I awoke to darkness. I always make an effort to wake before the sun in order to greet the beautiful light. I looked out the small hole we had for a window, which faced the town. As the sun approached, I smiled. "I beat you to it again." I whisper to the sun. Clairidy stirred in my mom's bed beside me, and I heard what no one else could hear. Her and mom's heartbeat, linked together, beating at the same time. I quickly slide out of bed, cross our tiny shack's floor in two steps.

Pulling on my leather boots that have molded onto my feet, I feel my hand around the dark closet to pull out my tree blades, my pouch of daggers, and my jacket. I shove my hands in my pocket, and feel a soft package. I pull it out, revealing a little square of cheese that Clairidy must have managed to salvage from that town cow. I can always share it with William.

I push the door open, and breath in the crisp spring air and for a while, I stare at the trees, breathing silently. I quietly close the doors behind me, and out I start, running fast, pulling on my circle blades that my dad hand-welded for me and scale a tree. I crouch, staying silent. Then I leap, out of one tree, to the next, to the next and then, pounce, grab the far one's branch, right OVER the fence, swing up, leap to the next tree, grab the branch, roll down and then land on my knees.
Something rustles, and I listen. Heartbeat too slow to be a deer, but too fast to be...
I know who it is...

"Amazing! 10 points!"

"Shut up William!" I yell at him, this perfect blond hair blue eyed boy.

" What're you afraid of? Ghosts?" He asks me, swinging down from a tree.

"Honestly, trying to save us from being killed for going over the fence." I answer, giving him a light punch on his arm. "But you're the one being so frickin noisy."

He laughs, then stops short, mid-laugh. William breathes, then says, "Race ya."
He bursts off, and when I open my mouth to say something, I shut it and run after his blur of a brown shirt. Suddenly he turns, and I near smash into a tree. I'll never catch him on the ground. The trees are more my element. I pull on my circle blades and race up the tree, leaping from one tree to another. Finally I reach a clearing and I still hear him running and occasionally looking behind him.
I have an idea, I hang my legs over the branch I'm sitting on, and get ready to swing down hanging upside down.

"Boo!" I scream, swinging down just when he turns his face in time to see mine. He screams, I pull myself up, just in time to see him trip over a fallen tree, and crash in to a clearing.

I laugh as I drop out of the branch.

William sits up. He doesn't say anything, just sits up, and smiles. "Okay, now we're even." He says, holding up the piece of cheese that must have fell out of my pocket. I walk over into the clearing, and he sits beside me, and we both stare off at the mountains covered in a lovely shade of orange from the sky and the leaves.

"Hey," William whispers, reaching his hand into his pocket, "Look what I have."
He pulls out two pieces of bread and some dried venison.

"Oh my god, is this real?" I grab one of the bread rolls and a small piece of the deer meat. I smell the bread first. It's still warm.

"It better be. Cost me the fat pheasant and two squirrels I caught the other day." William answers, nibbling the cheese.

I break off a piece of the cheese, and nibble some of the bread with the cheese and meat. My stomach growls.

He looks at me, an odd smile on his face. "When's the last time you ate?" The casual 16-year-old asks me.

"Not since yesterday." I answer back. I'm not lying, yesterday I ate a couple berries that I managed to steal from the mayor. Clairidy and mom got most of them. They need their energy.
My best friend and hunting partner holds out the rest of the meat and half of his bread roll.

"Here."

I sit silently.

"Take it, Cy, because I know you're going to give what you have now to Clairidy." William offers.
Cy, Short for Macy, only he says it like the word sigh, not like how it sounds in my name, a see.
And he's right. I was planning to save it for Clairidy.

"Thank you." I whisper.
He shakes his head.
We sit together, in silence, until he asks me, "How many times has your name been entered?"

"46. You?"

"54."

He's speaking about the reaping. Ever since the Katniss Everdeen uprising on the 74th annual Hunger Games, president Snow's heir, now known as President Frost, to honour President Snow, things have been worse for the districts. Each year, each district is forced to send 4 tributes, and is still forced to emerge with one victor out of those 48 kids. The districts are treated worse than before, that to get food, your name gets entered twice, for a smaller amount of food. Fences surround every district, and even the career districts are struggling. Everybody is forced to live in shacks, even the mayor, who has a slightly bigger one.

"I need to win." William says to me. "That money could save our district. Us, our families."

"Promise me something." I whisper.

He looks at me. "Yes?"

"Promise me, that no matter what, even if this entire world is against it,"

"Yes Macy?" He asks, leaning closer.

"You will not die. But if you do, I won't blame you. Also, don't cheer if they draw your name, because I swear, I will volunteer."

"I promise."

He inches closer, stretching his neck.

I don't know what to do. He's leaning closer, his face getting closer to mine.

"Would all children between the ages of 12 and 18 report to the main square immediately!" They announced. "The reaping is about to begin!"

William smiles at me, neck still stretched. "I guess the odds aren't exactly in my favour."

We get up and silently sneak back into the district, managing to catch a little rabbit for his brother on the way.

I walk into my house and see mother dressing Clairidy in an old blue dress of mine.

"Macy!" She wraps her arms around me and sobs. "I don't want to go. Please." She begs.

"It'll be okay, Clair, your name's been in there once, there are hundreds of other kids names in there. They're not going to pick you." I kiss her forehead, a little worried from what I heard about Katniss Everdeen's sister. She was picked, her one name to thousands.

"I have something for you too." Mother says to me, gesturing to a white shirt and a brown skirt. "It was mine."

"Thank you." I take the clothes. Then I hand Clairidy the cheese, meat and bread. "Here. Eat."
I give Mother half the roll and some meat. "You too."

I get dressed, and then Clairidy and I hold hands as we walk to the town square.

"12 year olds over here!" A peacemaker barked.

"Go, Clair." I urge her over to the table as I shuffle over to the 16 year old table. The peacemaker over there forces my hand over. She slits my thumb a little and then asks,

"Name?"

"Terreth, Macy."

She grabs my hand and presses it on my name square.

"Next!" She screams. I walk over to line up, and glance at William. I shake my head. He shrugs.

When all the kids line up, a tall woman, who's height is only exaggerated by her high heel shoes walks up onto the stage. Should I say stage?

"Welcome, welcome, it is time, as you all know, it is time to select four, two young men and women, to have the honour of representing District 7 in the 96th annual Hunger Games. And we all know how much fun that is, don't we now?" She smiled, shining her white teeth at everyone. Silence answered her. "Ladies first."

She walked over to a tall bowl, plucked a name from the ladies bowl, and a name from the second bowl. I held my breath.

"Our main two tributes are..." Let me explain this to you. The first two tributes that are drawn are more important and their the ones that get most of the sponsors. The wild cards, which mean the second pair are kind of the ones you kill first, and they get to bring some food into the arena, marking them the easy prey.
"Macy Terreth and William Trevor!"