I woke up with a groan. My muscles still felt sore after working so hard yesterday. Mother won't be pleased if she knew that I stayed up hours after bedtime. Slowly I got up, took a cold bath and got dressed. By the time I entered the kitchen, everyone was already there. Nobody said a thing. So my mother, Harpy (my younger sister) and I ate breakfast in silence.

After I ate some bread, I could see that my sister was angry. No, not just angry, furious. She smashed the bread back at her plate. 'It's not fair', she screamed. 'How could they just send off a girl and a boy to fight in the arena?'. My mother sighed. 'The capitol wants us to pay for what we've done to them. They think they've sacrificed everything by forgiving us. Harpy crossed her arms in disagreement.

'Haven't we sacrificed enough?', she asked. We all look at the empty chair at our table. Although my mother won't admit it, I hear her cry over our father every time she thinks we're not home. 'Ok, that's enough', I said and I pick her up by the waist. 'Let's get you into something decent.'

Harpy knows she can't do anything right now. Even if she wants to get out of my grip, she will be the one who ends up being hurt. So she grabs my neck but still sticks her tongue out of her mouth. There's nothing more annoying than little sisters.

I lead her up the stairs, pull the dress that our mother laid out for her and walk towards the bathroom with her. 'You know', she says, 'I'm really scared for what I'm about to face'. I chuckle. 'You have nothing to worry about, your name is only put in there once. I, on the other hand, have 4 slips of paper'.

I leave the bathroom and I'm heading for the square. I'm meeting up with Oad. I'm really an introverted guy and he is the most talkative person I know, so I was surprised that he and I became friends. People often think that we are related because of the age difference. He is 13, I'm 15. I'm about to turn the last corner when I see him. With his red hair, you see him from a distance.

'Hey Oad', I say when I reached him. 'Hey Quil, are you ready for the reaping?' I turn away for a moment. I must admit that I'm a bit frightened because this is the first annual hunger games and you don't know what to expect. 'Yes', I whisper. 'This is going to be something isn't it? I was talking about it yesterday with my father and he … And there he goes. He talked on and on about a 5-minute conversation for 15 minutes. I smile, glad that he doesn't act funny on a day like this.

I see that the peacekeepers are dividing us into 2 groups. Girls and boys. I look around the square and I notice that the reaping is about to start. I see my sister running towards her friends, just to make it in time before Aurea Koss begins her speech. A movie is shown and then there's the moment everyone has been waiting for.

Aurea is excited, you can tell by the way she walks back to the microphone. 'Ladies first', she says. She walks up to the bowl and picks a piece of paper. Where there was sound earlier, is now gone. Aurea opens the paper and says the name: 'Holly Congreve!'

I watch as a girl with brown hair and blue eyes walks towards the stage. I see tears welling up her eyes. I don't know her that well, but she's in my class. She always smells nice.

I close my eyes when Aurea picks a name from the bowl on the left. It makes me nervous and I want her to hurry up.

'Oad Dalang!'

No, this can't be true! Not him. I look at my side. Oad is as white as a ghost. He pulls himself together for just a second and he slowly walks away from me. I snap out of it and run after him. Peacekeepers hold me at a distance but I can't stand the thought of losing my only friend.

'I volunteer as tribute' I say. Not loud enough for anyone to hear. Come on, Quil, louder!

'I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!' Now everyone in the district heard me, if not whole Panem. I look up at the stage. Confusion amongst all the people standing there. I can tell that this wasn't what anyone had foreseen. Aurea sprints away from the stage. She's probably calling the Gamemaker to see if this is legit. A few minutes later she's back. Everyone else is still standing like statues. She picks up the microphone and says that you can volunteer as tribute. The peacekeepers escort me to the stage.

When I get past Oad, his expression is somewhere between shock and disbelief. Aurea asks for my name. 'Jonquille Pinto' I say while looking in the camera. I smile, because I know that what I did is the only present I can give my friend: his life.

I turn slightly around to shake hands with Holly. Quickly I look down.

'Ladies and gentlemen', Aurea says, 'Please welcome our tributes from district 9!'