A loud clap of thunder forces me awake. I am left confused by the sudden awaking, unable to determine where I am, but I very quickly return to my senses. I am in the same room and the same bed I fell asleep in last night. My eyes drift across the room and find the window that is next to my bed. Outside the window, rain falls heavily and splashes the ground hard. The dark clouds in the sky make it difficult to tell what time it is, but I assume it's late because when I stretch my arm out to the side, all I feel is cold sheets. Usually when I wake up my older brother Pepper is lying beside me, but I guess not today.

I keep my eyes fixed on the world outside and turn my body so I can look at the rain more closely. It's calming. The soothing sound and the mute colors, they make me want to close my eyes and rest for hours more, but unfortunately I've already slept later than I should have, so I pull the blankets off of my body and stand up. My legs are barely able to support my weight after my long sleep, so I keep still and let them get used to carrying my upper body. After a few seconds they seem to be ready for movement so I walk over to the window. The cold air in the room swarms my body, painting goose bumps on my arms as it flies by. Being close to the window - the source of the frigid air- doesn't help much, but I ignore the bitter coldness and stare out the window anyways. Besides it reminds me of my parents. They used to take us on walks through the district every day, even if it was cold and rainy. They would show us what it looked like outside of the seam, and point out the beauty in our district. Even if something appeared to be putrid, my parents would always show us the magnificence in it. That's what I miss most about my mother and father. The knowledge they shared with my brothers and I. Now the only place I can find knowledge is inside an old book, which I don't prefer.

My parents disappeared six years ago. I was only four so it was very hard for me to comprehend. All I remember is them telling us they were going on a walk by themselves, and then they never came back. It spread quickly throughout our district, but I don't think anyone but my brothers and I really cared. "Where's Mommy?" seven year old Pepper asked a million times that night. A shiver goes up my spine as I vaguely remember the gloomy evening. My parents seemed so happy that day, like nothing bad could ever happen to them. Sometimes I wonder if they ran away from district twelve, maybe to get away from the hunger, or even their own children, but I dismiss the thought. They wouldn't risk their lives like that, or leave us alone. They wouldn't leave Roan by himself, only twelve to raise us by choice, would they? I shake my head to throw the thoughts out and turn away from the window. Whenever my parents enter my thoughts i am always overwhelmed with "What if's" that lead to a false sense of hope, that's why i prefer to keep them as far from me as possible.

I cross over to my dresser and pull out some fresh clothes. A dark screen shirt and a pair of black pants. I peel the old clothes off of my body and slide the new ones on. I feel fresher than I did a few seconds ago, and more comfortable. My hair is still a mess though. I reach for a comb that sits on top of my dresser and brush my hair until the majority of the knots are out, then I part it to the side and tuck it behind my ears. My mother used to wear her light blonde hair this way. I walk over to the mirror that hangs on the back of my door and look over myself. I have orange blonde hair and blue eyes, blue eyes that are often mistaken for green. My skin is pale and dotted with freckles here and there. I'm not beautiful, I could never be beautiful, no matter how much I try, I won't be. My eyes are too small, and my face too round, but I don't mind really. Beauty isn't my first priority, not my second or my third either. I've never really thought about attempting to make myself beautiful and I have no intentions to.

I reach out and pull my bedroom door open, standing motionless in the doorway for a moment. My parent's old bedroom is steps away from me. Roan, my oldest brother sleeps there now. I think it brings him closer to my mother and father. It hit him harder than Pepper and I when they went missing. I think because he knew them better than we did. To my right is the rickety stair case that leads to the kitchen and to my left is another window. I take the first step and then hop down the stairs. When I reach the bottom I expect to see Roan and Pepper waiting for me at the table, or in the rocking chairs in the family room, but the house is empty. "Guys?" I call. All I hear is an eerie echo fill the house. Did they leave me too? Just like my mother and father? Then I come to the realization that Roan has already been long gone. He works at the mines and has to get up early. Then the pieces come together. Pepper is at school. I'm late for school. I am flushed with sudden anger. Why didn't he wake me? I have to walk my neighbor Willow to school every day. Did he walk her today? Or is she still at home sleeping without a thought in the world? I sprint over to our front door and slip on my old boots. I'm in too much of a rush to grab a coat or a hat before I run out into the cold rain. My feet splash in muddy puddles as I climb up the hill in front of my house. Sometimes I love having the hill there- it gives us privacy from all the other houses in the district- but on days like today, I utterly despise this hill.

