A/N So, the 74th Games happened, just not with anything you re organise from it in my story. If that makes sense? Plus, this is my first fanfic so be kind. And PLEASE review, even if you hate it, to let me know. :)
Disclaimer: If I owned the Hunger Games, Rue would still be alive. Any characters you recognise are Suzanne Collin's, of course!
"And now, for the 75th Hunger Games, because more men died than women in the rebellion, to even it out, there shall be one male tribute and three female tributes from each District. They shall be reaped from the ages of three to twenty-five. There will, however, be four victors, not necessarily from the same District. There shall be no volunteers. Good evening."
Chapter 1: Klara Honeycomb POV
"Klara? KLARA!" I jerked awake as my twin sister, Katey, shook me violently. "What?" I whispered to her indignantly, before realising what day it was. Today was the day of the reaping. I went over in my head who in our family was eligible. Me and Katey, but this was our last reaping, Louise who was fifteen, Jon and Leah who were fourteen, and our cousins Thresh Honeycomb, who was seventeen and Sara-May Honeycomb who was twelve. I bit my lip and whispered to Katey, "Katey, is Maya eligible yet? She's only turning twelve at seven pm tonight..." "Sorry Klara, but she is." I shook my head in dismay. Maya was our next door neighbour, she adored me and Katey, and she had prosthetic arms. I slipped out of bed and opened the curtains wide. It was a lovely sunny day, and it would have put everyone in a good mood if it wasn't for the reaping.
Katey went around waking our siblings who were old enough to be reaped while I laid out shoes for all of them to slip on. Louise got up immediately and set about pulling up the covers to the necks of the younger children. She did it every day, and she didn't even have a good reason. When the rest were up, we all quietly left the house and ran to the hill. Every reaping day, we met Thresh and now Sara-May there for a brief ten minutes of comfort before we had to get home and get ready. "Hi, Klara, hi Katey and Louise and Jon and Leah." said Sara-May, a bit hesitantly. "Hi, Sara, don't look like that! You've got, what, four slips? I've got about... Lemme see... Possibly seventy?" I scolded her half-heartedly. "But- " "No buts!" Katey told her firmly. Thresh shrugged, "I've got 32ish. Or something like that. But I'm afraid for the little Mockingjay girl, Rue. She's got five younger sisters, her parents and herself! That's 9 entries at the age of twelve." "We've got ourselves, Louise, Jon, Leah, Emmy, Arianna and Stork, that's eleven slips at the age of twelve!" Katey reminded him. "Yeah, I suppose..." "Guys, it's half nine. One hour to go..." Louise said nervously. We said goodbye to Thresh and Sara and left.
When we got home, Mum had gotten dressed, gotten Stork, Arianna and Emmy dressed, had spiked Storks hair and was doing Emmy's when we arrived. " Katey, Klara, wear your red dresses, they go well with your hair. Louise, the blue lacy one. Leah and Jon, the bridesmaid and groomsmen suits you wore to Aunt Ann's wedding. Hurry so I can do your hair, OK?" We run up the stairs and dress quickly. Katey and I do each others hair. Katey and I did each others' hair in a style that looked complicated, but it's actually really simple, pull your hair up into a high ponytail and secure the hair with bobby pins or kirby grips about an inch or two away from the bobble. It works best on frizzy hair like ours though! Louise just let Mum plait her hair then tie a bow with the two plaits. She has really long hair, but it's sleek, unlike ours. She's lucky, she's the only one that inherited Mum's hair. Leah just stuck a wreath of yellow flowers on her head, and we were ready to go. Katy and I took up the front, then Leah and Jon, Emmy and Arianna, then Mum and Louise, Mum carrying Stork.
When we reached the market square, Mum took Stork, Emma and Arianna (who, by the way, are twins aged eleven, and Stork is one) over to the stands while we checked in. When I looked around, I saw Sara-May talking to, as Thresh had called Rue, The Mockingjay Girl, over in the 12 year olds section.
"Now then, how are we all today?" asked the District 11 escort, Jordey VanGluten. "GOOD! Now, ladies first, hmm? And our first lucky lady is... Sara-May Honeycomb!" I froze. Thresh froze. I felt Katey freeze at my side. But we couldn't volunteer. President Snow had banned it. "Come ALONG! Come here, dearie!" called Jordey impatiently. Sara stepped out of her line and the Peacekeepers immediately escorted her harshly up to the stage. "Our next female is..." I crossed my fingers "Klara Honeycomb!" No. No. Ugh. I stepped out of line, jerked my my arm out of the Peacekeepers reach and marched up to the stage. "Sisters?" asked Jordey jovially. "Cousins" I muttered, looking at Sara in dismay. "And now, our final lucky little girl is... Rue Orchards!"
