Chapter One
I stare off into space as my teacher talks about how she got her new coat, she does this quite often and we don't learn much at all. The reapings are tomorrow and the evening is approaching too fast for my liking, school hours are done in a few minutes and we're already packing our stuff to go home. Pearl, a friend of mine walks towards me with her arms open. We hug for a moment and then I stop the hug and she smiles the way she does when he passes by.
"Kendall Collingwood" Adrian says with a grin, he's the only one in our year that has red hair and blue eyes with freckles, he's tall and built, a lot of girls like him, I don't understand it though, theres nothing special about him other than hair "and Pearl"
"Hey" she says lightly and I laugh under my breath, Adrian and I have been best friends ever since we were in the same swimming class in year 3 so its natural that he didn't come to talk to me at schoolwhen he can come knocking at my door so I wink at pearl and him and run off my stomach tightening when i think of the reapings again.
Once I get home I grab a cup and drink water that my mother got for us while I was at school and sit down on a chair near by. What if i do get chosen for the games? What are my chances of winning if i do get picked, who else would be picked? Would anyone I know get picked? Would my brother get picked? My sister? I decide to put these thoughts out of my head, there isn't any point of thinking I can't do anything about it. My Father walks in a smile on his face, like always and looks at me before walking away to go see my mother in her kitchen where she'll be doing our supper, after that my sister who is 8, will have her swimming lessons, my brother 14, will be learning how to perfect fishing with a trident and i, 15 will learn how to drive a boat. I don't want to work in the water despite of the fact that my mother, my dad and some of my instructors want me to it takes you away from your family and friends. Not many people choose the jobs for those reasons.
My mother finishes supper late so we can't go to our lessons but its a good meal and we enjoy each others company, everynes trying hard to laugh and smile because tomorrow both me and my brother or (practically impossible) both could go to our possible death.
Soon enough, me and my siblings are told to go up to our rooms for bed but i could tell one of them did something to anger the other, a fight was coming. We all knew it, we just never mentioned it in case we would be punished or yelled at. My parents never see each other, they married young and since then they still love each other more than any other parents i have ever met but they also argue a lot more. I walk up to me and my sisters room and look back where they are standing smiling like nothings wrong until were in our rooms for bed and then hell starts, its never anything violent, it also doesn't start right away so I lay down my head in hopes of not hearing their argument but its too late. I look at my sisters bed where she's sound asleep before she could know about any of this and feel relief, she's too young to worry about that. While drifting off to sleep i think I hear sobs from downstairs but I'm far too tired to do anything so i just relax.
Im standing in front of all of district 4, I look down at my hands and recognize them as my own but with a blue undertone like the capital people. Trying to make sense of it all i turn around but i can't control myself as if I'm not in my own body, I or whoever i am in walks over to Finnick Odair and hugs him, Mags and Annie Cresswell. I must be in our own escourt, Coco Potter and that means I'm going to pick out the two tributes for the 70th annual hunger games. I turn around to see the kids and I find my own face, looking at Coco with fear yet sadness for the one that does get picked, I then search the crowd for my brother who is standing one row behind me since he's only a year younger than I am. He doesn't even look up, he only searches for our mothers eyes as if to say goodbye. I stop looking at him and worrying and hold out my hand to a peacekeeper for the bowl of the girls and pull out the name of a girl I've never met before. My heart only starts racing when i reach into the boys bowl and lift out the paper. I can't control what I'm doing so i feel the paper open and i read the words. Mybrother my brother. I then feel myself cough and start saying the name
"Glade Collingwood".
I wake up screaming and my sister is sitting by me trying to comfort me, its quite cute actually. I smile and hug her, "what happened?" I whisper and she looks worried and answers "You were crying and screaming. I thought something was going on, did you have a nightmare" she acts so old for her age, its not okay, she should be innocent and not worried. Oblivious to the problems but instead she's aware and exposed to them, i sigh and shake my head so she gets up and falls back asleep. After a few moments the thought creeps into my mind, what if it means something.. what if he gets picked and before I can reassure myself the world goes black.