"Thalia?." She hears a knock on the door. Phoeboe peaks out of the door.
"What is it, Phoe?" She hides the box of pictures behind her, leaning against the table.
"The reaping is about to start. I just want you to know that" Phoe shrugs, not having a clue that Thalia is hiding something. The girl hesitates, then speaks again. "I'm worried, Thals."
"Our name won't be picked." Thalia forces out a smile. Last time, Brianna, their sister, was picked for the annual 70th Hunger Games. The girl died sacrificing for a little boy from District 7. Since that year, The Hunt was never the same. For the hundreds times, she tried to contact to anyone she could reach. But everything was disconnected. Somehow she lost all of her abilities.
She waits until Phoeboe gets out of the room to drop her positive face. She opens her closet, picking a simple black T-shirt with denim jeans and combat boots. Her shoulder-length black hair has grown extremely long now, so she ties it as a high bun. She calms herself by the mirror but hesitates to look in her own blue eyes. It's too much for her. The color blue, reminds her of her brother Jason, and her father Zeus. Enough. She needs to let go the past, as soon as possible. She closes the door behind her, walking down the stairs. The house is empty, so the huntresses must be heading to the Town Hall, where the reaping is usually held.
Everyone is wearing colorful clothing, so she stands out in the crowd. She looks down, kicking the ground with her boots. The walk from her house to the City Hall isn't far enough for her to do some thinking. The morning air, which she enjoys the most, is hung with anxious from the citizen in District 5. Everyone is already gathered around the stage when she arrives. Old ladies whispering, children holding each other hands, man and woman saying goodbyes.
"Welcome to annual 72nd Hunger Games." A woman in a green wig, wearing pink blazer and matching color pants raises both of her arms cheerfully like she is welcoming everyone. Thalia remembers the woman name is something like Effie. She looks around, spotting Phoeboe along with the others at the corner of the Town Square. They are all holding hands; some look away from the crowd and try to focus their eyes on the ground. It's best for her to stay alone; she has too much thinking on her mind. Located in the center of the stage, next to Effie, is a giant clear plastic ball that contains thousands of names in it. She has no idea how many pieces of papers with her names are placing inside it. But only two will be picked, one male and one female. She has never watched a game before and so has The Hunt. She doesn't want to and doesn't enjoy the cheering of the Capitol at people's deaths. After the music is played, she chooses a wall to lean on, closing her eyes and letting the memories flood back.
"Let's carry on." Effie's voice is full of excitement after the music is out.
"Lady first." Everyone holds their breath when Effie pulls out a piece of folded paper.
Not Phoeboe. Not the huntresses, she prays. Her heart is hammering against her chest.
"Thalia Grace." Effie looks up to see who the lucky girl is, and Thalia finds herself unable to move. She takes a step forward as the crowd separate on the way. Everyone is staring at her, but she only manages to look at her sisters. Some of them let out a sob while the others look down, away from her. At least it wasn't the others, she thought. She can feel Effie's hands on her shoulder, leading her toward the center. Effie shoves her hand back on the sea of papers and drags out the second piece.
"James Castellan." Effie announces, looking back at the crowd for a new face. She doesn't notice at first, but the boy last name startles her. She is stunned, frozen on the stage, unable to move her eyes toward Effie, or the boy next to her. Effie pulls him closer to her, requires a hand shake. Thalia doesn't look at him, but she offers her hands out and his hand meets hers.
"And may the odds be ever in your favor" Effie pauses. "Now, we are late." Effie says cheerfully as if she still wants the crowd to cheer. But they are all quiet.
Later on, she is brought to a room. It has nothing but a chair, and a flag hanging on the wall embroidered with the logo of the capitol. She hears the footstep outside and the non-stopping whispers, but the huntresses are all quiet when they walk in the room. She doesn't know what to do beside hugging them and hiding her fear behind a smile. The meeting is just as simple as that.
"I've been so selfish, Thalia. We all do." Phoeboe begins to speak, but she choked in every words. "We didn't know this will happen, but I do wish you my best luck. If anything happens…"
"No, Phoe. I promise I will return." Her face hardens. She can't take the pity on every girl's faces, so she passes them all with a hug and avoids the eyes contact.
"Nothing can bring me down." She says, looking at each one of theirs faces. "Promise me to look out for each other when I'm gone." And Phoeboe's nod calms her down.
The girls close the door, and she is left in the room, waiting for herself to be called. Damnit. She squeezes the paper with her name in side her palm and let it falls.