No One Will Cry

This story is supposed to be Catching Fire without Peeta and Katniss returning to the games. I wrote the story before reading the sequel.

The Reaping

Oaklea:

My mother smiled at me warmly as she flipped the pancakes, which she had been working on since she got up at six am to check the market. I knew that she was trying to seem like a great mother from the stories who makes pancakes and dusts and stuff like that, but I knew that she was a Capitol business woman, not that. Her effort made me smile though.

But I could sense my mother's worry.

It was a beautiful capitol day outside. The sun was shining and bouncing off of the high rise buildings, and the garden on the edge of the terrace looked like that of a yard and everything. And the delightful summer breezes were setting in, making it heaven in our penthouse.

But today was the day of the Reaping.

For years, there had been the Careers, something I hated and loved at the same time.

They always volunteered to be in the Hunger Games, and it had made the rest of safe. I had never wanted to go into the Arena, and I hated to watch it, to watch people that I could have known die. To see that the boy, who lived in the apartment below us, die after his training hadn't been enough. To know that there were families out there, crying their eyes out.

This year was different.

For this year, the graduates who were supposed to volunteer this year died, and all of the others were bound not to volunteer.

So, this year was the first real Reaping Day that the Capitol had never seen.

My mother had every right to be worried for me, but I had to pretend that she didn't, I had to be strong. My mother had already been through a lot, despite her Capitol blood. When she was nineteen, she fell in love with a District Four man who was here for school. She followed him back to District Four two years later, and they got married. The Capitol wasn't happy about that since her family was so important, but they let her go since she had a brother. When my twin and I were young, my uncle died, and my mother was forced to leave her life behind. The Capitol let the son, me, come with my mother, but the daughter was to stay with our father.

My mother didn't need the impending threat of the Reaping hanging over her head.

"Good morning, Oakey," my mother seemed to glow as she called me that, the nickname my twin sister had given me when she couldn't say Oaklea.

It was nice to see my mother this beautiful again, she had seemed to age immensely with the worry of the Reaping. But it was great to see her smiling.

She had short blonde hair, which she fashioned in a curly bob to frame her face. Her deep blue eyes reminded me of the sapphires she wore on her wedding finger, the ring my father had given to her when they got married. She dressed conservatively to be from the Capitol, usually wearing a navy business suit and great gemstones around her neck. But, with my District Four values, I still saw it as flashy.

"Morning, Mom," I smiled at her, "Are you cooking?"

My mother playfully glared at me.

"It's a special day, Oaklea. Don't worry, I won't cook your pizza for lunch. That'll be a good cook down at Marinos," my mother's smile widened as I made a small sound of glee at the thought of their pizza.

My mother quickly turned off the stove as she finished the last pancake, and I followed after her to make sure she had really turned it off this time.

After my mother and I were on their own in, I had taken care of my mom. She had been taken care of first by her parents, and she only had a year on her own before meeting my dad and going to District Four with him. She had friends here, and she had a life. But I was the most important part of it, and, if she could, I knew she'd pick us up and take us home.

"Your sister is worried, so you can eat outside to talk to her," Mom sprinkled the pancakes with powdered sugar before handing the plate to me, and I thanked her quickly before running out to the terrace.

I looked at myself in the reflection of the windows as I took my usual seat.

Unlike my sister and mother, I looked like I was from District Four. My hair was raven black, which was common among the upper-class District Four residents. My eyes were an insanely light blue, which I had been told looked like the beautiful pictures the Capitol had of District Four. I was tall, and I could swim like a fish. I had high cheekbones and thick lips, which had earned me a place in every girl's heart and a joke at my expense from every boy.

I knew the code by heart to call my sister on the wall, and it morphed from showing the living room to a call-waiting screen.

By my sister's request, I sat where she could see the sights of the capitol in the background just like I could see the beach in the background when she called me.

It only took two rings before my sister accepted the call, and I had to smile at just seeing her.

I didn't know which twin was born first, nor did I care. I was Skye's older brother, and she was happy to be my little sister. I was protective of her, scaring every boy in District Four when I got my allowed visits once a year, and she was fine with this. In my eyes, she'd forever be that little six year old girl, with her two front teeth missing as she smiled. She had grown in the last ten years, of course.

