AN: This is my first fic, and I've really enjoyed writing this so far.
However, I do not own The Hunger Games and anything affiliated with it, however much I wish I did.
Without further ado, please enjoy My Life is Ending Now!

Life.

That was the one word that I hated.

That word belongs to everyone in their own way. To my older brother, that word means a great possibility of joy and no cares in the world. To me, that word means nothing.

I'm the middle child and the only girl in my family. Can you imagine how tough that is? No. Don't answer that. Even if you say yes, you're still wrong. No one really cares about me, despite what they say. The tesserae is never split equally between my siblings and I. The most always goes to me.

But now, as I'm standing in a crowd of teenagers, waiting to be told who would almost certainly die this year, I think about it.

Maybe I should grab the bull by its horns, but before I can think any further, there is the loud yet silent sound of the audience holding their breath. I watch, my heart in my throat, as a single slip of white paper is picked out of the massive bunch. My name was in there, more than any member of my family, and even more than my only friend Cecilia, who's poorer than the sky on a rainy day.

As I watch the reaper study the paper, most definitely trying to figure out how to pronounce the name, I know it's me. There's no doubt at all. I try to look at my brothers, but they're too engrossed in the fact that the reaper was pretty skinny. But not in the chest. The wolves.

"Vi…" she stumbles, and a peacekeeper rushes onstage, whispering in her ear. I already take a step forward, the blood roaring in my ears. I know for a fact that it's me. I get weird glances from some people, but I just glare at them. Who else has a name that starts with the letter 'v'?

"Viviette Acerbi!" she calls, way too cheerily. The peacekeeper has disappeared off the stage again. She's been looking at me since I stepped forward, and I can bet she knew it was me. I want to bite her pretty little Capitol face off. I really do.

But I don't. I just let myself be pushed onto the stage, and stand straight up, looking at the members of my district. It's so quiet; I'm tempted to actually drop a thumb tack to see if everyone can hear it.

The reaper stands there, as if waiting for people to applaud. After what seems like minutes, she shakes her head. "No volunteers?" She gestures to the stage where I'm currently standing, and I let out a laugh, immediately then clamping a hand over my mouth. Oops.

But seriously. Nobody cares about me. You thought I was kidding, didn't you?

The reaper, clearly not deterred by this, keeps going. "Now, for the boy tribute, let's see…"

Honestly, I can't care less who gets reaped. I partly want it to be one of my brothers. They deserve it. But that means I would have to deal with them until I die.

The reaper (Who's name, I realized, was Fen Thorburn) has another slip by now, and reads it clearly. Of course. "Romolo Edwardson!"

I almost let out a groan, but think better of it. Fen is smiling too brightly as a tall, dark-skinned boy approaches the stage. I know him. Of course I know him. Everyone knows him. He's the most popular boy in the district. And I know too many bad things about him.

All the girls lost it. I'm scowling, but I can feel my cheeks turning red. I pretend not to notice. Even I was a victim of Romolo's.

He walks calmly up the stage, even waving to a few girls. A few peacekeepers are pushing him along, and I think he's enjoying it.

When he finally makes it onstage, he stands pretty close to me. I take a step away, hoping no one will notice.

"And there you have it! Our two tributes are Viviette Acerbi and Romolo Edwardson!"

I can't help letting out a small sigh, refusing to look Romolo straight in the eye. Fen waits to stop smiling until the Capitol filming crew nearby gives her a thumbs up. Her smile immediately vanishes, the crowd splits, and peacekeepers grab our arms. My life is ending now.

I walk into the Justice Building, almost tripping on the fine rug that I know my family could never afford. The Peacekeepers lead me into a room where I will speak my most-likely final words with my family. They leave after a few moments, one casting me a semi-sorry look. But only for a second.

Everyone knows about the Acerbi family, in one way or another. Whether it's for a good reason or a bad reason, it really depends. But some people want our heads chopped off. Literally. The Capitol can do some crazy stuff, trust me.

Finally as it feels like I'll be stuck in this room forever, Cecilia walks in. She stands in the doorway a second, looking me up and down. Then she frowns before running straight at me, her arms spread, and I open mine just in time. She jumps, and lands in my lap somehow. And we're hugging, tears rolling down both our faces. We know. We both knew from the second my name was called. But we had both held it back. Now we let it all out.

I guess we were there for a pretty long time, because two Peacekeepers had to pull us apart. I think I caught a mutter of, "Touching... five minute limit..." or something to the effect.

I try my best to smile, show Cecelia as she's dragged away, that I can do this. I'll try to make it back, for her.

The next people in are my brothers. I guess they were coming before my parents. They look me up and down, just like Cecilia had done.

Jackson, my older brother, walks over calmly. I can't help but notice how much larger his stride is compared to Cecilia's. He wipes away the final tear that was running down my face and shakes his head.

"Vi... I can't watch you cry like this." Jackson says, and Connor, the younger brother, walks over as well. They both stay silent for another minute. It's so unlike them, it ives me shivers.

I shake my head as well, wiping my eyes. "Since when do you care?" I snap, and instantly regret it. They look at each other, nod at the same time, and walk out. Just like that.

Apparently the Peacekeepers still have to wait for their time to be up to bring in the final group of people. So I sit, looking at the walls, half-admiring, half-annoyed. The stupid Capitol. They have so much money they can rub it in our faces, and they let us starve. They force their citizen's children to die.

My thoughts are interrupted as my parents walk in. I refuse to look at them. For all I care, they could be smiling.

"You knew it was going to happen," I say, "You wanted it to happen, even." I still don't look, but I have a feeling that they're in denial.

"Viviette, sweety," That is my mother's voice. She sounds so sweet, but she's not. Most families that are like mine, there's the one parent that's bad, and the other is just so submissive. But no. Both my parents don't care, and even though they say they don't pick favorites, I know that they do. The tesserae is never split equally. Ever. I don't care about their excuses. "Viviette, we'll miss you."

That's it. No love, no apologies. I'll just be missed. Even though I know she's lying. I finally look at them. And they're already leaving the room.

The Peacekeepers come a final time, and escort me out of the Justice Building. My life is ending now.