Chapter 2

No. I must have heard that wrong. Who's Canusa Auro? Do I know her? Now everybody is looking at me. A sob comes from the parents. My mother. It must be. Deep breath, and I walk to the stage. "Are you Canusa?" Vivian questions me. Her accent mangles the "s" is my name. I nod.

"Excellent!" she yells, "Now for the gentlemen!" All I can hope is that I don't know him. "Godfrey Tillwin! Come join us!" Thank god! I don't know him. I look to the crowd and see a 14 year old nervously tumbling to the stage. He has no chance. I'm sorry for being coarse, but it's true. He has frizzy brown hair that goes every which way and is very gangly. His brown eyes are big and shining with fear. He looks back at the crowd as if he expects someone to volunteer for him. But that never happens in 5.

"Shake Hands," commands Vivian. We clasp hands stiffly. His is clammy and cold. Poor kid.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Canusa and Godfrey, the District 5 tributes in the 74th annual Hunger Games!" yells Vivian imperiously. A brief applause comes and we are taken to the Justice Building. Godfrey dries his tears and we are forced into separate rooms.

A minute later, my parents rush into the room. We hug and huge tears dapple my shoulders.

"Canusa..." Dad starts, the pain in his voice very apparent, "Canusa, we love you. Never forget that. You can do this honey. You have to." My mom nods sadly and sobs again.

"I love you to guys. I'll try to come home." My whisper is barely audible. We embrace again and a Peacekeeper tosses them out. My final goodbyes caught in my throat, I wonder if that will be the last time I see the two people who love me. My mom and dad.

I have another visitor, Diana. She gruffly wipes away her shining tears and says, "Sorry. I should've volunteered for you."

"No," is all I can manage. She hugs me tightly and slips me a tiny glass bottle. I look at it and see a few scrapings of tree bark.

"Is this..." I say incredulously. Diana nods, confirming that this is bark from the tree I favor in the woods. My tree. I hug her and she leaves. I glance sadly at my tear spattered dress. All the beauty of my life is gone with one tiny, seemingly insignificant scrap of paper.

Vivian snatches me up and we go to the fancy Capitol train. Godfrey returns, his once handsome shirt now sodden with salty tears, clutching a tiny piece of blue material. I recognize it instantly as a fragment of a solar panel, our district's main export.

"Token?" I grunt. He nods and goes back to focusing on restraining tears. We sit in the dining car with Vivian, who has changed and is now wearing a ridiculous silver wig on her purple skin. Next thing, we're gorging ourselves on the best and fanciest food I have ever tried. We have more food in District 5 than, say, District 12, but never enough to completely satisfy. I try something called "salmon" from District 4 that isn't my favorite and a pheasant from 10 which I love! I try nearly everything on the table, from lime spritzer to beef burgundy to vanilla mousse. Vivian gives us all the names because I only recognize one or two. Occasionally, I look out the window to see the rapidly passing districts. 4 seems to be practically all water. Finally Vivian tells us our mentors have woken up.

We have two, which is lucky. Spark, an old man who looks pretty strong looks at us like he's already arranging the funerals. And Vienna, a tough young woman who smiles sadly at us.

"Chins up," she says, her dark eyes showing concern, "we'll be in the Capitol soon."

"Yeah, we're passing the last jewelry factory in District 1," puffs Spark. In 5 minutes, we are in the tunnel to the Capitol. It seems to go on for miles, just and endless piece of silver metal. But at last we emerge and get our first glimpse. Vivian has since left due to what I imagine is a phantom headache. My teacher wasn't exaggerating when he said the Capitol is extravagant. All around I see gold and platinum buildings and silver streets. And then there are the people. All over I see stilts and wigs, purple dogs and little lemon colored monkeys. Crazy clothing swirls around. I see talons and tentacles.

"Come on," says Vienna, "you're about to meet your Stylist."

PLEASE REVIEW! I hope you like this chapter! There is more on the way!