Heat. The first thing I feel on the morning of the reaping - as well as every other morning - is heat. I wipe the back of my hand on my forehead, then the back of my neck. There are already voices downstairs, probably Ryan taking over my and Eli's baking duties since he's no longer eligible to be reaped.

I rub my eyes and take a deep breath in to halp me wake up. I pull the blankets that I always end up kicking off around four A.M. when it gets too hot; the fire in the oven is usually lit around that time. I pull on a t-shirt. I can keep my pajama pants on until the bakery opens, against my mother's preference. I'm the one who's getting his life risked today. I look out the window and notice that the sky is starting to turn a lighter blue and only a few bright stars are visible.

"Eli, wake up," I say as I nudge my older brother. He's eighteen, so this will be his last year with his name in the reaping and I pray he doesn't get picked on his last year.

My attempts to wake him up result in a groan.

"Eli, Mom's gonna be mad."

He turns his head away from me. So annoying him is what it's going to take.

"Elijah, you ha-"

My sentence is cut short with a pillow in my face. He hates being called by his first name.

"Whatever."

Mom won't be too harsh on us, anyways.

I walk downstairs and find that my predictions were right; Ryan has taken over my usual baking duties. He kneads some dough and then takes two loaves out of the oven.

"Here, help Ryan. We need extra today," Mom says as she tosses me an apron.

We always make extra bread on reaping days since many people buy extra to celebrate by eating a big dinner.

"Let him have the day to relax," Dad pleads.

"No, we need Peeta and Eli today. They can relax tomorrow," she argues.

"What if one of them isn't here tomorrow?"

Ryan stops what he is doing and stares at the two. Even Mom looks shocked that he made the conversation take a drastic turn like this. The only sound heard is the cracking of the wood in the oven.

"It's okay, I was planning on baking today," I say to try and break the silence.

"Are you sure?" Dad asks me.

"Yeah, only one person out of thousands is going to be picked. And a lot of people signed up for tesserae." I try to sound hopeful, and it seems to have worked.

"That doesn't mean you have immunity," Ryan says.

And believe me, I know it's true. People who never expect it get picked sometimes.

Mom looks around the room, probably wondering where the last family member is.

"Eli!" she calls.

No movement is heard.

"Eli, please get up!" she calls a little louder.

She gives him about thirty more seconds.

"Eli, get your ass out of bed!" she screams loud enough that I'm sure someone would be able to hear it from outside.

Ryan, Dad and I laugh, knowing what's coming next. Eli loves nothing more than sleeping. I take a little flour and dust Eli's apron with it.

"Coming," Eli growls from upstairs.

I position myself at the bottom of the stairs and wait until I hear his foot hit the last step. When it does, I swing the apron in his face, covering him with flour.

He sputters out incoherent words while I laugh uncontrollably. He coughs once before wiping his hand over his face to get the flour off. Once he sees me laughing, he smiles too and tries to put me in a headlock. I try to escape, but instead I'm pushed down, my back slamming into the floor with a loud smack!

"Will you two quit? This wrestling happens almost every day now!" Mom shrieks.

"Sorry," we both say and then Eli offers his hand to help me up.

I consider pulling him down as payback, but decide to let it go. Revenge will have to wait for another day. I playfully push his shoulder and in turn receive a glare from Mom.

Eli and I rarely fight. We get along perfectly and we like to rant to each other on how annoying Mom can get. As for Ryan - I'm not sure what his problem is with me, but he seems to take Mom's side on everything.

We all continue baking for about an hour before my mom goes to the front to get everything ready. A couple minutes later, there's a knock on the door and Dad wipes his hands off to go answer it

I crane my neck to see around Dad's back, and to my disappointment, it's only Gale. Sometimes Katniss is with him, but she's probably sleeping in. Good. Her name must be in the reaping ball more than twenty times, so she could use some sleep.

"Good morning, Gale," Dad greets.

"Hi Mr. Mellark," Gale says. "I shot a squirrel for it, but the arrow went through the neck instead of the head. Sorry about that."

"That's fine. There isnt too much meat on the neck, anyways." He changes his attention to Eli. "Would you get that loaf I set on the back counter?"

Eli nods and wraps the loaf in a thick cloth to keep it warm. It's bigger than our normal loaves; seems like a lot for one poorly shot squirrel.

"Thanks," Gale says once the loaf is in his hands.

"And thank you for the squirrel," Dad replies. "Good luck today."

Gale nods once and then the door is closed.

Dad looks around a little before wrapping the squirrel in a cloth and then putting it on the top shelf of a cupboard where Mom can't see without a bench.

"Who was that?" Mom asks as she walks back into the kitchen. "Another Seam beggar?"

"It wasnt another Seam beggar," Dad says.

