First- In this story it is an AU because it is the 72nd Hunger Games. So basically this is what would happen if Cato was born earlier and was eighteen now and not at the 74th and how that would change things. Enjoy and sorry this chapter is so short I promise it will get much longer I just wanted to get the reaping over quickly.

The entire population of District Seven is quiet.

Dead quiet.

It is pretty fitting for the day of the Reaping.

Everyone silenced with the anxiety and nerve racking moments as the escort Cherry comes onto the stage here entire persona not matching her joyful sounding voice and name. Her red eyes, fake of course, dart back and forth across the crowd with her back hair pulled in a tight ponytail. She looks deadly stunning in a way. She is young, twenty or something. And as frightening and haunting as she looks that high pitch voice and accent ruins the entire serious atmosphere her appearance gives her.

I feel my sister, Lily, clench at my hand even tighter than before as Cherry taps the microphone to make sure it is working. I glance at her, dark brown hair straight and in a pony tail. Her green eyes like pine trees stare straight ahead. We're twins. Not identical though. Her hair is straight. Mine is wavy. But yet it is the same dark brown color. We both have the same green eyes and pale skin. Yet she stands tall at 5'7 and I stand short at 5'4. Yet it is easy to see we are sisters.

She glances to me staring at her as Cherry starts to read the short list of Victors from District Seven and she looks nervous it makes my heart skip a few beats for her. Her eyes fully of worry and her entire face gave away her gloomy and sullen attitude while I try to keep as stoic looking as possible. That is thing with us; she has always been the stronger one mentally. Yet still she is never afraid to show what she feels. I guess you can say I have trust issues but personally I prefer to be a closed book rather than an open book with my emotions.

"Mom said we were going on a hike after the reaping." Lily tells me uneasy; she gives me a thin half-hearted smile like it was supposed to make all of my worries disappear. Yet as much as I think it is silly for her to try to cheer me up at a moment like this I still feel myself calm down a little. My heart beating a little bit more normal.

"Well hello District Seven are we ready to pick some Victors?" Cherry asks elegantly shifting her body so all of her weight is on her right hip. I can almost image her holding a glass of red wine in her hand to finish the whole sophisticated look she has going. When Cherry is met with silence she lets out a sigh almost like she wishes she was somewhere else and give a smile to us all, a fake one of course. "Okay then without further ado I guess we can pick our female tribute." She says strutting over to the glass bowl that holds the thousands of girls' name. Thirty have my name. I am just fifteen but my family needs as much tessarae as possible.

I glance and suddenly I catch sight of the male mentor, Hale, his brown eyes staring into mine so suddenly it leaves my heart skipping a few beats under his piercing sight. He looks away so calm I know he must have not noticed the moment we caught sight of each other but the moment I saw those brown eyes has its toll on me.

The door crashes open suddenly. Falling straight from its hinges leaving me in wonder of how it even happened, but it did. I hear a scream somehow escape from my lips. Is that my scream? How could it be mine? No surely it was someone else's. But I turn around as soon as I see the tall white suited Peacekeeper at the doorway. I scamper away running as fast as my ten year old legs would allow me until I find a shocked looking Lily still not comprehending all that was going on.

I come to her already in tears. I don't know how the first tear slipped from my eye but it did and the hot tear rolled down my cheek as I run into the arms of Lily. She holds me tightly wrapping her arms around me, she is only ten minutes older than me but yet somehow she became the mature one. The one calming me down as we try to figure out the situation. We fall to the ground in the corner trying to hide as the three Peacekeepers come in, two with their guns ready, and the other standing tall with authority. The head Peacekeeper. I know it for sure.

Suddenly he turns to me his cruel looking blue eyes causing my entire body to freeze up. "Where is your father?" He asks.

I stumble but manage to answer. "I….I don…don't know!" I say.

Suddenly a fourth figure walks in. This time he has no white suit. Just a rugged yet handsome face with a proud smile at the sight of the two of us whimpering timid in the corner.

