My two best friends were waiting for me. Every day, we would go to the small forest where we would be ourselves, no one could tell us to do or who to be. District 2 is one of the richer and more favored by the Capitol districts, so there weren't much peacekeepers around, anyways.

"About time you showed up!" Taremy laughed, adding wood to the burning fire. He always seemed to cheer me up, talking about positives while I always thought about the negatives.

"Ready for the reaping, little boy?" Seano said, tossing a piece of bread in my direction. I am 15, they're 17, for some odd reason, they feel as if we're 20 years apart or something.

I took a big bite and threw my head back in laughter, "Oh yeah. How about you? Scared your big brother can't volunteer for you anymore?" I joked back. Seano's older brother won the last Hunger Games, which wasn't much of a surprise. He's tall, muscular and 18 years old. He had a personal trainer since he was 4.

"Oh yeah, bummer." Taremy muttered with his mouth full. "I'm going to volunteer if that's what it takes to save my family." Taremy has three younger brothers, a 14 year old and a 12 year old, both eligible for the reaping this year, and a 9 year old.

"You and me, both." Seano said, throwing rocks into the fire pit, "I have Nason to take care of. And you, Thad…" He started. I quickly looked down. I don't have a family. My older sister, Malia, was the only family I had. She was with her boyfriend in the woods having some alone time, when she was caught and was made an Avox. To this day, I have no idea where she is.

"Um, Seano…" Taremy interrupted.

"Hey man, its fine." Obviously I was just saying that. Even my parents left for the Capitol after Malia was captured, leaving me to fend for myself, not that they cared, anyways. I was shipped off to an orphanage when I was 10, then Taremy's family took me under their wing, I owe him probably more than I owe anyone else in the world.

"Sorry, really I am," Seano said, picking up an old tulip, "Peace offering?" He raised his eyebrow curiously.

I took it, smiled, and tossed it away. The three of us shared a laugh, a real one, not one of those weird forced laughs you see on TV from the Capitol.

Taremy got up and dusted off his lap, "Excuse me ladies, but I must go to the changing room to prepare for the event." He patted his face, "I'm thinking about going with a purple make-up scheme, don't you think that would go well with my skin tone?"

Seano adjusted his position to get a better look of Taremy, "I'm thinking pink and blue. It'll bring out your eyes!" He yelled, picking up a piece of bread and throwing at him. Obviously, they were mimicking our escort, Parmesan. Sometimes I feel bad for her, her ridiculous outfits and always yellow hair gets sometimes, too outrageous. "Okay, I'm leaving. I'll see you two at the reaping!" Seano said, standing up, grabbing his backpack, and sarcastically blowing kisses to me and Taremy. As he walked out, Taremy turned to me.

"Thad, I wish you a lot of luck. You probably won't get picked, anyways. Or if you do, people are definitely going to volunteer." Taremy smirked, "That's the good thing about living in District 2, right? Volunteers every year."

I smirked, and looked down at my shoes. Taremy's like a brother to me. He couldn't be better. We stood up together, grabbed our stuff, put out the fire and walked out of the woods.

When we got back to the house, Taremy's mom, Christamna, laid out a light green shirt and khaki pants. I took a shower and immediately dressed. My dark brown hair is really thick, so it's layered. Christamna always told me I was lucky. On her side of the family, everyone had fine blond hair.

Christamna came in after I finished dressing to perfect my outfit, "Now there's the Prince Thaddeus I know." She said smiling. That brought back a memory. When I was 8, I met Taremy. He brought me home to meet his mom and dad. That day, I was wearing a fake crown made out of twigs that Taremy and I had made together in the woods.

Christamna had pointed to the crown, "Are you a prince?" She asked.

"Why, yes! I am Prince Thaddeus!" I chirped. I haven't thought about that time since this moment.

I just smiled and returned her hug. Taremy and I went to the reapings together.

"I'll meet up with you afterwards." He said. I nodded, gave him a handshake, and went to the 15 year old boys section.

After everyone piled up into their own sections, the mayor and the past winners sat down on stage. One, two, three, four…eleven. Eleven past winners. And this was only the 48th Hunger Games. The most recent will be our mentor, I thought to myself. Then, Parmesan stepped onto stage.

"Welcome! District 2! Welcome! Today, as you all know, is the 48th Annual Hunger Games reaping!" Parmesan screeched into the microphone.