Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. Doing this once for the whole thing.
It's early. Pale light seeps lazily out of the old shutters in my window.
The small room I share with the Parthorns is empty. They must already be up, working in the coal mines, and Bailey must be out hunting with Takeda. I get out of bed and wrestle my tangle of red curls into something resembling a braid. It keeps my hair out of my way. I get dressed quickly and run outside.
The Seam, sad and ashy in the early morning, looks back at me sullenly. It should be at least a little sunny by this time of day, so I assume today will be cool and gray. Good, my favorite weather. I walk towards the path that leads to the woods. I am not a happy, easygoing person like Bailey or Takeda. Just the opposite, I'm almost antisocial. Bailey Parthorn is just my friend, but I have to pretend she's my cousin. Her family took me in after I lost mine in a mine explosion. Children are orphaned by mine explosions all the time. I knew that I would rather live in the wilderness than be put in the orphan home. When the Parthorns took me in, I promised I would feed myself and hunt for them too.
I must say I've kept my promise, and made sure there is always enough food on the table. So now I live will Bailey and her brother Andy as "cousins". We look nothing alike, with her straight blond hair and tall size. The only feature we share is our freckles. But people in the Seam don't ask questions. I'm almost at the woods, so I look around to make sure no one is looking. I don't want to get arrested.
I scamper under the loose spot in the fence. It's not electrified. I can't say I'm surprised. I see our signal rock has been moved from it usual spot. I was right. Bailey, Takeda, and Andy all got here before me. The tip points me in the direction they went. I get there quickly as our meeting point are never too far into the woods.
Bailey is sitting down on a rock, eating mulberries from the tree branch above her. When Takeda sees me, she walks over to where I am, her eyebrows raised inquiringly. Takeda is as tall as Bailey, and they both teasingly call me "Shorty". Her hazel eyes are a rarity in the Seam, but she as as Seam as the rest of us. Her short, wavy caramel-colored hair also set her apart from the rest of us. Bailey and her brother got their blond hair from their mother, a merchant daughter in her youth.
"I'm sorry I'm late." I say tentatively. This is not a new routine. I am often late.
"It's fine, shorty." Bailey finally looks up.
"Thanks, blondie." I shoot back. This always irritates her.
Takeda leaned back onto a rock and grinned. She wasn't related to me or Bailey in any way. Just another friend.
"Are we going to go hunt or are we going to stay here and starve?" she asks.
She takes out my bow from behind her.
"How did you find that?" I demand. I hide it because Takeda and Bailey like "borrowing" it as they like to call it. By my definition, that is stealing.
"I don't know, Lena. You're too predictable." Bailey says. Now I know she was in on it too. My real name is Milena, but my friends call me Lena or Miles. I inhale. When provoked, I can be fast and deadly.
Suddenly Takeda gets up and starts running off with my bow. Bailey follows. Wasting no time, I run after them. I hate them.