Hi guys! I couldn't wait, so I decided to upload the second chapter a few days earlier. But the next chapter will probably come on Sunday. A little longer this time, and hopefully better. I think so at least. It's better than the last chapter, but not the best, I know I can write better. Hope you like it, and please review! ;)

P.S I'm also waiting for a picture that my bestie is drawing that I will use as a cover for this story. She's an amazing artist, so be preapred for some amazing art!

It didn't take long to walk from the fence to our house. Five to ten minutes depending on how much stuff we had brought home from the Market. That day I had only bought 3 glass-jars and a piece of blue fabric. Jonathan never bought anything at the market, unless he really needed it, so that day he only carried a small box where we had money, the piece of lamb and some other meats he had traded for.

We walked through the door into a quiet house. Jonathan walked into the kitchen and put the bag with the lamb on the table. I walked into my room and saw two dresses lying on my bed. They looked pretty much alike, but one was beige and the other was light green. I didn't know what it was, but other than the color, I thought the light green was prettier.

I stood for a second and watched the beautiful dresses. Mom must have made them. She was a very good seamstress. I shook my head and returned to the reality. No. I was not wearing either one of them. I wasn't even going to the Reaping. I didn't get it, why did everyone make such a huge effort to look nice at the Reaping? It was just a gathering to decide who was going to die on television. It was stupid. The whole Hunger Games were stupid. Why? Why make such a huge deal of something that happened 68 years ago? And why would people watch it? I didn't know how the people in the Capitol thought, but I knew that the people in District 8 and 10 also thought it was stupid. So why did they watch it? Why not just ignore it?

I put the dresses in my wardrobe and went back to the kitchen. I put the glass-jars on the table, and then went to mom and dad's bedroom and put the fabric on their bed. I folded it and laid it down carefully, so it lay as perfectly and wrinkle-free as the dresses when they were on my bed.

"Are you going to the Reaping this year?"

I didn't even notice when Jonathan stepped into the room.

"No" I answered simply and went out of the room. I walked towards my room and I saw in the corner of my eye that he followed me.

"Come on. I don't care if you think it's stupid, you have to go. It's to show respect to those who get chosen, and to show their families that you're sorry for them." He said.

I didn't answer. I did feel sorry for the tribute's families, but I showed it my own way. I was not going to stand there watch some stupid film and hear Effie Trinket jabber about what honor it is to be chosen. No. I wasn't.

I stepped into my room and closed the door, but it stopped for Jonathan's foot.

"Come on. Please! For me?"

I answered by kicking his foot so it went out of the way for the door and slammed it closed.

I threw myself on my bed and buried my face into my pillow. I screamed loudly and pounded with my fists on my bed. Then I just lay there. I don't know how long I lay there, but I heard mom coming home, asking Jonathan how his day had been and asking where I was. I heard dad and my younger brother Andrew coming home. I heard them talking about what we would have for dinner. Jonathan didn't tell about the piece of lamb, which was understandable. First, neither mom nor dad knew we used to sneak over to District 10 after school. They didn't worry about us as long as we were home when they got home. They trusted us. Second, we probably wouldn't be able to eat it, so it was just unnecessary to get there hopes up for something we couldn't eat.

I didn't get out of bed until dinner was ready. When I opened the door the smell almost knocked me over. I didn't recognize it, but it smelled fantastic. Dad and Andrew must have been out buying spices earlier. That would explain why they got home at the same time.

When I walked closer to the table I saw the giant pot on the table filled with some kind of stew. The sauce had a beautiful brown color and there were pieces of meat and colorful vegetables floating around in it. My mouth let out the first thought that popped into my head.

"How the hell did we afford this?"

"Well, every time your mom and I got our salary we put away some, if we someday would need it. And last week we thought, 'Why not use some of it on a really nice meal before the Reaping'? So, we did." Dad answered and sat down at the table.

The rest of the family followed him and sat down. I slowly walked closer to the table. Was I dreaming? We could never afford this!

"What is it?"

"It's lamb with artichoke, carrot and turnip. Come on, sit down."

I sat down at the table and put a large spoonful of stew on my plate. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the rich smell, before I tasted it. It was amazing.

"So, how was it?" Mom asked and looked at me, Jonathan and Andrew. I was speechless.

"Absolutely incredible!" Andrew shouted and stuffed his mouth with meat.

"Delicious" Jonathan agreed and poured another portion.

