Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from my OC and any changes to the storyline that I make.
"You know, I think that something special is going to happen today." I called out to the Peacekeeper standing guard outside the cell I was in. I waited a moment to see if they would respond. Met with silence, I continued on.
"I mean, obviously something's going to happen, it's the Reaping for fucks sake. But you know when you have a feeling in your nuts?"
"You don't have any balls Milwolski." A voice from the cell next door answered back, his voice weary.
"My non-existant ones are still bigger than yours, eh Joe?" I smiled at the wall to my left, where Joe was probably trying to sleep. I had known Joe my entire life, he was the one who found me when I was abandoned and had raised me as his own. Granted, he didn't exactly have a house to raise me in, but he taught me everything that I know about thievery, stealing and how to survive. We were only ever caught out of convenience, a jail cell was like a Capitol suite to people like Joe and I, seeing as we got a bed to sleep in and three meals a day; this was like a welcome retreat to us. At 17 years old, I knew poverty better than anyone, which is saying something considering that District 12 was the biggest shit-hole in Panem.
"Is that any way to speak to your elders anklebiter?" Joe called back, his voice sounding more enthusiastic and awake.
"Anklebiter? Me? Jesus christ Joe that's rich coming from a short ass like you!" I laughed out. This is mine and Joe's relationship, shooting the shit and verbally kicking eachother.
"Well, I nev-" Joe started before he was cut off by the Peacekeeper.
"N-no fraternisation b-b-between inmates!" A high pitched voice called out, the speech quaking with stutter. I sat up on the bed and looked through the bars of the cell door. I grinned wickedly at the sight before me. They must have shipped some new-recruits down to us for training.
"Hey baby face. Where's Martin?" I called out accusingly to the young Peacekeeper. Christ, he looked only a year older than I did. He shifted uncomfortably, looking at everything but me.
"Hey, where is Martin?" Joe called out inquisitivley. Maritn was the Peacekeeper who regularly guarded the cells. He knew Joe and I and he always cut us some slack when we were in the cells.
"I-I can't disclose that information to a-an inmate." The baby Peacekeeper stuttered out. I rolled my eyes before calling to Joe.
"Did he get promoted?"
"I don't know kiddo, he would've said something." Joe yelled back, I opened my mouth to respond but, speak of the devil, Martin walked through the doors of the Incarciration Unit.
"Afternoon guys." He said smirking at us both.
"Hey Martin, we getting lunch anytime soon?" I called out, swinging my legs over the bed and pulling on my boots.
"Sorry kiddo, you know the rules." He said, taking the keys and unlocking the cell door. This wasn't the first time Joe and I had been in jail for the Reaping, the first time was awful, I was tired and scared but we had gotten through it. Once the cell door had been opened, I stepped out, waiting for Joe to get up so that we could be escorted to the Justic Building. I wasn't hand-cuffed for the Reaping, in a square flooded with Peacekeepers it was stupid to try anything vaguely criminal.
It was hot as Martin walked me to the girls line of getting registered, I looked around at all the girls and boys dressed in their finest for the Reaping. I didn't have anything nice to wear period, so the clean jeans and baggy vest top I had on were as good as it was going to get for me. I saw a young girl, her hair was braided into these two adorable plaits and she was wearing clothes that were too big on her, fitting her awkwardly. She was crying to her older sister, a look of panic in her eyes. First Reaping. I thought of my first Reaping while I waited in line to get my finger pricked. I had been wearing a large shirt of Joe's with a belt orund my middle and some old boots that we had swiped from a stall in the Hob. I was terrified and had cried to Joe for a good half-hour before the Peacekeepers had to peel me off of him. I was brought out of the memory by someone jabbing my finger.
"Messer Milwolski," the Peacekeeper said, pressing my bleeding finger onto the page in front of her, "Good luck kiddo." she murmered inaudibly. I made my way to m yage group and smirked as the other girls pushed themselves to be as far away form me as possible. I zoned out, staring into space as the brightly coloured stick insect that is Effie Trinket made her annual speech about the honour of being slaughtered for our district. I focused again when she shoved her hand into the glass bowl, searching for the unlucky young woman.
"Primrose Everdeen!" She called out, and I saw the young girl with the two braids and the too big clothes step forward, tears already falling down her face. I caught sight of her sister trying to push her way out of the pen and felt my heart break for her, thinking about how I would feel if I had Joe ripped away from me like that. Before I was even aware of what I was doing, I had pushed myself into the aisle behind the young girl with my arm raised, shouting the words that would effectively up-end my life.
"I volunteer as tribute."
