A/N: I should really either be studying for finals or updating my other story, but…I got this idea and I needed to follow up on it. I actually came up with the idea in the other story I'm in the process of writing but I don't get into it nearly as deeply as I will in this one. In my other story, it's just briefly mentioned. I also decided that it'd be cool to do a story about Paylor. Hope you guys like it! Let me know what you think!
Most people living in District Eight hated it. And I guess I could see where they were coming from. A majority of the population was poor, the working conditions at some of the factories were horrible, and some people had to work over twelve hours a day. But I didn't really have anything to complain about. My dad, Arthur Paylor, was the mayor of District Eight, and we lived rather comfortably. I never saw District Eight as an evil place like some others did, including my best friend Mallory.
Mallory hated living in District Eight, she hated the Capitol, and she hated everything that the Capitol stood far. I didn't really like getting into these arguments with her though. I was on pretty good terms with the Capitol, seeing as my dad was the mayor and everything. I was friends with a lot of the Peacekeepers too. Mallory would get upset every time we'd talk about the Peacekeepers though because I was simply "blind to the injustices occurring all around".
Back then, I wasn't sure what the big deal was. Sure, conditions were rough for some people. But it couldn't have been that bad. My dad would always tell me about the war and how the Capitol had unified the people. I didn't get why Mallory would hate a government that was keeping us together and alive. I didn't understand how people could hate the Capitol.
Mallory's biggest arguing point was the Hunger Games. She said that it was the only justification she needed to hate the Capitol (not that there weren't others). But my dad had always talked to me when I was a kid about why the Hunger Games were necessary. It unified the people, it discouraged extremist sects from inciting rebellion, and it gave us entertainment. And as my dad explained, we pretty much deserved it. And I believed every word my dad had said. Even when I was nineteen, I still believed him.
Mallory nearly slapped me when I told her I wanted a government job. And once again, I didn't understand why she was angry. I was eventually going to become mayor when my dad died, so what was the problem with getting a head start in the government sector? Mallory explained that it wasn't the fact that I was getting a job in government that bothered her; it was the government I was getting a job with. Even after I explained that there weren't any local government jobs available, only ones in the Capitol, she remained adamant.
It probably sounds like Mallory and I didn't have a very great friendship, which would be false. Mallory and I had known each other since I was four and she was three (she was one year younger than me). We did everything together. We were practically sisters.
We didn't look like sisters though. I had dark brown eyes, straight dark brown hair that fell past my shoulders, a long face, and was 5'9. Mallory had wavy blonde hair that touched her shoulders, green eyes, and was only 5'7.
Anyways, my father called me from my room one evening to tell me that the Capitol had a vacancy and that I was going to be offered the job. Not even knowing what the job was, I became ecstatic.
Unfortunately, one week later, given certain circumstances and a description of my job, ecstatic would be the last word I used to describe my predicament.
A/N: This was really more of a background chapter, and you can probably learn more about the overall plot of the story from the summary. But regardless, I wanted to get this posted and I think the background was necessary to establish Paylor's POV at the time. Please let me know what you think of the story! Do you like the concept? Reviews are greatly appreciated!