"Then why did he walking around the back of shops? To trade a rodent for something more valuable?" Mom asks, clearly she had seen the whole thing.

"That boy needs to feed a family just as big as ours," Dad argues.

"Yes, but we have to feed our family with that bread too!" Mom yells.

"We have plenty of bread!" Dad yells just as loud.

"People need something other than bread to live on!" Mom yells.

"Which is why I got the squirrel!"

"That repulsive creature will feed two of us at the most! You-"

"Would you two stop fighting!" I yell over both their voices.

I'm surprised at how angry I sound, so everyone must be shocked. I haven't yelled at Mom in well over six months, maybe even close to a year. Not since she hit me in the side with a bread paddle, giving me a nasty bruise just under my rib cage.

Im shaken from my thoughts when I see everyone staring at me, including Mom; the look in her eyes making me regret my outburst.

"I'm sorry, I just-" I'm cut off by hands coming down roughly on my shoudlers.

"Do not disrespect me again," she growls.

Before letting go, she gives my shoulders a painful squeeze. Everyone is quiet when we start working again.

After a few hours of baking, Dad finally speaks up. "You two get ready," he tells Eli and me. He seems even more worried about the reaping than we are.

We leave our aprons on the counter and head upstairs and start looking for the reaping clothes we keep in the back of the closet.

My heart is already starting to beat a little faster. Each year, right before the male tribute's name is called, it feels like it is about to beat out of my chest. And then another person's name is called and I'm free to live for at least one more year.

I put my nerves aside and take a deep breath.

Your name isn't even entered that many times.

I calm down a little as I change into the soft pants and button down shirt. When I look in the dresser for the comb, I notice Eli is trying to calm his tangled mess of curls with it. I wait for him to finish as I look out the window. Some people are already headed towards the square, and it eventually turns into a steady flow.

"We should probably get going," I say and we head downstairs as I run my hands through my hair.

I'm immediatly confronted by Mom. All the anger in her face has been washed away and the slightest frown is visible on her face.

"I'm sorry if i hurt you today," she says as she wraps me in a hug.

Well. This is new. I know this is only brought on by the reaping. It will pass by tomorrow and we will be back to our normal love/hate relationship.

"I'm sorry I yelled?" I apologize, but it comes out sounding like a question.

"No, you were right. We need to stop fighting," she says.

I nod and then we make our way to the square, which is filling up fast. Eli and I say goodbye to Mom and Dad, and then Ryan and his girlfriend of several years, Sariah. Hopefully we will walk back in just an hour and go back to our daily lives. Eli goes to the eighteen-year-old section and I stand in the sixteen-year-old section. Still, more people come, closing me in. I barely have room to move a foot in any direction.

I look to the stage, which has been set up in front of the justice building like every other year. Mayor Undersee takes his seat next to the infamous Effie Trinket, who is tapping her foot anxiously.

Probably can't wait to see who will be sent to their death next.

The last seat is still empty, waiting for District 12's only living victor: Haymitch Abernathy. The clock strikes two and Mayor Undersee steps up to the podium. He gives his annual speech about the history of Panem, the Dark Days, and how the Hunger Games came to be.

Out of nowhere, Haymitch stumbles on stage while he shouts something unintelligible. The crowd awkwardly applauds the extremely drunk man. He tries to give Effie a hug, but she squeals slightly and is somehow able to avoid it. The people nearby and I chuckle a little under our breaths when we notice her wig is a little sideways.

She smoothens her hair, holds her chin up high, and gives a smile for the cameras. Everyone is watching our district now. Or laughing at it. In her strange, high-pitch, Capitol voice, she announces, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

She steps up to the podium and I can't help but worry about Katniss Everdeen. The girl from the Seam. The girl with the little sister she is so protective of. The girl I have a crush on. Her name must have been entered over twenty times by now since she's signed up for tesserae all these years. Each year I pray it isn't her, and each year I begin to think that my crush on her is more than that. That feeling is back again.

I haven't talked to her very much before, so why should it matter to me if she wasn't here?

"Ladies first!" Effie trills.

My heart races faster when she reaches into the glass ball.

Please just be some bratty eighteen year old… please.

Everyone is so quiet that I can almost hear the breathes of the few kids that are breathing; the rest of us are involuntarily holding our breath.

Slowly – as if she wants to give us anxiety attacks – Effie opens the folded piece of paper she picked.

"Primrose Everdeen!"

I let out the breath I was holding and feel relief for only a second before realizing that I do know who the name belongs to.

Katniss' sister.

I didn't think that Peeta's mom would be all that terrible when her son is about to go to certain death. Even the most evil of mothers has to love her son in SOME way :P

Please review! Criticism is welcome; I'd like to know if anything is off