The Worst Games Yet Chapter 1: The Reaping, a hunger games fanfic

Hey! So, I decided to start another story. This one is much more different. This is the Quarter Quell. Primrose Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, Peeta Mellark, and Katniss Everdeen are stuck in the Quarter Quell, and this year's Hunger Games are the worst yet.

A/N: Just something I need to let you guys knows…well more like a lot of things. First, Katniss and Peeta were never in the 74TH Hunger Games, but they are really close friends. Gale is like best friends with Peeta. And Prim is tougher, smarter, and much more independent. I just wanted to make her that way so she could fit with the other tributes. Okay, second, the arena is different and the Quell rules are different. And last, Katniss has had a crush on Peeta a while. Gale likes Madge, not Katniss.

The Worst Games Yet

CHAPTER ONE: The Reaping…

Katniss' POV:

There we are. We're standing in the district square, nervous and crossing our fingers. There are four people I don't want to get chosen. First one is Prim, she's only twelve, and it'd kill me to know she's in the games. Second person, Gale, he has a shot at winning, but it'd hurt me too. There are a lot of Careers coming in this year from districts like 2 and 4. This year's Quarter Quell will have four tributes from each district, working together. There are four winners this year, which means four Victors. The chances for Prim to go in are higher. The third person is Madge; she's the Mayor's daughter. We've been friends a while, but not close friends. The last person is Peeta, Peeta Mellark. We've been best friends since I was five. I met Gale when I was fourteen, but Peeta and I have a history. I search for him in the crowd. Then I see the blond hair, the beautiful blue eyes staring nervously at the chirpy woman named Effie Trinket, and his strong arms to his sides closely, I know he's afraid, but not for himself, somebody else though. That's Peeta for you. He's kind, generous, and caring. I am scared to my life that those five people might get chosen. I can't let it happen.

The woman, Effie Trinket, is wearing a blue wig with neon green makeup. Her dress is short and leathery. I roll my eyes as she smiles and says, "Happy 75th Hunger Games!" She always gets on my nerves. She's the tribute escort for our district, but she's not that bad compared to the other tribute escorts for the other districts. As always, she says, "Ladies First!"

Please don't make it Prim or Madge.

I think about it over and over in my head. Effie smiles and reads the name.

"Katniss Everdeen!"

I gulp. My heart beats faster and I hear some gasps in the crowd. I can feel Prim's eyes trained on me. I can feel Peeta's eyes on me too. I can feel Gale's not on me because he can't even look at me right now. I walk up the stage and see Effie smile as she reads the second name.

"Primrose Everdeen!"

My eyes widen. A chocking sound escapes from my mouth. I watch her come up to the stage and stand next to me. I don't want to look at Prim right now, I don't hear her crying, and she barely does. She just stands there, looking straight ahead, not showing her fear, which is good. The crowd is gasping and looking sorrowful. I don't want their pity; I never liked anyone who'd feel bad for me. I don't want them to give me sympathetic looks, so I just ignore them and stare at the back of Effie's head as she walks to the boy's ball. She pulls out a name…

I swear-

"Gale Hawthorne!"

No, no, no! That's two out of four people! What, so now Peeta is going to be chosen? I'd die right here if the only boy I've ever felt something for is chosen to go through this nightmare with me, at least he'd be here, but I don't think Peeta would get chosen, though he is from the Seam and he is signed for the tesserae.

A/N: Peeta is the son of a drunken woman in the Seam. He has blond hair and looks like he's a merchant kid like Prim. But, he's from the Seam. : )

I am dangerously near bursting into tears. I look at the crowd to find Peeta looking at me, worried. I shake my head slightly and his beautiful eyes are shinny, as if he was going to tear up. Peeta crying? No way. My heart sinks and Effie picks out another name from the boy's ball. She reads the name out loud, and as soon as she did, a tear slowly rushes down my cheek. I can't believe Prim is being stronger than I am, so I quickly wipe it and I see Madge looking at me, then she covers her face with her hands. She's crying. She wipes her tears and she turns her stare to Gale. She told me she has feelings for Gale, and Gale has feelings for her. I am sad they'll never get a chance- No. I don't know if that is true. I think we can win this, I can…we can.

Effie lets out a breath, getting the crowd more anxious. She calls out…

"Peeta Mellark!"

I don't want to believe it. I am stuck with the closest people in the cruelest event of the year. And even worst, it's the Quarter Quell. Peeta walks on stage and stands next to Gale. I let my face drop of all acting and I am showing true fear as we are brought to the justice building for our visits. I am sitting on a plump chair when I hear the door creak open, it's Madge.

"Hello Katniss," she's trying not to burst into tears.

"Hello Madge I…" she interrupts me and hugs me tightly. I don't back away and she hugs me for about a minute. Then she says, "Good luck Katniss. I'll be rooting for all of you guys."

I smile as she hugs me one more time, "Thanks," I say and she leaves.

After a few minutes, my mother walks in and almost immediately she wraps me in a hug. I cry as she hugs me and she grabs me by the shoulders, "Katniss," I am still crying and she says, "Listen to me." I stop crying and she continues, "Protect yourself, take care of Prim, and try your hardest.

"Mother, there are forty-eight of us. I am not sure…" I begin.

"Don't even think about it Katniss. You are coming back, with Prim, with Gale, and with Peeta. You will all come back, you hear me?" She says firmly. I nod my head and she gives me a kiss on the forehead. A Peacekeeper is pulling her away from me and I hear her say one more thing, "You'll be coming back."

