Thank everyone for your support when this story got deleted, this is the reuploaded version of The Odds.

District One Reapings

Blain Sype, 18.

My mother smoothed out my black button up shirt. I stared at the mirror in front of me, grey eyes staring back, and a permanent smirk on my face. It was reaping day. The day I'd been training for since before I could even remember. I was going to volunteer for the Hunger Games. My mother tried to take a come to my disheveled black hair, but I batted her hand away.

"No, Ma. I like my hair like this." The messy look was a signature. This is how I wanted everyone to remember me as I went down in history.

"It's reaping day." I looked back to the mirror. My mother's reflection looked helpless. She sighed. I was persistent. I always had been. Even more so after my dad left us.

"Come on, Mother. This is how I always keep my hair." There was a short silence, one I only assumed my mother was thinking of something else to say, and then she sighed again. In some ways I felt bad for her. She was happily married, rich, with two strong, Career-ready kids. But when I found my dad 'conversing' with another woman, and after he left us, we had next to nothing.

"Alright, Blain." She said, a forced smile spreading across her face. "Go find Dylan and head over to the reapings." I turned around to face Ma, giving her a big hug. She wasn't very short, but compared to my height, she looked almost childlike.

"Love you, Ma." I said as I left the house. The bright light of District One temporarily blinded me as he made I way to my best friend, Dylan's, house. I walked down a road, and saw several kids I knew from the training academy sitting around a table, already in their reaping clothes.

"Blain! Hey, Blain, come over here!" They yelled, so I took a detour. Dylan would have to wait.

Alex Jeppson, 17.

"Chase! Come back here with that!" I yelled at my older brother. He held the hairbrush out of my reach, waving it tauntingly. Rule number one about me: Don't hold things out of my reach.

"If you want it, you'll have to grab it!" He laughed. I rolled my eyes. I love my brother to death, but it was Reaping Day, and I did not want to miss out.

"Fine." I pouted, and pretended to be defeated, storming into the kitchen. I sat in a chair, arms crossed firmly across my chest, my eyebrows furrowed. My strawberry-blonde hair, normally neat, was incredibly messy, thanks to bedhead and an early training before I had a chance to get ready. That's how it normally went. I'd wake up, get dressed as fast as possible, and then race my butt over to the Academy for a quick training session before breakfast. Chase, ever the sympathetic one, came in to check on me, forgetting his hairbrush scheme. Just as he was about to give me the hairbrush, as his outstretched hand reached to me, another, smaller hand darted and wrestled it away from his grip. With another turn of strawberry blonde hair, the intruder was gone as quickly as she had come. "Damn you, Jacie!" I yelled, kicking the chair over in anger. I heard giggling in the next room. My twin Jacie was almost the exact opposite of me. I was the strong one, the one good with weapons, yet Jacie always seemed to appear out of nowhere and sneak unseen. I virtually hated her. "I will kill you with my bare hands!" My twin appeared at the doorway, arms raised in surrender.

"Violence is not necessary, little sister." She handed me the hairbrush. I ripped it from her grip, anger evident in my eyes, as a sneer crossed my face.

"We're twins." Jacie smirked, as I started to viciously yank the brush through my hair. I wasn't tender headed, so the haphazard movements didn't affect me.

Blain Sype, 18.

"Are you thinking of volunteering this year?" A pretty redheaded girl asked me. I chuckled. What was her name? Gina? Gertrude? No, it was Gala. The one with the short sword from the Academy. I shrugged, attempting to look cool. Hey, I pulled it off pretty well.

"Yeah. Last year to do it. I've been training for long enough. What about you?" Gala shook her head, fiddling with her bracelet.

"No, but next year for sure. I'm only 17 now. Lace's volunteering this year. She's 18 now, aren't you?" Gala gestured to a dark-haired girl sitting across the table. She nodded.

"Turned 18 last November." She affirmed. One of the boys at the table, Cyprus, gave each of us a high-five. I could remember that he was eighteen too.

"Well, may the best tribute volunteer." He smirked. Lace giggled. I rolled my eyes. What an asshole. With his 'may the best tribute volunteer.' I'm going to volunteer, and that's for certain. No Cyprus would get in my way of that. When I snapped back to reality, Gala and Lace were talking about some fighting technique, and Cyprus was looking over some notes. I was about to say goodbye when, suddenly, I was attacked from the back. Alarmed, but knowing what to do, I quickly swung my leg out, knocking my attacker to the ground in two seconds. I brushed myself off and returned to a standing position as my attacker, which turned out to be my friend Hailden, tried to get up. Dylan came laughing his head off from a few feet back.

