I don't believe in love

Summary: Its the 25 Hunger Games and each tribute is chosen by their town. Coral wouldn't mind being sent in, except that it was her one love who sent her

Coral dropped her towel and looked in the mirror. She felt so repulsed by what she saw. She glanced back out of her open window, and when she finally turned back to her mirror, she hit it so hard with her fist that it split. But not even her distorted image couldn't hide all the dots and swirls that covered her from the neck down. The mirror couldn't hide the blue gloss of her hair either.

Coral's mom was from the Capitol. Coral's mom moved from the Capitol when Coral was just a baby. Coral only lived in the Capitol for a week, but that was long enough for her mother, a past stylist from the Games, to cover her with golden tattoos. It was these tattoos that never allowed Coral to fit in with the other District 12 kids. Coral always had to we a long-sleeved turtle-neck shirts and long pants. She had to cover her hair too.

Everyone knew Coral was different. They weren't stupid, and almost all of them had already figured out that she had no relatives in District 12. Because her mother never even stepped outside her front door, no one had considered that Coral was from the Capitol. If her mom had revealed herself, it would've been a dead giveaway.

Coral's mom, Lindy, had fluorescent orange skin and hot pink hair that clashed terribly. Her eyes were the color of sulphite and all her nails were heart shaped. She was very pretty, mind you, but her whole appearance spelt "CAPITOL" in big letters. Coral didn't have a very good relationship with her mother.

Coral couldn't understand why they moved and why she was forced to try and "blend in" with the people of District 12. It just didn't make sense.

"Coral!" She heard her mom scream from downstairs. "Markus is at the door!"

She grabbed the first thing my fingers touched and put it on. The she ran downstairs, still yanking a brush through her hair. She had just gotten to the front door when she heard a delicate cough from behind her.

"What is it Mom?" She asked, obviously annoyed.

"Your pants are too short and your hair is still down. You can't go out in public like that!"

"Relax, Mom. It's just Markus, he knows already."

But her Mom's face was already set in lines of determination and Coral had no choice but to go upstairs and change her pants. As she walked down the stairs, she pinned her hair up and secured it beneath a toque.

"Satisfied?" She asked her Mom sarcastically as she marched through the door and right into Markus' arms.

"Sorry Markus" She mumbled against his chest.

"It's fine" He chuckled 'Let's go."

The walked for about an hour in silence until they reached the Garden. Plants, let alone flowers, seldom grew in District 12, so the Garden was quite a miracle. Markus and Coral had helped water it when it was just beginning to grow and since then, they claimed it was officially their garden. They walked through the maze of flowers and hedges until they finally reached their destination: the pond. The pond was more like a huge puddle of dirty water, but what was so incredible about it was that there were actually water-lilies on it. The lilies were about the size of a small child's hand and they were deep ruby in color. Coral and Markus often used them to send notes to each other. Even now, Coral could see a lily stuffed with a piece of paper.

Markus noticed her gaze on the lily and he nudged her playfully.

"Come on" He whispered gently "open it"

Hr hand reached out unthinkingly and stroked what wasn't a piece of paper, but a small polished white box.

She shimmied the box out of the lily and ten held the box for a moment in her palm before she opened it.

"Oh" She breathed.

Inside the box was a small gold band with intricate little designs carved on it. It took Coral a moment to place them as the same dots and swirls that were imprinted on her body. That's right, Coral remembered, he knows about my tattoos.

Coral's first impulse was that the ring was a wedding ring. Oh my gosh, she thought, he's proposing.

It wasn't that much of a surprised, really. Recently, Coral had started half wishing, half expecting for him to ask her. The had know each other for over ten years, they'd been dating for five and sixteen seemed like a reasonable age to get married at. She was so excited and her spirits were so high, until Markus spoke and brought her back to reality.

``It's pretty, eh? I hoped you'd like it. I thought it would match your reaping outfit perfectly, and I know you don't have much jewellery"

She felt her spirits come plummeting down. Of course he just wanted her to look pretty at the reaping tomorrow, of course he didn't want to marry her. She had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from crying.

You're so stupid, she told herself.

"You okay?" Markus asked lifting her chin so that they looked each other in the eyes.

"Yeah" She coughed, trying desperately to keep it together. "jjjust fffeeling kkkind off sssick"

\She couldn't help but stutter.

