"Raine! Get up!" my sister Lanaei called in a sing-song voice. I turned over groggily and moaned, "What time is it?"
"Morning- time, silly!" she laughed brightly.
I sighed. Sometimes six-year-olds were just too energetic. I guesssed I was that way once... But not anymore. Now, I was fourteen.. "Alright, I'm going."
I rose up out of my bed and crossed the room to my closet. "What to wear," I whispered to myself. Then I thought... Isn't there something special going on today?
After thinking about it for a moment, I slapped my hand to my forehead in frustration at my stupidity. Today was the day of the Reaping. I exhaled slowly. I lived in District Four, a Career District, nonetheless. We had an obove-average family life, seeing as how my father was the man-in-charge up at the factory. My name was only in there three times... Why was I so nervous?
I brushed the feeling away.
I ended up choosing a nice white dress that fell about three inches above my knees in soft ruffles. It had spaghetti straps and a small band of red flowers that encircled my body just below the bust and tied in the back with a ribbon.
After slipping on some red ballet flats, I walked into the bathroom to examine my appearance. My dair brown hair cascaded down my shoulders and fell to my waist. I took my brush and ran it through the tangles until I was satisfied. Afterwards, I washed my always make-up free face.
I had dark blue eyes and a small nose. My lips were slightly full, but not anything extreme. My skin was golden-brown due to my many hours spent outside fishing or swimming in the lake. I was only 5'2", and 98 lbs., so I was very petite for my age.
Once I had brushed my teeth and was happy with my appearance, I walked out of my bathroom and downstairs.
"You look nice," my mother smiled.
"Thanks, mom. What are we having for breakfast?"
"Oh nothing. We are going to grab a bite in the square after the reaping."
I raised my eyebrows (out of a habit of mine) and nodded my head.
"So," I said, taking a seat on the couch. "Where is Sammy?"
Just as I said it though, he walked downstairs and grinned, "I'm seventeen, Raine, don't call me that." I reached up and playfully ruffled his hair.
He inhaled a shocked breath and dramatically cried out, "No! My hair! It took me hours to fix that! How could you?" And then proceeded to comb his hair back into place with his fingers.
"You are so immature," I smiled.
"Immature is just a word boring people call fun people when they are jealous," he replied swiftly, not missing a beat.
"You keep telling yourself that, Sammy."
"I will, Squirt," he laughed good-naturedly. I frowned at the stupid nickname he had deemed appropriate for me the day that I was born.
My brother and I could have passed for twins, despite the fact that there was a three-year age difference separating us, and that he was 6'1". Other than that, we looked exactly alike. We even had the same birthday, July 14th.
"Well, come one," my mother said, grabbing Lanaei's hand, who had just come bounding the kitchen. "Let's go."
The nervousness that had been forgotten earlier was now back. Sam must have noticed this, because he came up behind me and whispered, "Don't worry, little sis. There are thousands of slips of paper in the glass ball. There is next to no chance your name will be pulled." He grinned at me, and I felt momentarily reassured.
We decided to walk the half mile to the square. Once we got there, we forced our way throught the crowd and signed in. Then, going to our respectable areas... we waited.
I spotted my best friend, Amber, and walked over to her. She looked scared. I wordlessly took her hand, and we waited.
After a good twenty minutes, Patch Crager walked onto the stage, wearing a sparkling golden decor, complete with a tuxedo, contacts in his eyes, lipstick, eyeshadow, and his hair color. I raised my eyebrows at him in spite of myself.
"Welcome one, and welcome all, to the 98th Hunger Games!" He said brightly. Amber's grip on my fingers tightened. I used my other hand to pat her back comfortingly.
"It's going to be okay," I whispered. But she didn't relax. I sighed.
Patch was staring out into the crowd. "Ah, well. Let's start then, shall we?" No one said a word. We were all silent.
He nodded his head. "Alrighty then, we'll mix things up this year. We'll choose the men first."
