I woke up to the sound of crashing waves. I don't remember falling asleep. My eyes slowly open and I see soft pink and orange morning light peering in from a dirty broken window. It takes me a second to remember where I am- the abandoned beach cottage. I'd come here almost every day since I can remember. It served as my getaway. I could come here and forget everything- school, my family, how I lost my mom when I was only seven, and worst of all, the reaping. Every year, all twelve districts of Panem have a reaping. Where they pick one girl's name and one boy's name from a bowl and they have to fight to the death in a specially designed arena that is shown to all of Panem. I lived in District 4, the fishing district.

Yesterday I lost my best friend to the reaping. Her name was Lily, and she was the same age as me- fifteen. Every year our name gets put in once into the bowl so we both had four, but if our family is hungry and can't afford food we can get Tesseras, which means we put our names in again for how many family members we have and get a year's supply of oil and grain. Lily has two younger brothers, named Nep and Joe and parents, her total number of names in the bowl is twenty. I have a younger brother, Willy and my dad; I have twelve names in the bowl.

I sit up and look down at myself. I am sitting on the sand floor of the cottage with a thick blanket over my legs, my best dress- a light pink summer dress that once belonged to my mother- is all wrinkled from sleeping and my sandy blonde colored hair is falling in front of my face in messy waves. I pull my hair back with the white ribbon that I took out yesterday and stand up.

The gentle ocean air hits my face as I walk out, causing my eyes to sting. I remember I was crying last night over Lily. A fresh tear falls down my cheek and I try to tell myself that it was all a nightmare. I will see Lily again! She did not leave! She did not leave me! I will see her in a few minutes when I get back to town, but it's no use, she did leave! She won't come back, unless she wins.

The cold ocean water laps at my feet as walk down the coast. I watch the sand and water swirl around my toes. Something shiny to my left catches my eye. As I walk toward it the water reaches up to my ankles. I shiver a little from the cold. I stop for a second to look closer at it; the water up to my knees. Reaching my hand down into the water, I grab it and a handful of sand and shells.

I slowly open my hand; in the sand was a silver trident end that was about the size of my pinkie on a long delicate silver chain. The tips of the three trident prongs where rounded, not sharp and pointed like a real trident that our district used for fishing. At the base of the middle prong was half of a tiny silver clamshell and swirls on either end for decoration. Above the shell was a pearl; the creamy white ball was shiny as if it had just been cleaned from a clam. It was beautiful, my brain couldn't wrap around the idea that I was actually holding something made of real silver and a pearl! Let alone a trident! I'd only seen such things in stores and when I took walks in the harbor where fishermen brought in their catch of the day.

I gently scooped water into my hand, washing off the sand and put it around my neck. I held the trident in my hand as I continued walking down the coast. Who did it belong to? How had they lost it? Why was it in the sea? These questions were going though my mind as I walked closer to the harbor. I tucked the necklace inside my dress so it was lying against my chest. The cold silver reminded me it was there as I walked.

The sun was halfway out of the water when I reached the harbor, and it was already busy. Fishermen where busy getting their boats ready to leave for a day of fishing, seafood markets where opening their stores for business, men and women where walking up and down the streets, kids were running around playing ball or tag. That's what district four looks like everyday. Our life is the sea.

Every morning before school I like to go to the end of the longest pier- Misty Pier- and watch the sunrise, today was no different. I walked down the long wooden planks of the pier as I watched the waves lap at the base of the supports.

As I got to the end of the pier I noticed there were a group of five guys about my age already there. I took a deep breath to calm myself and tell myself that they won't notice me or talk to me. I've been shy since I could talk, so I always got nervous around people- especially boys. I walked to the other corner of the pier and rested my arms on the wooden handrails. The sun was slowly turning from orange to yellow. My hand went to the necklace at my chest. It was getting lighter outside; I might be able to see it better. I gently pulled it up and laid it on my hand. I carefully tilted my hand towards the sun so it could shine on the trident. The silver shone beautifully. The right side of my neck felt warm, I realized someone was breathing on it. I gasped and spun around quickly, the trident falling from my hand and hung from my neck. There was no more then four inches between my nose and the boy, who had black hair, a tanned face and green eyes nose. I tried to step away but the handrail pushed up against my back.

