Finch made her way up to the stage, her mind numb. No. It was impossible. Only four slips with her name on were in that bowl. Four! Out of thousands! It was such a small percentage that Finch hadn't even bothered calculating the chance. The odds were totally in her favour.
And yet the odds hadn't mattered.
She felt a hushed gasp spread over the crowd as she stood next to Emotia Ribbonfeather. It seemed that even they were surprised. Finch was just about the most privilege girl in district 5. She had never needed to take tessera. Never needed to even think about it.
"Ooh look at this cutie. I could just swallow you up!" Emotia leaned over and squeezed Finch's cheek. Her electric pink nails scratched Finch, and the smell of hairspray was so thick around her, it felt like a wall. Finch felt her head spinning, but knew she simply could not faint here. Not here. Not now.
"Any volunteers?" Emotia looked out on the crowd expectedly. Finch didn't even let herself hope. The noose was already around her neck.
Silence. Only the crows above them dared make a noise.
"Okay, onto the gentlemen now!" Emotia grinned at Finch, before flouncing away. A fresh breeze blew in Finch's face, and she breathed in the clean air, trying to clear her head. She nearly looked for her brother, or glanced over at her father, but knew it would be too painful. She refused to cry now, in front of everyone. She glanced up at the cameras positioned on top of buildings. Let them look; they'll be getting nothing out of me. Finch thought.
Suddenly she was terrified. Every cell in her body felt like it would collapse if she didn't do anything, anything at all.
1, 2, 4,8,16… It was an old habit her father had taught her when she was very young. "And the boy is…" 32, 64, 128, 256…
"Silec Atom!"
Finch had had a private education and knew nobody her age. The only boy she liked was her brother, but he was nineteen so he was safe. Even so, Finch felt herself relax as she watched a boy walk towards the stage. Old habits die hard.
The boy had black hair and was tall and thin. He looked well fed and around her age but didn't seem to be that strong, and looked like he could be clumsy and slow.
Finch felt sick as she realised she was looking for prey.
Silec walked to Emotia, and stood next to her, looking unmoving at the sky when she asked for volunteers. The crowd responded the same way as they had done to Finch.
"Shake hands now!" Emotia grinned manically at both of them.
Silec jutted his hand out, and Finch took his gingerly. He shook hard and dropped her hand as quickly as possible.
The national anthem blew out and Finch stared at the sky, one hand at her throat. She was unsure if she should still do it, but it was better to be safe than sorry, especially with the Capitol. It was custom for the officials and their families to do this. Finch wondered if her brother would still be doing it as she fought for her life.
She glanced over at Silec, who had his arms firmly crossed. He glowed at her and Finch quickly looked away.
The anthem was over in minutes and Finch let the guards lead her away, into the Justice building. She knew what was next, and knew it would be as painful as the death she would no doubt get.