Chapter Two: Whisper
Point Of View: Lacey Snow: Walking To The Reaping

My Mom, Matilda, and I are squished as we walk upon the sidewalk.

The first day of reaping, and the last six days of reaping are always the crowded ones. Not that I would know from experience. For, since I am twelve today, this is my first reaping. But, I live close to the town square. And every year, I see all these hundreds of kids crammed into this tiny town square. Almost every kid, from this side of the city is forced to report to one of our city squares on reaping day/ And there are hundreds of thousands of people crammed into this city.

Everyone in this city is required to live here because we are all descendants of people who used to live in the capitol, back before the second rebellion.

Our city has roughly the same amount of people, as three districts combined. There is a small part of the city- the part that I live in, that is reserved for those of us who are descended from capitol citizens who used to work in the government.

I guess, it would of been more polite of me to warn you about this sooner. Since it's kind of important, or so my mother tells me so. But I am related to the old President of Panem. The most horrible, evil man in our of all history. His name is-was- President Snow.

And me? I'm Lacey Snow. The Grandchild of one of his cousins.

The reaping of the Games is always divided up into twelve days. And on each day, two kids are reaped. The first five days are the days that the kids in my little, cut-off reserved section of town are reaped. The Second Rebellion wanted to punish the future generations of people who were descended from people who worked in Panem's old government. To remind us of what our ancestors did. So on the first five days of the reaping, they reap kids who were related to be who used to work in the old Panem Government.

This is how the schedule goes. I only know it because, we once had to memorize it for an assignment in school. But, even if I didn't have to memorize it for school, I'd still probably know it anyway. It's kind of hard not to pick up on the schedule eventually:

Day One (This is today, this day also always falls on my birthday...):
- One of the Tributes will be a descendant of President Snow's. Their gender does not matter. The other tribute will be whatever gender the descendant of President Snow is not, and will just be some random kid who is somehow related to someone who worked in the old government of Panem. Cassandra Johnathon, who was the grandchild of some random Peacekeeper's sister, was reaped on this day six years ago. The boy tribute, was a fifteen-year-old, who was apparently related to me somehow, but how exactly I don't know.

Day Two:
- On this day, a male tribute, and a female tribute who are somehow related to some of the game makers of the old games will be reaped.

Day Three:
- A male, and female tribute who are somehow related to the trainers in the old Hunger Games, will be reaped.

Day Four:
- The descendants of Peacekeepers are reaped on this day. Obviously one of the reaped kids is a boy, and the other is female.

Day Five:
- A random female, and male who are just somehow related to someone who worked in the government, or was a part of the games are reaped.

Days Six- Twelve:
- Any child who is related to any person who used to live in the capitol is reaped on these days. Obviously they reap two kids- a boy, and a girl each day.

I am eligible to be reaped on days one through five. Though, I have my highest chance of getting reaped on day one. Because, that day is when they have a special reaping bowl out, with all the children who are somehow related to me in it.

I guess it's kind of sad to say. But, I know hardly any of them. I'm not even sure how most of them are related to me. But since they were somehow related to President Snow-even if it's a very distant relationship like mine. They get forced into this mess as well.

But despite how many people there all, that could be reaped instead of me. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't scared.

In fact I'm terrified. Maybe that was why I had that nightmare last night? Because of how scared for this day, I felt. But, my mother assures me not to worry. She says that I shouldn't waste my time worrying about getting reaped, because I'm not going too. When I asked her how she knew this, she told me that it was because the odds are in my favor. She says that the odds are technically in everybody's favor, if you really think about it. There are so many names in that bowl, that even if you have multiple entries, your chance of getting picked is still just really small.

My neighbor, Matilda. Who is somehow distantly related to me. Scoffs when she hears my mother talking. Matilda is sixteen, a whole four years older than me. Her hair is a dark shade of inky black. Sleek straight strands of it, fall over her shoulders, as my mother and I turn around to face her.

"Got any words of advice you'd like to share with Lacey?" My mother questions her, throwing Matilda a disapproving look. My mother's eyes silently beg Matilda not to say anything to get me all worried. Usually my mother, and Matilda get along fine. Why today of all day's they're silently glaring t each other, I'm not sure. But, I don't like the daggers that they send at each other with their eyes. So, I tentatively squeeze myself between them. I look up at both of them when I speak.

"Moms says I'm not gonna get picked Matilda, she says that you won't either. " I tell her. I really do expect Matilda to smile. I expect her face to morph into a real smile, and for her shoulders to relax. But relief doesn't dance across her face. Instead, annoyance does. I really, truly didn't expect Matilda to roll her eyes at me.

"Cmon Lacey. Get your head out of the clouds. There aren't that many of us left. And by 'us' I mean those of us who have the misfortune of being related to President Snow. They have a special reaping bowl just for us. One of us is forced to go into that arena every year. It could be you, it could be me. I can't just relax- who knows what could happen? Something bad could happen to you, or I." She says, suddenly just ranting.