"What do we have here? A thief?" He said as he looked down the trident. I heard laughter from behind him; I assumed it was the four other boys.

He stepped back a foot and flicked his other hand forward, and two of the boys walked up and grabbed my arms pinning me to the rails. And the other two boys stood behind him and crossed their arms smirking.

"No! I found it! Please! Le-" I choked up. "Let me go!"

He laughed and fingered the trident in his hand.

"You found it? Really? Did a sea monster give it to you?" He teased.

I feel tears form in my eyes. When I was six, our school went to the beach for a day. Most of us were swimming close to shore, I had wondered off a little deeper then the others. As most six years old are, I was fascinated by the water, how the liquid was cold and just skimmed over my hand, how the sun shone and made reflections on everything. I hadn't realized how far I had gotten into the sea until I felt myself being pushed out farther. The sand wasn't under my feet anymore. I was struggling against the sea. I let out a scream and water filled my mouth. Something grabbed my arm and I screamed again, thinking it was a sea monster.

"Sea monster!" I screamed and squirmed. I heard laughter and I felt myself being pulled to shore. I fell on the sand coughing; above me was one of my teachers. He had swam out and saved me. There was never any sea monster, but my classmates have never forgotten that day.

I watched the black-haired boy as he examined the necklace. "Please. Please let me go!" I screamed as I squirmed against the two other boys.

"Why? So you can run away with this?" He lifted his hand that held the necklace. The boys smirked.

"Let her go!" a guy's voice said behind them.

The black haired boy turns around to face the threat. "Who are you?" He asks.

"Someone who is about to beat you." The other boy says. I squirm trying to get a good look at him. I'm wrecking my brain, trying to figure out who he could be. I don't recognize the voice, but that doesn't mean anything; I don't know a lot of kids at my school.

Everything happens so quickly. The boy trying to save me punches the black-haired boy, who stumbles backwards until his back hits the railing. The two boys that were surrounding him lunge forward. I get a quick look at the boy. He's muscular built, with medium brown hair, bright sea bluish green eyes, and wearing a tight white shirt and jeans.

One of the "bodyguards" trying to land a blow at him, but he ducks just in time and trips him, sending him rolling down the pier. I struggle against the other two boys, their grip is tight, but I remember a trick we learned in survival training and slip though their fingers. I kick one in their sensitive spot and try to run. I feel strong finger grab my forearm. I gasp in surprise and feel hard muscles against my back.

"You're not getting away with that necklace so quickly." He whispers in my ear. I shutter as his warm breath fills my ear. I try to get out of this hold, but he is too strong.

I am forced to watch the brown-haired boy fight with the other "bodyguard" who obviously paid more attention in training. He has large biceps and is about half a foot taller then him. He tries to kick him, but the boy who is saving me moves to the side quickly, so he kicks the air instead. The brown haired boy grabs his neck tightly and steps forward forcing the taller boy to fall hard against the Misty Pier's wooden floor. The air is forced out of his lungs. The boy quickly regains his breath and twists the other boy's wrist. He looses his grip on his neck and the taller boy quickly pushes him off his chest, still holding onto his wrist. He stands up and swings his arm towards the brown-haired boy's face, striking him with his thick elbow. The boy groaned and his head rolled back a little as he stumbled backwards. The taller boy tried to grab him by the shoulders but ended up only getting his shirt.

I gasped not wanting to see anymore. This will be the end for him- he will probably die. I struggle against the leader but he still has a strong grip on me. The other boy that was holding me earlier comes up to my right. Without thinking, I jump up and kick his chest. He falls backwards; over the railing and a few seconds later I hear a splash as he fell into the ocean about twenty feet below. I catch my breath and turn my head towards the fight, I watch as the boy who tried to save me gets punched again.

"No!" I scream, before I realize what I'm doing. "Let him go!" I hear the leader laugh behind me and tighten his grip on my arm.