I slip a few times and the knees on my pants become ridden with mud, but once I'm at the top of the hill, I'm able to run full speed to Willow's house. I push open her door and call to her. I get the same response I did at my home, an echo. Her parents are off working; they should be by now anyway. I'm assuming its maybe ten O' clock, and usually district twelve's residents start their work day at around eight, so they are long gone. I rush up the stairs into Willow's room to find her sound asleep. "Willow get up!" I yell. I shake her until her dark green eyes find mine. She is surprised at first but then realizes it's only me. "Pepper never woke me up and we are late for school, come on." My anger at Pepper has only grown bigger as this morning progresses on. I go down stairs into Willow's kitchen to wait for her to dress. She shouldn't be long. I always tell her to pick out her clothes the night before school so that she doesn't have to worry about it in the mornings, as I am frequently late, but never this late.

I look down at my pants. Mud covers both my knees and the bottoms of my calves. I try to brush it off with my hands but that only makes it worse, so I decide to leave the mud there. After a few short minutes I hear Willow's small feet bounce down the stairs. Her dark brown hair has been twisted into a bun, and I can see a small bit of makeup on her cheeks. "Where'd you get that?" I ask touching her face slightly. "My mom had it in her room. I just thought I would try it." She says pushing my hand away. "Well you don't need it, you're already beautiful enough." I'm not lying. Willow is a very pretty young girl. She'll have no trouble finding a husband when she's older. "Ready?" she says walking towards the door. I grab a large coat that hangs on the back of her kitchen chair and wrap it around her once I've gotten behind her. She slips her arms in the sleeves and opens the front door. I smile as she struggles to maneuver in the big coat. Willow is like a twig. Everything is too big for her, not just the coat. Shes not thin because of the lack of wealth her parents have though -if they can afford luxuries like makeup they can afford daily meals- she is thin because that's just the way she is built. Me on the other hand, I am thin due to the lack of wealth my family has.

The cold wind hits us hard as we step outside, and the rain quickly follows it. I jog up beside her so that we can talk. "Did you sleep well?" I ask speaking up some so that she can hear me over the rain. She doesn't speak, only nods. "That's good." We stay silent the rest of the walk. The only thing on her mind is the reaping tomorrow. I can tell by her petrified expression, and I don't blame her. It's hard to stay calm when there is a possibility that your life will be over shortly. I don't acknowledge the reaping for her sake. Even though i understand the terrible horrors she must be conjuring up in her mind, I doubt she will even get picked. I doubt either of us will get picked. Pepper, Roan, Willow and I all vowed never to put our names in for tesserae, no matter how hungry we are, and there are some kids that put their names in loads of times, so I think we are safe. The only thing I am worried about is the Quarter Quell aspect of tomorrows reaping. The Quarter Quell is a more interesting version of the hunger games, and it will always celebrated every twenty five years (or so our teachers tell us) so this will be the first Quarter Quell. Since the reaping for the Quell is always "special," something I'm not prepared for could happen. Like the reaping of only a certain age, or the reaping of two girls and two boys, which would double our chances of being picked. I can only hope for the best though.

Once we reach the school, all the kids and teachers are already in classrooms. I grab Willow's soggy hand and we walk down the hallway that holds her classroom. I kneel down in front of her so that we are face to face. "When you get in there, just tell them your mother was ill okay?" She nods and skips off to her class. I stay in the hall to make sure she gets inside fine and then turn around to head towards my classroom, but blocking my way is Aurora Greener. She is the head principal at our school. Her presence scares me and I jump back. I know she saw me and Willow arrive late to the school, and me telling Willow to lie about it. There will be consequences for my actions no doubt. She doesn't talk until after a few moments of staring me down. "I'm beginning to think you are a bad influence on that young girl Miss Rudbeckia," she says in a condescending tone. I know exactly what she means. Last week she saw me bring Willow into the hob (it was only the fourth time I'd been there, and our food supply was running short), and now she sees me encouraging her to lie. "Rud," is all I can say to her. I have no defense for what I just did, so all I do is correct my name. Pathetic. "I don't care what you want to be called, all i care about is how well you can get your act together and start becoming a better role model for that girl, because from the looks of it you are doing a terrible job" she hisses. All I can think about is the word "role model". I refuse to believe what she says at the moment and simply nod my head, i am a perfect role model. Aurora walks away from me, probably back into her office. I take my time walking to my class so that I can finally run what she said through my mind, "all I care about is how well you can get your act together and start becoming a better role model for that girl." Am I really a bad role model for Willow? I can't possibly be. Can I?