Poor little Rue dissolved into tears. Thresh looked close to breaking someone's neck. The boy in front of him should be scared. The Peacekeepers thrust Rue up onto the stage. "Now then, how old are you?" Jordey asked Sara. "Twelve" she muttered, disgusted. "And you?" "Eighteen, and I thank God that if I die, my twin sister won't have to." I told her, whispering the last bit away from the microphone. Her face dropped and she moved on to Rue, "And how old are you?" "T-Twelve." "OK, now for our male tribute... Thresh Honeycomb!" Sara fainted. I caught her just before she banged her head off the windowsill of our Justice building. Rue looked at me and whimpered. Thresh came up, grabbed the mike off Jordey and said, "I'm seventeen. And for goodness sake, these girls are my sister, cousin and my sister's best friend. Seem a little rigged to you?" Jordey grabbed the mike off of him and said, "Well, that's that. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be EVER in your favour". With that, she swept off the stage. The Peacekeepers escorted (more like pushed and shoved) us into rooms to say goodbye to our families. After I had cried, said goodbye and screamed into the cushions more times than I care to remember, I found myself giggling at Jordey's outfit. She had been wearing some kind of large puffy stiff dress with massive heels and sleeves.
Later that evening, on the train, Jordey called us to go watch the recap of the reapings.
Here's who were reaped:
District 1:
Joella Turner (15), Kiara McCurry (15), Angeline Doolan (13) and Oliver Kenny (23)
District 2:
Actually quadruplets (again, sound rigged?) Johnny, Saphron, Emera and Frannki Muldoon (19)
District 3:
A boy who turned seven today, Laurence Donaldson, and his cousin, Sara Donaldson (16), and Diana and Diane Rodgers (17)
District 4:
Annie Odair Jr (4)(her mother's a victor!), Leah Odair (11)(ditto), Giana Odair, (8)(didn't I say it was rigged?) and Thomas Jones (9)
District 5:
Maria Lorial (10), George Frankson (10), Lilah Murray (5) and Helena Star(9). All under the age of eleven!
District 6:
Stella in the back (25), and Tiall (11), Monik (5) and Indie Johnson (9) in the front. Again, siblings.
District 7:
Angle Murphy (24)
Sophia Meadows (21)
Leanne Murphy (6)
Patrick Square (12)
District 8
Aaron Storm (13), Bernadette Storm (4), Luna Storm (3) and Noreen Morny (13)
District 9
Fern and Amy Flapp (14)
Marian Moony (8) and King Richardson (7)
District 10
Frank (9) and Rhiannon Kendall (18)
Dandelion Flower (20)
Eva Lady (17)
District 11
Rue Orchards, The Mockingjay Girl (13)
Thresh Honeycomb (17)
Sara-May Honeycomb (12)
Me, Klara Honeycomb (18)
District 12
Aliana Murney (15)
Katniss Everdeen (17)
Primrose Everdeen (13)
Peeta Mellark (17)
As soon as the recap was over, Jordey turned to Thresh and I and, raising her eyebrows, asked in her silly Capitol accent, "WELL. What on earth was that about? You've probably RUINED your chances of getting sponsors now!" My mentor, Fallon, whom I had met earlier in the evening, shook her head at Jordey and said, "Jordey, leave them be. They're just in shock". Thresh and his mentor, Chaff, grunted simultaneously, then turned their attention back to the screen, where Caesar Flickerman was talking to Seneca Crane, the Head Gamemaker, about the tributes. Rue and Sara were huddled together with their mentors, Seeder and Quinn, sitting protectively on either side of them. After Seneca Crane's interview was over, Jordey looked at her watch and said, "All right, you four, to bed! It's a big, big day tomorrow!" Thresh raised his eyebrows and strolled off to his bedroom indifferently. Rue and Sara shared one room with two single beds, and they headed off to bed as well. I hung back to ask Fallon one last question, "Fallon, about the stylists..." "They're not too crazy, I swear," she smiled. I nodded uncertainly and went to bed.
"UP, UP, UP! IT'S A BIG, BIG DAY! WE ARRIVE IN THE CAPITOL IN ONE HOUR AND A HALF!" screeched Jordey as she passed my room in the morning. I groaned and fell out of bed, taking the covers with me. "Ow". I muttered, unravelling myself from the duvet and throwing it back onto the bed. I decided to take a shower. I took a while looking at all the buttons, before finally deciding to push the one with 'On' written on it first, then adjusting the temperature to quite warm, scenting the water like lemons and then choosing lemon scented shampoo and soap. As soon as I stepped out of the shower, a wave went through me, drying me off and drying and taking away any tangles from my hair painlessly. I quickly went into my room and put on the clothes I had chosen beforehand, a pretty purple top and green shoes, I bet I looked like a tulip or something.