It's the day of the reaping and everyone in district eleven is getting ready. God, I hope I don't get chosen. I hope Thresh doesn't get chosen. Please, anybody but Thresh.
Nobody knows except his grandmother about me and Thresh. We've been dating for a while. Dating would actually be something different than what we are doing. We're practically married. I sleep at his house and he sleeps at mine. We could pass for a married couple.
I put my long wavy, black hair in a bun and secure the loose strands around my face and I pull on my green dress. It's a little big, but it was my sisters who… Who died in the hunger games last year. I push that memorie away before it makes me collapse. I straighten up and look in the mirror at my piercing blue and brown eyes. That's what I'm known for. The girl with the two different colored eyes. One is blue and one is brown. Thresh thinks that's my best feature.
I walk outside and look at my shoes and then I feel someone's chin on my shoulder. I turn my head and see those dark brown eyes stare into mine and a small smile creeps across my lips. Thresh smiles and hugs me by my waist. I look into his eyes and I collapse to the floor. Those eyes, are like the eyes that killed my sister.
I stand and brush off my dress. I sometimes get flashbacks of my sister from Thresh's eyes. They are exact same color. My sister was beheaded last year by a boy from district eight. Her last words, were directly at the camera saying "I'm sorry…" I know those words were directed towards me.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to cause…." He trials off and I shake my head and lean in to kiss him. He grabs my waist and I put my hands on his neck. His hands tangle into my hair and my hands go directly to his back. I pull back gasping for breath and I giggle. He smiles and grabs my hand.
I look up at him and brace myself for what's about to come. "Please… Please don't get chosen. Promise me you won't." He sighs.
"You know I can't control it.. You kno-"
"No. Promise me." I look into his eyes.
"God damn, your beautiful."
"Thank you but don't change the subject."
"I won't. I promise." He looks at me and I still know it's not in his power to get chosen. I kiss him and he grabs my hand and pulls me towards the center square. When we get near he pulls me into an alley. He grabs my shoulders and looks at me in my eyes, and kisses me.
It's a kiss that can make all of the world end. Fire was going through my heart, then cooled by water. He pulled back and looked me in the eye again.
"Whatever happens. If either of us get chosen, promise me one of us will win."
"I promise." I reply. He kisses me softly on the lips and we start towards the centersquare. When we get their we break into our groups. Me in the seventeen year old section and Thresh in the seventeen year old section in the boys group.
Then a woman in bright green hair, that falls lightly over her eyes, walks up the stage, panting slightly as she straigtens the buttons on her straining suit. Its unable to fit over her large belly which makes her look pregnant. Maybe she is.
"Hello Ladies and gentlemen of District Eleven. It is my honor to be here with you today, to choose one boy, and one gal to be chosen to fight to the death for all of Panem to see!" She drones on and on, and all I did was stare at Thresh.
His name is in the ball thirty three times. Mine only seven. He put his name in to get me Tesserae when my mother fell ill. She still is Ill. Barely moving, only when she needs to use the bathroom. Finally I see our escort dip her hand into the ball and pull out a perfectly straight card. I brace myself, knowing that, that paper could contain my name.
"Rue DeJhonson!" Calls the escort. Everyone sucks in a breath and I hear many start to weap. Rue is only twelve with many young sibilings. I feel bad for her, but I know I have been spared. I see three little kids cling to Rue but she kisses their head and walks towards the stage. I start to tear because that is what my sister did to me, before she died.
I brace myself for the next name to be called praying that it's not Thresh. She dips her hand in and picks out a slip. She opens it and clears her throat.
"Thresh Harkley!" She calls loudly. Before I can register anything, I just see stars and my eyes find Thresh walking up to the stage. I start to run towards him but a peacekeeper holds me back.
"THRESH! THRESH!" I call. He looks over at me and nods, and the peacekeepers shove me back in the crowd. The escort continues her little speech and then she ushers Thresh and Rue off to the main building for visitors.
I sprint towards the visitors area and I see his grandmother enter and I am next in line. Every person gets an hour in the room to say goodbye, and I know this will be the hardest hour of my life. After sitting and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, his grandmother comes out with tears and gives me a hug.
