Okay so this is my new version of my old story. It now has no spelling errors and I think that the story is now better in my opinion!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story, except what the characters do and their actions and love lives. All rights go to their authors.
Districts:
District One: America and Maxon Schreave (The Selection)
District Two: Cammie Morgan and Zach Goode (Gallagher Girls Series)
District Three: Edmund and Lucy Pevensie (Chronicles of Narnia Series)
District Four: Clary Fairchild and Jace Herondale (Mortal Instruments)
District Five: Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson Series)
District Six: Tessa and William Herondale (Infernal Devices)
District Seven: Tris and Caleb Prior (Divergent Series)
District Eight: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger (Harry Potter Series)
District Nine: Lena Haloway and Alex Sheathes (Delirium Trilogy)
District Ten: Edward and Bella Cullen (Twilight)
District Eleven: Thomas and Theresa (The Maze Runner)
District Twelve: Kelsey and Ren Rajaram (Tiger's Curse Series)
Clary:
It was a beautiful autumn day. The leaves on the trees had just turned from dark and light shades of green into deep mahogany reds, sunset oranges, and bright canary yellows. There was a faint breeze drifting my long, red curls into my face, and the brisk morning air smelled of water and smoke from the nearby factories. The trees surrounding the path I was walking on were casting murky shadows over the emerald colored landscape and the sun's rays barely escaped through the canopy of leaves above me, casting dancing beams of light that sparkled brilliantly. It was a beautiful day for New York, a beautiful day in general for autumn, and I was going to enjoy it while it lasted, because this afternoon was the reaping. The reaping has been around since before I was born and long before my parents and their parents had lived. The reaping was a raffle of sorts, except everyone dreaded the prize; an all expense paid trip to the Capitol, where you got to participate in the Hunger Games, "a game" where you have to fight to the death against twenty-one other kids. All the past games had been bloody and horrible, and even though I hadn't wanted to, I had to watch every single game. Watching kids get stabbed, shot, getting their throats ripped out, their skulls crushed in, well it's not a pretty sight, if you ask me. I wasn't looking forward to the reaping at all today; I had a hollow feeling in my stomach that made me uneasy, like the odds of Effie Trinket pulling my name from the glass ball were high. I had nothing to worry about I told myself. Just last year my boyfriend Jace's friend Aline Penhallow had gotten entered into the Games; she had survived for a while and it had looked like she was about to win, but then some kid had to sneak up on her and stab her. I mean Aline and I, well we weren't exactly friends, but we were friendly enough, and it was horrible to watch her die.
I neared my house and was shocked to see the outside walls gleaming with a fresh coat of white paint, all the previous chips and scrapes gone, replaced by something you would probably see in District One or Two.
I was appalled, no way did I want to look like a stuck-up snob from One, we lived in District Four which was one of the nicer districts, but not a rich one. We had our own government for the most part, ruled by the Inquisitor and the Consul who saw to it that the rules were followed and all that. On top of our own government we had a separate regime that was sponsored by the Capitol, which resided in the District One, basically the Capitol's lap dogs. Currently, it was ruled by King Maxton and Queen America, who were both one of the better kings and queens we had in the past. Another "game" we had in the Districts was the Selection which was when thirty- four girls would enter into a contest where your beauty, manners, civility, and posture would come into play. Basically, these girls were selected by the prince to be the next princess/queen. That was how America had gotten selected, and it looked like this time it was out of love and not beauty. King Clarkson had chosen Queen Amberley for beauty the previous ruling period, and it was nice to have a change. In school we had to learn about the king and queen, it was a required learning session, so I knew more about King Maxton than he probably knew about himself. And today we had just learned about Queen America. I walked up to the newly painted front door and opened it, stepping into what looked like a recently bought and furnished living room. The old red couch that had been my favorite, and which we had had since I had been three was gone, replaced by a soft brown loveseat that was pushed up into the corner. Our ancient TV was also gone, swapped for a platinum flat-screen that was hammered into the wall, it looked shiny. There was a new coffee table that was chocolate colored, and a white plush rug that looked so soft, I just wanted to collapse in it. Finally there were new drapes that were hanging from the windows, the same color as the loveseat, a warm chocolate brown. I gasped, still taking in the new furniture and the door behind me closed the ray of light that had been streaming through it now cut off, composing the room in total darkness. I heard my mom yell from the kitchen, "Clary?" and she stumbled into the room flicking on the light switch. The room became bathed in soft, pale light, and the ceiling fan overhead turned on, lazily rotating, its blades barely making a breeze. I already knew who was behind me so I didn't bother to turn around when he put his arms around my neck.
