Chapter one:
It's a bright Tuesday morning in late spring leading up to summer most of the days are like this but today felt different, today had an empty feeling to it that wasn't normal. On my way to school as I walked alongside my 13 year old brother Jabari Mellark his short dark hair blowing softly in the wind and his blue eyes shimmering in the sunlight he starts to tell me about the adventure he had yesterday. I see a dandelion a few steps away, My mother always told me that dandelions were a sign of hope, a sign of happiness and as I run towards the dandelion to pluck it from its spot in the ground all feelings of emptiness drain out of me and is quickly replaced by a feeling of happiness that seeps through me like a bowl of hot soup on a cold winter night. I tuck the dandelion behind my ear and walk the rest of the way in silence my brother to far behind to bother speak to me.
When I reach school I find Aasha Rose her long black hair weaving itself down her back in the plait she usually wore waiting for me out the front, her mouth usually plastered with a gigantic grin hung low in neither a frown nor smile and her emerald green eyes I've only known to be filled with joy are distant and empty just looking at her brings back that same feeling of sadness which creeps over me and fills me with despair. I walk up to her and stand right next to her but she doesn't glance at me she hasn't even noticed my presence, "hey" I manage to get out before the bell rings and she rushes of before I get an answer. I make my way over to class taking my time trying to work out what was going on in Aasha's head when she blocked me and practically everyone else out. My first lesson was English which unfortunately was not with Aasha, so I sat up the back and kept to myself and rarely put up my hand or participated in anything. The minutes crept on and felt like hours until the bell signalling the end of class finally rang. I grabbed my bag and headed to art which was luckily with Aasha. I was never that good at art but my brother and my dad are fantastic, dad used to work in his families bakery when he was a child and he iced the cakes and the ability to paint was just in Jabari's blood. I end up late to art as usual, I walk in and take my seat next to Aasha, the whole room has that depressing empty feel to it that I saw earlier in Aasha's eyes. Almost no one spoke.
The entire lesson was coated with a thick silence and despair filled the room. In everyone's eyes and everyone's actions I saw the sadness that they held inside them. Why is everyone so sad? I asked myself. I had a brief thought that maybe something had happened on the news but me and Jabari had missed it because we left so early to walk to school. I told myself I was being silly, everything was alright and I was just imagining it. After 10 minutes of silence I asked Aasha "Whats wrong with everyone, why is everyone so upset?" Aasha turned to me and gave me a look that said how could you be asking this? How could you not know? Then she turned around and walked away. I stood there looking at her back as she sat down on the table on the far side of the room, facing away from me. I sat alone astonished by the way she reacted to my simple question. It was then that I knew something was definitely wrong. Art droned on but I payed no attention, all I could think of was Aasha and the sadness that was holding everyone down I tryed to brighten the mood but everyone I talked to turned away from me and left. By the end of the lesson I was left sitting alone.
I left for lunch but instead of going to the cafeteria I headed towards the bathrooms. I stood in front of the mirror and inspected myself, my blue eyes glowing and my short blond hair hanging just above my shoulders. I looked the same as always. I splashed the cold water on my face and said to myself "C,mon Lavelle, your being stupid. Pull yourself together." And with that I walked out of the bathroom and walked towards the cafeteria. I crept into the cafeteria and the room which is usually filled with the noises of conversations and laughter, was shrouded in a mist of gloomy silence. The only noise to be heard was the clink of forks against the plates and the shuffles as people got up and left. I grabbed my lunch from out of my bag and sat down on my own to eat it. I finished just as the bell went and headed to my next class, Hunger games history. I went to my class and sat down at the back. I was the first one there and the rest of the class came in 10 minutes late the teacher included. It seemed that no one wanted to come to class today especially this lesson. The lesson consisted of free time followed by more free time, the teachers failure to teach made me believe and know that something was wrong. This was the strictest teacher I knew and we had never had free time before. I spent the lesson reading like I usually do in my free time. When the bell finally rang letting me know it was time for me to leave, I gathered my things and left. Walking home I thought about the way everyone acted today. I knew something was wrong and once I got home I would find out for sure. I walked faster and as I opened the door to my house I heard crying. Cautiously I walked in the door and there they were. My mum was crying into my dads chest her long black hair hanging just above her waist in beautiful curls and my dad was holding her, his hair was plastered to his face in sweat and there were tears in his eyes, I could tell he had been crying. "mum?" I said, which only caused her to weep louder. "Mum whats wrong?" She didn't answer me so I repeated myself only more forceful this time when she didn't reply I said "dad?" He looked at me with the saddest look in his eyes and said "Lavelle, The hunger games are back."