Chapter 2: Disrict Three Reaping

~The Fortran Siblings~

District 3-Sharon Fortran, 18

I wake up feeling dreadful and miserable. I know what day it is and I'm despairing. Not for myself, since it's my last reaping and all, but for my baby brother.

I look across the room, where he is still sleeping without a care to the world. I wish he could stay like that. Safe, protected, and happy...

The door opened and our mother came to our room to wake me up. "Sharon- ah, you're awake." She smiles nervously and I nod. "How about Jay? Is he awake yet?" I shake my head once. "I'll wake him up." I say as I sit on top of his bed and shake his shoulder. "Jay, wake up. It's the reaping today."

Jay groans as he force himself awake. "Unnnn, Vince?" I flinch. "Naaah, it's just Sharon. C'mon kiddo, it's the reapings today." We won't be reaped. I just know we won't. We're actually good enough so we didn't have to take out tesseare. I know we won't.

"I'll be going first, okay? I think Zero is downstairs." Jay nods slightly before talking to the wall beside him. I frown, but then I smile and change to my simple gray reaping dress before I go downstairs to my boyfriend.

"You look... um..."

"What? No response? How insulting." I say with a cheeky grin. Zero is your average District Three guy. He's handsome in such a nerdy way. He's very awkward though, so he once said to me that he never expected that he'll be able to get the most beautiful girl in District Three, meaning me. He's also our very own librarian though. My god I love this guy.

He is older though, 19. So he has no reaping to be afraid of. I smile. "C'mon, dumb nut. Let's go to the reapings." He looks speechlessly at me before nodding and grasp my hand in his and walk into the reapings.

We arrived a few minutes late because we took a long way. I know that Zero is nervous because he thinks that I might be reaped so he wanted to take his time. I scan the 17 years old male section and found Jay there. I sigh, relieved.

"Okay everyone! Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor!" Our escort, Light, beamed happily at everyone. His yellow hair sparks a little as he smiles at everyone. "First things first, let's watch the video from the Capitol, shall we?" He gestures to the huge screen and we were all forced to watch the stupid recap.

Duh, of course I know what leads to this stupid pageant called Hunger Games, do they think of me as an idiot? I remember every second of this video as I remember my own name. Well, not really, I have photographic memory, after all. Meaning I'll remember everything I've seen, heard, or knew once.

After the stupid video is over, I wanted to tap my foot repeatedly because it was getting too long. But then, Light announced that it was time to pick the tributes.

"Ladies first!" He said as he made a slight bow to the girls' section.

"Sharon Fortran!"

"What the fuck?! NO!" That was Zero's voice, and he was voicing my very own thought.

I've just been reaped. What the fuck...?

District 3- Jay Fortran, 17

"Jay, your sister's been reaped."

I looked at my transparent best friend, Vincent. Technically, it's impossible to see this transparent of apparition, but I don't care. As long as he stays and talk to me, I will be fine.

"Focus, Jay. She's on the stage now."I look up to the stage and see a girl that was undeniably my sister. Copper-colored hair in side ponytail, pale skin, and dark brown eyes. Definitely my sister. I clench my fists. My sister is a tribute.

That's crazy.

But of course, it's still possible. Even when it's only one-in-three-hundred-chances (not counting people that took double tesserae), it still is possible. I understand that.

But still, I can't help but wonder why. Being a genius with 200 IQ value could do that to you.

"Onto the boys!" I cringe a little at the escort's booming voice. He didn't need to shout. That microphone of his amplified his already loud voice four times its usual loudness after all.

"Jay Fortran!"

"NOOOO!" Four people screamed at the same time.

The first one was my mother, who passed out in the middle of the crowd. Some of the Peacekeepers came to her and carried her to the Justice Building, maybe to the infirmary.

The second one was my sister, who got up from the chair she had sat on earlier. The entire District stare at her in pity.

The third one was Echo Tesla, Vincent's younger sister and the last one is Vincent himself.

After all, he didn't want me to die in the same way he did: in the bloodbath of Hunger Games.

The Peacekeepers come and escorted me, but I stopped in front of Echo, who was in tears. "Don't cry, Echo." I say shortly before I join my sister on the stage.

"O-oh, you guys are siblings..." Light says as my sister and I are side to side. We really do look alike, I guess (I think that's normal since we inherited the similar if not the same chromosomes from our father and mother). We share the copper-colored hair (she in pigtails and I in spiky, short style), the pale skin, and the eyes. Hers were much more brown than mine though. Sharon looks at me with a look of determination. And instead of shaking hands like traditional tributes did, she pulls me into a hug.

