Chapter 1
"Canusa!" my mom calls, "Canusa, where are you?" I look over and see her making her way towards the brook, a nervous expression on her face. "Please come out! I don't like the woods!" She was clearly veering on a mental breakdown. Slowly, silently, I slink down from my tree. "There you are!" she yells and runs to embrace me. My mom is terrified of what is going to happen today. The reaping. What she doesn't realize is that there are hundreds of kids. Maybe thousands. District 5 is the smallest district in Panem, but that doesn't mean there are only 30 or 40 kids, like my mom seems to believe. I don't like it, but I am the spitting image of my mother. We are both petite, and though I am 17 I am only 5 feet 1 inch. We both have fiery red hair and intelligent green eyes. But we are different in personality. My mom is outgoing and personable except in the woods, whereas I am standoffish on a good day. I speak so rarely that people have asked me if I'm mute before. Which, by the way, I'm not. I feel most at home in the woods, but my mother is scared of them. She grips me and finally let's go. "Diana's here." she says, clearly trying to coax me out of my secret haven. Diana! The one person I feel who truly likes me at school. Diana is my opposite, with short blond hair and standing at 5 feet 8 inches. She is loud and funny. Popular, even. In short, everything I am not. I sigh and slink out of the forest.
Sure enough, Diana is waiting. "Hey Fox!" she yells. Fox is my nickname, I guess because I sort of resemble one. Also, I am smart and cunning. People tend to not trust me, and I don't trust them. It works out just fine. "Hey Dee," I whisper. Teachers don't like me even though I am the top of every class because my voice never gets higher than a soft sputter. "You ready to die?" she jokes playfully. I roll my eyes, Then I notice what Diana is wearing. Or should I say, NOT wearing. It is customary to dress in nice clothes for the reaping, but Diana apparently doesn't care. She is dressed in her usual faded t-shirt and dusty jeans. "I gotta go change," I mutter, "You want a snack?" She shrugs but follows me anyway. I head to my small room that always smells like smoke and find a gray dress on my bed. Perfect. I can blend in this. I put it on, savoring the feel of the satin against my skin. I'm lucky my dad runs a power . Otherwise I probably would've signed up for tesserae like so many others and never worn this lovely dress. I shuffle out and Diana whistles. "Well, if you get picked you won't be shamed," she says. My mom walks in. "Hi girls, let's go," she says it shakily and I briefly feel bad for her.
In the square, creepy Peacekeepers herd Diana and me in with the other 17 year old girls. When everyone is accounted for, Vivian Chance, our official escort straight from the Capitol, walks to the microphone and gives her usual speech. That stupid Capitol accent has really got to go. "Happy Hunger Games!" she ends, "And may the odds be ever in your favor!" Capitol citizens are so messed up. Do they think we have a chance? Do they think that we WANT to do this? I hope not, because that couldn't be further from the truth. Vivian coughs, probably because of the smog from the power plant, and chirps, "Ladies first!" Most of the girls catch their breath, but not me. I am confident. I have my name entered just a few times, and besides, I know how to survive. Now her gloved hand is unfolding the square of paper dramatically. It's not me. It can't be me! "Canusa Auro!" she says loudly into the microphone.