We are going to the train station of District 12's. It's barely used so when we get there, there are no people except for a camera crew and people taking photographs. I try to keep the fear and pain inside. Peeta is dead serious like Gale. Prim, surprisingly, stands up tall and doesn't even pay attention to the cameras and the questions reporters ask. I look at the TVs on the walls of the station to see us all serious and we are actually playing it well. On the screen, my eyes suddenly fix on Peeta. I can't even look at him. I can't look at Prim. I can't look at Gale. But, Peeta, I loved him for so long and I don't think he has ever noticed it. Gale has been in love with Madge his entire life. Peeta and I sometimes would tease him and make him blush purposely. I try not to smile at that memory. I remember asking Peeta if he ever had a crush on anyone. He smiled and said, "Yes," my eyes were glued to him and he had an amused expression on his face, "I've known her my entire life and she's so beautiful. I don't think she has ever noticed that I've loved her so long. I love her eyes and her smile. She barely smiles, but it is a nice surprise when she does. And it makes my heart skip a beat."

I remember being angry that day. I was a little…jealous I guess, of that girl. Whoever she was, she's lucky to have Peeta loving her so much. The hurt on my face, I hope, wasn't showing. Peeta and I lied in the meadow and he actually held my hand. I thought of it as friendly, but do friends hold hands? I don't even want to think about that as I glance up at Prim. How is she doing it? Prim, my sweet little sister being thrown into the games, the filthy games. Her small body walks up the train and Peeta and I follow. Soon, the train starts off and Prim holds her stomach and covers her mouth. I hear Effie say, "Bathroom's over there," she says pointing to a door. I am worried about Prim and as soon as she gets out I hug her and we sit down on one of the seats on the dining table. Gale and Peeta sit next to each other and we stare at each other. Peeta is…angry? Gale is just so…it's so damn hard to read his expression, but it remains plain of all emotion. Effie looks at us carefully and I try to keep the glare I am about to give her off my face. I hold Prim's hand I know she's dying…no! Don't say dying! She's trying not to cry, but she's about to burst. I squeeze her hand in reassurance and I look at her. She gives me a scared look and I look away, trying not to cry in front of everyone. Haymitch and a sixteen-year-old girl are coming in. The Girl's name is Astra Seals. She won the 74th Hunger Games. She played the flirty/sexy girl. But when she went into the arena, she had no mercy on no one. And because of her emotionless heart, she won.

Haymitch Abernathy is the only male tribute of District 12. He used to be really drunk but when Astra became a victor, she turned him inside out. She put him to stay sober and he actually did it. Astra is actually pretty nice and she's probably the most attractive woman in District 12. She looks at us and before I could read her expression, I hear Haymitch gasp dramatically, and say, "Looks like we have good-shaped tributes this year."

I try so hard to keep the scowl from showing. I realize Peeta is staring at me. I look into those blue eyes and I feel like crying. My eyes are shinny and I know he knows I want to cry. He shakes his head slightly and gives me a look. I don't know what the look is for, but it's probably something along the lines of, "Katniss please don't cry."

As we eat, I try not to stuff down the food like Astra said because it'd make you sick. The taste of this food is so delicious, but I need to eat with "manners".

"We have some good manners too!" Effie chirps, trying to start a "stimulating" conversation.

Gale, Peeta, and Prim look at each other. They smile amusingly and start eating with their fingers. I try to stifle a laugh as I join them. Effie gasps and leaves the room cursing something. We try not to laugh and I see Astra has a smile at the corner of her mouth. Haymitch, on the other hand, is laughing extremely hard. And that's when I burst into laughter too. Pretty soon, we are all laughing. Haymitch calms down a little and says, "I like you guys. Some tributes that can actually get Effie to leave them and ME alone." Astra smacks Haymitch playfully on the arm. I see Gale staring at Astra and I he soon turns to me as he feels my eyes on him. I have a grin the size of a skyscraper on my face. Peeta grins too and Gale rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

We are sent to watch the Reaping of the other Districts. From District 1, two twin girls with blue eyes and dark brown hair. Their male tributes are one boy with dark hair and sea green eyes. The other is sixteen and muscular. From District 2, are two bulky girls and two bulky boys. I am not surprised, they are Careers. It goes on like this until it hits District 11. Two small, 12 year-olds, are picked and they are weak and frail. Then, there are two boys who look about fifteen and are really tall and bulky. I can't help but think about Prim. Prim is 13, but she's still not old enough to actually have a chance to survive on her own. Then, it's our Reaping. We turn the TV off when it's over. We are sent to our rooms. When I enter my room, I lay on the bed, thinking of everything that has happened. Ugh, why does this happen to me? The top five people I care about! I hear a knock on my door to see Prim; she can't sleep.

I let her in and we sleep, well she does. I can't sleep because I am too worried thinking about the games and my plan to help keep everyone on my team safe. The best part is that we get to all win if we survive. I smile creeps up at the thought of Peeta. I remember when we first met, at school. We were five and I volunteered to sing. He never took his eyes off me and I never took my eyes off him. I dream about Peeta, Gale, and Prim. We are all in the woods. We are free from the Capitol, free from the Games, free from everything dreadful, and we are happy. Happy. I want Prim to be happy. I want Gale to be happy. I want Peeta to be happy. I want to be happy. Someday, Peeta will know how much I love him, I just hope it's before I die in the games.