Don't let me get me, I'm my own worst enemy

It's bad when you annoy yourself so irritating

Don't wanna be my friend no more

I wanna be somebody else

AnneMarie Sutton, 31.

Assistant to the President.

Arabelle has always been too nice. Ever since we were little girls, she was going out of her way to do things for other people. I, on the other hand, have always been introverted. I want to help people, but not to the same extent that she does. That is why this job is absolutely perfect for me. I bring her hazelnut coffee with three sugars, two teaspoons of milk and a dash of honey, listen to her problems, attempt to comfort her when she has one of her diva meltdowns, and then I go home. I have always loved my job, until now. You see, I suffer from extreme paranoia. I can't help it, everything scares me and eventually I just shut down. It's always been like this, it's just something that I've learned to live with. I have always felt safe and welcome here, but now there are fires, gunshots and death threats. I'm not sure how long I can put up with it.

I pile my sandy brown hair onto the top of my head and mentally prepare myself for the day. My black pencil skirt is tight today and I find myself regretting all the fried pickles that I had eaten the night before. I wobble over to the coffee machine and wait for the strong black liquid to fill the lavender mug. The aroma of coffee fills my nostrils and I close my eyes and take a deep breath in, it smells so good. I have always been afraid of what that does to a person on the inside, so I've never tried it.

"Rise and shine, Belle!" I say quietly as I enter her room. The long black curtains are drawn, leaving the room filled with silver furniture and lavender accents very dim. Arabelle is lost under her thick lavender comforter and her black pillows. "It's time to get the day started, Belly." I say sweetly.

"Do I have to be the President today?" she groans as her head pops up from among the pillows. She lifts her eye mask off of her face and rubs her eyes. I walk over and sit down next to her, feathers fly out from her comforter as I sit.

"The reapings start tomorrow, Belle. You have a lot to do." I tread lightly, afraid of how she will respond.

"You're right!" A strange look creeps across her face and she she practically leaps out of her bed. "I am so excited! Come on, Annie. We have a lot to accomplish." she pulls my hand and leads me out into the hallway. I am thrown back into a whirlwind of memories by this simple gesture.

"Arabelle, the president is too ill to continue his ruling over Panem, your uncle has requested that you be the one to fill the seat." she squeezed my hand as her uncle's people talked to her.

"Why me?" she asked with wide eyes and a slight tremble in her voice.

"Panem needs a change, something that they have never had before and he really thinks that you would be good for the position. He doesn't want to ask anyone, he just wants you to take his place." the man with the funny black mustache said.

"Can I think about it, I don't know if I have it in me." she said.

"You have forty-five minutes and then we will need a decision, paperwork needs to be done," the man huffs. Arabelle grabs Berkley's hand and leads him out into the hallway, motioning for me to follow as well.

"Babe, what do I do? I don't want to let my uncle down, but I really don't think that I am fit for this position." she asked him.

"Belle, you can do anything that you set your mind too, I believe in you. If this is something that interests you at all, do it. I will be there to help you every step of the way." he kissed her forehead and sat down in the large red armchair. "You have been a great secretary to him all these years, you know how Panem works, babe. You can do this." he smiles.

"I guess you're right, and it might even be kind of fun." she runs her fingers through her hair as she ponders her options. I sat there shaking my head. Arabelle is to nice to run a country, she always has been. But then again, maybe that is exactly what Panem needs. Some TLC if you will.

Arabelle and Berkley quietly discussed over in the corner for way over forty-five minutes. Finally, Berkley placed a soft kiss on her hand before she entered the room by herself. I hoped she would make the right decision and turn the offer down, but deep down I knew that she wouldn't. She is in the room for a total of seven hours. Berkley is snoring in the chair and I am picking at my finger nails. Finally, the door opens.

"Ladies and Gentleman, you are looking at the new President of Panem!" She throws her hands up into the air and pops her hip out, giggling. Berkley runs up to her and spins her in circles.

"I am so proud of you!" He exclaims.

"Annie, can you believe it?" she asked, wrapping me up into a hug.

I couldn't, but not in the way that she was thinking. It was at times like these, that I wish I wasn't so afraid to speak up.

I can't tell if I'm winning or losing

Somebody tell me what are we doing

Nobody ever comes out on top

Tell me are we ever gonna stop

Playing these games

Arabelle Sawyer,31.

President of Panem.

I'm done. Someone is obviously very unhappy with me and their most logical solution would be to try and kill me. The people of Panem think that I am too nice, they think that I'm not capable of running a country. They're wrong.

Don't get me wrong, when I first took this position, I had my reservations. I knew that Panem was becoming restless, but I didn't think that it was going to become as bad as it has gotten in the past few months. I thought that if the people of Panem were shown love and kindness instead of the rage and tyranny that my uncle was so fond of, that people would start to realize that life wasn't as bad as they thought. I had fully intended on starting plans to get rid of The Hunger Games all together. I thought that killing innocent children to prove a point was heinous and unnecessary. I had all these ideas swirling around in my head, but now people are threatening my happiness, my safety and my life. I'm just done.

If people thought that my uncle and the previous GameMakers put together astonishing, amazing and well planned arena's and games, they have another thing coming.

No more Mrs. Nice President, let the games begin.

Hello. :)

I realize that this chapter is short and probably hella lame, but I just needed to get something out in order to make a few announcements. I am at work, so I didn't edit this chapter so please excuse any errors.

Okay, I have finalized my list of tributes for this story. I received way more submissions than I ever thought that I would. In my last story, I was lucky to even fill the spots that I needed but with this one, I actually had to make choices and it was really hard for me. If your tributes didn't make the list, it's nothing personal at all and I hope that you will still read. The list will be posted on my profile later this afternoon and hopefully the district one reaping will be posted tonight as well. I'm super excited to get this story going.

I hope you enjoyed the last prologue, we won't be seeing Arabelle for awhile.

You have eight days left to get your submissions to Thunder and Lightning in, submit away. :)

XOXO

Jenna