Chapter 1
*Katniss' POV*
I lay silently in my bed alongside my sister Prim. Not yet fully awakened, but laying there cherishing the last possible hours with Prim. I know this is harder on her than me, especially because of what happened last night.
"Katniss! Katniss! Where are you?!" Prim's scream echoes through the hub. There, I was selling squirrel to Mr. Mellark, the town Baker.
"Prim?" I thought to myself. "Prim...Prim! Where are you?!"
"I'm coming!"
I see Prim emerge from the roaring crowd of people. Someone pushes her over as she is running toward me. Despite my anger towards her right then, I still help her up.
"Primrose! You know better than to be here the day before the reaping! It's packed in here! You could've been kidnapped! Are you crazy?!"
"Katniss…I-I didn't know where else to go…"
I realized something is actually wrong. I begin to worry, and put my hand on the side of her face.
"Prim, I'm sorry. I really overreacted. What's going on dear?"
"The Peacekeepers came to the house and gave me my tesserae report. My name had 29 tesserae drawn out! Which means my name is in the reaping 30 times! I panicked and ran to you because mom wouldn't unlock her door…and I just… I didn't know where to go." Prim says hesitantly and begins slurring her words.
I cannot believe mother let this happen. She knows better than to have Prim draw tesserae so many times.. At least she should, considering what happened to my older sister, Anna, a few years back. Anna got reaped and the boy tribute from 12 killed her with the help of his alliance.
Anna only had her name in the reaping ball the one mandatory slip. Father never let any of us take out tesserae, even if starvation was in our future. Anything, to him, was better than to b a piece in their sick games.
When father died, Mom became less self-sufficient and kept making Prim draw tesserae, since I am a year too old and Prim is finally the right age of 12. Little I know that a lot, actually equaled 29 times. Once a child is the ages of 12-18, they have a mandatory name slip placed in the reaping. Myself being 19, I am free from this burden, even though I wish I could say the same for my baby sister.
"Prim, honey, just calm down," I say, trying to get her to stop crying, "everything will be alright." I begin wiping the tears from her face with my plaid sleeve. "Let's go home." She finally cracks a smile and walks home beside me.
We walked through the busted out doorway to our kitchen. I noticed mother was still locked in her room. Deciding not to tell mother our big secret, we fixed bowls of rice and went to our room. As we are getting into our pajamas, Prim asks me what would happen if she were to be reaped tomorrow.
The answer to the question I hoped she'd never have to ask was nowhere in my mind, nor had I thought about it.
"Prim, you know that will never happen," I reassure her, not confessing my real thoughts on the matter.
"Katniss, you are crazy to think I won't be reaped. My name is in there THRITY times!"
""If anything were to happen, I'd make sure you got out of there alive and everything at home was okay. I promise."
Right about now, she starts trying to hold back tears. She isn't successful because tears begin to pour from her bright blue eyes. I pull her to my chest and tell her everything is alright. No matter what happens, I will still love her and to remember that dad is watching over her. I hear the crying begin to fade away as Prim pulls her head back from my chest.
"Thanks Katniss. I don't know what I would do without you."
"It's okay Prim; you don't need to think about that. Go on and wash up, Can't have you looking like that for the big day tomorrow." I say, trying to change the subject.
Prim walks off to the wash bucket. I wash her dress in the spicket and hang it out on the line to dry. It's really starting to hit me again. This is possibly the last time I will see my sister. I may never get to see her angelic face In the mornings when she wakes me up with the most adorable smile on earth. I may never get to hear her sweet voice again. The one that tells me she loves me every morning and evening. I won't get to see her and her friends play by the bakery in the town square. And most of all, I'll never get to see the small body of my baby sister ever again. She means everything to me and I-
"Katniss? Are you alright?" Prim startles me and I slightly jump.
"Yes baby, I'm just fine. Meet you inside for bed." I say brushing away the forming tears from my eyes.
We go inside and lay down for the night. I look at her and say, "I really love you Prim. You mean the world to me, and I'll fight for you.
"Thanks, Katniss. I love you too. I just want to get everything over with so we can get back to what we call normal."
"I'll make sure of it, little duck."
Chapter 2
*Prim's POV*
Lately everything has been a hot mess. Ever since mother sank into a serious depression when Dad died, it's been extremely difficult to get a decent meal and trying to avoid using tesserae daily. You see, every year you have the chance to get grains and oils and basic necessities by signing it out in your name. But what all families don't understand is that every time they sign out this "necessity", they are putting their son or daughter one chance closer to being put in the games, one step closer to being killed, and one step closer to becoming a murderer and a slave to the Capitol. This is what happened to me. My mother didn't realize what those little tesserae really were in comparison to my wellbeing. I would rather starve than be murdered in the Capitol's televised games. Sure, when you go into the games they treat you as if it was your last day on Earth, since it may as well be. But, I'll tell you, there is nothing they can do to repay what they are preparing you for. "The time of your life," they say. More like the last time of your life. Period.
