District One Male
I go into the kitchen and grab a piece of bread from my Mum's plate of food.
"That's mine!" she snaps.
"It's delicious." I tell her, taking a bite. I can't be bothered to make myself anything, I've got to go. She can make another piece for herself.
"That's not nice son." says Dad, and I shrug my shoulders at him, he's wearing his glasses that make him look like a idiot, his eyes look far too big and his nose looks too small. He's got thin hair just like Mum, I hope I don't look like either of them when I'm older. Or act like them, all they do is work or tidy or worry. It's boring, I want to have fun!
"Reaping is today, it starts in two hours Love." Mum says, making herself another piece of toast, we're more well off then most people, my Mum and Dad work in the plant, making electronics. I was offered a job there, but I didn't want it.
"So?" Why does she need to tell me what I already know? It's so annoying!
"So be there on time." Mum sighs like I'm being difficult, it's her who's difficult, I'm easy to get along with.
"I will!" I say, we have to be there, it's only the reaping. There's one every year and I've never been chosen! Even if I am chosen I could win easy. It's not hard to throw a spear!
Mum sighs for the millionth time and takes a bite of her toast.
"Take a bath, I've set out some new freshly washed clothes for you to wear."
I frown at her, I'm not a baby! I can sort my own clothes!
"I'm going back to bed."
I was up late last night, I was out. I didn't get back till way after dark.
Dad looks like he want to argue, I leave before he can get a chance to tell me what to do!
I go upstairs and throw my blanket over my head and ride to snooze land.
"Jeff." someone shakes me. "Jeff."
"What?!" I growl, recognising the voice as my Mother's.
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" I yell at her, no one is allowed in my room!
"It's time for the reaping Love." I hate it when she calls me that!
"FINE!" I throw throw the blanket off of me and jump up, staring angrily at my Mum until she leave, she's got long mousey brown hair like mine, with lighter parts. She's much smaller than me too and always treats me like a baby.
She's left clothes on my bed, a clean shirt and trousers. I can't be bothered with having a bath, I just pull the clothes on and my hair is too short to brush, I look like a scruffy bad boy, which I am.
I wear my dirty boots with it, adding to my scruffy looks, who wants to look like a nerd anyway? If I'm chosen I want to look tough!
I storm out of the door before Mum has a chance to stop me to clean me up, they're be at the reaping later anyway, along with all the other parents. I have no brothers or sister, which is fine by me, I'd hate to share my room.
At the reaping, it's nearly started, I sign in, just telling the man my name and not stopping, I barge in the front of the seventeen year old section, where all my friends are.
"What's up losers?" I ask them, they all ignore me, too busy with the reaping. My friend Alex gives me a filthy look like he always does.
"Shut up Jeff." snarled Alex as he turns around, we're good friend, this is how we always act. I laugh at him and he insults me!
The reaping is boring, I concentrate on other things, like what I'll do later. Try to get with a girl is top of my list, I can have any girl I want but I haven't found the right one yet. I want to try the ones I like and I'm fussy.
The video is just as boring, except the blood, that's good! Most people squirm and look away at the gory parts whilst I love those parts- they're the best!
She chooses the girl, some eighteen year old who's scared. She looks about as interesting as the video, maybe she'll get better once she's covered in blood. Then they choose the boy's slip and the woman calls out the name, "Jeff Redman."
A smile forms on my lips, this is brilliant! I'll win! And I'll live in luxury! I'll be rich!
I walk up to the front of the stage, grinning wildly. No one looks that sad, which is fine by me because they all think I'll win too!
Next time I see all of them, I'll be the Victor!
District two, female.
"Aidan!" I scream very pissed off. He comes in looking relaxed and I hurl a plate as his head, only missing by a few inches.
"I didn't do it." he says causally as he lolls against the wall behind him, staring at me thinking that I'm gone mad.
"You signed up for tessera!" I scream again, hoping he didn't, begging that they got it wrong, pleading that he didn't add his name in another three times!
"Oh that. I did that." he smirks like it's no big deal and I get even more upset.
