RACHEL POV
I woke up that morning thinking that it was just a regular day. I'll go hunting with Noah just like every other day. Then it hit me. It was the day of the reaping. Every year, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts go to the Hunger Games, and basically kill each other for the Capitol's amusement. My little sister, Beth, is crying as my mom braids her hair. I understand why she is scared. Now that she is twelve, her name is going into the pot, too. But her name is only in there once. Since I am sixteen, I should have four, but you can have your name put in more in exchange for food. My name is in there thirty seven times, and Noah is in forty eight. But since Noah is eighteen, this will be the last year that his name will be in. Next year he will go to work in the mines. I slipped out of our house, and went on the familiar path to the woods. We aren't really allowed into the woods, hence the electric fence, but it's never on anyways. No one really cares in district twelve. I walked into the woods, and saw Noah there. I smiled as I thought about how we met five years ago in the woods, and have been inseparable since. "Hey Noah." I say to him. "Hey Rachel." He smiles at me. We start walking around the woods, and we both stop at the same time. We saw a deer walking around. In a flash, it has an arrow in its neck and one in its stomach. Noah and I shot at the same time. The deer falls dead, and we go to pick it up. "So." Noah says. "How are we going to get this thing through the Hob?" Uh oh. The Hob is where we trade food, and since the people of district twelve are the poorest, they would go crazy if they saw us carrying a deer. But we have to go through there to get to the butchers. "I have no idea." I admitted. Noah carries it to the gate, and we stop. "I can run ahead while you fight them off." Noah offers. "I guess we have no other choice." I said. But when we walk through, it's empty. And the butcher isn't home. And the clock says... Noon. "The reaping!" I cry. "We're late!" We run to the valley, where they do the reaping every year, but Noah stops to put the deer in his house. We run to the valley, to find that they haven't even started yet. Noah runs off to the boys, and I run to hold Beth's hand. "You're name is only in there once, Beth. You won't get picked." I whisper. Our announcer, Sue Sylvester, smiles at everyone with her horribly fake smile. "Hello, everyone!" She says, still smiling. "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor." As usual, she bounds up to the boxes, and I leave Beth's side to stand with the other sixteen year olds. "Ladies first!" She puts her hand in, and I look down. "Beth Berry?" I froze in my place. "Is Beth here?" I stared at her shivering as she begins to walk to the stage. No. She can't. "BETH! NO!" I yelled. Everyone stared at me as I pushed through the crowd and ran to her. "I VOLUNTEER!" I yelled, and everyone froze. I pulled Beth behind me, to shield her from the peacekeepers who were trying to take her. "I volunteer as tribute." I said, loud enough for everyone to hear me. "Rachel, no." Beth whispers. "I'm so sorry, Beth." I whispered as they took me up to the stage and led Beth back to our mom. "Well." Sue says. "Usually we wait until later to ask for tributes, but that's okay. Now for the boys..." We stare at the crowd, silent. A few started at first, then more, and now everyone. They put three fingers to their lips, and then to me. Farewell, friend. Sue moves on to the boys. "Let us welcome to the stage... Finn Hudson." I stared as he walked up to the stage. I saw his mom, the baker of district twelve, sobbing with a few other parents. I didn't really know Finn. He always hung out with the kids from the town. "Shake hands." Sue tells us. We do, and when Finn smiles at me, my insides melt. "Now then." She says. "Come along now, children." We followed her off the stage, and into a room where we will have final goodbyes. Everyone gets no more than seven minutes. Quinn, the mayors daughter, comes in first. "Rachel!" She cried, hugging me. It's shocking at first, since Quinn and I were never best friends, but I hug her back. "You're going to win." She says. "You will. I know it." I smiled at her. "You get to wear one thing from your district." She said. "Will you wear this?" She hands me a pin with a star. a golden star. I took it from her and pinned it onto my shirt. "Of course, Quinn." She hugs me again, and walks out. My mom and Beth come in next. Beth runs to me crying. "You're going to win, right Rachel?" She asks. "For you, anything, Beth." I turned to my mom. You can't leave again, mom." I said. "Not like with dad. You have to be strong." She just nodded and hugged me. The soldiers march them out, and Noah runs in next. "Get your hands on a bow." He told me. "They don't have one, make one. You can do this, Ray." I hugged him. "No matter what happens, don't let them starve." I cried. "No way." Noah said, and he gets drug out. Then I'm taken to the train. I saw Finn, but I didn't talk to him. Why should I? "Children, this is your male mentor, William Schuester." An old man, probably 30, entered the train compartment. "So, you two are this years tributes." He said. "I'll be helping both of you, but working a bit more personally with Finn." He shook our hands. "Rachel, your female mentor, Emma Pillsbury." A redhead walked in. She looked the same age as Will. "Rachel, it will be my pleasure to work with you." Pleasure? It will be a pleasure to prepare me to die? Whatever. I smile a bit. She does seem pretty sweet. "Well." Sue says. "We should leave our two tributes to get to know each other, shall we?" She leads Will and Emma out, and Finn and I are alone. "So," Finn says. "How did Noah take your volunteering?" "He knew I would do it." I say. "He just wished that I didn't have to. But, we all do. Don't we?" He smiles at me. "I guess that if it were... if it were Rye then I would have volunteered. I'm just relieved that he didn't." I knew that Finn is an only child, so who is Rye? "Ryder Lynn. He's like my little brother. He's only thirteen." Oh. I barely give him a smile before Sue comes back, and I run into one of the bedrooms, and don't come out until I'm forced to, and I'm silent until we reach the Capitol.