"Hi, Jace." I said leaning into his embrace, and letting my eyelids flutter close. Here in his arms I felt like I was in a dream and there wasn't any way that the reaping was this afternoon. Jocelyn smiled at us from the open doorway and gestured around the room, probably asking if I liked it, spraying soap onto the new rug from her hands, which were still wet from the dishes she had been doing. I smiled as she scrambled into the kitchen, ripping paper towels from the rack and literally jumping onto the floor, looking for the spot where the soap had landed.
Jace nudged me. "So what do you think Clare?" he asked. "Did I do a good job with the color choices?"
I turned around in his arms, looking up into his face. Jace had an amused expression plastered there, like he always did, and his eyes were alight with glee, making them look like two small pots of melted gold, burning intently. His hair was arranged carefully for the first time in forever and he was wearing a white collared shirt with a black checkered tie strung around his neck. Jace's shirt was ironed and I was surprised. Never had he arranged his hair or clothes so nicely, and then it hit me again; the reaping. The new furniture, Jace's clothes and hair, it was all a part of the games. Jocelyn would have gotten extra money from the government, and she used it to buy new appliances and furnishings, to make the house look better, so that my name or Jonathon's wouldn't be entered as much as the others in the poorer districts.
You see in the games, the poorer people's names were put into the reaping many more times that people in my district and the other "richer" districts. We had to keep up the appearance in order to keep up our reputation.
I kept my expression light all the time I was thinking about this; Jace, Jonathon, and Jocelyn didn't want me to worry about this kind of stuff, apparently it was none of my concern, so I playfully slapped Jace's shoulder and said "You didn't pick out the colors, Jocelyn did of course!"
He smiled and said "Nothing gets past you Clare-bear." He picked me up and slung me over his shoulder, carrying me up a flight of stairs.
"Mrs. Fairchild, I'm bringing Clary to her room to get her dressed!" Jace hollered once we had gotten to the top. I pounded his back with my fists, crumpling up his freshly ironed shirt, and kicked out trying to knee him in the chest. He easily kept me had bay, and said to me "Come on Clare you're a Shadowhunter. You can do better."
I kicked even harder and he pushed open my bedroom door, flinging me onto the bed, where a dark green dress sat waiting there, almost patiently. My hair fanned out onto the bedspread, the curls drifting into my eyes, and Jace's face assembled into a grin, as he went and sat down next to me. "Finally, some time to talk with my girl," he said, just as I pushed him off and guided him to my door, leading him out my room, shutting the door in his face. I could hear his indignant cry, and I laughed silently, walking over to my bed. Something that I hadn't done in a while. The first few months before the reaping were one of the hardest times for us. Going over to my bed, where the now rumpled green dress stood, I smoothed it out, really looking at it now. It was green, the exact same shade as my eyes, and I knew that Jocelyn had probably ordered it online, which was expensive.
Oh Jocelyn, what did you do? I thought to myself as I slipped into the beautiful material. It was silk, with a low, sweetheart neckline. I had thought it was green before, just the color of the shade of my eyes, but oh had I been wrong. It started at the top with a light grass green where it then spiraled down, adding every shade of green that I thought had ever been imagined and created. At the ends of the dress, which came down past my ankles, almost brushing the floor but not quite, it was the darkest green, so that it was almost black. I twirled around in it, and the dress fanned around me, my curls slapping me in the face as well. I laughed and turned to look at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were somewhat flushed and my forehead was somewhat bruised from falling earlier, but my eyes were big and filled with joy and happiness. My curls tangled up and around my face, kind of giving me a mane, but their carroty color clashed nicely with my dress, equaling each other out. I was no Isabelle, but right now I thought that I looked the prettiest than I ever had before.
