A/N: This is my first fan fiction, and the only one I will be writing, for the moment. It will be rated M, as there will be some violence, gruesome things, and some implied mature themes. It is a Hunger Games fan fiction; I do not own anything about the hunger games. Any names that are similar to other stories are completely coincidental. Please enjoy, and it would be great if you could review and fave! Thanks.
Chapter one.
Cassie Green.
That is me, and everything you could want to know about me. I live in district 7, the district of lumber; it is a fairly ordinary place, like me. It is a place full of forests, water, families and community. I live here with my family, my mother Samara, my father Wilton, my older brother Ogden and my little sister Blossom. We live in a small wood shack, on the outskirts of district 7 near my Fathers shop, he works as a carpenter, and my mother works in his shop making luxury papers for the Capitol. My brother still lives with us, even though he is 19, and works for his own living, He is building his own house on the other side of the district in his spare time, though. He works cutting down the trees for my father's woodworking business, and for other carpenters in our area.
I do a lot of ordinary teenage things with my life, I have friends I hang out with, I go to school, I play in the forest in my spare time. My parents make enough money to support our family, and they would take the clothes of their back to stop us being put into the games.
The hunger games, I hate them, there is no way I would volunteer for them, and my chance of being in them is much slimmer that the rest of the people in my district, none of them have enough food, so their children take a lot of tesserae. They buy food from the capitol in exchange for their children's names being put in another time. I'm sick at the thought; there is no way my parents would even consider it. They love me and my siblings too much to put us into that terrible game, but in the end, it is the capitol who decides. My brother was lucky, he was never called, and I am well on my way to being over and done with the games as well. My sister Blossom is 12 though, and she has another six years in the bowl for tribute.
"The hunger games are an annual event, held every year, in which, each district of Panem shall offer up one young man, and one young woman between the ages of twelve and eighteen called tributes. They shall be picked at random, at a public reaping." Blah, Blah, Blah…..
I zoned out after watching the video for the third time, yet my Panem insist on reshowing the hunger games that happened six months ago, here now, six months before reaping, just to keep it on our minds. I don't know who the winner was, some other career district, I have no taste for such gruesome event to be shown, again and again.
"Cassia Green!" mother yelled, this can't be good, she never usually calls me anything but Cassie, I walk hastily towards the kitchen, it is nine pm, on a Saturday evening, and I don't recall myself doing anything wrong. I can feel myself panicking a little inside; I keep my voice calm "Yes" I call out curiously as I walk towards her.
I reach her, in the kitchen, and she is holding a frying pan, covered in soapy water, "What time is it?" she asks glaring at me, my eyes widen, I can feel the pressure in her voice. "Nine o'clock, mum." I whisper softly, looking down at the floorboards, she looks really angry, and hell hath no fury like a mother scold.
He grabs me from behind, two arms around my waist, picking me up, squeezing and swinging me around the small kitchen space, his arms put pressure on my diaphragm; I am struggling for a breath as he holds me, and he must have been hiding behind the kitchen door. I squeal slightly, as he starts tickling my sides. I am out of breathe, I glance behind me, it's only Rowan, Mum is smiling, I get it now, it was a joke. I let out a relieved breathe, and giggle slightly, as though the atmosphere was suddenly replaced by helium.
Mum is laughing at me. "I guess you better pack a bag, and I'll see you tomorrow then" She said, smiling at me, I look up behind me, the warm brown eyes of Rowan are smiling down at me. I laugh gleefully, as he picks me up again, nuzzling me, before putting me down. "I'll get your bag" he mutters before walking off towards the stairs that lead to my room.
I look up at Mum, knowing very well that I am blushing furiously. I was stupid to believe I was in trouble; she would never get angry at me. She walks over to me, sweeping the hair out of my face, "You have fun tonight kiddo" All I can do is smile; it was a total surprise that Rowan just happened to turn up now. "I will." I say with an even broader grin, I look towards the stairwell, I can just hear him rustling around in my room, knowing that I'm in for a surprise when I get to his house.
My mother flicks my hair again, I turn to look at her, and I can see a proud smile on her face, slightly mischievous too. "Will you be fine here with just you and Dad?" I ask in a mocking tone, she raises her eye brows at me, "Of course, because it's just terrible to be left alone all night, with one's husband." She grins, and I laugh, Ogden is staying with his girlfriend tonight, and Blossom is with her friends, with me at Rowans house, that leaves the two of them home alone. I smile, she was always a great mother to me, we embrace in a hug, and she kisses my forehead. "You be careful with him," she mutters, as she walks upstairs, having finished with the washing up. I wander back into the television room, my father is sitting there, looking bored, as he watches the replay of tributes being called, he looks up as I walk over, I kiss him on the head and place a hand on his shoulder to look over him at the television.
I get bored shortly, and I can hear that Rowan is nearly finished ferreting around in my room, I look down at my father, "Goodnight Dad," I say as I kiss him goodbye. He looks up smiling, "Love you Cassie, be careful." He says, teasingly. I feel a little lighter inside, I walk out of the room just as they call a child's name, chances are, they will never go home, they will never get to feel this with their family, I feel sorry for them. But I am enlightened as I walk into the kitchen, Rowan has a bag in his hand, with what looks like a months' worth of clothes in it, my mother is smiling at him, I can tell she has been slipping snide comments to him as he worked on my bag. Rowan slings the bag over his shoulder, and takes my hand with the other. "See you two later. Love you Cassie, Be careful!" She calls out after us, as we start making our way out of the house. "Rowan, if you hurt her, I'll kill you" my mother threateningly calls after us; I can hear Rowan laughing under his breath. "Love you too!" I call back over my shoulder.
We walk out of the house and into the night.