"Why the hell would you do something like that? We agreed!"
"No." he answers back annoyed, "You told me that you were taking the tessera and I told you you shouldn't!"
My skin burns from being so upset it's hard to get me worked up, I'm calm so often, more often than not but this? This is too much, I'm too tired to process this properly, I got not sleep last night because of the upcoming reaping and he just tells me that he signed up for tessera?
How dare he?
I curl down into a ball onto the floor and place my hands over my hair, ignoring Aidan, taking calming breathes to stop being angry. He comes over and drapes him arm around my shoulder.
"I felt back." he sighs, "That you always try to take tessera and I don't. I just wanted to help you, help us."
I look up at him, my twin brother, my best friend, my worse enemy, my Aidan and smile. "I know."
That's all that I can say, I understand how much he wants to help. Since our parents died when we were nine all we've had is each other and we always want better, want more.
6 years later and we're still wanted better, better food, better lives. Tessera would help, I always take one and we share it between us. There's no one else in our family.
"Another fight?" Andrew, my best friend comes into the kitchen, stepping over the smashed plate carefully, he's got dark blonde hair that falls below his ears and an amazing laugh. The first thing I ever heard him do was laugh, and that was it, he had me hooked on it.
Andrew lives with us, his Mum died 2 years back and we had a spare room, he's Dad died when he was younger and still a baby. He take a slice of bread and takes a bite, chew it for a while as we stare at him and swallows.
"Am I interrupting something?" he ask cheerily and I groan under my breath, he's wearing typical reaping clothing, a clean pressed shirt and black shorts to match with polished boots. He stands taller, six foot with wide broad shoulders and sparkling white teeth that he flashes around whenever he smiles.
Aidan went with a blue shirt to match my dress, I made them both, with grey trousers that cover his shoes underneath, he's almost as short as me, slightly taller and more muscular. Blonde hair that matches mine, the same shade blue eyes with a similar build.
I'm wearing a sky blue dress with lase at the rim, added texture and colour, it makes it look more sophisticated and prettier, the shoes are my friends that I borrowed, a pale blue colour with a few marks at the edge of the top, they're a size too big so they slide around a bit and feel wrong. My blonde hair that hands half way down my back is freshly washed and I've left it loose.
I'm pretty, I know that. I'm curvy in the right places, clear skin and a good soft flirty smile that lights up my elegant blue eyes. I'm glad I look this way, but I don't have a boyfriend, I like to flirt and having a boyfriend would ruin that. Also, new people male me shy.
It's almost time the reaping starts so we all agree to head down together, I realise that we all have our names in there the same amount of times, that worries me until I remember how many other people have more names in there than us, how many names are in there altogether.
Children and their families are walking up as a group, clinging onto each other like they're five. I walk tall and proud but I understand. Maybe if my Mother was still alive I would be clinging to her as well like them. But she's not so I walk on my own for now.
The reaping is crowded, people bet on whether or not there will be volunteers or not. Since Two is not allowed to train tributes necessarily, all trained volunteer are kept mostly secret from the rest of us. Word gets around a lot, but I've heard nothing about volunteering as a girl.
The boy I have heard about, D- something. Dan? Dave? Yes, I think his name was Dave. I shall find out soon enough. That is why Aidan and Andrew are more relaxed, a boy and girl volunteer almost every year here in Two. We untrained children are safer than most. But it doesn't stop us from being scared, of course we are scared. Anything could happen.
Everyone's faces reflect how I feel, lot, alone, scared. We sign in quickly, finding our names on a piece of paper. Then I have to leave Aidan and Andrew, something I don't want to do. They leave with one last look of reassurance and worry, trying to hide their doubt, their worry but it seeps through their every cell.
I make my way through the crowd, getting pushed and working my through all the bodies. All I can think is, 'one of us, it could be any one of us'.
Someone must get chosen,it has to be this way.
A tall girl shoves me to the floor, stopping to help me to get up. She's my age, with greeny eyes and pinked cheeks, looking embarrassed. I thank her while she apologises, before turning back to her friend.
"I'm worried about my sister." she says worriedly.
