does.
"Come on people! You all know we're engaged, don't make us fight each other!" I think that until the peacekeepers make way to the stage and escort us to the justice building.
My tears quickly stop but it's too late, I'm as dead as a dog. Tasha walks in and so does mom. Mom crouches by my feet and Tasha sits next to me on the giant plush couch. "You're going to try right sweetie?" my mom says slightly broken. Her eyes are all puffy and red, I haven't seen like this since the peacekeepers "took care" of my dad.
"You are coming home little sis. I know you will." Tasha says with faith in her eyes. I push away tears that are forming when the peacekeepers tell them to leave.
I give them one last hug and watch them leave. The next two people that come in are my second family, Stone's parents, Flinton and Othili Riviera. Their eyes are red and puffy just like my mom's. "Ciara, I know this is going to be tough, but, Stone wanted us to tell you something." His dad pauses and continues, "Stone said, he will protect you, the entire time, put his life before yours and stay by your side until the end of the games." He starts to choke up and somehow find a way to continue. He clasps my hand and blurts out, "even though we're not officially your in-laws yet, but I want to give you this, to remember all of us. I was going to give this to Stone but, he declined."
It was a gold chain with a silver locket attached. Inside, on the small printed pictures, one was of Stone and his family and the other was me and my family. This was one of the most expensive things you could buy in the district as a keep safe. I bite my lip and take it from his loose grasp. The peacekeepers come in and lug them out of the room. "Good-bye, I love you guys." I whisper so they can't hear.
No one else comes to say final goodbyes and I'm off. We board the train and get ready to eat. We're really close to the Capitol so we don't have much time to socialize before the crowds of 'rainbow people' cheer our names and applaud.
I look all over for Stone and find him at the corner of the train huddled up in a ball. I have to admit, I do feel guilty for allowing him to do this for me. I sit next to him and rest my head on his big, broad shoulder. "What's the matter sweetie?" I say calmly knowing his temper problem.
"What's the matter!? We have to go out and fight to the death. I'll never see you again, after the games, my life will be over and in hell where I'll be, and I won't be able to save you from any other danger." He stands up and kicks the red plush wall.
"Stone, you're going to live." I say not accepting his response.
"If I win, I won't have a future, I'll sit at home and watch the re-runs of me messing up and getting you killed. You have a future, you're the only one who can tolerate my madness, people will try everything they can to avoid me."
"Wait, Stone, that's perfect! If you have a really bad anger problem before and after the games, people will avoid us and we'll win."
"As smart as that sounds, you still said "we'll win", only one can win, and that'll be you." he admits solemnly.
My head sinks down because I know it's true. I look up of an idea but drop it back down and slump to the floor. "Can't anyone save us?" I plead.
"No one can, we're just going to have to face the un-fun side of life, that's all." His eyes reach my gaze and he smiles, "Sweetie, we're careers, and no one can touch us."