I cannot figure out how to name my first chapter, so hears the title.

Lance Hemlock

Rue's four note whistle reverberated through the orchard, marking the end of the last harvest day before the reaping. I set down my basket, the kind used by the people on the ground to catch the apples dropped from above. As usual peacekeepers were doing their sweeps to ensure that nothing was stolen- Like that's gonna happen, I thought sourly. The last time something was stolen, my brother and I intervened to keep Drake, the head peacekeeper, from whipping Candice Thurn to death. That was over a year ago, and we still have the scars from the 75 lashes a piece we received as punishment. My brother's name is Thresh. Mine's Lance. We're orphans, brought up in different families. Our mother died giving birth to me. I don't know about my father. Thresh was 4 when we were orphaned. Now he's 16, and I turn 12 tomorrow. On reaping day. Seems like a cruel joke, huh? I was adopted by Seeder, a former champion of the Hunger Games. We live in victors village, but I spend as much time as I can in the commons, with my best friend, Rue. Rue is 10, and the oldest of six siblings. She won't accept charity, so me and Thresh always lend a hand with her foraging. We've been caught and whipped many times. Thresh was adopted by a commons family. They too, will not accept charity. That's how it's always been, the three of us working to support two families. Whenever I'm not in the commons, Seeder's been teaching me some skills in case I get picked for the reaping.

"They always put the children of victors in the arena," she would say when I complained, "I want to make sure you win, so you're gonna train." After nearly six years of training, I'm a passable archer, an expert survivor, and a quick thinker. But my real skill is with katanas. There's almost always some kind of sword at the cornucopia, and katanas are my favorite. We already thrashed out a rough battle plan, which involves me sprinting for the cornucopia, grabbing some weapons and basic survival gear, and beating feet away from the bloodbath.

Thresh, Rue, and I pass inspection, then slip out of the orchard and head for a gap in the charged fence we found years earlier. Rue asks, "Are you worried about the reaping, Lance?" I can see the concern on her young face. Thresh answers for me, "Of course he is! The champion's kids always end up in the arena, and I doubt that's coincidence!" Then he adds in the capital accent, "The only slips in the orb are the ones with your name on it. May the odds be ever in your favor!"

"Oh thanks. I feel all better now," I say and then we all laugh, though the laugh is extinguished when we discover peacekeepers mending the gap in the fence. That night, my dreams are disturbed with violent images of the arena, and I hear Claudius Templesmith announce, "Let the 72nd Hunger Games begin!"

Well, what do you think?