"I'll protect you, Jay, it's all right." She smiles, but it looked utterly different than her usual cocky smile. And I feel guilty about it. "No, Sharon, I'llprotect you." I say determinedly.

"Oh shush, little bro. I'm the older one here."

Goodbyes

District 3- Sharon, 18

As soon as I was shoved to a very fancy room, my parents came bustling from the door.

Mom looked pale and green while Dad looked horridly solemn. They both are crying. I put on a shaky smile. "I'll protect Jay to the best of my capabilities..." Mom gasped. "You have Zero, baby. It's okay if you want to go home." Dad says as Mom went even more hysteric. I smile and shake my head.

"No, Jay hasn't been the same ever since Vincent died two years ago and you guys know that part of it was our fault. We couldn't anchor him to the reality. I'm merely making my atonement." I say with a smile. "But... what about Zero?" Mom says in the intervals of her sobbing.

"He understands." I say shortly. I know he does. If he doesn't, he will. My father nods and gave me a bracelet with a lightning bolt inscribed on it. "That's a magnetic bracelet. I bought it for your birthday present along with Jay's." He takes out an identical bracelet. "Good luck." He says. It seems that my parents' time is over as the Peacekeeper came and escort them out. Not a minute later, Zero barges inside the room and pulls me into a hug.

"Screw this, Sharon. I-if you die... I-I..." I know. If I die, he will try to join me. But... he knew that I need to protect Jay. "Zero..." I say his name properly without any insult like I usually did. He touches my face and tears flow from his face.

And then we kissed a long, sad, and passionate kiss until the Peacekeeper came and drag him out.

District 3- Jay, 17

"This couldn't be happening." Vincent pace around the room in panic. I sit down on the sofa, watching the apparition (ghosts don't exist. They just don't) make the third full circle of the room. "Calm down, Vincent." I say flatly. I know I will die. There are many strong tributes and I figure I should just try my best to live happily until I die. "But, Jay!"

"Vince. Just stop it." I say sternly.

Vincent was about to retort, but the door opened, revealing a girl with the same golden blonde hair and emerald eyes as Vincent. Of course. Echo.

"Jay..." She whispers sadly and hugs my torso. This girl is just 8 when Vincent died, and now she had to see me, her 'other' brother, die at the age of 10. Poor girl.

Vincent looks sad and I only hug her back. "I-I love you like how I love Vincent... please try and return, okay?" Echo's face is teary and her voice is muffled because she talks while her head is still buried in my torso. "I don't want to lose another brother..."

I nod simply. "I won't make promises I can't keep, Echo. But we promise you that we'll always be watching you." I look towards Vincent, who nods. "W-we? Is... Is he here?" Echo asked nervously. I nod my head and pointed to the wall where Vincent was leaning.

The little girl then rub the tears off of her face and smile to the wall. "Please take care of him, brother." She smiles. Vincent looks so happy that he might just vaporize into thin air.

But I know her time is over when the Peacekeeper comes. I smile and wave as she reluctantly leaves.

And then my parents came in. My mother came bustling and she pulls me in a tight hug. I only stand there and hug her back slightly. My father smiles a solemn smile. "Do your best, Jay." He says as he handed me a magnetic bracelet. "Sharon's in the Games too, Dad." I say.

"I know. But do your best anyways." It must've killed him to say these words. "We love you, Jay. You and Sharon. We love you both." I nod. Of course they do. They're our parents, there's no reason why they shouldn't love us.

"Please be careful, okay? You're not alone..." My mother smiles and it calms me that she does even when her face looks like she has been hosed down by a fire hydrant. "Don't let me leave with your sad face in my memories, mom. Besides, I got Vincent." I plead honestly, but Vincent laughed in my ears like it was funny. Maybe something like that coming from a guy who has photographic memories sounds funny.

"Yes, yes... we love you. Both you and Sharon. Don't ever forget that, okay?" It was the last thing my parents say before the Peacekeepers escort them out. And I know that it will be burned into my memory forever.

"Life is so unfair." Vincent sighs beside me. I nod. "Precisely."

So here's the deal. I will write Reapings in an entirely random order in which the District's tributes are already filled. So the next one would be either District 2 or District 5.

I will not make Sponsor shops because I want the Games to be entirely my own. But the more often you review, the longer your tribute stay alive.

If no one submit bloodbath tributes, I will be forced to kill off your character early so please send some (if not many) of them, I will still write them with care up until the bloodbath part :)

Sooo how do you think about these two characters? I quite personally like them a lot!