Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. I do not own any of the characters regcognized in the story. They all beling to the genius that is Suzanne Collins.

Everett Carmichael walked up Princewater Street loftily. The sun shone down, casting a yellow light on the white buildings and turning the bricks in the walkway golden in color. The glare off of the glass stopped the windows from being seen. There was an undertone of excitement running through the entire crowd.

Today was Reaping Day. The day that two children will be chosen for the honor of representing District One in the 75th Hunger Games. That's right. This year was a Quarter Quell. There would be a twist added to the Games to add to the excitement. Everett s so excited to watch. He remembered watching the TV as President Snow announced the Quell.

"As a reminder to the rebels," he had said. "That no one was there to divert the violence that they initiated; the volunteering rights of the male and female tributes will be suspended."

It will be so exciting. Of course, only Districts One, Two and Four actually volunteered. However, sometimes other districts have volunteers. Take last year. District Twelve's Katniss Everdeen volunteered and she ended up winning. That was a rare occurrence, but it did happen.

Everett remembered the other Games that he had seen. Every year, one of the children in his district had volunteered. It would be interesting to see what would happen now that that wouldn't happen. Of course, those that volunteer had always been well trained. They spent their lives trying to prepare for the Games.

Everett never understood their logic. Sure, the Hunger Games were fun to watch, but he couldn't imagine putting his life on the line like that. Everett was part of the exceptionally small lower class of District One. His parents both went into the gem mines to excavate the jewels that his district refined. Of course, most people did things of that nature. However, the majority worked in the factories that ran throughout the district. After all, only a savage would willingly work in the mines. That's what Everett's family was to the rest of the district. Savages.

That didn't bother Everett. He'd grown up being called savage when he went, rarely, into the wealthier part of the city. He knew what the city kids called him and all those who attended the Lower Miner Secondary School. It was his life. He knew that that was the way things were. Nothing else mattered.

Perhaps if his parents had done what so many other parents had done, things would be different. Many people save for their entire lives to afford to be able to hire a trainer to train their children. It's true, his parents had considered it. However, they decided that the training was unnecessary when they asked Everett and he said that he didn't want to compete. He was content with watching the Games with awe from the comfort of his home. Therefore, Everett attended school and received no weapons training. After all, even if he was reaped, someone would volunteer.

This year, though no one could volunteer, Everett was safe. There were over eight thousand children in District One. That would mean around fifteen thousand slips to choose from. He had three in there. There was nothing to worry about.

In his mind, nothing was out of the ordinary as he walked to the Square. Like always, he ignored the looks he was thrown. It didn't bother him. He knew he was an outsider. One particularly nasty woman stuck her leg in front of Everett, hoping to trip him. She wasn't subtle about it though, and he easily leaped over it.

On the corner of Princewater and Diamond Grove, Everett saw his closest friend. Ruby. He and Ruby had been friends since the first day of school six years earlier. She had the same chocolate hair that Everett had, a result of living in 'Savage Country' as it was called, but she had violet eyes. Her mother had been from 'Crossroads'. This was the middle class populace of District One. She had the violet eyes that resulted from that area.

One of the first social rules in District One was to stay within the area. When her parents fell in love, an act that baffled Everett, Ruby's mother was forced to move to Savage Country to live out her days. Everett sometimes wondered how she could manage it. Those thought were washed out of his head whenever he saw Mrs. Goldvine. She seemed so happy to be where she was. She loved her husband and she felt that whatever she went through to have him was worth it.

Ruby was waiting alone to greet Everett. Her parents must have been wing at the Square for them. About five feet away from her, Everett called out "Hey Rubes!"

She turned around and pushed herself off of the lamppost and walked over to Everett smiling. "Hey Ev. Ready to go?"

Everett smiled at her. "No. I'm just in my nicest clothes, which BTW isn't saying much, and walking to our usual meeting place because I'm not ready. How silly of me."

Ruby looked at him curiously. "Can you say even one sentence that isn't laced with an ocean load of sarcasm?"

Everett, every deliberately, tilted his head to one side and smiled at her. "But of course," he said in a high pitched voice that he might have used to talk to Ruby's two-year-old sister Opal when playing peek-a-boo. "I don't even know what sarcasm is."

Ruby huffed and threw her hands up, nearly knocking someone's glasses off their face and earning them several dirty glares that they nonchalantly ignored. "Why didn't your parents teach you English before sarcasm?"

Everett chuckled lightly as they turned onto Diamond Grove and meandered down the road. They had about an hour before they were required in the Square. There was no need for them to rush.

They talked of menial things for the first few minutes. They spoke of the jewels that their parents had mined. They were wondering how large of a price the jewels would bring. After all, if the jewels aren't mined, then there is nothing to give to the Capitol.

Everett remembered a lesson from school that stated how unique District One was. Every miner owns the jewels that they collect. They then take them to the traders. They can go around until they find the best price and then sell them. It had worked well in the past. However, there was a tradition throughout Savage Country that everyone followed. The first gem that a person mined and the first gem that they mine after each of their children's births isn't sold. It's to be kept as a souvenir.

Ruby talked about the likelihood of being reaped. She said that she would never get one of the jewels as a token. Her parents would never give one of the gems up. They liked the memory of her as a baby. Everett smiled and laughed at the thought of her as an infant.

