District 4
I awoke to the sound of a dog barking, and instantly had a nervous feeling within my stomach. It was the day of the reaping and my name was in there twice, my Brother Cade's presence seemed to be missing, and I noticed that his black leather jacket and brown hunting boots had disappeared.
"Olivia, do you think I'll be chosen today?" I turned around to see my little brother, Jaden, standing there, looking up at me with that innocent face of his. "Well, will I?" he asked me suspiciously.
"It's not for me to say kiddo; it'll be up to Sasha" I said tentatively
Sasha Pittsburgh, self - made multi-millionaire, had been running these shows for over a decade. She was our advisor, the woman picking the name out of the glass ball, filled with another 600 screaming names.
I grabbed my turquoise, feminine looking dress and gave a sigh. I've never liked dresses but, this was the dress code. After that I had my mother put my hair in a side braid.
The bell sounded and all of the children of District 4 filled out of their homes, their faces twisted into a nervous grimace. I approached the line of children leading up to the Peacekeepers that were piercing fingers and sending everyone off to their designated age divisions.
"Next!" The peacekeepers called out, and I held out my hand, anticipating the sharp pain that was to go through my left hand. After it was over, I was looking out for my friend Leo. The best friend I've ever had, since we met in my first year of Primary. My eyes searched for his distinctive features, tall and dark haired, with that rugged handsome look, but all I could see were grim faces and quick paces.
I managed to get a glimpse of my brother, Cade, standing there with his eyes blacker than ever. He had a quiver in his lip and a look of discomfort.
I gave Cade the Where-is-Leo look, and instantly saw his finger shoot straight up, towards the west side. I spotted Leo standing next to a girl with blonde strands of hair, wearing a fitted red dress, with sensible shoes. She seemed to have a weary look on her face.
I approached Leo from behind, and tapped his shoulder, giving him a bit of a jump and he wished me luck, and before I knew it, peacekeepers grabbed my shoulders and escorted me back to my rope division.
"Welcome to the 78th annual Hunger Games!" Sasha announced enthusiastically. "We are now going to choose which of you wonderful children will represent District 4 as a tribute"
The crowd was silent, every potential tribute frozen with the fear of being thrown into the arena. My heart raced as Sasha reached her hand decorated with powder blue nails, into the glass ball, about to pick a very unfortunate individual.
Everyone held their breath as her hand emerged with the paper.
"Olivia Howard" Sasha announced, her voice tinged with the choppy Capitol accent.
'Olivia Howard' that was my name. I could feel the colour of my face drowning, into a pale look. I took sudden steps toward Sasha and I could feel the tributes stares burning through the back of my neck.
My legs felt like jelly, and after eventually finding my way by her side, I felt rooted to the spot, whilst waiting for Sasha to say something, before I died of anxiety.
"Now for the boys" Sasha said with a slight high pitched squeal.
Once again she placed her dainty fingers into the glass ball, and pulled out a tributes name.
"Leo Holt" Sasha acknowledged.
My eyes flickered twice, trying to register what had just happened and realised, it was MY Leo she was talking about. I could see the worry in his rare emerald eyes as he took each step towards Sasha. Leo being picked suddenly made part of me feel a little better since I knew how good he was with snares and such things. But the other part worried me to death, as I knew tradition stated that only one of us would be able to come out alive.