I woke up and an instant feeling of dread washed over me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, glancing over at my eleven year old brother as he slept in the bed across the room from me. His chest slowly rose and fell as he dreamed, unaware of fear or harm or oppression. He didn't know what it felt like to stand, waiting for someone's name to be called, praying it wasn't your own.

I got up out of bed and looked out the window. The ocean surf was rolling against the sand as it did each morning, but today I could not take off into its arms as I usually did. I felt trapped.

I sighed and realized there was no getting out of what I had to do. I had to get ready for the reaping, and only after it was over, could I enjoy the rest of the day.

But still. In the back of my mind, there was always the chance that my name would be called.

No. I shrugged it off. I was in District 4. A career district. If my name was picked, someone would surely volunteer, right?

I slinked off into the bathroom and splashed water on my face. Looking up at myself in the mirror, I saw my crystal blue eyes staring back me and my frizzy brown hair sticking up everywhere. Well, at least my hair USED to be brown. It's slowly been bleaching itself to blonde in the rays of the sun. My skin looked blotchy and uneven and I hated the fact that I was fifteen. I took the days when I didn't have blemishes popping up all over my face for granted. But if you got passed that, cute freckles were sprayed across my cheeks and nose.

I sighed. Well, I had a lot of work to do.

I combed my hair out and started to make myself look more presentable. I rubbed some pale mixture over my face that helped dull my blemishes down, but it was nothing like the make-up that they have in the Capitol. I put in my favorite seashell earrings and went back to my room to see my brother groggily sitting up.

"Hey, Seidon." I said. "Happy Hunger Games."

He grinned. "Morning, Sandy." He always called me that even though I hated that name. I prefer Sandra.

"This is your last year being safe." I told him. "You better savor it."

He shook his head. "Nah. I'm ready to get into all the action. I'm a natural fish, my survival skills are probably some of the best around, and when it comes down to it, I'm all for strategy."

Although I hate to admit it, he's right. I'd hate for him to have to go into all of the action, but if he did get reaped, he'd actually have a fighting chance. Yet me, on the other hand... well, I'm another story.

I walked out of the room and to find my mother.

"Good morning, gorgeous." She greeted me.

I blushed. "Mom..."

"Sorry." She shrugged. That was just how she greeted me every morning. But I detested it. Many guys have liked me because they thought I was pretty, but when they had gotten passed that, they found out that I was smarter then them, and I guess that always intimidated everyone.

"I know just what you should wear today."

I followed her to her closet and watched in awe as she pulled out a gorgeous aquamarine dress. It was fancy, but not too fancy. Layered like waves, it had that 'cold-shoulder' sleeve look to it. It was beautiful.

"What are you waiting for? Try it on."

I walked to the bathroom again and put on the beautiful dress. I styled my hair to my liking and added a pearl bracelet. As I looked in the mirror again, I didn't see a scrawny one hundred pound, five foot four girl, but a gorgeous adolescent billowing with confidence. I stepped out of the bathroom. My mother grinned. "And I thought you couldn't look anymore beautiful than you already were."

Thanks, mom." For once, I took her compliment and hugged her.

"Now, go. You have to get to the reaping pretty quickly if you want to get there on time. Your brother and I will be out in a few minutes."

I headed out the door and found my friend, Clarissa waiting for me outside. "Morning, Sandra. Happy Hunger Games."

"May the odds be ever in your favor." I laughed.

She took my hand and together we made our way to the town square. When we got there, she made her way over to the fourteen-year-old section, and I went over to the fifteen-year-old area. And then we waited.

Marinda Sinclair stood up at the podium, introducing us to the event. The little bit of happiness I felt this morning when I tried on my dress vanished as this overwhelming sense of doom invaded my mind. Someone had to be picked. What if it is going to be me? My heart started beating erratically as Marinda's hand sunk into the girl's bowl and swirled around, seeing which piece of parchment was the best to pick. Suddenly, she stopped and dramatically paused as almost every girl was fighting the feeling of nausea.

"Sandra Calloway."

Eyes turned to look at me, but I hadn't heard what she had said.

"Sandra Calloway, where are you, dear? Please come to the stage."

I swallowed and realized that this was no joke. I was the unlucky girl who had to battle to the death. I caught back tears as I made my way to the stage. No one volunteered. What? This was not supposed to happen.

"Now for the boys." Marinda sauntered over to the boys bowl and grabbed another piece of paper.

"Briant Gambell."

I sighed. Great. Way to pick the biggest, most conceded jerk to be my district partner. Awesome.

He ran his hands through his bronze hair and flashed his white teeth at me. I distinctly looked away.

After the closing of the ceremony, they took us to the justice building. My mother and brother were the first two people to come. My brother just ran over and hugged me. Tears, real tears, were pouring down his face. "Sandra, oh, this isn't fair. You were always so good at everything. But never at athletics. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." I shook my head sadly. This was practically a death sentence. "But I'll try to think of something. No way I'll go down without a fight."

No one said anything for a few seconds. "Seidon?"

He looked up at me and even though he always was trying to act older than he was, in this moment, I could see just the scared little kid he really was. "Please don't volunteer yourself in future years. Even though I know you porbably could beat them if you wanted to, things don't always go the way you think they will. Please don't volunteer. For me."

"Alright." He nodded. "I promise."

We talked for the rest of our three minutes, and with tears in my eyes, I saw my brother and mom walk out. I realized that this was the last time I'd ever see them.

The next person that came in was Clarissa. "You can do this, Sandra. You really can. Although you don't realize it, you can. I'm observant, and since we've been friends since we were nine, I've learned some things about you. You may not be the most athletic or the strongest, but you have something in you that no one else has. You have determination, you have the brain, you have the resourcefulness. Don't you dare think for a second that you're out of the game completely. You can win."

When her time was up, she left. I was escorted to the train and I looked out the window as I watched my district fade from sight.