I know how hard it must be to have another sibling in the reaping, I empathise with blonde tall girl, at least Aidan is safer with the boys and with Andrew. I have very few girls as friends, I find boys easier to talk too, with boys who look at me, I know they like me, girls are harder to read. They'll either like me or hate me because they're jealous.
Someone points to the stage as the mayor takes to it, her blonde hair is styled and better looking, glossy. Everyone's attention is turned to her, including my own.
Questions pop into my mind like; what happens if I am reaped?
What happens if Aidan is reaping? Or Andrew?
What if two of us are?
Who will it be?
We listen to the history of Panem, which most of us know off by heart, about challenges and problems and the possibilities. All very make-believe and fantasy about peace, we were never at peace with the Capitol. We were just taking a break from the war because Thirteen was gone.
They destroyed a whole district, and torn the rest of us down with them.
The escort, a man with bright green and sunny yellow striped hair and face walks on to the stage, clacking along to the girl's bowl.
"May the odds be ever in your favour!" he announces to all of us, before picking one of the top slips of paper. I hold my breath and hope.
"Ester Weasee!" he announces happily and someone screams. No one knows who it is, but I do. My mouth opens in shock when I see the girl getting moved towards the stage by the crowd, trying to help her. She's tiny, with short choppy blonde hair and a hollow face, skinny with no food. I know her from the orphanage, she's twelve.
Someone has to volunteer for her, I think, not her.
Then I hear it, "I volunteer!" is yelled out.
Only the words come from my own mouth.
District Two, male.
A tiny girl sprints across the training centre, she arrived a week ago, a new year of Games winners. She fast, but not fast enough for her trainers liking, because they scream abuse at her.
Her tiny pink face crumbles, she stares blankly at them for a second then starts to run again, pumping her arms to get herself to move faster. She's only eight, one of the youngest here, she'll be trained until she's eighteen, when she'll then volunteer, just like I'm going to do today.
At seventeen, I'm a year too soon but what the hell? I can beat everyone with one arm if I had too, and my eyes shut. A trainee throws a spear at the dummy I'm near, unless they missed which is unlikely I'm, still safe but it annoys me. I storm over to the dummy and wrench out the spear, which has pierced the heart and throw it at the boy, misses him by an inch. He cowers away from it, if I wanted him to be dead he would be, I would only have to want to hit him properly.
It's what I want that happens.
"Wimp!" I scream angrily at me as I storm, away, throwing my arms up in the air to show how stupid he is. I hate the trainees, filled with so much happiness and glee, I was never like them, I trained hard all the time, I concentrated on what I had to do. My target was and always is to win the Games.
"Dave!" someone yells my name and I ignore them, knowing who it will be.
"Dave, don't you dare ignore me you son of a-" she yells and I whip around.
"What?!" I ask, coming face to face with Nicky, brown hair that hangs down just above her green dying eyes, tall and slim, sexy as anything. She frown at me, a devilish stare.
"Don't bother." I spit out, "I already know what you're going to tell me."
Hurt registers on her face, covered by pure hatred.
"That's it?" she yells at me. "After everything that's it?"
"I'm sorry!" I say sarcastically, "I'm glad you chickened out! It's fantastic I no longer have an ally in the Games, because you dropped out!"
She slaps me hard across my cheek, I take a step backwards, muttering furiously.
"I did not chicken out. I'm still gunna train aren't I? I'll win next year!"
"Great, I'll have a neighbour in the victor's village! Seriously Nicky, it's fine, but if I get killed, know it's your fault you made me train as a team. I can win without you." I snap and start to walk away, catching Nicky whispering words I don't have any answer to me, I don't care, I'll win on my own. Only one of us could come out of the Games anyway, and I always wanted it too be me.
Just because her older sister had a baby, she wants to be around her. A baby? Why on earth would she want to a screaming child all the time? I hate babies and so does Nicky, she told me.
She's just scared of volunteering, what a wimp. I thought she was braver and better than those pathetic children from the other districts, who cry at the fact they're going to die. Nothing wrong with dying, they have the chance to be the Victor! To bring honour and riches to their district! They should be thankful!