"Who's gonna win these Games?" Dylan yelled. "Blain! Knocking Ol' Hailden to the ground in what, three seconds?"

"Two." Hailden muttered from the ground. I gave him a hand, and he jumped up, his feet landing cleanly on the ground.

"Hailden, you still volunteering?" I asked, still thinking about all the competition I'd have getting in. Every reaping day, an average of ten kids volunteer every time. I don't like the Capitol very much, but most of us here suck up. When Peacekeepers walk by, we proclaim our love for everyone to hear. 'Capitol this, Capitol that.' But, honestly, I think everyone up there's crazy. I thought girls here dressed weirdly. Oh no. Nothing compared to the Capitol. The Games had always interested me though. I like them. I watch them every year. A habit of a lot of District One kids is to keep notes during Hunger Games season. We're all up for volunteering. Me probably most of all. I feel like I have to get away. Even though District One is huge, and I have friends here, I just don't feel…complete.

"After those reflexes? Hell, no. You'd make a much better tribute anyway." Cyprus made a scoffing sound. "You're volunteering, Cyprus?" Cyprus gathered his notes and stood up.

"As a matter of fact, I am." Confidence is not good on him. Arrogant Cyprus. I have never liked him.

"Well, good luck beating Blain."

"I appreciate it. Well, see me in the Games, Sype." He walked away. Gala and Lace stared after him, and Gala started giggling. Lace glared at me for a second, then went back to talking to Gala. Dylan laughed.

"See me in the Games, Sype." He mocked; his voice high-pitched and girly. Oh, my good friends.

Alex Jeppson, 17.

My sister sucks. I am not kidding. First off, she stole my hairbrush. Then it was my shoes, claiming her ugly brown ones were better than my blue ones. I eventually got them back by threatening to destroy her drawing pads. Then she stole all of my makeup. It took me forever to get those back from her. She's seventeen and still acts twelve. I have no idea how she's gotten so much respect in our community. Chase left early, since he can get ready in ten minutes and still look great, to watch in the adult section. He's 19 and was never in the Games. Never attempted to volunteer. That made our parents mad, but they could never stop loving Chase. Everyone loves Chase. Everyone loves Jacie. Do people love Alex? Probably not. But they sure are afraid of me. And why, do you ask, are they afraid of me? Because I'm going to win. After yelling at Jacie for a good twenty minutes, I finally had the brilliant idea to leave the house early. Adopting my calm demeanor, I attempted to calm down. Couldn't let Jacie get the best of me, could I? Watching where I walked, I came to the giant opening in the middle of our town. Already it was full, filled with little kids, parents, and crazy teenagers. And there's nothing more dangerous than crazy teenagers that have been trained to kill each other. I signed in, and walked over my section, bored as heck. The reapings wouldn't start for another thirty minutes, so I was stuck watching the escort blabber to Peacekeepers about this and that, and she looked ridiculous. After a while, Jacie came over, smiling sweetly at me. Ugh. Siblings. I went to go stand by a group of girls from my school, while Jacie just kept smiling. I can't even enjoy the reapings without her creeping me out.

"Lace's volunteering this year." A girl in front of her whispered to another girl.

"So is Valentine."

"I wonder who it'll be…" I'd never heard of Valentine, but I had heard about Lace. Ruthless, a poor boy got too friendly with her and she put him in the infirmary for a month. As I was about to butt in, the escort tapped on the microphone to get our attention.

"Hello!" Her shrill voice rang out in that awful Capitol accent. "I see so many young and hopeful young faces out there!" Some of the boys cheered. It wasn't to flatter her; it just gave them something to be loud about. "As you all well know, it is time for the 68th Annual," She gave a dramatic pause for effect, "Hunger Games!" More people cheered, including me. The escort had incredibly tall blue hair, and her skin was an awful tint of sparkly purple. I never cared to remember the names of the escorts. She went on to talk about the incredibly important history of Panem and our betrayal, but how we mostly stuck with the Capitol, and were the most fortunate. By the time we actually got the great 'Pulling the Name Out of a Bowl' I was half asleep. Jacie, who had somehow found her way to my side, hit me with her elbow. "The ladies shall go first!" She cried, plunging her hand into the fishbowl. She didn't hesitate to pull out the first one her hand touched, and she walked back to the microphone. I glanced over to the 18-year-old girl section. Lace was trembling in anticipation. The escort cleared her throat.

