A/N: This being written by two people. Just letting you know. We are accepting beta-readers.

Disclaimer: We do not own The Hunger Games or any of its characters or events

Enjoy :) PLEASE R&R!

I wake up to the sun burning in my eyes. I quickly jump out of bed, and dress, putting my last gift from my father, a golden mockingjay pin, onto my shirt. I slip out of the house, and slip under the fence to meet Gale. As I walk to our usual meeting place, I catch two rabbits and a squirrel. I carefully place them in my game bag, when a voice startles me. "Hey Catnip."

"Oh! You startled me! Hey!"

Gale grins.

"I was just running to meet you, but I saw you by the rock".

"Oh, well I'm glad you saw me, I would have had to walk the rest of the way alone."

Gale takes a sarcastic little bow. "Well, don't we always meet here? By the way, Happy Hunger Games!"

"Oh great, I forgot. Today is reaping day. Officially the worst day of the year." I sarcastically murmur,

"Kill joy."

Gale pretends not to hear me. I sit down, and start a fire. Might as well eat the smaller rabbit. We need the extra energy to stay alive during the reaping. We quickly devour the little rabbit, and move to our usual hunting spot. We check the snares. Three rabbits and four squirrels. It's barely enough to feed our families. Let's hope the people at the Hob are feeling extra nice today.

I remove my bow and arrows from their hollow log, and watch as Gale removes his knife from an empty tracker-jacker nest. We spot a doe, and I take a shot. Straight through the eye. I smile, and Gale winks. We clean our kill. We slowly gather some wild strawberries and other small plants, and our game bags slowly fill. Due to the plants, rabbits, squirrels, and the doe, our load becomes heavy. We walk slowly to the Hob, our heavy bags promising that our families would not end this day starving.

Greasy Sae takes the meat, and in return, gives us both generous portions of lamb stew. She points an old, crippled finger at a man across the room. She spoke quietly. "That man... His son was tribute last year. He'll give you anything you ask for at the lowest price available." We trade with the man, the butcher, and the mayor. We quietly walk our separate ways to our houses. As I walk inside the door to our living room, with my game bag, I see my mother doing Prim's hair in her usual braid. Prim is dressed in a pretty white blouse with a blue skirt. As I place my game bag on the kitchen table, I notice my father's old hunting jacket. I snatch it up, off the chair, and scurry upstairs to my room.

I change into my mother's blue dress, and put my hair in its signature braid. I hurry downstairs, put on my shoes, and dash out the door. As I make my way to the town square, I meet up with Gale, and we walk the rest of the way, silent. When we arrive, I go to the sixteen year old girl section, while Gale makes his way to the eighteen year old boy section. As Effie Trinket starts to speak, Gale glances in my direction. I give him a shaky smile. "Welcome, welcome, the time has come, to select one courageous young man and woman, to have the honor in representing District Twelve in the seventy-four annual Hunger Games. Ladies first!" she says cheerfully. She reaches into the glass bowl containing District Twelve's girls' names. "And our female tribute is...Primrose Everdeen!"

Without thinking about what would happen next, I yell, "I VOLUNTEER! I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!"

Effie looks confused. Why wouldn't she? The last thing she would expect from District Twelve is a girl to volunteer as tribute. Basically, it was a death sentence. She is motioning me on stage. I stand on her right and watch as she pulls a name boy's bowl. "I am proud to announce the male tribute from District Twelve: Gale Hawthorne!"

Gale walks on stage, trying to keep his face calm. I too struggle with it. A million thoughts pass through my head. Gale living. Me dying. Our families starving. This is not a good situation for either of us. Either way, we both loose our best friend, the other half of each other. I feel sick. "Hurry up, Effie. I can't breathe." I mutter under my breath. At long last, the ceremony ends, and Gale and I are shepherded into the Justice Building.

At first, no one speaks. Dead silence. Then Gale speaks up; he can no longer stand the silence.

"I wonder how our moms are handling this." He has to nudge me with his elbow to get my attention.

"Huh? What? Oh, sorry. Do you know how much our lives will change?"

Gale just nods and put his head in his hands. This was my breaking point. I've never, I mean never, seen Gale give up so easily. Gale has always been the one to encourage me to go on. It's never him that questions if living is worth it. It's never Gale that wants to stop; he's always seeing the glass half full. A tear slips down my cheek. I don't bother to wipe it away. When the Peace Keepers tried to put us into separate rooms to speak with our families, I nearly kicked them. "Gale is family." I hiss. My mother and Prim walk in. Both their faces are blotchy red, tear stains like bleach on their grimy skin. Prim speaks first. "Katniss, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have volunteered!" I pull Prim into a tight embrace. "It's beyond you now." My mother and I exchange a few tight words, and we move onto the topic of survival. "You and Prim need to make some money. Get a job in the mines if you need to. Sell Lady's milk and cheese. Find food." My mother nods shakily, and exits. After a moment, Gale's family enters. Gale speaks, but I don't hear the words. My mind has finally figured it out; how dire the situation really was. I felt the world crashing down around me. I pull myself together and shakily stand. Gale and I are quickly ushered onto the train.

Sorry it is so short the next ones are longer.