Chapter 2 - Vala's POV

"Come on Val, don't be scared!" My brother, Kenn, said soothingly, seeing me nervously twist my long, brown hair.

Easy for him to say. He's 19 and he won the Hunger Games last year. He's safe. His words don't help me though.

"Shut up!" I snap at Kenn. "It's the 100th anniversary of the Hunger Games! It's a Quarter Quell! Anything could happen! I'M NOT SAFE!"

"Woah, calm down!" he says. "It's not like you're going to be chosen!"

I roll my eyes at that. Yeah right. Everybody in my family has been chosen, except me. It doesn't help that my name, Vala, means "chosen". I'm pretty much doomed.

Seeing how annoyed I am, Kenn says, "Anyways, if you are chosen, it will be a big honor. And I know you can win."

I just glare at him to shut him up, and go back to twisting my hair, making it even curlier than it already is. We live in District 4, so we're careers. To us, it's supposed to be a big honor to be chosen. It really isn't. It's 9:00. 3 more hours until the reaping. I wonder what the Quarter Quell will be. Probably something sick. It always is. I wonder if I'll be chosen.

My mom walks into the room, breaking up my thoughts.

Seeing how worried I am, I see her tense up.

"Are you all right sweetie?" she asks.

I lie, and nod, to make her feel better. I see her relax. The Hunger Games hits her pretty hard. She won them when she was 18. My dad died in them when he was 18. Last year was probably one of the worst years of her life, when my brother was chosen. At least he survived. I wonder what will happen to my mom if I'm reaped.

My mom must be thinking the same things I am, because she suddenly barks at Kenn, "Go put on something nice you lazy slug!"

I laugh, and so does my mom. It's nice to see her happy. Once my brother leaves, she grabs me by the arm and leads me through our home.

Our Victor's Mansion is very fancy. All of the walls are blue and green, representing the ocean. Most of the furniture is made out of old boat parts. Shells and fishing poles decorate the walls. A few of the fancier rooms even have sandy floors.

We end up in my mom's room, and she begins to sort through her closet. She pulls out a beautiful sea green dress that matches my eyes perfectly. Even though there are a few shells sewed to the bottom of the dress, I'm not fooled. This is the dress that my dad gave my mom, the day he was reaped.

I know my mom doesn't want me to remember this, so I don't say anything. I step into the bathroom and slip it on. I look…beautiful. My whole life I've never been pretty. I've never been ugly either. I'm just your average, everyday girl. However, this dress makes me look amazing.

I step out of the bathroom and my mom gasps.

"Spin around!" she orders.

I spin around and the dress floats around my ankles. The rest of the dress flows like water, with ripples running up and down it, just like waves.

"I love it!" I whisper.

My mom says nothing and starts to pile my brown curls into a messy bun on top of my head. As I look into the mirror though, I see a few tears running down her face. I don't say anything, and allow her to put a shell incrusted headband on my head.

I look at the time, 11:30. Why does time have to go by so quickly on the day of the reaping? My mom spins me around to face her, and gives me a watery smile.

"Good luck," she whispered, "I love you."

With that she swats me on the butt, and I run out of the room giggling. My happiness wears off instantly once I head out the front door, and see the hundreds of people walking towards the Justice Building.

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