I open the door and see him sitting on the couch with his head between his knees. He looks up and sees me and I see tears in his eyes. I run towards him and he scoops me in his arms. He quietly starts to sob and by this time I'm absolutely bawling.
"You… You have… To win…" I say gasping for breath.
"I will for you. So when I come back, we… We'll have a house and be rich… And we will get married… And… And have a family…" He says as more tears stream down his cheek.
I lean in and kiss him. Soft and tenderly, and he kisses back. His hands slide down my back and mine go into his hair. His hands work up to my shoulders and he pulls away.
"I will win."
"I know you will. Just, please, please try." He shifts and pulls me on his lap and he's stroking my hair.
"If I don't make it… Take care of Grandma." He says.
"You will make it. Don't think like that."
"I won't, and don't worry." He adds.
"Shouldn't I be the one to comfort you? You're going to the games. I should be comforting you." I say starting to get up.
"No, stay please." He whispers and I look up and see him biting his lips and sobs start to make him shake. I stand him up and wipe the tears off of his cheeks. I kiss his cheeks knowing I only have a little more time left.
"Thresh, if you go I go." I whisper to him. He looks down at me and smiles slightly.
"If I die, I don't want you to end your life."
"You know I have nothing else to live for. If you go I go." The peacekeepers come in and tell me it's time to leave. I go to kiss him one last time and hug him. The peacekeepers grab my arms and pull me out.
"If you go I go!" I shout.
"I love you!" He shouts back right as the door slams. The drop me on the bench and Thresh's grandmother walks to me. She pulls me into a hug and we both start to bawl. The peacekeepers after a while shoo us out of the building and we go to see Thresh off.
We're surrounded by cameras and people to see Thresh and Rue off. Thresh stands on the platform and waves at me and mouths "I love you two." He points at us and then he's pulled inside and the train starts to leave. We watch it till the train has left eye sight.
I start to walk home and Thresh's grandma went to her house. I finally get to the shabby place I call home. Old wood makes the structure and a very old door to enter. I open the door with a creek and I see the small fridge and stove and two tiny couches and Television sitting next to the stairs.
I go up the stairs and pass my room with the small dresser and double bed and walk into my mothers room. I see IVS hooked to her arms and the breathing tube up her nose. She looks at me and smiles.
"You… Didn't…. Get chosen…" She sais weazily.
"Nope, I can stay and help you." I say as tears instantly flood my eyes.
"Who… Did…?" She looks at me and I have a feeling that she already knows the answer to that question.
"R… Rue and…. Thresh," I burst into tears at the bottom of her bed and I collapse and I hear the bed start to creek.
"Don't… Get up. I'm… Fine," I go to her bed and push her lightly back down and she stays down. She tries to say something but then she falls asleep from the exertion.
My mother is very, very weak unable to do almost anything. I go to my room, knowing she will be asleep for hours. I strip down and get into my underclothes and get into my bed. I sob silently for the whole night, wishing that this was all a dream. But its not. This is reality.
When I fall asleep a memorie comes to me in my dreams. It's of me and Thresh, the promise we made last year, during the last reaping when my sister got chosen.
"It's okay Taylora. It's going to be fine. She'll win, she will." I knew that he was trying to comfort me. I knew that she would try her hardest, and I knew that he was trying to help.
He wrapped his arms around me and let me cry into his shirt for hours. Finally when my eyes seemed to have no more tears left he pulled back and looked me in the eyes.
"I love you. You may not feel the same way but, I really, really love you. So much, you mean the world to me. I love you so, so much." When he says this I lean in and kiss him. This was our first kiss, and I loved it. Slowly and tenderly he kissed me.
"I've loved you since the day we became friends," I whisper. "I never knew how to say it, because I never thought you felt the same."
"I always have," He replies as he kisses me.
"If you go, I go." I whisper.
"What?"
"I mean, if you ever die somehow, I will end my life to see you again."
"No, you will not end your life for me." He says seriously.
"I have no other reason to live. My brothers are dead, my mother is dying, my dad is also dead, and my sister is in the hunger games. You're the only reason I'm living now. The only reason I get up in the morning. Just so I can see you." I say. I start to tear and he knows I would do it.
"If you go, I go." I whisper.
"If you go, I go." He replies, as he leans in to kiss me.