Rachel glanced over at Sam, the factory worker with the dirty blonde hair and sweet smile. He was bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet; she knew that his name had to be in there a few times, since he had two younger brothers and sisters to take care of at home, and his family was certainly not the wealthiest. He had to have taken out at least one tessera.

She herself was only in there the minimum of times she had to be, at age sixteen. She was fortunate enough to have a family that didn't have to take out any tesserae to get by. Hiram and Leroy Berry had their own clothing store that catered not only to District 8's residents, but to the Capitol as well. Rachel was lucky, and she reminded herself of it every day.

She watched their district representative, Emma Pillsbury, snatch one of the slips out of the boy's glass ball. Emma looked less like a Capitol resident than a lot of the other representatives, though any reasonable person could tell by her red hair and the large bows on all of her clothing that she did indeed call it home. Rachel wasn't sure why Emma even wanted to be a representative in the first place; she was always shaking and crying, especially when one of her tributes ended up not making it. It didn't exactly seem the career for her.

Emma cleared her throat before reading in a clear but trembling voice the name on the paper. "Sam Evans."

Rachel looked at him again. He didn't look like he was going to cry, though some contestants did when they were chosen. His parents were crying, however, and so were his little siblings as he kissed both of them goodbye and climbed onstage. Emma gave him a tentative smile before going over to the girls' ball.

"Not me… not me…" Rachel whispered, closing her eyes. Her entire life had been the opposite, up to the moment she'd turned twelve and had to participate in the Reapings. She always wanted to be picked. At school, with friends… everywhere. But not at the Reaping. Anyone but her, she thought selfishly.

But her hopes and prayers didn't stop Emma from reading out, "Rachel Berry."

She froze. No. This couldn't happen. That wasn't how it worked. It had to be a mistake. But no. The Peacekeepers were hauling her up onstage, and all at once she saw Emma's timid smile, Sam's look of alarm as she kicked and screamed, and her fathers' looks of dread and horror.

"Ladies and gentlemen… our tributes. Rachel Berry and Sam Evans." Rachel stopped thrashing and gave in to them, standing straight and proud with tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked out into the crowd. Everyone out there was watching her, disbelief clouding their features. How could Hiram and Leroy's daughter be chosen? It was like the mayor's daughter being chosen.

In the next instant, someone else crossed the stage, and Rachel recognized her as Shannon Bieste, their district's advisor for the Hunger Games tributes. She'd won the games a few decades before, and so signed her entire life off to helping new contestants. She clapped both Rachel and Sam on the shoulder in greeting. "We're gonna be pretty good friends in the next few weeks."

Rachel couldn't help but let out a choked sob, but composed herself before it could turn into full-fledged crying. She and Sam were made to shake hands before the Anthem began to play and they were whisked away by the Peacekeepers, where they could say their last goodbyes. Rachel thought about Sam's little brother and sister, and was suddenly grateful that she didn't have any to say goodbye to.

Rory stared down into his hands as he listened to the retreating steps of Seamus and his mother. This was a nightmare, he thought. He would wake up at any moment and listen to someone else be chosen in the Reaping. It had to be a nightmare.

He cried for the first time, burying his head in his hands and tearing at his hair. His sobs echoed throughout the big room they kept him in. He remembered the other tribute they'd chosen, Tina. He knew her. They spoke to each other out in the orchards and sometimes snuck fruits back and forth between their pockets. Would he have to kill her?

He didn't have a long time to think about it before the Peacekeepers were back, taking him like a criminal to the train station, where he met back up with Tina. The two of them stood like show dogs in front of the cameras for a while before they were herded inside the train to sit, side by side, in a tight-fitting car across from their advisor.

Holly Holiday didn't look like she would have been able to win the Games, but she must have, or else she wouldn't be there. Her legs were crossed elegantly, making use of the tiny space they had as she studied Rory and Tina. Rory suddenly felt as if he was standing naked in front of a crowd, so critical was her gaze. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tina glance at him nervously.

"Neither of you look like you're gonna be able to win this thing," Holly said.

Rory swallowed hard. He wouldn't be able to. He knew that. He would probably be one of the first to be killed off.

"But that doesn't mean you won't," she added, surprising him. She must have surprised Tina as well, because she abruptly looked up from her lap. "In fact, it might help us in the long run. Are either of you two good at anything? Any special talents?"

Rory found himself looking at Tina again. "Well… I can sing."

"We both can," Tina said. "We do in the fields."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but that's really not gonna help." Holly smiled good-naturedly. "We'll think of something. You're gonna have some time to train, thankfully, and we can see what you're good and bad at. Play to your strengths. Once we get to the Capitol, you can meet with your stylists. They'll make you look presentable."

Rory was offended by that, but figured she was at least half right. People at the Capitol looked way different than people in District 11, so presentable for their residents must be a whole different thing than presentable to them.

"So you're going to help us win?" Tina asked. Her voice was small.

Holly shrugged. "I'm gonna help you try. That's the most I can promise right now. Even if both of you end up surviving til the end, only one of you is gonna get out of there alive."

It didn't exactly instill in Rory a lot of comfort, but it was more than they would get without her, so for some reason or another, he found himself trusting Holly Holiday.