Landon "Andy" Yeward (12) D7M

"Hey Andy!"

I stopped in my tracks as I heard the voice call my name. I recognised the voice as Juniper's and groaned internally. Juniper was a tad bit clingy for my liking. But sometimes, one had to interact with those one didn't like. So, forcing a smile on my face, I turned around to face the skinny girl.

She grinned at me slyly and raised her hand for a high-five. I obliged her.

"How're you doing Andy?! We haven't talked in a while!"

"I'm alright, Juniper," I replied with a smile, "I've just been a little busy. Sorry..." And then I laughed sheepishly to add to my conversation the concept of genuineness.

"Aww, I understand that. We're getting heaps of homework these days!"

"I know right! Like, why do you give us all the work to do? You're the teacher, you should know stuff."

"Exactly! Who gave them the right to be teachers when they don't know anything about their subject?!"

"Aye, they term it as 'valuable classroom experience'. "

"Anyway Andy, are you like going to come tonight? To Maple's party?" she asked, leaving me genuinely confused.

"Who's Maple?" I asked, perplexed. I was in contact with so many people every day that I couldn't really remember all of them. Sure, I'd heard the name Maple, but when you look at it logically, anyone living here would know that name because like, you find a Maple in every nook and cranny. So it was only natural that I was confused when suddenly asked about going to Maple's party.

Juniper, however, looked at me as if she'd seen some other worldly creature. I shifted uncomfortably at my spot as her gaze bore into me. I didn't like to stand out or be perceived as different even for such small issues. Something suggested that I should know who this Maple was.

"Andy, Maple's our class representative," Juniper said finally with a face palm, "Like, how can you forget that? Hasn't she helped us a hundred times when we haven't done our homework?"

"Oh that Maple!" I exclaimed, slapping my forehead, laughing. "That Maple, I know. So where's the party?"

"It's that cottage near the fence. The one that's all run down and stuff."

"Isn't that a haunted house?" I asked in surprise. That particular cottage had no name, and nobody knew when exactly it came into existence. However, people who went there to cut wood often talked, in terror and with a lot of gesticulation, of sounds that were like screaming in nature, and the kind that just chilled people to the bone. There were also many stories related to it: how a young boy ventured into the cottage only to never return. How the body of an unknown girl was found in the utmost broken state, with her face all eaten up. I didn't know whether there was any truth to all these stories, but it certainly wasn't a very party-like place.

"Come on Andy!" Juniper said with a wave of her hand, "You seriously can't believe all that!"

I laughed at that, all the time thinking that I didn't want to go. It wasn't the best place, it was scary and frankly speaking, going anywhere near the fence wasn't a good idea. Peacekeepers came hard on anyone they suspected of trying to break away.

But then...

"How many people are coming?"

"Our class definitely is," Juniper said as she patiently waited for me to answer. I could see the exasperation in her eyes and her struggle to wait for my reply without saying anything.

If my entire class would be there, I had to too. I couldn't afford to be the odd one out. If they were all going, I would be under radar for not going. And being different wasn't nice. After all, people just didn't care for those who weren't like them. People who were different had survival issues in this country. To live, you had to be part of a group.

"Sure, I'll be there. What time?"

"Great! Party starts at 6. Looking forward to see you there! Bye!"

"Bye!" I said and waved at her.

As soon as she disappeared, I lowered my arm, the smile wiped out.

I didn't really think she 'looked forward' to see me, but I definitely was not eager to be there at 6 pm.

But what was said was said and had to be done. After all, I couldn't really risk not being part of the group.

Noora Oakwood (14) D7F

I let out a deep breath as my eyes took into account the mess that the place was. Holding the broom tightly, I tried to understand how come the floor was this dusty again. I had just cleaned it and yet...

"May be I should just mop it."

Now that was a good idea but how could I leave so much dirt unattended? Shaking my head, I started sweeping the floor from the corner, trying to extract every single dust particle that I could. It was a tedious job as I tried to clean the room again. No matter how much I tried though, the floor looked only slightly better than before.

"Enough of this!" I cried out, hurling the broom across the floor, across the dirtier part of the floor, hoping that it would wipe out some dust in the process.

Silence. Absolute silence.

I tried to stare down the broom that was already lying on the floor like a dead man, willing it to rise. Rise. Rise... Rise!

"Up!" I said, holding out my arm. There was a story about a story in which brooms rose this way. I was desperate enough to try this trick. But when it didn't work, I forced my tired body to bend down and pick it up, all the while cursing my misfortunes. My back ached due to constant cleaning. I kept this place spotless, but what for? There was never a pay raise. It had been four months already since the last time I got a wage hike.

Moving my rugged hand, I started dusting everything I saw and closed the windows when I came nearer. There was no need for more dust to accumulate and make my life harder than it already was.

"Noora!"

The abrupt sound startled me to the point that I literally jumped, my hand clutched over my chest. And again, down went the broom with a thud.

I was angry when I faced Ms Elm. I was busy doing something important! Why did she have to scare me like that?!

"Goodness child, what are you doing here? Isn't it time for you to go home? Mrs Oakwood will be worried!"

And there evaporated my anger on the spot. No matter how much I tried to stay mad at Ms Elm, her gentleness just didn't allow it.

"I'm cleaning the room, ma'am," I replied, "I've to clean three more classrooms."

"But Noora," she said in that gentle way of hers that always calmed me down, "You've already cleaned the entire school thrice already! And everything's spotless! You should go home dear."

"But ma'am-"

"Come on darling. You've worked so hard already! Cleaning everything, attending classes and then again cleaning everything!"

She smiled at me and I knew immediately what I should do. I didn't like leaving things unattended or leaving them unfinished, but I also knew Ms Elm wanted me to go home and study. She saw a treat future for me and thought I could be a big person someday. For that, studying diligently was required.

I didn't earn enough to afford a good school. Good school. Now, education was definitely free, but what they taught in government schools was totally rubbish. There was nothing important in there. Nobody could become learned in this place by just attending school.

However, Oakland Education Centre was different. Firstly, it was funded by rich people, and the teachers were actually scholarly. Secondly, they taught things that could help a person, both in day to day life as well as professionally. The school had the maximum number of students who got admission in universities in the Capitol due to their talent.

I got to study here in return for cleaning and maintaining the building. There were others too, but they were lazy. Apart from free education Oakland also paid me, and I used that money to help my family.

Now that I thought of it, pay raise every four months didn't seem that bad.

"Noora?"

"Yes ma'am," I said with a grin, "I'll go now."

"Good. Take some rest and get down to study."

"Thank you ma'am."

And with that, I left the room, keeping the broom back in its place.

I know. I've just appeared out of nowhere. My sincere apologies to everyone who is reading this. Life is... Not hard, but certainly busy. But I'm sure you're not here to read my nonsensical rambling.

So, what do you think of the tributes? I wrote Landon a couple of months ago. He was easy to write, and fun too. There's a lot of him that's yet to be explored. His submitter did an excellent job, as always. As for Noora, I didn't like the original idea of what she was supposed to be like so she kind of changed. XD

As for the Victor, I'm sure many of you are wondering whether your character has a chance or whether one of mine will win. The answer is... Neither. :) I always have polls for my victors, and the winner usually wins. I give 50% weightage to my own thought and idea of who should be Victor and the remaining 50% to the votes. And, be assured, my 50% will definitely go for one of the submitted tributes.

So basically my characters have a very small chance of winning and that will be the case only if YOU vote for them.

... I'm hoping that made sense.

Have a great day!