I wake up and the day feels as ordinary as ever, except it's not. Today is probably the most important day of the entire year. The reaping. It's when two children, a boy and a girl ages twelve to eighteen have the honor of being chosen to represent District 2 in the annual Hunger Games.
Being from District 2 gives us twelve to eighteen year olds a huge advantage in the arena. We train from age twelve to one day volunteer to go into the games. The tributes from Districts 1 and 2 are most often called the "careers" by the kids from the other districts. That's because with us, if you volunteer, most of the time you come home victorious. For the other, less fortunate districts however, that's not the case.
The Hunger Games are still very dangerous though, even for a "career". One boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts of Panem are chosen to fight to death in an arena. The games are basically to show the districts that the capitol is in charge. About 74 years ago, there was a rebellion in Panem. The capitol contained the riots in districts one through twelve, but district thirteen was obliterated. They show ruins of district thirteen to try and scare us I guess, but I'm not afraid of anything.
My older brother Condor is already waiting for me in the kitchen. He's very overprotective, but he has to be, since our parents couldn't care less about us.
"Hey Clove, are you ready for another reaping?" Condor has been training for the games since he was twelve, but he wont volunteer because of me. I keep telling him that I'm fourteen now and that I can take care of myself, but he just tunes me out. Condor doesn't approve of me training for the games, but he knows I was born to fight. I'm as handy with a knife as he is with a spear, and everyone in town knows not to mess with my brother because of his skills.
"Who do you think will volunteer this year?" I ask.
"I dunno," Condor mumbles. "I think I heard Zane saying he wanted to." Then, Condor says with a sorrowful look on his face, "Gem said she wanted to volunteer too."
Gem is my brother's "girlfriend" although they're not official or anything. They're more like best friends, but slightly romantic.
"Well don't worry, if she gets picked, I'll volunteer in her place," I say jokingly, but Condor has a grave look on his face.
"Don't even joke about that Clove. It's not funny."
I don't know what he would be more upset about. Gem getting picked and going into the games or me volunteering in her place.
I push the thought away. It's stupid to think about the reaping before it happens.
I put on an old dress of mine that my mother bought for me a few years back. We're not poor exactly, but we're certainly not rich. Mother had to trade her pearl earrings for this very simple lavender dress, but she was so proud when she came home and showed it to me. I put my long black hair into one braid going down the length of my back and then proceeded to twist it into a bun at the nape of my neck.
The alarm goes off a few minutes later, signaling the start of the reaping. I have a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I let it go. No reason to be nervous, I still have four more years of training until I'm ready to volunteer.
Gem meets up with Condor outside our house and Condor says he'll catch up with me after the reaping. I'm used to being alone, but this time Condor's leaving makes me anxious. I kick a rock on the floor and it slams into a nearby tree with surprising force.
"Nice kick," a blonde haired boy says to me with a chuckle.
"Thanks" I mumble, but not before looking up. I catch the boys eye and we're just standing there staring at each other until he says, "Uhmm I guess I'll see you at the reaping?" and turns and walks away.
I recognized the blonde haired boy from the training center; he goes in around the same time as me. He's pretty skilled with swords I think.
The peacekeepers take a sample of our blood and lead us into sections with other kids our age. I recognize almost everyone around me, but wouldn't consider any of them to be my friends.
Suddenly, an overly excited man from the capitol walks up to the microphone. He's dressed in a bright purple suit that matches his lavender hair. His face seems to have been altered several times. The man's name is Roranikus Finch and he's going to select the male and female tributes. First, Roranikus introduces himself and they play a video that explains why we have the hunger games. Afterwards, Roranikus says it's time to select the tributes. "I shall select the male tribute first," he says. That's how it always works in District 2. Men are the most important.
"Hmm… Let's see. Who do we have here? Ahh. Cato Ibsen" Roranikus announces. "Cato Ibsen" he booms.
All of a sudden, this massive blonde haired boy walks to the front of the stage with his head held high and proud.
"Wow, we'll definitely win with him representing our district," I thought to myself.
Roranikus clears his throat and walks over to the girls bowl. Before I even have time to think, he pulls out a slip and reads the name: Gem Lovehorn.
After that, everything is kind of a blur. I remember finding Condor's face in the crowd, seeing the pained look on his face. I remember my mouth opening and the words, "I volunteer" squeak out in the bravest voice I could muster. Then I remember my brother running toward me and screaming.
Before I knew it, I was up on stage accepting congratulations from Roranikus. I tried to look proud, because everyone in the audience figured I volunteered because I wanted to honor my district, not because I was saving someone else. I couldn't look weak when the other tributes watched our district's reaping. So I stick out my hand and actually get a good look at the male tribute. It's the blonde boy from before the reaping! I can tell he recognizes me too, because he quickly pulls his hand away and his facial expression hardens.
Roranikus goes the microphone and says one last thing before the end of the reaping. "Good luck to the tributes of District 2! And may the odds be ever in your favor."
Well, it seems as though for me as well as Cato Ibsen, the odds are most definitely not in our favor.
Author's note: This is my first Clato fanfic and I loved the pairing so much that I really wanted to write something about them before the games. Let me know if I should continue writing, reviews would be lovely!