She was a beautiful young woman, the kind that boys from my school would drool over. She had the Capitol look to her, like our mother. Her long blonde hair had a natural wave to it, and she let it go to her waist. Her face seemed to be without flaws, and she always complained about having to spend so long putting together outfits, something I didn't understand. Skye was tall, curvy, and, other than swimming every day, she didn't know how to do much work. She was also known for having a lot of friends, filled with boys wanting to date her and girls wanting to be her.

Today, she had gotten all dressed up for the Reaping Day. Her hair was formed into a complicated up-do, with braids wrapping around her head. She dressed in a flowing light blue dress, which matched her eyes and made her look like a goddess. I noticed that she wore the complex wire necklace that I had sent her for her sixteenth birthday.

"Oakey!" she giddily laughed, happy to see her older brother. It was hard to think that she was sixteen, that she had a boyfriend who was seventeen, and that she had already been proposed to, even if she hadn't accepted.

"Skye."

"You look great, Oaklea! Have you been swimming more? You've gotten so tan!"

I smiled a comforting smile at me little sister, remembering that she babbled when she was nervous.

"Thanks. Look at you, Skye. You look so beautiful that you'll probably get another proposal, you know.

Skye blushed.

Drew:

I scurried around the store, praying to find something to distract me.

I knew that I should of already been upstairs, taking a bath and getting into the Scarlett dress that my older sister, Annalist, had already set aside for me. My sister was six years older than me, and, after our mother's death, she had been a mom to me. I didn't like to let her down, especially on such a terrible day as the Reaping.

But I needed to not think about the Games. I needed to do as I usually did, work in my father's store, and pretend that nothing was wrong. In years before, I had been with my sister and two best friends, Peeta and Robin, and we'd sit around to watch the drawings in the other districts. We'd hold each other's hands, and we'd squeeze until we could have completely cut off each other's circulation.

I tightly closed my eyes, trying to forget the worry I had felt for my brother, or my metaphorical brother I should say, when Peeta had gone into the arena. I had spent a lot of time with him since because he had nothing much to do after winning the games, but I felt bad that I couldn't help him with loving Katniss so much.

"Drew? Oh, Drew!"

I froze, knowing I'd have to get ready now.

My dad was a great guy, who owned a herb shop in District Twelve. He had married a Seam woman and had three children. My two siblings, Jonah and Annalisa, were much older than me. Jonah was twenty four, and he half-owned the store with my father and planned on proposing soon. My sister, Annalisa, was twenty-two and was about to become a teacher. We were all close, especially to our mother. As the youngest, I had sort of been my father's favorite, and looking like my mother, who had died when I was thirteen, helped even more.

"There you are, Drew! Annalisa has been looking for you everywhere. You need to get ready," my father smiled at me since he was the only one who wasn't worried too much about the reaping.

I looked a lot like my mother, which sometimes made me want to cry, but my father loved it, seeing that there were still traces of his late wife were bleeding through. My father was a good dad, and he loved me a lot, probably to make it up to my mother for naming me Drew. It wasn't a family name or anything. It was "Drew" like "I drew a picture", and my mother had been a great artist. One day, she had drawn a picture of a beautiful baby girl. Annalisa didn't look like that, so she became Annalisa after my grandmother. But I matched the photo perfectly like the picture she had drawn, making my brother call me "The Child of Prophecy".

"Alright, Dad," I nodded solemnly, and he kissed the top of my head, even though he had to get on his tippy-toes to do so.

"Annalisa is going to be mad, Drew," he whispered into my ear.

"I know, Dad," I tried to sound pleased, but I was scared to death.

I quickly ran up the stairs, and I was fast as I took a bath, trying to make it seem like I hadn't been down in the store. I took special care as I cleaned the finger nails, which were covered in dust, and I took even longer trying to clean my black hair. When I came to my room, Annalisa was already waiting there.

"Oh, here's my little sister, all grown up," Annalisa smiled proudly and covered her heart.

"Annalisa, don't start again," I blushed as I wrapped the towel around tighter and reached for a hairbrush.

"I know, I know, Drew. You're too strong for that," Annalisa laughed at me, and she picked up the Scarlett dress from the bed.

Oaklea:

I stood in the crowd, listening to everybody buzz about.

I seemed to be the only scared one here, and that made it that much worse. Everyone was talking, and they were wondering who would be chosen and who would win in the games. It was louder than usual because this was real for the first time in our lifetime. I didn't like this feeling of impending doom, and I impatiently waited for this to start.

