CHAPTER ONE
I had woken up that morning to my bird, she was yapping away and I had to pull my pillow over my ears to try and tone out the noise but it didn't work, I could still hear her so I gave up and just got up. I sighed and walked down stairs to my parents and twin sister, Kennedy. They were all sitting around the kitchen table, something must have been happening, we never did this. I'm not much of a talker and neither was my family so we didn't normally sit around having family chats. I sat down slowly between my mom and sister. "What's going on?" I asked, they all looked at me "The reaping's tomorrow..." Kennedy whispered. "Its a quarter quell, you just missed the announcement" my mother said looking off to the side"Oh.." I said, wondering where they were going with this. "Theres two times the tributes" my mother had said. That means two times the chances of me or my sister getting chosen. The thing is no one in my family needed to get tesserae because we lived in the merchant area of district 12, its the better part of the district so we didn't put our names in more than we were required. My family owned a sweet little shop on this side of the district so we got money for the things we needed. "Can I go to Lilly's house?" Is all I said, I just wanted to leave, I wasn't that worried about what would happen the next day. My parents nodded and I ran to Lilly's, she was my best friend and basically my only friend other than my sister. We walked around and talked, something we did often, even though neither of us were the chatty type, but man could we talk up a storm when we were together. "You have to know he loves you" I said to her, referring to the bakers boy, Pane Mellark. Lilly shook her head, refusing the thought, but the smile on her face revealed the truth,of course she knew. I remember her looking down and playing with the heel of her shoe, lightly pushing her heel into the dirt, kicking a few pebbles around. I laughed at that moment and she did too as we walked the streets. "Are you scared... You know about the reaping tomorrow?" She asked, and I had shook my head and saying "Not at all" with a small smile on my face.

I hear a clicking in front of my face and zone out of my flash backs seeing Violet, the only victor ever from district 12, and my mentor "Snap out of it!" She snaps on me. I sigh and look away from her and out the window of the train, watching as the landscape flies by us. My and the other 3 tribute's escort sits across from me, her hair was in small green curls and not an inch of her face was not covered by make up. There was a tattoo of a tree on her arm with red fruit hanging on it. I look at the trees as I start to zone out again.

That day, the day before the reaping, Lilly and I had run around the lower part of the district, called the seam. The people there are like the exact opposite of what us people in the merchant area. Most of the people there have dark hair, Seam gray eyes, and olive colored skin, while as I had blond hair, blue eyes, and pretty pale skin. Lilly was the same way. We walked down the streets, seeing a place I discovered about a year ago, people called it the Hob. I saw people from the seam come here to trade things, but after the first time i came i decided to not come alone anymore. So Lilly would come with me and we would sometimes trade there, it was fun, a part of me that I could hide from my family that was kind of like my own secret life. We walked in and I brought some of the candies my parents mad, they're not the best, but its sweet and I like them. Lilly and I traded all my candies and i got a pretty pin with a bird, apparently called a Mockingjay, on it. A younger man, maybe 16, gave it to me for 5 of the red sugary cubes I loved. He also told me about the bird, the capital had breed together two birds and made something called a Mockingjay that could repeat voices and sounds. I really liked the pin, the way the boy talked about it made it sound like something foreign and forbidden. We also had gotten other things too, but nothing as good as the pin to me. I remember going home that day and hiding the pin under my pillow, hiding the proof of my small secret. I never understood why my parents disliked the seam and people that lived there, I mean they seemed nice enough in my opinion. I also remember sleeping with my head on that pillow, back when I was safe, when I had a life, a home, and a family. I will see them again, I will.

I turn my head to the side and see one of the male tributes in the corner of the car, he didn't seem like such of the social type, but more of the type to stay alive, no matter what it took. He was not social, no, he was strong. My eyes scan over the others, the girl who hasn't stopped crying since her name was read, and the boy who was passed out on the couch, snoring loudly. The passed out boy and I seem like the only tributes from the merchant area. I place my hand on the window of the train and sigh "I'm coming home mom... I'm coming home dad... I'm coming home Kennedy... I'm coming home Lilly..." I whisper "I promise.." I speak into the window, like maybe they could hear me even though we were miles and miles away.

I woke up the next morning without a worry in my mind, I never would have guessed that what had happened, would. My mom had given me and my sister two of her dresses, one blue and the other green. "Kennedy.. Take that one" I said handing her the blue dress with sleeves and would probably be right below knee length on her. I could already see it, my twin with her hair up in a pony tail wearing the dress, it would be perfect for her. Then my eyes trailed down to the green dress, not as pretty but my type of style. I smiled to myself and ran to my room, closing the door and slipping on the dress and spinning around in the mirror once, then twice as my song bird sings a low melody and I smile. A few minutes later my mom came upstairs and brushed my hair, making three small braids sit over my straight hair. "Thank you..." I whispered before standing up off of my bed, eating one of my favorite candies for luck and waiting by the door.