I didn't need lace or clothes that were barely there. I didn't need to wear make-up or wear dresses with no straps. All I needed to look pretty was to be happy. I jumped when I heard Jace yell from the other side of the door, and I heard the loud clomping of his sneakers as he sprinted down the hall. From the echo I now knew that he was on the stairs.
"Clary, I'll be back! I have to change. Hurry up!" I heard Jace scream from the first floor.
Laughing to myself, I went to just put on a little make-up. I mean I had been living with Izzy for sixteen years now. Grabbing the make-up kit I went to the bathroom and applied some mascara, eyeliner, and pale eye shadow, just to brighten up my eyelids, and then I placed some peach colored lip gloss. Running a brush through my hair, trying to make it kind of flat, I grabbed my toothbrush and started brushing my teeth. Then I gathered my curly, lost cause hair into a spiral bun, pinning it there so it stayed, and let a few unruly, wild curls hand loose around my ears. I put on my pearl earrings and made sure that my locket was secured around my neck. It was one that Jace had gotten me for our first official date. It had pictures inside of us at the beach and the other one of Izzy, Simon, Magnus, Jon, Alec, Jace, and me at the top of the famous Machu Picchu. We had to smuggle Magnus in a suitcase over the border of Peru, because he had been banned from there.
Those had been good times, with not having to worry about anything. I sighed and pulling on my weapons belt underneath my dress, I grabbed my stele, a seraph blade, and my turquoise and ebony dagger and slipped it on. Finally, I was ready. I snatched up my phone too, making a mental note to text Izzy to hurry up. Stepping into the hallway, texting her, I collided with something big and somewhat bulky. I fell, my dress cascading around me in a small circle.
"Whoa there little sis." Jon said, taking my hands in his and pulling me to my feet.
He looked nice and dressed up for once. His pale, blond hair was combed and washed, swept neatly to the side. He was wearing a blue and white stripped button down shirt with a plaid tie, and I sighed, untying it from around his neck and handing it to him. "Jon." I said enunciating every syllable. "Plaid never goes with stripes!" Jon grumbled and muttered something under his breath, something that sounded like "This is what Izzy is for." I laughed as he sulked off to his room to go pick out a new tie.
Turning back he said, "By the way Clare, you look amazing. I'm going to have to tell Jace to protect you extra hard today."
"Thanks Jon." I said as I skipped down the hall to the landing, climbing up on the railing and sliding down.
Just like a slide Jon had told me when I had been too scared to try it for the first time and it really was. Jon was the best older brother you could have ever asked for.
Jocelyn looked up now from where she was on the new loveseat, reading, and smiled, pushing her reading glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"Clary you look amazing. Jon knew what he was doing."
"Jon picked this out for me?" I asked, rubbing the fabric between my fingers.
"Yeah, do you like it?" Jocelyn asked. "Personally, I wanted a green dress that would have matched your eyes perfectly, but this one suits you better."
I smile, "Either would have been fine."
Just then my brother heads down the grand staircase, now with a new tie that matches his shirt. Jon grins at me as he takes my arm and loops it around his.
"Ok Mom. Clare and I are going to head out, we don't want to be late," he says to Jocelyn. My mom puts down her book and pulls herself out of the chair. Her cheeks are red and flushed, so I know she's been crying, as she comes over to us and hugs us.
"Just remember guys, I love you both so much." Jocelyn says as she kisses me on my forehead and Jon on the cheek.
She pats my hair down and straightens Jon's tie, and then she smiles, a sad smile, and leads us to the door. The sun is bright and shining as Jon leads me down the gray stone steps, the air brisk and fresh, the sky betraying the moods of us all.
I risk a glance back at my door and see Jocelyn crying, tears streaming down her face, tiny, little waterfalls. She sees me and waves, but then she abruptly turns and heads back into the house, her red ponytail swishing back and forth. The white door closes, and clouds cover the sky.