But they break down and die as snivelling babies, it makes me sick when I watch the Games.
I see a boy, about twelve walking down the corridor and I shove him into the wall, he makes a bang as he falls onto the floor. He jumps up quickly, and glares at me, pulling back when he actually sees me. He couldn't beat me, I'm muscular, taller and hard. He couldn't even make a bruise.
He scuttles off like a good little boy and I carry on walking, slamming the door shut when I get into my room. I pick up a lamp from the side, a green one and smash it against the wall as hard as I can. Glass pieces fall like rain to the floor and I leave them there, it's my last day living at the training centre, because after I win the Games I'll finally have my own house, bigger and so much nicer than this crap.
It's painted a deep green, with a brown sofa. It's never been painted since I've been living here when I was a kid, only seven. My parents were traitors and killed by peacekeepers, good riddance to them, I'm better here- stronger.
But I hate it, I hate the size, I hate the food, packed with energy and no taste, I hate the way they tell me what to do. I want to hurt the trainers, they make me so angry and I hate them. I loathe the very though of them, I can't wait to leave this place. That's why I'm not waiting another year.
I take a short shower, wash my jet black hair and get dressed into my reaping outfit that has been made for me. It's okay, makes me look too neat for my liking. They laid out a brush for my hair as well but I leave that, smoothing it down with my hand then leaving it how it is. Nothing wrong with it.
I check myself in the mirror, I look sharp, fit and strong. The only part of myself I hate is my bright blue eyes, they make me look 'sweet' the colour, they're too girly and nice. I try to frown but they still don't look dark enough.
There's no one to say goodbye to at the centre, I hate everyone here.
Most of all I hate Nicky, for being too scared and leaving me.
Well when I'm rich and famous she'll come running back, and I won't want her. I'll have loads of girls running at me, I won't want her at all. I can have anyone.
My black clothes makes me fit in well at the centre, most people wear black to strike fear, the colour of death. I walk right out and don't look back.
Outside, people stare at me. If anyone knows who I am, they'd be smart enough to look away, but I let them look at the moment, I'm not going to stop just to get into a fight right now.
Lots of people are already at the reaping, I sign in quickly, not taking to anyone. I take my place near the front, just behind the eighteen year olds who stand there, I'm taller than most of them so I stand out even then. I wait for the mayor to take to the stage, telling is the history of the Games. It's a story they have to tell.
After too long a wait, they finally get the girl reapings. I can't help thinking how Nicky should be volunteering soon, but she's not going too. Whoever is chosen is young, I know that much because most people turn around to look at her. I wait for her to hurry up.
"I volunteer!" someone yells desperately and my heart sinks, I turn to see if I can see Nicky, did she change her mind? But it's not her, it's another girl, with long blonde hair and very short. She walks out to the front, while someone else screams. A sister? A friend? A boy pushes past me, who I recognise as her brother, a twin properly. They look so similar it's impossible for them not to be related. He rushes past me and hangs over the rope at the front.
She looks at him when she turns around on stage, and I see that she's struggling not to cry. Another wimp I think. She stole Nicky's job, she volunteered! I can't work with her!
They ask for her name and she sounds more confident, "Angelaya Martain."
"Now onto the boys!" chirps the man at the front with stupid green hair as he picks out a name.
"Aidan-" he starts but I don't give him the chance to finish.
"I volunteer!" I yell out to everyone boastfully. I run up to the stage and turn to all the faces staring up at me, "Dave Tibuk." I announce with a sly grin.
The man shakes my hand as the anthem plays. I search for Nicky in the audience, wanting to see if she's regretting not volunteering. I see her brown hair, her pale face is looking right at me, her eyes pouring at my inside. I stare at her, wondering why.
Then she looks away from me and I see her moving back. I tear my eyes away and look at the other female tribute, she holds her hand out to mine. I take it, crushing it a bit too hard as I shake.
I want her to know she should be scared. For me to win, she first must die.
Note: I own no rights, all rights belong to Suzanne Collins. :)