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I run as fast as I can towards the seam but with every step it seems to be getting further and further away. I hear Gale's voice behind me shouting my name. He's catching up and I push myself to run even faster. I turn my head back once again and I can't catch a sight of Gale anywhere. I slow to stop and turn back around only to bump into a solid mass. Gale.

"You can't escape me Katniss. We're meant to be together. You're going to choose me and you know it." He reaches for me but at the last moment I duck down an alley to the left of us. "Katniss" he hisses calmly which scares me more than his shouts.

The alley gets darker and darker as I run though it, it has to end soon, it just has too. It's so dark now I can barely see an arm's length in front of me.

CRASH!

I slam into a wall full speed. Somehow it doesn't hurt but now I'm trapped and blind in a dark alley somewhere in the seam. I can't hear Gale anymore so I'm hoping maybe he has left me alone. I put my hand out in front of me and try and feel my way back. My hand finds something firm and warm, a chest? I try and pull my hand back but hands grab me and lips crash down onto mine. I struggle but whoever it is they are too strong. He finally pulls away and my blindfold is removed to reveal Gale standing before me.

"I told you, you're mine!" he leans towards me; his eyes darkening even more so than the deep grey so like my own. I struggle and try to free myself from his iron grip.

"No!" I scream.

"Katniss?" I wake with a start and look around me. I'm wrapped tight in my blanket, the sun is peaking through the window and Prim is kneeling next to my bed looking scared. "Katniss are you ok? Did you have a nightmare?" she asks concerned.

I nod and pull her into my arms. I remember what really happened after I ran from Gale. I ran all the way home without stopping. Gale called after me but I didn't stop and he also didn't come after me. I didn't say anything to mom or Prim when I got home. We just had dinner, I showed mom and Prim my pin from Sae, and mom gave me her present.

It was a new blue dress for my union ceremony tomorrow. I was moved by this gesture of affection so rarely shown by my mother that I embraced her for the first time in years and thanked her before I went to bed.

Now I'm lying here with Prim in my arms, the sun warming my face and reminding me that today I am to choose a husband. For a moment I wonder what would happen if I don't pick Gale today, what if I pick someone else? This thought brings a whole new flood of fears to my mind. What if they are worse than Gale? And who else would accept me?

My mom interrupts my panicked thoughts before Prim can notice.

"Come on girls we have to get ready, they are expecting you at the arena by 11 and you need to get ready." At this Prim bounces out of the bed, squealing a bit with excitement. She is so innocent about the world that we live in that she is thrilled at the thought of me getting married. She thinks it will bring me happiness and that I will find a loving husband and have cute babies. But she doesn't realise how much I dread it, I mean how could she? She is just 14 and has a crush on Gale's younger brother Rory, who thankfully is nothing like his brother.

I get ready, silently brooding on what will happen today. I wash in the bath my mom has run me, trying to scrub as much dirt from my skin as possible, scrubbing till my skin is pink and tingling. I then use my mom's old razor to remove any "unwanted" hair from my legs and under arms as my mom instructs to appeal to my future husband; I shudder at the thought of Gale's forceful hands all over me or some stranger groping me because he has the right as my husband and I can't refuse him.

Once I'm done I get dressed in my new blue dress. It fits perfectly and exaggerates curves I don't have. My mom then sits me down and braids my hair.

"I know you're nervous," my mom says softly as she works, "I was too, I didn't know who I would choose or if he would accept me, but the heart works in mysterious ways, you just have to follow it." My mom finishes my hair and I turn to embrace her for the second time in two days. "I know I haven't always been the mom you and Prim deserve, but I do love you" she whispers in my ear.

"I love you too mom," I can feel tears in my eyes as she squeezes me a little.

"I'm going to miss you," she whispers softly, reminding me that if I choose a husband then I will have to move in with him tonight and tomorrow we will be assigned a house where we will live together. We stand there for a moment in silence until the clock rings the half hour bell and we pull apart to leave for the arena. It's only then I realise my mom has been crying.

