Thanks so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it! I think I will continue the story as long as you guys activley read it :) I love to hear your reviews and opinons, even if they're critizing!
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secretrisker
I put on the blue dress my mother had given to me. It was nice to see a piece of her, the woman before the death of my father. The woman who just took care of me for a moment. I'm glad this will be one of my last memories of her.
I decide to leave my braid that I had done this morning in, just cleaning up a hair here and there. Of course, Prim is watching anxiously behind me the whole time. I can feel the excitement oozing off of her, but, I'm also starting to see a tad bit of sadness. This might be one of the last moments we have together if me and my match are assigned to another district.
"Are you excited?" Prim bugs me once again about the status of my excitement.
"Just as excited as I was five minutes ago," I smirk back at her. She rolls her eyes.
"You know what Katniss?"
"What?"
"Sometimes I just don't get you," she huffs.
"And you know what Prim?"
"What?"
"Sometime I just don't get you," I turn around and scruffle her hair.
"Katnisssss" she moans "I just did my hair!" and she begins to fix it again.
"I see no point in you getting all dressed up" I look down at one of her nicest dresses she has on and her braided-bun hair duo.
"You never know who you'll see," she raises her nose at me.
"Please Prim, there is no one worth seeing in District Twelve," I scoff at her sudden snootiness. She glares back at me as my mother walks in.
"It's about time to go," my mother says. I glance one more time at the mirror and take in the last moment at home.
"Ok, I'm ready" I sigh. Prim smiles up to me for encouragement, the little spat we just had forgotten. I follow my mother out the door.
We arrive at the Justice Building five minutes before noon and wait in some seating area they have set up outside the Auheers office. The minutes fly by quickly and before I know it it's one minute 'till.
"I only have a minute left," I point out to my mother and Prim. After I say that, Prim starts breaking down.
"Oh Katniss!" she hugs me. I hug her back and start crying too.
"I love you so much Prim," I tell her. "If you ever need anything, go and tell Gale. He will take care of you."
"I'm going to miss you," she says.
"I'll miss you too."
"Katniss Everdeen?" the Auheer steps into the waiting area.
"That's me," I stand up and wipe my tears.
I give Prim one last hug and my mother whispers to me "You look beautiful." I walk over to the Auheer. She is an older lady with greying hair. She smiles at me kindly, understanding how torn I feel. I follow her into her office.
"Ok Katniss, let's take a look at your file." I sit across from her desk, anxiously waiting to hear the District my match will be coming from. If he is from any place like District Eleven or District Nine, then he might be more humble, somebody I can easily relate to. If he's from District One or Two, then the next few months would not be easy ones, arguments would be surely a daily occurrence.
"Oh wow, you're a lucky girl." the Auheer says. Oh no, he's from the Capital. "You get to stay one more day at home," she closes my file.
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
"This kind of thing doesn't happen very often, it's quite rare. Your match lives in District Twelve, so, you don't need the extra day for travel. You just need to be back here by noon tomorrow to get your papers and of course, meet your match."
I let it all sink in. Someone I went to school with, grew up with, is my match. I've probably seen him every week without knowing that we'd be matched together, get married and live together someday. Who could it be?
I didn't want to think of that right now, I'd waste too much time. Instead I get up and walk back into the room where my mother and Prim are sitting, waiting for the Auheer to tell them my train had left.
"Katniss?!" Prim nearly screams. She jumps up to hug me. My mother is looking at me confused, but, gets up to greet me too.
"How are you still here?" my mother asks.
"My match is from Twelve." I stare blankly at her. She looks slightly bewildered at first, but, regains composure. "I have one more day. I come back at noon tomorrow." I inform them.
"I'm so glad" Prim hugs me tighter.
The first thing I do after we leave the Justice Building is go to Gale. I knock on his door and Kailry answers.
She nearly gawks at me "Do you know what time it is?! You need to get to the Justice Building!"
"They gave me an extra day. My match is from Twelve," I explain to her.
"What?" she blinks. I repeat what I had just said.
"Well, what are you doing here then?" she asks.
"I just wanted to tell Gale, is he home?" I ask her.
"No, he went back to work."
"Can you explain to him why I stopped by when he gets home?"
"Sure, I'll send him your way." she complies.
"Thank you"
"Goodbye Katniss," she says it in a way that makes her seem like she cares for me in some way. Like she hopes the best for me after all.
"Goodbye Kailry," I say back to her in the same tone. We never were really friends, but, in some weird way we still care for each other. The main reason is that Gale cares for both of us so much, that if harm came to either of us, it would harm Gale also. I make my way back to my home, glad for the familiarity I will soon not be able to find.
I wake up the next day even more nervous than the day before. Gale and Kailry had come over last night and we talked about who my person might be. Gale thinks it's Carp Linswit, a boy who he used to be friends with in school that is my age. He hasn't been in touch with him since he got matched, so, he doesn't know if he got his letter. Kailry says she heard from one of the ladies from the Hob son got his letter recently. She couldn't remember the ladies name. Prim ate it all up, but honestly, so did I.
My brain can't stop racking the possibilities of who it would be in my head, and how disappointed they'll be that their match is from the Seam. I try not to worry about it and take in the moments I have left in Twelve. Just because my match is from Twelve doesn't mean that we will be assigned to Twelve. We could be assigned to any District, even the Capital.
As usual I get up and go hunting and sell what I caught; two squirrels and a rabbit, at the Hob. I give the money to my mother once I get home and get ready, leaving my hair in the braid and putting on the blue dress once again. Prim is just as dressed up as she was yesterday, knowing she will be able to meet my match today. My mother looks nicer than usual also.
We arrive even earlier at the Justice Building than yesterday, ten 'till noon. The emotion from all of us yesterday has dialed down quite a bit. We worked through most of that already, and now there seems to be an emptiness. The minutes tic away slowly, unlike last time. It seems like a decade has gone by when the doors to the waiting room open.
The mayors daughter Madge walks in with her family and they sit down across from us. We exchange hellos. Whenever the season was right, I would pick strawberries with Gale and sell them to Madge's family.
At eleven fifty eight Madge starts exchanging goodbyes with her family, looking much like my family yesterday. I keep on eyeing the door, waiting for my match to show up. What if he doesn't show up? What if he has to be dragged out of his home by Peacekeepers and whipped for not being at the Justice Building on time? We've all seen them happen in the square every few months. You get charged with thirty whips on your bare back for being late. You get charged with sixty if you aren't at the Justice Building by one, the time the Peacekeepers will be sent out to get you.
With thirty seconds left to spare, the door opens and my heart drops.
