Hunger Games: Story of the Pin
A/N: Yes, I know that there's already the story of Haymitch and the other Tribute from District 12, May-something. But!, I wanted to make my own story to show why Haymitch gets drunk every day and a different reason for his guilt (and I'm super hyped from watching the premiere with my buds). And I know he had a girlfriend at the time, not in this story. Kind of like Katniss and Peeta but different. Oh well, here goes nothing! May the odds be ever in your favor…
Haymitch Abernathy and Amberlynne Lisaile
Haymitch POV
It was the day of the Reaping once again, I thought. My name was only supposed to be in there five times since I was sixteen, this year it was nine. I had needed extra tesserae for my family since this year was harder for them. Feeding all of those mouths wasn't an easy task but I had entered more times for their sake. A woman walked up to the stage, dressed up in the Capitol garb that made me want to puke. Two bowls were filled with the names of people who were hoping that their slip wasn't picked. I stood with boys on one side, most of them I had grown up with, all of them with the potential of being chosen and dying a grisly death.
My eyes drifted to the side with all of the girls. I stifled a laugh when I saw one girl. She was picking a ladybug off of the ground and was cooing to it softly. She was Amberlynne, the gentlest person in all of District 12 and Panem. She was the same age but she was the only child and didn't need the tessarae, so her name was probably only there five times. She did her duty and attended the Reaping but she never watched the Games themselves. Her mother locked her in her room and forbade her from watching it, saying that she didn't want her to daughter to see what the 'horrible people leading this country into a pit' were forcing people to do.
And because of that, Amberlynne had no idea what death was. She always baby-sitted the children of the miners and Peacekeepers, gathered food, and played with the wildlife. She had never killed an insect or animal and was always bewildered when people began to talk about the Games. 'She would never survive the Hunger Games.' I mused to myself.
The woman gave the normal spiel about the Hunger Games and the tradition behind it, Amberlynne, paying no mind to it at all, watched the ladybug fly away in the other direction of the screens. The short film ended and we both looked back to the woman selecting the slip from the girl's bowl. She unfolded it ceremoniously and the crowd held its breath as she read the name written on it.