"I'll tell Jet to stop if you give me the necklace." He says. A million thoughts and voices swirl in my head; most are saying, "Don't do it!", "There has to be another way!" and "You can't! It's yours! They will only sell it for money!" They lose the battle as I lift my hands and unclip the necklace. The boy behind me grabs it with his free hand and I can tell he smiles, even though I can't see his face. The brown-haired boy sees this and I see anger flash across his face, he screams in anger and kicks the other boy, who is watching me, right in his sensitive spot. He crumbles to the floor in pain. The boy doesn't even take a second to watch before he runs toward me. He stops about ten feet from me. I watch him confused, but realize he's not looking at me; he's looking behind me at the black-haired boy.

"Let her go!" He says. I wince as I feel his grip tighten.

"We already went though this, but now I have the necklace. If you let me pass I will let her go."

I saw the boy in front of me narrow his eyes. "I can't do that. The necklace doesn't belong to you! It belongs to her!"

"Not anymore." He laughed. I couldn't take it anymore. I wouldn't let him take the necklace! I found it; I needed to find the real owner! I took a deep breath and lifted my foot slowly. The boy in front of me saw what I was planning and nodded to me, telling me it was a good idea. I stomped hard on his foot, making him yell in pain. He let go of my arm; I quickly run next to the brown-haired boy and turned around to see the other boy hopping painfully. Without realizing it, the boy loosens his grip on the necklace. It falls from his hands and over the railing, towards the ocean below.

"No!" I scream and run to the edge of the pier, leaning over to see a small splash far below. Without thinking I climb up on the rail and dive off. I took a deep breath, seconds later I felt cold water surround me. I swam around for about a minute trying to look for the silver necklace, but the salt water stung my eyes. I went up gasping for air. A splash to my right startled me. It must be the black-haired guy, I thought, scared.

I looked around frantic, trying to see if I could find the necklace shining from above the water. Nothing. I looked up at the sun; I was about an hour late for school! I guess one day can't hurt; I have to find the necklace.

The boy still hadn't come up from the water. I tried to think of what to do. Should I try to save him? Should I swim to shore and run to school? Or should I keep trying to look for the necklace? These questions kept running though my head, I debated for several minutes still not sure what to do, until someone came up for air. I blinked confused. It was the brown-haired boy; I get a better look at him now. He has a chiseled face; his eyes are the color of the sea, blue and green mixed together and his hair is chocolate brown with natural highlights. He lifted his hand, dangling from it was the necklace.

"You found it!" I gasped, swimming to him.

He was still trying to catch his breath, but managed "Yeah."

I took the necklace from his hand and put it around my neck; slipping it in my dress.

"Thank you so much!" I hugged him. Then I realized what I just did and quickly let go, blushing.

He smiled. "Lets get to shore." He said finally catching his breath. I nodded and we both swam to shore.

As we walked out of the water he said, "Jaxe, my name is Jaxe."

"Damera." I said, shyly.

We walk up the beach; the water is down to the middle of our lower legs now.

I take the necklace out and look at it to make sure it didn't get damaged. "Why did you do that?" I say quickly.

"Fighting Titan and his friends? Or searching underwater for five minutes for that?" He nods towards the necklace.

"Both." I answer, stopping. The water swirls around my ankles.

He stops and turns to look at me. "I hate seeing Titan pick on people. He thinks he's President Snow ever since he won the Hunger Games." I looked in his eyes- big mistake- and found myself lost at sea. I felt safe and warm, but at the same time I felt dizzy and my stomach did flips. He blinked and I was brought back to reality. I realized I'd been staring into his eyes for a while. My cheeks felt warm; I lowered my gaze to the sand.

"Y-" I had difficulty forming words. I took a deep breath and tried again. "You- you know him?" I was proud that I'd finished a complete sentence.

"Yes." He took a deep breath. "Once. But after he came back, he wasn't the same."

"Oh." Is all I managed.

"We should get to school." He said and started walking. I nodded and followed, slipping the trident back into my dress…