Today, Katniss woke me up and told me to put on my dress. So, I did. I took every second carefully and slowly, cherishing each moment I have left in my house. I spent about 10 minutes getting dressed. Then, hastily, I walked into the front room to let Katniss braid my hair back. I absolutely love to let her fix me up in the mornings. While she is determines to make the most elaborate hair style ever, I go into deep thought.
I think about what feeling I have when I'm at home. The feeling of safety when I go to bed beside my sister, because I know she can protect me. The feeling of comfort I have right now while sitting in the front room with her. The feeling of love when she kisses me goodbye after we register at the reaping. I still don't accept my great possibility of death.
"Hey I have a surprise for you," Katniss said, holding something behind her back.
"What is it?" I said as I got excited.
"You know when we went to the hub the other night? Well I picked up this pin, for good luck."
"Wow! I Love it! It's beautiful!"
"I'm glad! Here, I'll put it on you." Katniss begins to pin the piece in my hair and it pokes me lightly on the head, then it clips in. "Finished." She says with a smile.
I look at the clock and see what time it is. 10 o'clock. We have to leave now. My mother comes out of her room, and for once she looked kept together. She and Katniss began to escort me out. Goodbye Home.
My heart was pounding out of my chest as we left the house. I'm still not accepting the fact this is probably the last time I see it.
Chapter 3
*Prim's POV*
It's time. I see the table. I'm so afraid. Will it be painful? Sting? Or maybe I won't feel it.
The reason for registration is so that they can say you were there and make sure you are the person you say you are. The way they do that is to take a blood sample.
It's really hard to leave my mother and my sister, but the faster I do, the faster I can get back to them. So, quickly, we say our goodbyes and lined up for registration. I luckily wasn't alone because Lucas, my friend from the bakery, ended up behind me.
"Hey Lucas, I'm glad I could see you before we got registered." I said.
"It's so nice to see you," Lucas said, hugging me, "I don't know what I would do if I didn't get to see you.."
"I can't believe we are actually here, this sucks and I am terrified.." I said, while getting interrupted by the lady at the desk.
"Hold out your hand for me, dear, it doesn't hurt as bad as it looks. I promise."
Here it comes…
OW!
That lady was so wrong, it hurt much worse! At least it wasn't a huge needle.
I began walking towards the girl section in front of the stage. Lucas grabs my wrist from behind and pulls me to him. He gives me a huge hug and rubs my back. He lets go and I stare into his pale-blue eyes.
"Are you ready," Lucas asks me.
"I just want this over with, " I reply hesitantly.
"I just want you to know, if anything happens, I believe in you."
"Thanks, Lucas. Same goes for you. You may not realize it, but you mean the world to me."
Did I seriously just say that..
"I'm speechless, Prim." Lucas replied with a confused tone and looked off to the side.
No, Lucas, not like that," I say covering up my confession. He can't know.
"Oh! Haha, you scared me there for a second!"
We approach the division of boys and girls. The peacekeeper waves us two separate ways, but I catch a quick hug before he leaves; he whispers in my ear before he walks away, "I love you, stay strong, Prim." We separate, but I can still see him. He kisses his first three fingerers and blows a sign of respect my way.
I can't believe I almost told him I love him.
. . . . . . .
We are grouped by gender, with an aisle in between us, facing the stage. I feel like an animal trapped in here.
. . . . . . .
The name domes are being placed upon the stage by Eiffie Trinket, the lady who always draws the names of the tributes. Capitol people look so strange. Their face are completely white and covered in every shade of color you could think of. Up there, the trend is to wear so much make-up because make-up is an expensive item. It's terrible that they are worried about looking nice, and we are all trying to survive in their death trap.
Anyways, I need to stay focused on the bigger issues. Staying out of the games.
"Good Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen! Aren't you excited to be here?"
No one reacts.
"Not a bright crowd today, huh?"
Everyone hates her anyways.
"Well we might as well get along with the reaping, shall we?"
"Ladies First!"
Eiffie digs her claws into the dome of names. Slowly, she picks one out and it was still folded. As the first letter of the name rolls off her tongue, my heart stops.
"Primrose Everdeen!"
Oh no.
I look at Katniss in the audience, tears starting to fall from her eyes. She mouths, "I love you. You can do this. Stay strong."
I knew this was going to happen. My chances were too high.
"And now for the gentlemen!"
Not Lucas. Please not Lucas.
"Peeta Mellark!"
What? That's Lucas' brother! He is all so kept to himself, never talked much. He was really big on getting fit, working out, preparing for this moment. He is also 18, year younger than my sister.
I'm already standing onstage as Peeta walks up to me and we are forced to shake hands; Kind gestures you don't see much of in the districts. He whispers to me, "Nice to see you again, just not for this reason."
It's awkward the age gap between us two. He is 18 and I am 12,
"I see we have a relative of a former tribute and a very likely candidate for the winners," Eiffie says surprisingly excited.
"Please state your names."
"Uhm, Primrose Everdeen," I say with a slight chill in my voice.
"Peeta Mellark," Peeta murmurs out by the time Eiffie Is ready to speak again. "Welcome district 12's tributes to the 74th annual Hunger Games!"
Eiffie take us through the door on the far end of the stage and escorts us to the visiting rooms.