Chapter 2:

The day of the reaping.

The only coherent thought I had when I woke up was just that. Then it was remembering Briggs telling me that everything would be fine. That the odds were two hundred fifty-seven to one. That we would watch the sunset rise over the field of flowers. I smiled at the thought of Briggs holding me like last night.

I tried remembering whether I did my trigonometry homework before sketching last night. I begged that I did. If I didn't... It was too scary to think about what would happen.

Standing up, I stretched out my legs. I should have ran last night. I made a mental note to run tonight.

"Leighann, it's time to get ready!" I heard a crystal clear voice call.

"Yes, Opal." I called back, taking my bag out from under my bed.

Pulling on my uniform and taking care of my hygiene, I was ready in minutes. I took one last look at the dull room I had resided in for the past eighteen years, a small smile appeared on my face. I wasn't going to be completely free yet, but I was one step closer.

"Goodbye, Opal." I said, walking into the kitchen.

She turned towards me, sipping a cup of steaming tea. "Oh, goodbye, sweetheart. Have a nice time at the Institute. Come and visit after you get out." She said, with a fake smile. I gave her a sarcastic smile back and turned away, exiting the house.

Slamming the door behind me, I hiked my bag up higher on my shoulder, watching as the sun pulled itself up into the sky. I hoped that was a good sign. Today will, hopefully, be perfect.

Getting to school took less time than usual as I was preoccupied with my thoughts. As soon as I got there, I stepped into my first class of the day, not making eye contact with any other students.

Since today was the day of the reaping, we only had to stay for a half a day. It was still about six hours of classes before we could leave but it was better than the twelve hours we usually had to withstand.

I sat down for a period of physics, pulling out two notebooks: One for the top that I put notes in, and one for the bottom that I doodled in. Usually just pictures of Briggs, the field, the forest, the sunset; things that reminded me that someday, everything would be okay.

A loud bell went off, telling students that if we weren't in class by now, we were late and would have to suffer the consequences. My old and balding science teacher locked the door after hearing the signal and started in on his lecture about kinetic force. Writing down little notes here and there, I tried staying awake until the bell rang after two hours.

I made my way to history, watching the cracks along the floor.

When I got there, the alarm sounded.

The alarm was a signal for the District that told us that a public whipping would be taking place. They didn't happen often but they were all brutal. And since today was the reaping, whoever was getting beaten would probably get voted.

The class followed our teacher in silence to the square in the middle of town, the same where the reaping would be held in a few hours. A large man was standing in front of the shackles that held a young boy, who's face I couldn't see. Governor Snow held a whip in his hand.

"Ladies, gentlemen, we gather here today to berate a young man who was caught with a sketch pad in his bag. As punishment, he will be whipped across the back fifty times. You are all here to see what will happen if you are caught with similar items in your possession." He handed the whip off to a younger boy that looked like his son. Then he moved out of the way and I accidentally let out a gasp.

Pushing people out of the way a little, I watched as the familiar face raised his head to show his face to the crowd. And the first loud crack sounded of leather hitting flesh.

A low scream vibrated against my throat. I couldn't stay. I couldn't watch Briggs be beaten like this.

But I wasn't allowed to leave.

Trying to remain emotionless, I watched as his face contorted in pain forty-nine more times. Every time his eyes clenched shut, my fists did as well. My bottom lip quivered but he never let out a sound, never shed a tear. By the end, his shirt was ripped and his back was bleeding.

Governor Snow made his way back on stage and took the whip from his son. "Now you all see what the consequence is if anyone should repeat this discrepancy. You may leave."

He stood and watched us all as we left. Not just all of us, but me. I stared back at him and his lip quirked up slightly.

Jumping back from my spot, I followed my history teacher back to the classroom where he resumed talking about a girl named Katniss Everdeen, who had something to do with the Capitol Rebellion, as soon as our butts hit the cold seats.

Seconds later, a student came in to the classroom and handed a note to the teacher. He nodded and turned towards the class.

"Leighann Moore, you may leave for the Institute. " He said, crumpling the piece of paper up and going immediately back to the Capitol Rebellion.

Grabbing my bag, I stepped down to the floor and started for the door. Before I left, I heard him say, "Good luck," quickly. Without answering, I let the door shut behind me.

I left the building, and started off for the Institute. It wasn't too far away so I decided to walk it.

I had thought that I would be going to the Institute after school and after the reaping but it was apparent that that wasn't the case.

I got to the doors of the large building of the Institute. It held thousands of students inside it but it looked so lonely.

Sighing, I made myself go up the stairs to the school where I would be staying at for the next few years.

I watched as the big doors shut, putting a barrier between the beautiful day outside and myself. Briggs was right; the school was cold, empty, lonely and boring.

The hallway was dimly lit. It was gray, too, like an old castle. Little lanterns lined the walls. The temperature seemed to have dropped twenty degrees. The hallways held no people. Swallowing hard, I was beginning to miss the the familiar fake smiles I got every morning, along with the repeated questions, and worry less school days.

A sign pointed me in the direction of the office where I got assigned a room number. The lady told me that everyone was meeting in the meeting room so they can decide who was to be reaped. I nodded at her and left to put my bag away before going to the meeting room.

On my way down another dimly lit, lifeless hallway, I saw a dark figure leaning against a wall.

"Oh, Briggs." I ran towards and his arms wrapped tightly around me.

"Sh," He said, his voice shaking. "Don't be too loud."

"It's going to be okay, I promise."

"No, it's not."

"Look, you're smart so-"

He let out a small laugh. "You think I'm worried about myself?" He let go and pulled away. His voice was hard and anger was etched in his features. "I was just in there. Your on the bottom of the list!"

"So?" I asked, trying to be quiet.

"That means that everyone's going to pick you!"

"Why would they do that? Don't they want to win?"

"They always pick the person on the bottom." Briggs said, bleakly.

"And that means," I started.

"We're both going to be in the Game." He said. "And only one person can win."

"One of us is going to die."

Hello!

Once again, I hope you enjoyed this and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading:)