"Did you see the dresses I laid out for you?" Mom whispered to me. I just smiled and put another spoonful of stew on my plate.

After dinner I thought about it. It was wrong of me to enjoy that stew. The only reason mom made that stew was because of the Reaping. If there were no Reaping, mom would have never made that stew. And since I ignore the Reaping and the whole Hunger Games, I should've ignored the stew. I should have just cooked some beans, and eat it at my room, so I wouldn't even smell the stew.

I went into my room and opened the wardrobe. I pulled out the green dress and held it in front of me while looking in the mirror. It truly was beautiful. Even though I knew it was for the Reaping, I allowed myself to stand there and admire the dress. But then I carefully put it back and went to bed.

I couldn't sleep that night. Normally, I wasn't nervous about the Reaping, but that night I couldn't stop thinking about it. It wasn't that I was nervous about Andrew, he was only 10. It was Jonathan's last year, but I didn't think he would be that unlucky that he would get picked his last year. For once, I was actually nervous about me. I had never been nervous before, and I hadn't thought about it earlier, but that night it hit me. If I would get picked, I would have to fight to the death. I would have to kill other people. And not just any people, people my age.

I wouldn't let myself think about it, so I decided to go hunt a little. I sneaked out of room and went to the door. I was just about to open it when I heard Andrew's voice behind me.

"Where are you going?"

I let the door-handle go and walked up to Andrew.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" I said, looking him in the eyes,

"I can't sleep. What if you or Jonathan gets picked tomorrow? What if both of you get picked?" he said with a sad tone in his voice.

"We won't get picked. I promise. Neither one of us have registered for tesserae. We're safe"

"Just because you haven't signed up for tesserae doesn't mean your names aren't in those bowls!"

"Look at me. I promise. We won't get picked" For some reason I didn't believe fully in myself when I said that.

"Where are you going?" Andrew asked again.

"I just wanted some air. Can't sleep"

"Can I come?"

I sighed. No hunting for me.

"Fine"

We sneaked out of the house and I closed the door as quietly as I possibly could. We started walking towards the Town Square. You could hear people yelling at each other, and metals clashing together. They were building the stage for the Reaping. When Andrew realized what I was going to do he looked at me panic-stricken.

"No! You can't! It's wrong!"

"Really? It's wrong for me to take money from them, but it's not wrong for them to take human beings from us?"

"Of course it is, but we can't do anything about them! At least you have feelings, you can think about it and realize that it's wrong!"

"I just want them to pay for what they're doing. It's not much, but at least it's something."

Andrew gave up. I guess he realized it was no use trying to convince me.

We sneaked up behind a building and I peeked out at the people building the stage. They were dressed in stained working clothes, but among them walked a couple of people dressed in colorful clothes and matching wigs. Residents from the Capitol. What else?

"Stay here, I'll be right back" I said to Andrew and sneaked closer to the stage. I crouched down behind the stage and peeked out. The ones from the Capitol had tiny purses hanging from their shoulders. Perfect. I went back to Andrew.

"Okay. I want you to start walking right out there, pretending like you're walking in your sleep. Then, when you hear my sign, wake up."

"Okay. Wait, what sign?"

"I don't know, I'll sound like an owl, or something like that. You'll notice. Now go!" I pushed him out behind the building and he started walking slowly against the stage. He made some noises which made everyone at the Town Square rush against him.

"Oh my god, is he okay? Hello? Hello!?" one of them said and waived her arm in front of Andrews face.

"I think he's sleepwalking" another one said.

"We have to wake him up!" a third one said.

"I have some perfume in my purse, maybe that'll help?" the second said.

"That sounds good, we'll try that!" the third one answered, and they all led Andrew towards the stage and sat him down.

I sneaked down behind the stage and watched them. The one with the perfume removed her purse from her shoulder and pulled out a glass-bottle filled with a pink fluid. She put down her bag next to her while she sprayed some of the perfume on Andrew.

I quickly snatched her purse without anyone noticing and looked for anything of any value. I took three shining gold coins and a couple of copper-coins before I put it back and ran back behind the building. I made some kind of bird-noise and heard Andrew pretending to wake up and asking where he was and stuff like that. He was a very good actor. It didn't take long for him to convince them that he didn't lived far away and was able to get home by himself.

"Did you get anything?" he asked as soon as he met me behind the building.

But before I had the time to answer a loud voice screamed from the stage.

"My money! The boy's a thief!"

Dun dun duuuuun! Cliffhanger... ;)