"Sick? Oh, come on Coral! The reaping is tomorrow and you're sick?"

Without waiting for her reply, he shook his head disbelievingly and then swooped her up in his arms. Once she was slung over his back and he couldn't see her face, she let all her tears go.

By the time they got home, she was drained and she actually did feel a bit sick. Markus dropped her off at her house and then commanded her to get better. He kissed her parched lips quickly, and then he was gone.

She crawled through the door and then collapsed onto the smooth marble of the entryway. She woke up twelve hours later in the exact same spot. She barely felt like moving until she saw the clock and realized she had about six minutes to get to Town square before the reaping began. She didn't even bother to brush her hair or shower. She pulled her dress on hastily (don't worry it covered her whole body), tied her tangled mane into a bun, slipped on her shoes and ran out the door. She covered her hair with a bandana at the last minute and then she took off running. You can imagine her shock when she arrived to town square and there were no dividers set up, and everyone in the town sat in one giant circle in the square.

With confusion clear on her face, she squished between two twelve year old girls and sat down.

The mayor, Mr Everest, eyed Coral distastefully before he hushed the crowd and turned everyone to a large screen adorned with the face of Mr A. Prewett, the president of Panem.

"I'm sure all of you are surious as to why there are no reaping balls this year" Mr Prewett began. "The reason is quite simple. Every twenty-five years we will have the Quarter Quell, a very special version of the Hunger Games. Every Quarter Quell will be different, but for this one we will chose a new method for picking tributes." This caught some attention. "This year, we asked the town to chose one girl and one boy to participate. We ask that all citizens get to vote for who they will send. Thank you for time, and may the odds ever be in your favour!"

That was it. The presidents announcement was met with only silence.

"Ahem" Mr Everest called tentatively. 'I guess you now see what we must do. I ask all the children to report up onto the stage while we decide who should go."

She scrambled up onto the stage with shaky legs. The adults were all discussing intently, and even though she knew she wouldn't be chosen, she couldn't help but feel nervous for the other girls. To district herself, she tried to pick her mother out of the crowd. After awhile, she managed to find her standing between to bulkier looking men. She had painted her skin an ugly gray-pink color and her hair was died a darker shade of murky yellow. She had managed to hide all her tattoos.

Suddenly, the president looked up with a painted smile and they all braced ourselves for what was coming. Her mom caught her eyes and jerked her chin, meaning that Coral was safe. Coral let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"For the boys," Mr Everest started "we will have Dawson Benedict"

She wrinkled her nose and watched in distaste as Dawson moved his way to the edge of the stage. He was only twelve, and she should of pitied him, but instead she found herself glad he was leaving. He was one of those poor boys who came begging at the door and who was always very dirty-looking. District 12 wouldn't miss him.

"And for the girls we have Zalia Wilkins"

Zalia, a girl who Coral had never noticed before in her life, stepped forward. She was about fourteen and she was unnaturally skinny, and very pale and sallow-looking. She wore big half-moon spectacles and she was very geeky looking. Very filthy looking too. She was ugly.

"Excuse me, sir" I heard a familiar voice contradict. "I don't think you should send Zalia"

"And why not?" The mayor asked. If it were anyone else, he would have said "shut-up", but because it was Markus, he was all ears. Everyone loved and respected Markus.

"Because, she's too weak. Both of them are too weak. District 12 never wins the Games because we are too weak. Before, it wasn't our fault, but this year we have a chance. If we send in some of our stronger people, we could win."

MR Everest considered that for moment.

"Alright, so we send you. Who else?"

"Mr Everest!" Markus cried "your missing the point! I look strong, if you send me, they'll kill me off right away. No, you have to send someone who's small, but strong. Cute and pretty, but not extraordinary. Someone who's different from everyone and yet who blends in perfectly. You have to send in someone who no one will classify as a threat, someone who's smart and can play their cards properly without being noticed. Someone who-"

"And where do you propose we find this person?" Mr Everest asked, cutting Markus off.

"That's the easy part, sir" Markus laughed politely "We already have her. Her name is Coral Snow"

So, what do you think? This chapter was more of introduction, just to show y our where everyone stands. The next chapter will be up soon and it will be 10X better… I promise!

Here's you quote from the next chapter:

"Why didn't you tell me? I told you everything, I thought you loved me. Obviously not. I'm going to die because of you!"

And:

"I hate you too!"

So, please review!

KATE