"Jacie Jeppson!" Before anyone else could even raise, their voice, I yelled at the top of my lungs.

" I VOLUNTEER!" I ran toward the platform as fast as I could, before even Lace could get un-stunned enough to pipe up a weak,

"I volunteer!" A few seconds after me. No way was Jacie getting all the fame and glory in my family. No way.

"And what is your name?" The escort asked me. I smiled back, completely pleased with my decision.

"My name is Alex Jeppson. I volunteer for my sister." I sneered, although it was only visible to Jacie. I was going to finally be noticed. The escort clapped her hands.

"Isn't that sweet?"

"Yes ma'am." Oh, yes. Vengeance is sweet indeed.

Blain Sype, 18.

The girl on the platform is younger than me. Lace didn't volunteer in time. Thank God. As the escort, Glendora Laming, walks over to the boy's bowl, I glanced over to Cyprus. He glared at me, an almost inhuman smile playing on his features. Oh, yeah, good luck out shouting me. Time seemed to slow down as she unfolded the slip of paper, and she barely started to say the lucky boy's name when I and Cyprus both yelled out

"I VOLUNTEER!" At the same time. Since we had yelled at what seemed as the exact same time, we both went forward. Two Peacekeepers stopped the both of us. After someone exchanged a few words with Glendora, she announced over the microphone,

"It seems that one of our potential tributes has exceeded the age limit." Her voice was strained, angry. Cyprus paled.

"It's my birthday today."

"So you're 19?" I yelled back. He nodded, sadly, and the Peacekeeper forced him into the adult section, Dyprus yelling his head off. Before Glendora could say anything else, I went to the microphone, and loudly announced, "I am Blain Sype, and I will be District One's newest victor." I flashed a smile to Gala, who I saw in the seventeen-year-old's section, beaming brightly at me.

"Well, two volunteers!" Glendora was beside herself, even though it usually happened every year. She grabbed each of our hands and turned them towards the sky. "Your tributes!" Everyone cheered. I don't know whether I'd ever felt so happy.

Alex Jeppson, 17.

When they put us in the rooms where we would get to say our goodbyes, I awaited my family. No one showed up for a while, and that made me start to think that no one was going to come. But after forty-five minutes of pure nothingness and boredom, my parents walked in. My dad was smiling brightly, and my mother quickly gave me a very large hug.

"We are so proud of you, sweetie." My mother purred, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "What you did was very brave."

"You'll win for sure." Dad said, tears of joy threatening to spill from his eyes. A Peacekeeper walked in, to escort them out, and they each gave my goodbye kisses. "We'll watch every moment!" The door slammed, and then it was quiet. Chase came next, messing around with something in his hands. He had been crying, I could tell.

"Hey." He muttered.

"Hey."

"Why'd you volunteer, Alex?"

"Why not?" She stared at me, knowing there was a reason. I sighed, and leaned back in my chair. "You and Jacie always get the adoration, the love, and I thought it was my turn. I'm going to win, Chase." He nodded.

"I know." He gave me a hug, and left something in my hands. It was a charm bracelet.

"Chase, I-"

"Shh. Win it for me, ok, Alex?"

"Ok." The Peacekeeper didn't come this time. Jacie walked in a few minutes later, and we sat in silence until the Peacekeeper came to get her. As she was leaving, she turned around, look me in the eye, and said:

"Alex, you're going to die."

Blain Sype, 18.

"I told you I'd get him, didn't I?" Dylan, Hailden and I were all laughing. "You should've seen his FACE!"

"You're totally going to win it."

"I know." Dylan's face brightened even more for a split second.

"Hey, dude, I got this sweet thing for your token." He held out a bottle cap.

"What's that? I questioned, flipping it in the air.

"A bottle cap. Pre-Dark Days. It's really valuable, you may want to keep it. If you want."

"Awesome, man. Thanks." I love my friends. I really do. After they left, my mom came in, and just said things like 'I love you so much,' and 'You'll do great,' and reassured my more for her benefit than mine. The last person to visit me was none other than Gala.

"Well, you said you would do it, and you did it. You beat Cyprus. Not bad." She laughed.

"I do what I can." I flirted.

"Hey, you go and win these Games, and I'll be waiting back here. Don't let those Capitol girls get to your head." I laughed.

"Alright." The door opened, and I could tell a Peacekeeper was coming to let her out. "You take care of yourself, now."

"I will." She winked. Ah, Happy Hunger Games indeed.