A/N Hello, all! This is my third fan-fic and I finally decided to do a multi-chapter fiction. This is a story about a girl from 7 who goes into the 52nd Hunger Games. I'll more then likely be updating this frequently because I'm on summer vacation and, at the moment, I don't have anything else to do. So please read and reviewing would make my day.

Pre-Reaping

Hunger Games. Those two words send chills down the spines of so many in my home district, District 7. For 364 days everyone waits for the one day of the year that makes everyone, including me, chew my nails down to nonexistence, reaping day. On this day, two young lumberjacks will head off to the nightmare that we all have experienced in some way. Sure, District 7 has quite a large number of victors but that doesn't mean we like the games. Once your name is called, everything shatters for you. Your present. Your future. Your life. Many die but some have to live, to become victors. That leaves you the burden of knowing that you survived when the other 23 couldn't. The burden that you killed some of them. The burden that you'll live on in fear, fear of your past.

I really have a much better life then most of those in 7. Well in my perspective I do but everyone else looks at me as if I'm scum. You see, I'm a community home kid. I've lived in this wretched place ever since I could remember. I guess my parents didn't want me or couldn't handle having a hungry child. Those parents don't really have to worry over me though, I'm happy how things turned out. This community home has changed me, in ways that can be described as good and bad. It's made me grow thick skin so I can take a lot of hits without going down. I've grown quite a mouth as well. Since I have lived in the community home many kids tease me for it from time to time. It's never the same kid though because once you say something bad about me or my community home 'family' you'll be shut up real quick. Don't think I'm invincible though. My status in the district is the 'community home girl' or 'just another orphan' so I have very few friends outside of the home. It's caused me to actually grow attached to my alone time. Most girls stare at me when I eat alone at lunch but nowadays they've got over the poor girl and have gone back to their gossip about how they just can't wait to marry them a hairy lumberjack. Idiots.

"Lily! Rose! Stop your damn bickering and go get dressed!" I order as the two girls in front of me begin to slap each other over some stupid teddy bear they both adore. Lily and Rose immediately stop fighting and glare at me with their once innocent blue eyes. The community home had forced them to lose their innocence and to become as hard as steel. My own blue eyes had turned that way almost immediately. Actually, I've never seen my eyes look as innocent as theirs once were. Maybe I was just born like that.

"Shut up, Isis. Your not dressed either." huffs Rose before storming out of the room, Lily trailing right behind her. I really don't understand what goes through those girls minds sometimes. One minute their fighting like hell then the next they're playing dolls as if they are perfect buddies.

"That's because it doesn't take me an hour to get ready, girls!" I scream as I hear their tiny footsteps descend our creaky stairs. They were only 12 and fairly small but those stairs made them sound as if they weighed a few hundred pounds.

"What was that about?" I turn my head to see my caretaker, Fiona, looking at me with her arms crossed. She's worked here ever since I was born so we had become close friends and I know this is just her teasing me. The community home doesn't really have many rules.

"Just the flower children acting up again." I say casually using the nickname that all of the older kids use around here. I'm not sure why but a lot of the younger kids are named after flowers. Rose, Lily, Daisy, and Orchid are just a few examples. I'm lucky my name is Isis because I'm only a letter away from being Iris, another flower name.

"What else is new. Anyways, you should get dressed. The reaping starts in an hour and only half the kids are even awake yet." Fiona smiles and ruffles my hair as she walks down the stairs, already yelling at Rose again for punching some kid in the face.

I laugh and head up the stairs where all of the girl's rooms are. I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping to find something decent on my bed. The reaping clothes are always donations from the others in District 7 so that usually means they were so bad that not even the poor people wanted them. My eyes creep open to see the puffiest dress possible. It's the color of puke and I think I even see some puke stains on the front of it.

"Oh gross," I exclaim as I lift the dreaded thing. "This should be a health hazard. Oh god it stinks!" I mentally gag while examining the dress before me. That's when I notice a sliver of purple between the sleeve of my dress. I drop the dress to the dirty carpet below to see a purple dress on the bed beside of my own. It definitely isn't beautiful but it does look ten times better then the puke dress. From the looks of it, it could probably fit me. Who's bed is that? I mentally imagine the room during the night and I remember that the girl who sleeps next to me is only a year older. Astrid is her name and she is around my size so who would mind my taking her dress? It's just a little swap.

