Chapter 1: Matthew
Its reaping day and Clover's 15th birthday. I feel bad that it's her first year, and I'm not going to be able to talk to her until afterwards. We can't even meet up in the woods today. There will be Peacekeepers all around, watching our every move. I'm praying with every fiber in my body that she won't get picked, for her brother's sake. As I wake up, I realize that I'm the first one up, again. Thomas, my older brother, is supposed to be up helping my dad do his chores by now. But, once again, I'll have to help him before he goes to work. Hope your dream is worth it, stupid. I think looking over at him through the dim light of our bedroom. We both sleep on cots on the floor. The twins, my little sisters, sleep in moms' old sewing room down the hall. I get up and get dressed in a grey shirt and some old pants, and I head outback. When I get out there, I hear the scuffle of boots, and when I turn around, I see the top of Clover's head. I sigh in relief, but then I hear an even louder scuffle of boots I look over the fence of my backyard and I see a large group of Peacekeeper's. Shoot, Clover. No one but mine workers are allowed to be out this early. I think to myself. I open the gate which is right behind Clover, I grab her arm, and I pull her inside my backyard. When I get her to face me, her eyes are filled with hatred until she sees that it's only me, and then she sighs with relief. I hush her quickly as the Peacekeepers go by. "What are you doing out so early? You know you could be killed, especially on reaping day, if you're out this early." I tell her once the Peacekeepers are gone. She rolls her eyes and laughs a little. "I know that, but I had to talk to you, and I thought that maybe I would be smart enough to get past the Peacekeepers." She says. "Oh, and Mark gave us these as good luck presents." She holds out raspberries to me. Raspberries are much too expensive to buy in town, and we rarely ever find them in the woods. I take a few in my hand. "Thank you Mark." I whisper. Mark is the second oldest in her family, and she's the oldest. I hear more boots out on the street. "We should get inside. I have no idea where my dad is." I say. She nods, and we both go in. When we get in, my sisters are awake, and they immediately go and hug Clover. "Mornin', Clover. How's your dad doing?" Says a voice behind me. I turn around and find my dad yawning in the doorway from the living room. "And where have you been? I went out and looked for you, and I couldn't find you." I tell him angrily. He shrugs. "Two of my sons are being entered in the reaping, and plus, it's Clovers' first year, and she gets entered as much as the fifteen-year-olds were entered before They all died. So I deserve to sleep in for once. Is Thomas up yet? He needs to get ready for the reaping soon." He asks. I shake my head. "Hey, Clover!" Pipes up Mary, one of the twins. "Would you like to stay for breakfast? Please?" Clover shakes her head. "Sorry, Mary, but I have to get home and get ready for the reaping." She says. I see my brother stagger into the room, probably trying to figure out what the commotion was, and when he sees that Clover is here, he instinctively fixes his matted bedhead hair. It makes me sick when he tries to look good for her. It's not like I love her, I just don't like how all the guys in town try to impress her. Ok, maybe it is like I like her, but not love her. Good hunting partners like her are hard to find in district 2 these days. I roll my eyes. "Hey, Matt. Why don't you walk Clover home and make sure she doesn't get caught by any Peacekeepers?" My dad asks. "Sure. And maybe when I get back, Thomas will come up with an explanation on why I'm so tired right now." I say sarcastically. Thomas lungs for me, but my dad holds him back as I escort Clover out our backyard. When we're in the street, I see that some people are starting to get ready for the reaping. I take out the small box white I had saved in my pocket since I found the necklace in the woods three months ago. I hand it to Clover. "Happy Birthday. And Happy Hunger Games!" I say, mimicking the accent of the people from the Capitol. She laughs and takes the box from my hand. "Whoa… This must've cost you a fortune. How did you get this?" She asks in astonishment as she opens the box to find a necklace with a pendant that's a silver Mockingjay. It was a necklace Katniss Everdeen used to have, before she and her husband, Peeta Malark, were walking in the woods, and it apparently fell off. I found on the ground, and I thought of Clover, and how she can signal to the Mockingjays that are in the trees. "It didn't cast me a dime. I found it out in the woods." I tell her in a low voice so that the Peacekeepers don't hear me. "Oh, well I love it." She says. She puts it around her neck. "As long as you have it, no harm will come to you. It's like a good luck charm, I guess." I say. She laughs a little at this. "Let's all just hope it works through the reaping." She says. When we get to her house, we say our goodbyes and good lucks, and she walks inside. I walk back to my house, and I get dressed in my reserved reaping clothes, a light grey shirt, and some black pants. By about noon, Thomas and I are ready, and we head down to town square. I catch a glimpse of Clover; I see that she's in her mom's old light blue dress. It's actually very pretty, and this is the first time I've ever seen her wear a dress. We get into our lines, oldest in back, youngest near the front. Clover is in the same row I'm in, but she's on the girls' side. My brother is standing behind me. We all wait while our mayor and our escort get up on the stage. Clover and I call all of the mayor's undersea, because we never bother to talk to our own mayor, so why bother trying to remember any of their names. Our escort is Mitchel Kinston. He's from the Capitol, of course, and his job is to make sure we get to the Capitol on time. Our mentor is the first victor of district 2 with our new dictator, and he won't be seen until the tributes are on the train. Mitchel is the one who draws our names from the glass bowl. My name is supposed to be entered 5 times, and Clovers' 4. But we both signed up for tressea, which is a year's supply of grain and oil that you can get once you're the age of 12. So I would say I'm in about 15 to 20 times, and Clover's in about 16. She's luckier than I am at the moment. Now the mayor has arrived, so now he begins the speech about the history of Panem. Panem; a country that rose up out of the ashes of this place which used to be called North America. Most of the old North America is covered in water, and the rest is made up of the 13 districts and the Capitol. For the first few years, everything was great. There were no Hunger Games at the time, but there were rebels, and then the rebellion began. So after many years of war, 12 districts were defeated, the 13th obliterated. And so came the Treaty of Treason. And so, the 12 districts of Panem had to yearly offer up one courageous man and woman to send into a public arena and let them fight to their death until a lone victor stands. This work out for 74 years, and then the new rebellion started. The districts won, and everything was peaceful. Clovers' grandmother participated in the rebellion. She was forced to be the face of the Capitol army. Then when Katniss, Peeta, Bramble, and Jace all died, came our new dictator, Viola. She's the creepiest person I've ever seen. That's why there hasn't been a rebellion yet. She's much too scary to ever cross. And now, because of her, we have the Hunger Games again. Once the mayors' speech is over, and Mitchel takes the stage, I look over at Clover who has her eyes locked on the stage. "And now the time has come to pick one courageous man and woman to have the honor of representing district 2 in the 6th annual Hunger Games. As usual, ladies first." Bubbles Mitchel. He walks over to the girls bowl, puts his hand in deep, and pulls out a name. He walks back over to the podium, and opens the little envelope. Everything freezes as he reads the name that nearly kills me. "Clover Adams." He says.
