I wake to the sound of someone knocking on the back door of the bakery; most likely the person my father gets all of these squirrels from. I stretch out before realizing in six hours the reaping will begin. I have to take my mind off the thought that if I am chosen; I may die in the months to come. These thoughts force me get out of bed and throw myself into work in the bakery. I bake two trays of bread making sure not to burn them or the reaping will be the least of my worries, I'll be more scared of my mother. The last time I burnt bread was when I was twelve years old. I had to take it out to the pigs, then I saw her, she looked a mess but I couldn't take my eyes off of how beautiful she was. It was raining and she looked like she'd been crying for a while so I throw the burnt bread to the floor at her feet and closed the door making sure I didn't make a fool of myself. That girl was Katniss Everdeen. Even now, four years on, I still can't look away. I've been in love with her since I was five years old. She doesn't even know I exist, especially because she always preoccupied with her boyfriend Gale Hawthorne. Well I think he's her boyfriend, how they look at one another and are always together. Rage suddenly pulses through me. I begin to mix icing for the cakes that are cooling next to me, so I don't throw anything at the wall.
When the bread is cooked perfectly I lay it down in the tin trying to ignore the burn I acquired from the hot metal. Icing the cakes is my favorite part of work in the bakery, lines turning into shapes that weave around overlapping into beautiful patterns and designs. It calms my nerves having to use so much detail, so I'm relaxed by the time I force myself to get ready. My mother heats a bowl of water for me to use to wash; the water soothes my aching arms and the fresh burn mark that covers my right palm. I clean the rest of my body and look at shirt and trousers laid out on my bed, it was my fathers. I put on the shirt and tuck it in to my trousers. I look smart; everyone needs to look their best for the reaping because it is consumed by the whole of Panem, all Twelve Districts and the Capitol is forced to watch it – not like the capitol needs to be forced. A boy and a girl from all twelve of the districts are reaped, and taken to the Capitol to prepare for the Hunger Games. Twenty-four teenagers prepare to fight to the death until only one is left. Families are to watch their own children, brothers and sisters dying, when there helpless to it all. The Capitol's sick way of making sure the districts don't rebel like they did in the dark days.
"Peeta," my mother says as she makes an entrance into the cramped room. "Hurry up and get out here your brothers are hungry and you need to eat before the reaping!" Strangely she didn't have a tone in her voice; it was like she was forcing herself to try to say something to me without raising her voice.
"I'm ready now and just coming out," I tell her while exiting the room.
When I get to the room where the rest of my family are, they are all around the small dinner table in the center of a room.
"Do I look okay, for the reaping?" I ask cautiously.
"You look fine Peeta, just sit down and eat." Says mother from behind me.
"Is this really just for the reaping or is it for her," Roman gestures toward the door with a smirk.
"Oh, you mean Katniss. Katniss Everdeen?" Kai grinned highfiving his brother.
I sit down at the table ignoring their comments about Katniss, even though they had a point. Today if we get through the reaping I'll tell her how I feel, I promised myself quickly before doubting the likelihood of that. I look down at the food it front of me and push it around the plate with my fork before giving up altogether. My stomach is in knots, but in not sure whether that's because they brought up Katniss or because of the reapings.
The minutes tick by as I wait for one o'clock to appear. It feels like no time at all and were already saying goodbye while I'm hoping I'll be home for dinner. I hug them all and give them half a smile before leaving to the square. I take a step out of the door and take a deep breath, air and coal dust fills my lungs and makes me choke. I splutter before finally getting over it and walking towards the seam to look for the girl of my dreams. I was going to talk to her. To wish her luck in the reapings, but as I near her house my legs freeze. I can't speak to her she won't even remember me. Why do I even try anymore? I'll just walk away like I do every single time. My head falls to look at my feet; I turn around and walk away trying to pretend I wasn't there.
I pace myself to the square trying not to get there too fast so I couldn't take more of the reapings in than I needed to. I was about to get in the huddle with all of the other boys my ages as I do every year when I see a boy no older that twelve maybe it was his first reaping. I take four steps until I'm in front of him.
"Hello, are you okay?" I ask him. I can see him shaking in front of me he was as white as a ghost.
"No! What if they pull my name out of that bowl? I can't be in the Hunger Games I'd be the first one they go after." His voice was trembling and he tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Don't worry your names only in there once some people have there's in there over 50 times because of tesserae, so try not to panic." I try to comfort him; this became progressively harder as he weeps I act like it doesn't bother me even though it was what I was doing on the inside.
"I'll made you a deal, if we both make it thought this we'll meet here after so that I can show you that it's nothing to worry about." I say. He looks me straight in the eyes.
"Okay, thank you." He replies before wiping his eyes and smiling.
I give him half a smile before walking to my age section in the middle of the crowd of teenagers on the square.
I stand there for a moment before a burst of noise can from the stage outside the Justice Building, my eyes dart to the source of the noise and a familiar woman walks onto the stage. Effie Trinket stands in front of us with two large, circular, glass bowls before her. One is for the girls and one for the boys. Effie looks out to the crowd before retreating to seats behind her. There were three chairs on the stage near the podium, sat in these seats were Mayor Undersee and of course Effie, but the third was unoccupied. The first thing you would notice about Effie is the pinkish hair that clashes with the green suit that was defiantly from the Capitol. The town clock chimes signaling two 'o'clock and the start of reaping. First the Mayor talks about the history of Panem, which I've heard every year since I was born and that we have the Hunger Games in punishment for an uprising. Every one of the twelve districts needed to present one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen as a tribute. These twenty-four children are placed in an arena and force to fight for their lives over a few weeks, last tribute left wins and comes back home to live in Victor's Village. To me the worst part is they treat the Hunger Games as a thing to get excited over and celebrate. The Capitol is just sick. There is only one Hunger Games victor from district twelve that's still alive, his name is Haymitch Abernathy. He is middle aged man who has a drinking problem. He staggers up the stairs onto the stage and goes towards Effie in an attempt to embrace her while falling into the empty seat. Effie's expression was one of hatred toward the drunken man who had his whole body weight pushed down on her as she tried desperately to push him off.
The mayor then introduces Effie; the woman skips over to the podium and with a smile announces "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor."
After this Effie had a long speech that I blanked out, I was just praying that it not be my name pulled out of that bowl.
"Ladies first," she says as he plummets her hand into the first bowl and pulls out the first piece of paper. You her eyes gleam as the escort opens the folded piece of paper to read the name," It's Primrose Everdeen."
I feel relief that that name was not Katniss then realization showed me it was her sister. There was silence as the twelve year old girl walked towards the stage.
"Prim!" I hear a girl cry, it could have only been one girl. My eyes dart across the crowd as I see her push forward to the opening.
"I volunteer," she cries, "I volunteer as tribute!"
The crowd is bewildered at the girl who had just volunteered to fight for her life in place of this little girl. Her sister. I feel my body start to tremble, Katniss anyone but Katniss.
"No Katniss! No!" The young girl shouts but Katniss just shrugs her off and walk on to the stage.
"Well, Bravo," Effie exclaims, "Now that's the spirit of the Games! Now, what's your name?"
"Katniss Everdeen," she says shyly. No one applauds but just gives her the three finger solute, including me.
After this everything else blurred past us until Haymitch fell off of the stage in a drunken act, taunting the Capitol. Then Effie began to speak again. "What an exciting day, But the excitement continues. It's now time to choose our boy tribute!" her hand digging around the other ball. "Peeta Mellark!"