I grab the puke dress off of the dull floor and cautiously walk over to Astrid's bed. The rest of the girls will be up here soon so I better do this quick. I drop the puke dress on her bed then quickly snatch up the purple one before anyone can enter the room. A sinister smile makes an appearance on my face as I drop the purple dress onto my own bed. I let the smile fade as I neaten up the puke dress on Astrid's bed so that it looks as though Fiona put it there as we all know in the home that Fiona likes everything to be orderly.

"Ooooooooo!" I turn around in shock to see little Lily standing in the doorway, smiling her little head off. Lily is dressed in her orange dress that she must have gotten from someone else because I remember that thing from last year. I think the girl was reaped. Lily's wearing a cursed dress. I wonder if that puke dress is cursed? Or the one I just stole?

"Tell anyone and I'll personally make sure you get reaped. Now get out of here so I can change!" I snap through gritted teeth and the little girl's smile vanishes almost instantly. All of the little kids that can be reaped think that us older kids can tell the escort to pick their name out of the reaping ball. It's sinister I know but it keeps them in line so Fiona has never minded. Just as long as whoever we threatened doesn't get reaped and then the joke won't be funny anymore.

Lily leaves the room and a faint giggle echoes through the silent halls. Most of the others are probably dressed already so I quickly slip the purple dress over my head. Thankfully, it isn't too baggy but it definitely doesn't fit as good as the puke dress would have on me.

"Isis! Astrid! Orchid! Caine! Parsnips! You 5 are the only ones not dressed! Get your lazy butts down here!" yells Fiona from two floors down and I smile. Grabbing my boots, I race out the door and down the two flights of stairs. It's my turn to lead the kids down to the reaping area after Fiona has to go back behind the safety of the ropes. If I don't set a good example for the rest of them they'll all grow up into hooligans. Well that's how Fiona worded it anyways. I didn't really think being a bit unordered will alter someones future that much.

I get to the bottom floor to find a sea of orphan kids, all dressed in awful outfits. The home holds about thirty kids but only about twenty of them are eligible for the reaping yet that still makes it hard to move around without bumping into someone. Squeezing my way through I finally find Fiona who is standing next to the door that leads outside.

"Here," I say with a smile "Is everyone else dressed?" I ask casually, leaning against the door next to my caretaker.

"Just Astrid and Caine." I nod and begin to put my boots on, hopping up and down trying to fit my long foot into the boots I've wore for years. That won't matter to me unless these things decide that today is the perfect day to split open. Fiona look me up and down as I squeeze my second foot into a boot. "Is that the outfit I laid out for you, Isis?" Fiona raises her left eyebrow and I send her a nervous smile just before something catches my eye. Something puke-colored.

I look up to see Astrid descending the stairs, her gaze looking at the floor, her face as red as a beet. Poor Astrid. It's too bad I don't like her enough to admit the truth. Fiona is still watching me but that's when I realize that everyone is here. My time to shine. It's also my time to hide the fact that I stole Astrid's dress from her.

"Attention everyone," I begin with a normal voice and only a couple of people look my way but quickly go back to their conversations. They never do pay attention to anyone that isn't Fiona or Jaxx, the oldest boy in the home. "I said attention!" I yell much louder and everyone fades into silence, looking at me. "Thank you. Now, as we all know, today is reaping day!" a few people groan and I shoot them all a glare, individually. "Trust me everyone, it's not that bad as long as you can get through the Treaty of Treason!" my voice raises because a few people have actually begun whispering to those around them. I'll maintain this voice then. "Alright, everyone line up by age and gender! Youngest in the front and oldest in the back! First the girls then the boys!" everyone shuffles into a line that I quickly notice isn't straight and most are huddled together so they can talk to each other easily.

"Quiet!" screams Fiona from behind me, seeing my eyes locked on a crowd of girls giggling about Astrid's dress. I frown at them and Astrid meets my eyes for a second but I quickly look away. I'm not feeling that guilty but I still don't want to look her in the eye. It's feels wrong to gloat.

"Everyone ready?" I call to the people and a few people murmur or nod their head slightly. I frown and stomp my foot onto the ground, shaking it a bit. "I said, are you wimps ready!" this time a few nod quickly, eyes widened, and a couple yell out a loud 'yes'. The politer ones yell out 'yes mam' which makes me smile a bit. It feels good to be a leader.

I step in front of Rose, who slapped Lily in order to be in the very front of the line, and begin to walk out the door. Fiona leads us all to the number one place to go for a suicidal teenager, the reaping.