Ruby felt that it would be interesting to see if the usual Career Pack would form without volunteers. Everett told her that it probably would. After all, everyone that wanted to be reaped took out tesserae to increase their chances.

As they reached the Square, the buzz about the upcoming reaping had escalated in size. Now people were huddled into groups. They were talking about the reaping like Ruby and Everett were before.

Ruby and Everett went over to the sign in station. They stood at the back of the line that slowly moved as children went up to sign in. After about twenty minutes of waiting, Everett was in the front. A peacekeeper told him to hold out his hand. Then, Everett felt a sharp prick in his finger and the peacekeeper shoved his finger and told him to get to the waiting area. The excitement was infectious. Everett smiled widely and watched those on the stage talk. Ruby had to go over to the girls' section, and she was lost in the crowd. So, Everett watched alone.

After a moment, Reyna Bolingaurd, District One's escort, came onto the stage and sat down in one of the many chairs on the stage. She was smiling widely at the victors and struck up a conversation with the victor of the 66th Hunger Games, Cashmere Scarlett.

After a few moments, apparently everyone had arrived. At ten-o-clock on the dot, the seal of Panem appeared above the stage. The anthem boomed and everyone made noises of excitement. When the anthem ended, Mayor Calster, an average height plump woman with golden blond hair, stepped onto the stage and began to list all of the disasters that destroyed the old civilization. She stated all of the fires, the encroaching seas, the typhoons that destroyed the old world. And from the ruins, Panem rose. The shining Capitol with its thirteen districts. Then the Dark Days fell upon the land. The thirteen districts foolishly tried to rebel against the Capitol. After only two years of fighting, twelve of the districts were defeated, the thirteenth blown to bits.

As punishment, though no one in District One thought of it as so, the Hunger Games were initiated as a way to warn future generations against rebellion.

Then she went on to list the past victors of District One. With each name, cheers rang through the district. When the final name was called, Claude Despereux who won the 72nd Hunger Games, Mayor Calster stepped back and took a seat.

Reyna Bolingaurd, an alarmingly tall woman with neon violet hair and stark white skin, bounced over to the stage. She took the microphone and said "Happy Hunger Games, District One," there were raucous applause throughout the district. "May the odds be ever in your favor!" More cheers rang through the district.

Reyna clapped her hands together and squealed in delight. "Let's get on with it. Ladies first!" She bounded over to the large reaping ball filled with girls' names. She stuck her hand in shuffled around the papers for a few moments until she pulled out one single slip. She walked back to the podium slowly, building suspense with each step she took. Finally, she arrived and torturously opened the slip as slowly as possible. Then, in a loud, clear voice, she spoke the name.

"Jessamine Despereux!"

Jessamine walked up to the stage cockily. She held her head high and had an aura about her of surety. She was sure to be an excellent competitor. She was pretty, too. She was an eighteen-year-old girl. Her long blond hair was curled into ringlets that shone in the late morning sunlight. Everett could only see her profile, but she clearly had the same green eyes as her—Brother?—and most of District One had. She even moved with an athletic grace that signaled to all those paying attention that she had training as well as natural skill.

The roars of applause that rang through the crowd were deafening. It was almost impossible to hear Reyna introduce her to the crowd. Everett noticed her flash her brother Claude a bright smile before turning back to the crowd. She waved vigorously and blew kisses in all directions. Though some of the screams from the girls' side of the area seemed a little bitter, she didn't seem to care. Either way, she kept the crowd going for quite a while.

However, eventually, Reyna managed to calm the crowd down slightly. She must not have realized that Jessamine was one of the most popular girls in the district. Ever since her brother won, she had become enormously popular with the city, Crossroads, and Savage Country population. Everyone loved her.

The crowds still cheered, though on a lesser scale, for another five minutes. During that time, Jessamine walked over to the podium and took the microphone. "Thank you District One!" The applause erupted full force again at that. "I promise that in the 75th Annual Hunger Games, I will bring glory to our beloved district!" Applause once again erupted.

Reyna lightly tapped Jessamine on the shoulder and moved her out of the way, meeting protests from the crowd as she did so. She stepped in front of the microphone and began to try and calm the uproarious district down. She kept up a stream of soothing comments that slowly but surely calmed the district to the same quiet lull that it was before.

The tension rose again as Reyna once again walked over to the reaping ball, this time the boys'. She reached into it and ruffled around in it for a few moments. She snapped her hand out of the glass ball sharply and held a piece of paper in her hand. She did as she did before, slowly walking to the stage to build tension, and the crowd sucked in a breath in suspense. Who would it be? Many were hoping for Velvet Miles. He was a wealthy boy from the city with the same golden hair that was common there. He had trained for years and was eighteen-years-old. He would surely be a good match for Jessamine. If they went together, one of them would win.

When Reyna opened the slip and read the name, many people were shocked. Most were bewildered by the name that they had heard. For none of the people outside of Savage Country had ever heard it before. Even then, only a few people had heard it and knew that the person didn't stand a chance against the likes of Jessamine.

Everett Carmichael.

Well, I hope you like it. The story was really easy to write. This isn't going to be like any of my other stories. I actually plan on finishing it. It my take a while, but I will. That being said...

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!