Her words shock me for a moment. Matilda. My best friend, just told me to get my head out of the clouds? Maybe Matilda has a point, I'll give her that much. But I vehemently flat out refuse to believe anyone's words by my mother's. They are the only words I want to believe and hear right now.

My mother does not look pleased at Matilda's words.
It took her awhile to console me of my fear, and she doesn't want Matilda to mess it all up. She doesn't want me to feel afraid.

However, Matilda and my Mo aren't cross at each other for all that long. Because Matilda whispers something to my Mom, and I, that makes my Mom and I stop and just hug her- right there in the middle of the crowded side walk.

"I'm sorry Lacey...I didn't mean to scare you." She whispers, then even more quietly adds. "Your Mom's a good woman...you're luck that you have her here with you at your first reaping. I wish mine could've been there." My mother whispers something in Matilda's ears that I don't hear. But whatever it is makes Matilda hug us both tighter for a moment.

Matilda's Mom died a year before Matilda's first reaping. Her father works from the hours of the early morning, all the way until it's late at night. So, he's never been able to walk with her to the reapings. My Mom has always walked her there, and back. I used to wave to them outside the window of our house, as they walked to the town square. But this year, since I am twelve. I join my Mother, and Matilda, on their trek to the town square on reaping day.

After several minutes of talking later, Matilda, Mom, and I all reach the town square. My Mom goes to sit with the other parents, while Matilda and I sign in. After we are signed in we enter the town square. We stand for a minute before we go to our respectable age groups. We face one another, in the open air of the twin square.

"Hey, Matilda?" I tentatively ask her.

She responds by brushing a lock glossy lock, of ink-y black hair over her shoulder, as she says: "What?"

"Did you really mean what you said back there..." I ask her quietly, I look down at my shoes on the pavement for a second. And Matilda squats down so that she's right at my height. "About...how there aren't all that many of us left. And that you, or I could actually be reaped this year?"

Matilda stares at me for a moment. The gravity of my words are sinking down into her mind. Her eyes give away to the fact that she is carefully piecing her response together before she actually says it. This isn't some silly game of jump rope. Ten-year-old Matilda, and Twelve-year-old Cassandra aren't chanting nursery rhymes as they spin a jump rope back and forth. There are no laughing singing children. Just a giant mass of noisy kids, all waiting for the reaping to begin.

And for the first time ever, I am part of that giant mass of noisy kids.

More specifically so, I am one of the children in this mass of many, that has one of the most highest chances of being reaped today.

"No, I didn't." She says to me suddenly. "I was just messing with your Mom. Your Mom's a smart woman, Lacey. What she said is right. You're not going to be reaped today, or any day. " She says to me quietly, then suddenly dropping her voice to an even quieter whisper. She whispers something to me in my ear.

"To the Government, you're just a little name on a slip of paper. Just one single, itty bitty, little slip of paper. And that slip of paper is not going to be drawn today." She tells me. Now finished whispering in my ear, she draws me into a hug. Maybe I never noticed it all that much until now, but Matilda is the closest thing that I've ever had to a big sister.

"Since we're not going to be reaped, does that mean we can get ice cream after the reaping today?" I ask her. She stands up, and grins. "I don't see why not. We might have to talk your Mom into it though. See you later, after the reaping birthday girl!" She says, giving me one last final squeeze, she heads off to the section reserved for sixteen-year-old girls. While I go find my section; the twelve-year-old girl section.

Part of me wants to think that both Matilda, and my Mom were lying to me. The rational part of my brain wants to remind me that I do have a higher chance of being reaped compared to most of the other girls my age. But, I don't want to believe in that part of my brain. If I can just ignore those thoughts, and pretend that they don't exist maybe they will all just go away.

And with all the lies washed out of my ears, and gone. All that's left is the truth. It's the truth because I choose to believe it, so that means that it must be true.

I take those rational thoughts, and I make them become irrational. I replace them with thoughts of my own. Positive, happy, care-free, safe thoughts that I'd much rather have swimming around in my head. Than those annoying, negative, unhappy,not-nice thoughts: I am not going to be reaped for the 102nd Hunger Games. That thought is just silly. There are plenty of other people that are more likely to be reaped than me. My name is just a name, on a singular little slip of paper. The odds are in my favor. And after all this, Matilda, and I are going to get Ice cream.

Today is my twelfth birthday. Nothing bad is going to happen to me.

I struggle with writing in first person sometimes. Which is why a lot of-but not all- of this story is being written in first person. I'm trying to improve on it. So, yeah I swear my writing isn't usually this crappy. But this chapter kind of turned out out be mildly crappy...but oh well. xD c:

I hope a few more things got explained here. If anything is kind of confusing, please tell me in a review, so that I can hopefully clear things up! :D

Thank you so much for reading!