I could feel the tightness in the crowd due to the anticipation, fear, and dread. A sudden thought hit me; What if Sammy was chosen? I couldn't live without him. My heart started to beat faster. My stomache clenched.
Patch reached his hand into the bowl and grabbed a slip of paper. He unfolded it, coughed slightly, then read clearly, "Tryston Bird." I exhaled in relief, knowing that this was Sammy's second to last reaping and if he made it past next year's reaping,he would be safe for good. I smiled at the thought.
I saw a path part a few feet ahead of me, and a buff young man steeped out of it and onto the stage. Patch smiled at him. "How old are you?" He asked.
The boy, Tryston, gruffly replied, "Sixteen."
"Alright then, if you would just step over here, and we will pull the girl's name!"
Amber and I held onto each others' hands as if they were our lifelines. Patch lowered arm hand ever-so-slowly into the bowl, as if meaning to create suspense.
He grabbed a piece of paper and pulled it out. "Raine Borrow."
Time froze. It was silent, nothing was moving.
I was numb. Everyone was watching me. I managed to keep putting one foot in front of another without tripping. Once I was near the stage, Sammy broke through the crowd hugged me protectively, all the while glaring up at Patch.
"You can't do this to her!" he screamed. "She is only fourteen!"
I remained emotionless. Someone came up behind Sammy and ripped him away from me. "NO!" He yelled as loud as he could.
I suddenly found courage. I looked around determinedly, then took strong, sure steps up onto the stage. Patch looked at me nervously. "H.. how old are you, Raine?"
I gave him my best are-you-stupid looks and said firmly, "Fourteen."
He looked offended as he turned back to the microphone and stated loudly, "Well, that's all, folks! See you next year!"
The crowd dispersed solemnly, and Trston and I were each led to separate rooms.
"You have three minutes," a burly guard told me. Then my mother and Lanaei walked in. Lanaei looked confused. When she saw me, she jumped into my arms.
"Raine, why is Mommy crying?" She asked, tears welling in her eyes. "Did something bad happen?"
Upon seeing her tears, I roughly wiped away the ones in my eyes. I gave a sad laugh and said, "Yes, sweetie, something bad did happen."
"Like what?" She asked.
"Well, I have to go...away for a while. But I might not come home."
"Why?" she cried, a fresh batch of tears in her eyes.
I shook my head. "You'll understand when you are older."
She wrapped her arms around me and cried into my shoulder. As she did this, I looked up at me mom. "I love you, you know."
She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I know."
"I'm going to win."
She gazed at me sadly, but didn't say anything.
The guard, who had been standing in the room, said, "You have to go now."
I jumped up and gave Lanaei and my mom one last hug, as tightly as I could. "Go," I whispered. "I love you. Tell Daddy I said I love him and I'll see him when I get home."
My mother let out a sob. The guard pushed them out, and then Sammy walked in.
I immediately threw my arms around his neck. A lone tear slipped down his face. "No, Sam, don't cry! I'm going to come home! I'm going to win!"
"I know. You have to . My little sister always does. Just do me a favor?"
I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah?"
"Kick some butt while you are at it."
I let out a chocked half-laugh half-sob, then buried my face in his shirt. "I love you, Samm- I mean, Sam. I'm going to miss you... while I'm gone."
He laughed. "I love you too. Oh, and Squirt?"
"Yeah?"
"You can call me Sammy, if you want to." He smiled through the tears.
I did too. He never let me call him Sammy. I just hugged him tighter to me.
"Listen to me, now. Dad is always working. You have to take care of Mom and Lanaei. You have to. Don't let them watch for too long, and if I get killed, you have to make sure they stay up right. Please."
"Of course, but Squirt, you ARE going to come home."
I smiled at him determined expression.
The guard chose that moment to tell Sammy that he had to go. I hugged him tightly for one more second, then let go... and he was gone.
I turned around quickly and shoved my fist and my mouth while sqeezing my eyes shut to stop myself from crying. I had to stay strong.
I was going to win this. For my mom, for Lanaei... and for Sammy.