Chapter 1
I ran the brush threw my hair one last time and sighed, reaping's are entirely too stressful. I set the brush down on the sink and glance at the girl in mirror; she's tall with long wavy golden brown hair, a gentle blanket of freckles highlight her cheeks and nose, and her eyes are a striking shade of blue.
"Doe eyes." I murmur, that's what dad used to call them.
As I step out the bathroom door, a gentle wave of sobs hit me. "Cal." I call out "Calaway."
I turn the corner and there she sits, her head in her hands sobbing "Don't leave me."
"Cal." I whisper to her gently "Hey look at me." She tilts her head upwards, and heaves another sob; I place my thumbs underneath both of her puffy eyes and gently wipe away the tears. "We talked about this didn't we? If we can make it through this we can make it through anything right?"
"Yes…" she mumbles before taking a deep breath. "But, I need you. You're the only one I have left… I don't want them to take you; I don't want to be alone. I know sometimes I get mad and tell you I hate you, but I don't mean it because your my sister and I love you." And with that she bursts into another fit of tears.
"Hey, it's alright." I say as I pull her head into my shoulder. I begin to stroke her hair softly, it's something mom used to do to me when I was upset. "You're my favorite sister, yah know."
She pulls back and rubs her eyes. A small smile playing on her lips. "I'm your only sister."
"Do you plan on attending the reaping in your best set of pantaloons, or are you going to get dressed sometime today?" I say as I eye the crumpled blue dress beside her.
"I don't like dresses." She states simply.
"Get dressed, and I'll braid your hair the way mom used to braid mine."
"You mean it?" She grins, a smile so wide that the Cheshire cat himself would be jealous of.
"Of course."
-Reaping-
"Cass."
"Yah Cal?"
"Do you ever wonder what they look like under all that makeup?" She says her eyes flicking up to the stage.
"Sometimes." I say looking up to the stage. I watch as the odd teal haired women steps up to the mike.
"Hello everyone and welcome to the seventy third annual Hunger Games, I'm Amity Astra and I will be serving as your district seven escort this year." She takes in a breath as her eyes dart around, seeming to look for some type of reaction from the crowd. "Now should we start with boys or girls?" She smiles. "Well?" when no one replies she gives an audible irritated sigh. "I guess its ladies first then." A Peace Keeper holding a large glass bowl filled with pieces of paper approaches her. Amity grins and plucks a folded piece of paper out. She re approaches the mike, a gradual smile spreads across her face as she processes the name. "Cassia Alder." She calls.
"No!" Cries a tiny voice beside you. The crowd that once surrounded us draws back in order to make room for the impending Peace Keepers.
"Calaway look at me!" I kneel down in front of her and place both of my hands on either side of her face. "What do you need to do?"
Tears begin to brim over here lower eyelids and she sniffles "Go to… Go to Sage, she'll look after me and let me work in the store." She begins to sob. "I..I lov-"
"Hey listen to me Calaway." I can feel the Peace Keepers drawing near with each breath. "If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember-"A pair of forceful hands clamp down on my shoulders and begin to pull me away. Calaway's tiny hands latch onto my wrist, she digs her heels into the ground and gradually begins to slide forward with me, she's not giving up that easy.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is-"Calaway screeches as a pair of hands wrap around her tiny waist and cut her off. Her nails dig into my skin as they rip her from me.
"Even if we're apart... I'll always be with you." I practically scream as they drag me to the stage. My eyes begin to well up as I watch her tiny thrashing form trying to escape the massive Peace Keeper. "Calaway!" I shout "Calaway, I'm coming back for you I promise!" Calaway's tiny form goes limp, as they drag me up the stairs and place me beside Amity. I try hard to get a hold of myself, but I can't blink back the tears forming in my eyes, and the lump in my throat is practically throbbing, it hurts so much. This is all too painful.
Amity clears her throat "Well, that was touching." She states bluntly "Let's see if our next contender can follow up that performance."
I flinch at her words. If looks could kill, surely she'd be dead.
Amity reaches her hand in to another glass bowl and clutches another piece of paper. "Asher Rowan" she calls out. Asher emerges from the crowd, and begins to walk towards the stage. A few Peace Keepers rush to him, but he easily shrugs them off.
He's changed so much since I saw him last. Asher and I had gone to school together, we had been good friends. When Asher was eight his father died in a logging accident, and after that he went to work in the lumber yards to help support his family. I didn't get to see him much after that. I looked up at him as he came to stand beside me on the stage. He was easily six and half feet tall, stubble was beginning to show on his face, his hair was a bit shaggy, he was tanned and toned from days spent chopping down trees. His eyes were the same though a beautiful mix of green and amber hazel, comforting, I thought as his gaze met mine.
"I give you this year's district seven tributes, Cassia Alder and Asher Rowan!" Amity beams as she looks out at the crowd "Happy Hunger Games, may the odds be ever in your favor!"
- Cato's P.O.V. -
Cato sat with Clove in a private compartment watching the reaping's. The district seven seal popped up on to the screen and disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. As the District seven escort calls out a name, the cameras focused in on its owner. A tall girl with dirty blonde hair, shes dressed simply in a white button down blouse and a black pencil skirt that reached a little below her mid-thigh. Quite the leggy thing she is, I hope she's a fast runner. The girl appears to be comforting her younger sister when the Peace Keepers try to tear them apart. The camera gets a glimpse of the older girls face as the two are torn from each other. She's pretty he muses Beautiful even.
"What was her name again?"
"Cassia, I think." Clove states, it's obvious she doesn't really give a damn.
He watches her struggle against the Peace Keepers as she screams words of sentiment at her sister. "Feisty" he smirks as he says it "I hope she's that way in the arena to."
Clove rolls her eyes and sighs in disgust "Your repulsive Cato."