"Annie Cresta!" When I hear that one name booming throughout District 4, my heart stops. I can't process what's going on around me. This isn't happening. I'm just having another awful nightmare. I'm going to wake up in Annie's arms, the only place I feel safe. That's not going to happen though, is it? This is real. Annie just got reaped into the Quarter Quell…
By the time I snap back into reality, Mags is shuffling up to Annie and embracing her. The peacekeepers separate them and Mags slowly ascends up the stairs to the Justice Building platform. What just happened? Did Mags just volunteer for Annie? Part of me is relieved that Annie is safe, but the other part of me is grieving. Mags is practically family and she's too old to go into the Games. She gave up her life for Annie and she knows it.
I want to run to Annie. Not to comfort her, but because I need her comfort. Mags is one of the very few people I care about who are still alive. She was my mentor. She kept me alive and here she is, giving up her life for Annie. I will forever be in debt to Mags and I will surely never forget her.
My thoughts are interrupted when my name rips through the speakers for all of District 4 to hear. I don't know what to think. At first, I think that this really is a nightmare. That I'll wake up and everything will be ok. But it won't.
I can hear Annie screaming from the crowd. I try not to cry and remain emotionless like the brave Finnick Odair would, but it's difficult. I look over at Mags who doesn't even seem effected by the events that just happened. We shake hands and are escorted into the Justice Building to await further instructions.
I sit in my quarters waiting. Waiting for Annie. Waiting to wake up from this awful dream. But I know neither of those will come. Tributes aren't allowed to see mentors until the train ride. As soon as I think of how I need her, I hear her voice begging the guards to let her in. I lunge off the chair to the door and pound on it screaming.
"Annie!" I scream as loud as possible. "Annie! Annie!" I continuously shout it until the guards have no choice but to let her in. The door flies open and Annie flings herself into my arms, tears streaming down her face. I try as hard as possible not to let the tears come out.
"Annie. Listen to me." I try to sound as calm as possible. "It's okay. Calm down." Her breathing starts to slow down and the tears lessen. We sit in each others' arms until the peacekeepers barge in to separate us. She's screaming again and I try to contain myself. "I'll see you on the train!" is the last thing I get out before they slam the door and the crying begins.
The only thing good about this is Annie will mentor Mags and I. She'll try as hard as possible to get either of us home. She'll also go crazy again after this. Not only is she my mentor, she's the love of my life. The love of my life will have to watch me die and know she can't do anything about it.