So this is the first thing that I've written that I've put up on here so I'd really love to hear some feedback! I hope you enjoy reading this and I guess we'll see where it goes!

Not entirely sure how I'll do this yet but I'm considering splitting the POV between Annie and Finnick

Also, as I'm British I hope I don't annoy any readers with the way a very few of the words are spelt but that's how we're taught over here

Dislaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games trilogy or any of the characters unless they are of my own creation.

It feels like an eternity of silence as Ariadna Renoyd plunges her hand into the glass bowl that holds the security of the future of every girl but one in District 4 aged between twelve and eighteen.

My eyes fall to the ground fixing on my feet, memorising the exact shade of brown my new shoes are. They are really pretty, a present from my mother and I remember the happiness I felt when presented with them. Presents are expensive and a rarity especially in my family that has so many mouths to feed and so little income and so I greatly treasure such a gift.

I keep this in mind as I try not to think about how many times my name is now in that bowl at age seventeen, or how many times Kate's name is in it by her forth reaping or even Sam who I would not allow to take out a tesserae as this is only his first reaping and we will get by without the added risk of him being swept away at twelve. It has been necessary for Kate and I to put our names in more times for the tesserae as there are five of us to be provided for and it has been six years since father did not come home from sea.

I do not have to be a mathematical genius to know that as opposed to many of my friends the odds are not in my favour.

I grit my teeth and take to repeating my mantra over and over in my head while waiting for Ariadna to seal the almost inevitable death of one of us.

Please don't let it be me, please don't let it be Kate, please don't let it be me, please don't let it be Kate. Oh God please don't let it be someone I care about...

A clear voice cuts through the air like a knife.

"Annie Cresta."

I remember, when Kate and I were younger our father took us up the sand dunes, to where a make shift slide had been made hollowed out of the sand and made from old plastic. It is one of those secret places that have been there for years but only certain people are fortunate enough to find. This slide runs from the top of a very steep sand hill right down to the shoreline, my father used to go there with his brothers and I think that's why Kate and I are tougher than the average girls of our district. Our father had wanted to raise boys and in the past few years we've had to grow up very quickly. When I slid down the 'dune slide' for the first time it felt as if I'd left my stomach at the top of the slope as I flew towards the sea.

This is how I feel now as my head shoots up and I gape at the stage, certain there's been a mistake. My stomach has dropped to the ground and my whole body suddenly feels very cold. People are beginning to part in front of me but I remain rooted to the spot. It has suddenly hit me how wrong this is. I'm meant to grow up, marry someone, have children, walk along the beach at sunset, have my own home and grow old.

I am meant to grow old.

Now I am dead at 17.

I look around at the girls, who are now moving away from me as if I carry an infectious disease, my eyes pleading with them. These are girls I've known for years, some are my friends but now no one wants to meet my eye. It hits me that this is really happening and there's no way out.

"Miss Cresta?"

Ariadna is looking at me questionably, beaming as if she's just given me the best news not a death sentence.

I nod numbly and feel my feet carry me forward shakily reaching the stage and standing next to her just in front of this year's mentors. I wipe my palms on my dress and look down at the crowd, almost immediately meeting Kate's gaze. She is close enough that I can see the tears streaming down her face; I feel a shock run through me because we were raised to be stronger than this, Kate and I. I can feel an unfamiliar stinging behind my own eyes at the sight of her anguish and at the thought of the anguish that my mother and brothers will be feeling now.

Suddenly anger courses through me. It is the Capitol that has put me here; it is the Capitol that is causing my family to lose another member. I resolve this very moment that it is the Capitol that will not gain the satisfaction of seeing me break.

I swallow and raise my head looking over the crowd, toward the horizon where I know the waves are cashing down on the shore and the sun reflects on the water causing it to sparkle and shimmer as if a thousand diamonds are somehow floating on the surface. I am not sure if I look defiant or simply dazed.

The male victor is chosen next and I have barely enough time to pray for Sam's safety before our escort's rich capitol accent announces that Alex Oliver, a confident looking 16 year old I vaguely recognise from the fish market has been chosen.

Relief pours over me that no one I care about has been chosen before immediately being replaced by guilt because Alex has a family too. Alex has people that love him who will be looking on in horror and Alex is a person whose life has suddenly just veered off course because everyone knows that only one person makes it out of the Hunger Games alive.

There are twenty four tributes; you don't have to be a math genius to know that the odds are not in the favour of 23 of us.

I am dragged out of my thoughts abruptly by the clearing of a throat to my left, I turn to see previous victor and now mentor Finnick Odair shooting me an amused look and raising his eyebrows at something beyond me. Following the direction of his gaze I feel my face warm up as I realise that Alex has his hand outstretched to me clearly waiting for me to shake it and everyone else is staring expectantly.

I immediately shake his hand feeling embarrassed with no way of telling how long everyone had been waiting for me, a few more words from Ariadna, then it is over and we are being led into the justice building.