THE DAY OF THE 74th REAPING.

When they call her name, I think I'm the only one in the crowd who can see the immediate reaction on her face is terror. But knowing better, being from Disrict 1, she ascends the steps of our gilded Justice Building with grace and feigned determination. She doesn't allow the several girls who raise their hands to volunteer as tribute take her place. No one ever allows it. Once your name has been selected, if you give up your chance to enter the Games, you'll never live a good life in our district. Your parents will probably cast you off and you'll be sent the Capital, to become a member of Snow's personal army of high-class clientele. They use District 2 for Peacekeepers and they use District 1 for sex.

I'm thinking about how much money a girl like Glimmer would go for in the Capital when my name is called. It takes a moment for this to register so I don't even react until I notice literally everyone is staring at me now. Unlike Glimmer, I'm able to mask my emotions even towards those who know me best, so I smile as I join the blonde girl on the stage. I swear she's shaking.

Unlike the water works that I've seen televised from the other Districts, we treat the games like a celebration. When your son or daughter is selected, it's an honor and you're given a tremendous amount of attention and well-meaning jealousy. As our Mayor reads the crowd the Treaty, my gaze is sweeping over the entire population of our District. My father is looking up towards me, with such pride that it makes me uncomfortable, but my mother's expression is placid but I know she is upset. Weak, I think. I easily spy Glimmer's family next. Her mother and father look so pleased with their daughter, it's almost sickening. I look for her older sister, the one who was reaped last year and refused her position. I remember though, she's in the Capital now, pleasing some oddly made-up dignitary no doubt. District 1's curse for being bred to have the best-looking children ever since the Dark Days.

I look to my side to see Glimmer, trying to see if she's broken down yet. She'll break eventually, tears and sobs but if she's smart she'll hold it in until we're sent to the train. If she's smart, she'll do it when no one is there to watch. The Tribute viewed as the weakest will get no sponsors and no training from the Mentor and is as good as dead to their fellow District 1 Tribute. Sorry, beautiful.

She surprises me though, because she's tilted up her chin and is looking over the crowd, who has started cheering us again, with such an air of supremacy I actually feel the need to step up my own game.

In other Districts, I understand that when the Tributes are about to leave, they're put in rooms so that their family and friends may visit them. We are simply visited by our teams, the ones who have been training us for the Games ever since we were old enough to be taught sadism and the desire to kill another being (which in District 1 is age 3). Our parents get to see us briefly before we are loaded on to the train.

Glimmer and I are ushered into the same elaborate room because coincidentally the same team as trained us for our whole lives. That's why I could so easily read her expression on her face when her name was called, it's the same one I've been the cause of so many times before in training.

Our handlers have always admired her more than me, though. Even if she was squeamish, giggled, made jokes, and cried more than any other girl in our facility, they loved her. It was easy to, I guess. She was beautiful with her silky blonde hair that she always wore down, even on the hottest training days. Her eyes were a shade of green that made you doubt whether they were real or not. And even when wielding a deadly knife, she had a grace that was hard to not notice.

But Glimmer is weak and our trainers know it but they don't want her to die painfully so it's her they spend more time prepping and congratulating. I sit next to her and listen, not particularly bothered by the lack of attention because I know it means they think I can easily win. I don't get annoyed until one of our trainers whispers to me after a hug to "help her." They should be sent to the Capital for a comment like that, but I ignore it. Pathetic.

We finally get to the platform and our families are waiting. My father grips me tightly by shoulder, willing me to win, daring me to lose without words. My mother is trying to contain tears and I give her a hug, though I'm embarrassed for her. My younger siblings cling to me but they're excited more than anything, mostly because they don't have a fully developed concept of death. They keep you from gaining that as long as they can here.

Glimmer's mother is far more composed, pressing a single kiss to her daughter's cheek. Her father is ruffling Glimmer's hair and telling her to make them proud. "You've been such a joy to raise" I hear him say because I think he knows she probably isn't coming back. But no one is allowed to say that, or even to wish anyone luck. We're not supposed to need it.

It's not until we're on the train that Glimmer and I finally acknowledge each other. We're sitting in a plush cabin of the train, awaiting our mentor and Capital handler when she turns to me and speaks. The effortless purr of her voice appeals to me when she addresses me and I turn to look at her.

"Marvel," she begins, blinking her heavily lashed eyes at me. "You're going to win."

"Probably," is all I reply with.

A/N: ;) It's gonna get feisty and angry and hot because they're hot.