Ch 1

I wake up before dawn. Again. It's another typical morning at the bakery. People come in early for the freshly baked bread and pastries. The aroma that draws people in on any other day would leave them hungry for the treats. But this isn't any other day. Today is a holiday to the Capitol. A death sentence to us, not that anyone would say so. This is the day of the reaping.

One girl and one boy from each of the twelve districts of Panem will be chosen to sacrifice themselves in a fight to the death. This happens in a ceremony called the reaping. The chosen boys and girls, called tributes, will travel to the Capitol for training and interviews before being thrown into an arena of the Capitols design to watch 23 of the tributes brutally murder each other until one is left standing. The victor. This is what the Capitol does for amusement.

In the store, I see Gale Hawthorne come in for some bread. He's already been out hunting and has a squirrel to show for it. My father gave him a loaf of bread and wished him luck today. He traded easily today because of the reaping. The odds were not in the favor of some and he felt bad for them. Any other day Gale would need much more than a squirrel. But, again, it's not any other day.

I watched, waited, and hoped for Katniss to walk in, too. She didn't show. She always hunts with Gale even though he's 18 and two years older than her. Gale had walked out and still, no Katniss. I don't think she's ever noticed me, but I've seen her come by to trade my father he squirrels. He always says how amazing it is that she hits them in the eye every time. She really is something.

I remember the first time I saw her. It was the first day of kindergarten, the very first day of school. We were just five years old. I remember that being the day I fell in love with her. We were in music class and when the teacher asked if someone knew the valley song, she was the one who did and sang it in front of the class. Her voice was just like her fathers. Whenever he sang, all the birds fell quiet to listen. I heard chirping of birds outside the window, but once the beautiful voice filled the air, they didn't make a sound. Just like for her father.

Earlier that day, my father had pointed her out to me. He said, "See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner."

"A coal miner?" I asked. "Why did she want a coal miner if she could've had you?"

"Because when he sings…even the birds stop to listen."

I had known that she got that beautiful voice from him. I saw in her what her mother saw in her father. I was a goner, just like her mother.

Unlike her parents, nothing would happen between us. She has her father's voice and her mother's beauty. I don't have any great qualities like that. She hunts everyday with Gale and even though they aren't together yet; everyone knows that they will be. I'm going to be stuck working in the bakery forever. I'll have to spend everyday watching them be together wishing it was me that she's with instead of him.

Because of the reaping hardly anyone was out. Like most shops, we closed up early. It was late morning when we did with just a few hours left until the reaping started at two. Most people are at home, hoping they aren't one of the unfortunate families to lose a child to the Hunger Games. My family ate and spent the extra time in a sullen silence before heading over to the square. You would've thought someone just died. Well, I suppose at least one person from out district is about to, more likely that both tributes will. A lot of people have their names in many times, although my brother and I don't have our names in as many times, our parents worry just as much since they have the chance of losing either of us. Only my oldest brother is safe from the reaping since he's over 18. Only 12-18-year-olds are eligible for the Hunger Games.

At two, were all in the square lined up by age. I'm standing with the other 16's as we give each other a few polite nods and wait for the ceremony to start. I spot Katniss and see her looking off at something. I follow her gaze over to Gale. Of course, Gale. He's the one every girl wants but even they know he'll be with Katniss in the end. She's the only one that doesn't know.

I'll forever be invisible to her.

The mayor comes up and starts the same old speech like he does every year. Panem rose from the ashes of the once great North America. There were droughts, storms, and other disasters that he lists in his speech that led up to the creation of Panem. Thirteen districts surrounded the Capitol. Then came the time known as the Dark Days. During this time all 13 districts had uprisings against the Capitol, who defeated 12 of 13 districts and completely destroyed District 13. Because of this the Treaty of Treason was created making new laws in which the Capitol believed to give us peace. One of these new laws was a yearly event known as the Hunger Games. The concept of the games is very simple. In each of the 12 districts, one boy and one girl, known as tributes, will be chosen then forced into a giant arena. The 24 tributes must fight to the death until one tribute remains. That tribute is known as the victor. This is the Capitol's way of reminding us of what happened and how powerful they are. They won't let us forget how easy it is for them to destroy us. To make it even worse the Capitol treats this as a holiday. Sacrificing innocent children brings them joy and entertainment. The victor of the hunger games will not only get to keep their life, but they get a new home in what's known as the Victor Village and enough money to forever give them and their family a life of ease back home.

After the speech, the one and only living Victor that district 12 has stumbles across the stage. There has never been a moment when that man has been sober. That's probably why our district never had a chance at winning. The victors become mentors to new tributes and I doubt that anyone could get any kind of decent advice out of him.

He manages to offset that crazy Capitol lady's hair. The mayor tries to continue the ceremony by introducing her. Effie Trinket. Her only concern at the moment is probably her hair and hoping she'll get bumped up to a better district soon. She sets her signature, "Happy Hunger Games! And maybe odds be ever in your favor!" People in the Capitol have previous accents, very annoying.

"Ladies first," she says, as always, while walking over to the giant bowl with thousands of slips. Each one has the name of one girl in the district. She fishes deep down for one then waltzes back to the microphone. In that moment that she reads off the girl whose odds are most certainly not in her favor a million thoughts run through my mind. I'm relieved that it's not Katniss. That I might finally get up the nerve to talk to her and we will both stay home for me to do so. Stunned at who it really is. And just overall shocked.

No, it's not Katniss. Someone close to her, the closest person to her. A relative. Her 12-year-old sister whose name couldn't be in there more than once; Katniss is too protective to let her put her name in multiple times.

Primrose Everdeen.