Clove
I sat with my knife in hand. I use this knife even when I'm not fighting or hunting or crafting. I hold this knife when I'm scared. This knife was passed down from my ancestors. It has survived the dark days; It makes me feel that if this piece of scrap metal can survive the dark days, I can survive a reaping. I watch my younger, twin brothers play with their stone carved soldiers that I made them for their 5th birthday. I'm glad they're only 5 years old, so they wouldn't have to face a reaping day for another 7 years.
My sister walks into the room, all fancied up for today. I remember last night she was having issues with finding a dress that would not make her swollen stomach noticeable. She smiled and tossed me a stone.
"You look nervous. I know you like to carve when you're nervous." She smiled once again. I ponder for a second until I finally had an idea of what to carve. Naturally, my hands go to work.
"Thanks. You look pretty, you can't even tell you're 5 months pregnant." I say. Secretly, I envied my sister. Not because she was pregnant, though. My sister, Jasmine, looks like a spitting image of my mother, who passed away when I was 14. She has long blonde locks and gray stormy eyes. My father dipped out on us when my mother died, leaving me and my sister to raise my brothers, Luca and Thomas. Not to mention, raise ourselves. I was also envious that she didn't have to face any more reapings, since she is 20 years old.
"Thanks." She responded. We awkwardly looked around until her face brightened up. "Oh! Yesterday, when I went to town to buy a dress, I picked up one for you. I laid it out on your bed. Put it on so I can see it!" She added.
I stared at my innocent little brothers playing with each other. I nod "Ok." I say and I start walking to our room. I was surprised, the dress my sister picked actually wasn't that bad. It was a dark navy blue, with a pale yellow bow on the front. Sure, it was girly, but its not like I could jeans and I t-shirt to the reaping. I took my hair out of the pony tail, letting my long, brown locks hang over shoulders. I didn't know how else to style my hair, so I just pulled it into a low side pony tail. I was about to leave but I was interrupted by Thomas who was staring at me in the door way.
"How long have you been standing there?" I ask, concerned. I hope he wasn't watching me change.
"I just got here." He answers in an innocent voice.
"Ok, good. Where's Luca?" I ask. Thomas and Luca are inseparable. They are always with each other because they are like each others best friend.
"Jasmine is putting clothes on him." He answers. "Where are you and Jasmine going?" He asks with big eyes.
"Well, we are going to the Justice Hall. You and Luca don't want to go there. Trust me, its boring. You and Luca will go over to the neighbors house. You know, the one with the dogs?" I tell him. I always got to be careful with how I answer his questions. He over reacts way to easily. But this time, he only smiles.
"I love going over there. You and Jasmine will be back soon, right?" He says in a worried tone. Such a worried child for a 5 year old.
"Yes, we will only be about 2 hours." I answer. He nods and runs off to find Luca. My sister comes in and looks at me.
"You look beautiful, Clove." She says sincerely. I smile at the complement. I'm not usually the sentimental type, but on this day, I cherish every moment. She walks out to check on something. I start to look out the window. Everyone seems to be busy; getting home from work, getting ready to go to the Justice Hall, etc. etc. I see a guy, who seems to be my age, walk by. Why does he seem so familiar? He winks at me and I roll my eyes but laugh at his cockiness.
"Aww, my sisters flirting." Jasmine laughed and squeezed my shoulders.
"Am not!" I snap. I was not the type to flirt, or even think about boys.
"Well, Clove, If I was your age again, I would go for him." She said kinda serious but kinda playful.
"Jas, you know what happened the last time you got involved with a male." I teased and looked at her stomach.
She rubs her stomach and shook her head. "Be careful, Clove. Boys can trick you into giving them what you want."
I nod my head "I know. You've told me this before. And mom talked to me about it before she left us."
She nods and looks out the window. "We should get going, the reaping is going to start in an hour."
"Ok." I say half heartedly and we head out.