The arena is on the other side of town, as far away from the seam and mines as possible. Mom and I walk silently while Prim babbles on about how exciting today is and trying to guess which boy I will pick. As we get closer we can see the stream of boys going into the main part of the arena. Some of them see me and call out things like "hey pretty you can pick me any day" or "hey guys, looks like we have a hot one this week even if she is from the seam"

I just blush and look away. I know I'm nothing much and I don't need their taunts to make me any more nervous than I already am.

We go in though the girls entrance when my mom and Prim are lead to the family viewing area where the families of the girls go to watch their daughters choose a husband. I am lead away to another room where 2 other girls are waiting seeing as there's only 3 of us this week, another girl from the seam who looks as nervous as me whose name I do not know, and a girl from town I do know. She is one of the richest girls in town and one of the nastiest as well, Rosa Pyres. She is babbling on about some merchant boy she is sure she is going to marry with blue eyes and blond hair. I didn't catch his name but I don't care for I know the last person I'm going to pick is a merchant.

District 12's capital attendant Effie Trinket comes bustling in. This year she has a hot pink wig on and way too much make up (as usual). She goes on and on about the procedure that we have been taught at school from day one telling us to wait to be accepted and not to take of our blindfolds off at any point. Then she gives us our order. The other seam girl, Suzie I think her name is, is first, as her birthday was last Monday. Then it's me, my birthday being yesterday and lastly Rosa, who turned 18 today. She isn't happy about being last but Effie manages to get her to come around by saying that the last girl of a group is always more remembered. Then Suzie is called in and all I can do is wait.

It seems to take forever and just moments at the same time but all too soon my name is called. They lead me down a long corridor to a room with the platform that will raise me up into the arena. There are a couple of assistants who tie my blindfold and secure the head phones over my ears, being careful not to mess my hair up, the capital loves a pretty bride of course. They then lead me over to the platform and a voice comes out of the headset.

"Ok sweetheart, I'm going to guide you through this so everything goes as smoothly as possible, just do everything I say and everything will be great" the slurred voice of district 12's marriage counsellor Haymitch Abernathy comes though the head set. He deals with everything unions related and so he oversees every union.

"Ok now the platform will rise in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ..."

I feel the platform below me rise and I fight to keep my escalating panic out of my face. The platform then comes to a stop and I know I'm in the arena surrounded by hundreds of boys, one of which I'm about to choose.

"Ok now sweetheart, I need you to try and clear your mind and try and listen with your heart. You should see lights all around you when you have, so give me a nod to let me know you're ready." His voice cuts out and I try and clear my mind. The effect is almost instant, all around me are lights that shine like the stars at night, yet some are more beautiful. The beauty is so great I barely manage to remember to nod to Haymitch.

"Ok now I want you to circle round until you see the brightest light then stop facing the light and don't move even if the light moves."

I do as he says circling till I'm nearly blinded by a light so bright, I raise my hand instinctively but then I remember my eyes are closed, so I lower it and stand still waiting for my next instruction. It takes a few minutes and the light both moves to the left and closer.

"Right sweetheart, the boys have been moved into 10 groups of 5 so you turn to face the light again" I turn to the left so I'm lined up with the light once again. A few moments pass and the light moves to the right and closer again.

"Ok you're nearly there, I need you to raise your left hand with your palm facing out" I do as he says and try and fight the trembles in my arm.

"Ok it's all yours, just walk slowly forward toward the light until your hand finds him, and then wait for his reaction. Good luck." With that the voice cuts out and all I can hear is the pounding of my heart in my ears, the fear starts to kick in. This is it, the moment I select a husband and to be publicly rejected or accepted.

Slowly I manage to will myself to step towards to that bright light that glows more intense with every step I take. My fingers brush fabric and I hesitate a moment before placing my hand fully on the warm firm chest of the man I have chosen. I can feel his heart racing beneath my fingertips and know that he can see my trembles; time seems to have stopped as I wait what feels like eternity for a response while my head races with questions. Will he step away and reject me? Is it Gale? Who have I chosen?