The rest of the day that question pops into my head several times. I keep forcing it out but it keeps forcing itself back in. Maybe I do need to start thinking about the effect I have on Willow. But then again, what bad can happen if she ends up like me? I'm not a bad student; I almost always do as I'm told unless my better judgment says otherwise. That's another thing; I'm good at thinking things through, what's so bad if she ends up like that?

Once school dismisses I find Pepper outside of the building while waiting for Willow. He begins walking home, his orange hair being blown behind him by the wind. I run towards him and cut right in front of his path, "why didn't you wake me Pepper?" I say lightly pushing him. I'm mad at him but I would never hurt him, so I don't push so hard. "I thought you were sick," he says backing away from me. Okay I guess he has a good point. I didn't get up early like I normally do, so that leaves him with the assumption I'm not feeling well. Makes sense. But it still doesn't make sense that he had intentions to let Willow stay home too. "What about Willow?" I growl. He raises his hands defensively "I thought she could use a day off for once." I want to tell him that because he failed to tell me these things, I got in trouble with the principal. I completely agree that Willow should be allowed to stay home just one day and sleep in (to think about her first reaping) and I would have stayed home with her, if I had known, but I don't tell him this. It would only worry Pepper. Roan and him are very over protective of me and wouldn't want for me to be in trouble or the slightest bit unhappy(mostly Pepper, Roan wouldn't bat an eye if i die tonight, one less mouth to feed). "Look I'm sorry," he says. I can hear the compassion in his voice. I calm down a little and change the tone of my voice too. "Its fine, but next time just tell me." He nods.

Once Willow comes out of the school building we walk home in silence. Thankfully the rain stopped shortly after Willow and I arrived at school, so we have a nice dry walk home. Willow decides to spend the night at our house and attend the ceremony with us tomorrow afternoon. Her parents won't mind at all. They don't really pay much attention to Willow. Actually the reason I befriended young Willow was because her parents ignored her. I remember when we first met it was winter and she was walking to school alone without a coat. I let her borrow mine and we only grew from there. In a way her parent's awful ways were a blessing to both of us. Roan is sitting in front of the television in the family room when we walk through the door. His dark blonde hair is plastered to his forehead from sweat and he is covered in coal dust. He turns to look at us all "Hey," he says with a sullen smile. We gather around the television behind Roan, waiting to see what's in store for the first Quell. We stand unmoving for about a half an hour until finally The capital seal quickly flashes onto the screen and the anthem plays in the background. Then President Snow is shown standing at his mansion in front of a huge crowd of people. First he talks about the history of Panem. The uprising, the rebels defeat, the treaty of the treason. Then he gets down to business, "We honor the first Quarter Quell on the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Hunger Games, and as a reminder of the capitals generosity, all males in the twelve districts are exempt from this year's reaping." The screen goes black, not because the ceremony is over, but because Roan turns it off. There is nothing else interesting to watch anyways, just boring talk shows about the first Quell and the exciting theme.

I look at Pepper, "Looks like you're free. No more reapings for you," I say with as much enthusiasm as I can bare. Because Pepper is now eighteen, he will work in the mines with Roan. Willow and I however are not safe from the reaping; our chances of being picked have actually doubled. I'm still not very worried. There are thousands of other slips, thousands. My calmness hasn't rubbed off on Willow though, she looks at the screen petrified. She isn't stupid; she knows that she is more likely to die with only girls being reaped now, so I don't reassure her of anything. Is that what a good role model would do? Be calm and not comfort her? This thought leaves as quickly as it entered. I am selfish. Willow is scared to death and all i can think about is how well a role model i am.

My stomach probably can't take any food, and I'm sure Willow feels the same way, so I just suggest some sleep. "Okay, well we should probably get to bed then. Big day tomorrow right?" I head up the old wooden stairs that lead to our rooms; Pepper, Willow and Roan are all behind me. Roan doesn't follow us into our room; he slips into my parent's old room without another word. Is he worried for me? Or maybe for Willow? He shouldn't be, I am absolutely positive that our names will not get picked. I climb on to my bed, and Willow falls in behind me. Pepper sleeps in Roan's old bed tonight so that Willow can lay with me. The room is completely dark after about twenty minutes. I hear Willow's soft breaths next to me; they are almost perfectly synchronized with Pepper's. The quiet sound helps me drift off into a deep sleep, and before I know it I am very distant from the rest of the world.

Please favorite for the next update, and tell me what you want to see next! I love taking story line suggestions! :)