Hale was the one who told the Peacekeepers what my father was doing, telling his family all sorts of things about the Capitol, and for it my father was hanged for treason. Leaving us with my depressed mother. Not even a month later she hung herself, wanting to be with me father.

Leaving us orphans.

Luckily we had our Aunt. She never married so she never had kids, she always wanted to though. So when she heard the upsetting news she welcomed us into her home with open arms and treated us like her own. She was probably the best mother we have had. Things are good now, but as good as things are I can't forget what Hale did. I can't forget that he snitched on my father sending my family into a downward spiral that only luckily was brought back up because of my Aunt's kindness. No matter how good things get he will always be the one that had to ruin things in the first place.

The one who drove me into silence.

I am not sure exactly when it happened but by the time I moved in with my Aunt I became silent. Lily and Aunt Ann say I choose to keep quiet and that is my right but usually people call me a freak. I can speak fine, and I even speak when I want to, but I can't deny it. I am a stuttering mess to strangers. I speak fine to Lily and my Aunt but to others I just stare at them open mouthed like an idiot. Extreme shyness you can call it.

I like it though. I like being quiet. My father died because he talked too much. My mother killed herself because she got too close to someone. So by being quiet I can't get into trouble and by being quiet I won't get close to anyone who will just end up betraying me or dying in the Hunger Games. It works pretty well to be honest.

Suddenly a name snaps me from my deep thinking. A familiar name I have heard many times before, just never shouted in that Capitol accent belonging to Cherry.

"Tess Nightingale!" I freeze up.

I look up like with a wild expression and turn to my sister. I guess I won't be going on that hike…

I have always seen Lily be strong in situations like this. She is an open book but when she needs be she can be strong for others. It is something I couldn't do. I could never open up with how I felt, she could. I could never be strong for others when I needed to be, she could. But right now she looks ready to sob and that is what makes me hear sink most.

I feel a Peacekeeper grab my arm and I spin around in a fit of rage and smack his hand away. He has no right to touch me! I glare at him as silent as ever and push past him walking through the path the crowd of people in the Town Center created for me. A girl walking to her death.

I am only fifteen. I am hopeless, utterly hopeless. How can I get sponsors when I can't act? Lying has come naturally if it means people leaving me alone but making people like me? Never. It is impossible. The only reason my Aunt and Lily even like me is because they are family. I am that quiet girl.

Hopeless.

I can use that though. I can be the hopeless one, and then maybe they will overlook me. I know how to handle weapons and climbing after all. I am from District Seven after all. Maybe what I want isn't to get sponsors.

But even that trail of thought can't stop me from my heart sinking. Even so I walk looking as strong as possible to the stage; no one needs to know I am weak yet. Right now I just don't want people to see me as a bloodbath. Even though I believe I put on a strong face it is impossible not to notice the look of disappointment on Cherry's face.

I walk to the stage standing to look at the entire District with nervous eyes.

I need to be strong, people can see me as someone not worth sponsoring or overlooking but inside I need to be stronger. I can't hide in the corner like I did when they came for my father. I need to be strong for my family. I won't let them loose another person.

How can I kill someone though? I glance to the mentors sitting in their chairs only a meter away. Hale smirks widely at me. He knows. He remembers me, and he is the one in charge of my life. Then again he isn't my only mentor. I look past him and see Johanna Mason. She is a young Victor. She pretended to be weak. If she did it then maybe I can to, I might not be able to pull off what she did but I can manage to make people overlook me. Maybe with her help I can do it.

I turn back around seeing Cherry already at the boy's bowl. Her hand skimming around the top before her hand plunges in to take a slip of paper. She opens the small folded piece of paper and then smiles at the microphone before reading it.

"Thomas Gamy." She says clearly and I don't see him at first but by the smile that creeps onto Cherry's face I know it isn't good. What I see is a tall strong looking boy, maybe sixteen. He has black spiked hair and gray eyes. He looks insane, something about his eyes.

So my District Partner is insane, great and I thought being Reaped couldn't get worse.

I can only hope that things get better from here.

But honestly, the odds have never been in my favor.