It wouldn't be long until Skye had to go through the Reaping, and I knew she would be hysterical now that the Careers in her district were dead, too. I wished I could be there, holding her hand and whispering that it would all be okay. This was the first time that I had ever been happy about Skye having a boyfriend because I knew that he would be there for her.

Then the woman took the stage, and I couldn't process her words until she reached the drawing.

"Ladies first!" her voice was chipper as she took out a piece of paper.

A silence filled the square.

"Posy Abbaline!"

My heart turned to lead.

Posy.

I hadn't known her well, but we had gone to school together since I was thirteen. Over the past few years, we had been partners every now and then during school because I was in the advanced classes. But, last year, we had both been on the Swim Team.

Now, I had to watch her die…

Posy, a pretty eighteen year old, hesitated before finally coming up the stairs to the stage.

I hadn't seen such shock during the Reaping Day in the Capitol before, only in the other districts, and it felt so weird to see it for myself. To see the fear register, to know that this person was realizing that this was going to be their last year alive.

They did the regular rituals, and it came to the boys names.

The woman took a long, unbearable pause as she took out the card. She held it for a moment, waiting for drama to creep in until we could have killed her.

"Oaklea Wells!"

I felt my entire world crash.

Oaklea Wells.

It had been in my favor. My name was in there four times, and most of the other kids had been entered more because they wanted to be in the Games. I was scared to death of them, and I hadn't trained since I was fifteen, when it stopped being mandatory.

"Oakela Wells? Oh, where is Oaklea Wells?"

The crowd parted, and I watched my friends react. Most of my friends, my real friends, looked at me sadly, probably sure that I was about to die, and my other friends, the people I knew but weren't really close with, seemed happy and jealous.

I didn't even realize that I was walking until I came to the middle of square. I walked slowly, hearing every sound.

The claps. The crying from friends. The sound of my mother's heart breaking, and the awkward mumbles from the hopeful careers who had hoped to be drawn because they couldn't volunteer.

I came onto the stage, and the woman placed her hand on my back.

"Oaklea Wells! What a handsome name for a handsome boy!" she exclaimed and began to talk again to the cameras.

I looked at Posy, whose brown eyes were watering.

Drew:

"Two switch things up, let's start with the boys!" Effie exclaimed in her microphone, and I wished to be beside my best friend, Robin, who stood in the boys crowd.

The cameras shifted to Katniss Everdee and Peeta before returning back to looking at my area of the crowd.

"Ooh, so exciting!" Effie smiled as she reached into the bowl and kept going from paper to paper before finally bringing one out.

I felt my heart stop.

"Robin Thesis!"

Robin.

I watched in horror as the crowds separated for Robin, and I began to cry.

Robin was undoubtedly more qualified than I was to join the Games.

He wasn't a hunter or anything, but he knew forests well. He and I used to sneak out there, to find somewhere we could talk without everyone around. He was a builder, he could build a bow out of anything though he didn't really know how to use one. But it was amazing to watch him with a sword, even if had never really gotten a chance to use it.

Robin came up to the stage, and he shared the banter with Effie.

Then it came to the next drawing.

"Now it's time for the ladies!" Effie reached in the bowl, "This is so exciting!"

I couldn't have been prepared for the next name.

"Let's see here!" Effie looked through the name, "Drew Ilium! Oh, Drew Ilium, where are you?"

Drew Ilium.

I caught myself looking around, waiting for the girl to come forward, but everyone was looking at me.

"Oh my God!" I whispered.

It took me a while, but I finally got myself moving to the line. I heard my sister cry out something, as did my brother. But my father seemed to be paralyzed out of shock.

"Drew," Robin's eyes watered, and Effie looked between us, thinking there might be another star-crossed lovers thing going on again.

"Don't," I shook my head.

"You can't. You can't be up here," he whispered, and I shook my head.

Before I could whisper anything back, Effie cut in.

"You two know each other?" Effie smiled, happy to have what she thought could be an edge for getting sponsors.

"We're friends," I was the first to speak, not taking my eyes off Robin.

"Well then," Effie clapped me on the back, "Shake hands, you two!"

Robin set out his hand, his eyes staring directly into mine, and I clasped it, about to cry.

"Remember, I'm a whole lot stronger than you," I whispered, and he smiled.

Before they could say anything, he hugged me, and I buried my face in his shoulders.

"Don't you dare give up. We're in this together, we're in this to survive. You got that, Drew?" he whispered in my ear.

"I know, Robin."

Remember that this is the games set in between the first and second book.