"You're not going to get picked." She assures me.
"My name is in there 36 times. Even if I do get picked, I have been training for this since I was twelve." I answer.
"You can't think like that." She says as she pushes a strand of my hair back. My sister was like my best friend, especially after my mom died and my dad left.
"Ok." I say just so we can stop talking about it. We take a few steps until I see the Justice Building. "We're here."
"Ok, I'll be over there, where all the family members are." She says and points.
"Ok. No need to talk to me like I'm twelve again." I say, little more bitterly than I meant.
She nods and walks away. I stand in line, waiting to get my blood drawn. Cringing at the sound of the twelve year olds weeping in terror at the sight of blood.
"Name?" The peacekeeper asks.
"Clove Halloway." I answer. She pricks my finger to confirm it.
"Go on." She says. I'm escorted by another peacekeeper to my place in the crowd. I have to stand there for an uncomfortable 15 min until they start.
"Welcome, Welcome!" An overly peppy Capitol lady speaks. She taps the microphone twice to make sure it works, until a large screeching noise pierces everyones ears. "Well, we have a film brought to you all the way from the capitol! Screen please."
A screen drops down and everyones attention turns to the video playing. It was like what they show every year, the history of panem, the dark days, the rising of the Hunger Games, blah blah blah. The longest 10 minutes of my life. Once the film is done, the attention turns to the lady.
"Well, I just love that!" She tries to keep the crowd in high spirits. Dead silence. "As always, ladies first!" God, here it goes. Everyone hold their breath has the clacking of her high heels hit the stage. Her hand reaches into the bowl, and grabs out a name. She slowly walks back to the microphone.
"Mmm Hmm." She adjust her voice. "Clove Halloway!" What? I look back at my sister, who looked choked up. She had her hand covering her mouth. I look back up at the stage. Thats me. I'm Clove Halloway. I know that I kept saying I was going to get picked, but I never thought I actually would. A huge lump started forming in the back of my throat. I couldn't seem to move my legs, but I know I have to go up stage. Everything inside me felt like it was going to explode. Think about your knife, Clove. It survived the dark days. You can get through this.
"Uh, yes. Clove? Come here, darling." She starts. I move out of the crowd and make my way to the isle. Once again, I am escorted by peace keepers. Their grip on my arm was alarmingly tight, as if I was a criminal. I was basically thrown up the stage. "Hello darling. Come here." She escorts me to the microphone. "Do you have anything to say?"
A wave of something goes through me. I feeling I never thought I feel in this position, almost like a rush of energy. Like my strength that I kept bottled up inside me was about to bubble out. "Yes, I do actually."
"Well, go on then." She says.
"Um, is it weird to say I might be anticipating the games now? I have a feeling I might actually be able to do this." I admit. Like I've said before, I've trained for this since I was twelve, I've taken care of my family for 2 years, and, I got a good hand when it comes to knives. Maybe I could do this, maybe there was nothing to be nervous about in the first place.
The lady chuckles and continues "Not at all dear, district two has always had a ton of victors!" The crowd cheers, and the rush I felt before came back. "Well, now on to the gentlemen." She says. The cheers start to die down as she walks over to the reaping bowl again. Her hands play around for a little bit before she grabs a slip. "Cato Stone!"
I see a blonde figure appear out of the crowd, with a big, proud smirk on his face. Once his whole body is shown, I recognize him. He's the guy I was "flirting" (in Jasmine's terms) with.
"Now what I fine young man!" She says to Cato. He grins, but he's looking at me.
"Thank you, I'm glad to be representing District 2!" He proclaims. Wow, cockier than I thought, but kinda sexy. I've never thought of a guy like that before.
"Well there you have it, folks. Your tributes for this years 74th Hunger Games, Clove Halloway and Cato Stone!" She announces and the crowd goes wild. The only person I can seem to look at is my sister. She was teary, but she was smiling and clapping along with the rest of them.
This is going to be interesting.