Read! My chapter this time.

Almost forgot the song quote!

All that I know is
I don't know how to be something you miss
I never thought we'd have a last kiss
Never imagined we'd end like this

From Last Kiss by Taylor Swift. Etolia thinking about her mother, and realizing that though she never thought she really loved her, she actually did a little bit. At least, she expected her always to be there when Etolia was ready to tell her, but now she might never get the chance.

My heart pounds in my ears. Ocia is gone. Gone, to the Capitol, where we presume she was enrolled as a citizen and therefore exempt from the Games. My eyes connect with my mother's over the crowd. She looks stricken, her face as white as a sheet.

"Ocia?" Elena Sosot asks again, "Ocia, are you here?" Everyone is silent. Elena frowns and nods to the Peacekeepers by the stage. They nod back once and disperse into the crowd to look for my sister. But they won't find her. She is far away from here, in a better life. Half the Peacekeepers create a barrier to stop anyone from leaving the plaza. Their grim and stony faces reflect purple and yellow as the neon signs change colors. We are all stiff, frozen, and silent. Suddenly, one girl breaks the silence. Her words are soft, but distinct in the complete quiet.

"Ocia has been gone to the Capitol for ten years," Carrie says, looking at the ground. She's a twelve year old, small as they come. Her wispy golden hair is slightly mussed, but something about it makes her even prettier. We've never spoken, but I've seen her around the schoolyard a lot, always alone. This is the reason I am so surprised she is the one who spoke up.

Elena Sosot doesn't know quite how to take this, and our mayor puts his head in his hands. We are the first district, the only district to have a problem with the reapings in fifty years. How humiliating for him. The Head Peacekeeper, one Cornelius Bodger, goes up the steps to whisper in a cupped hand into Elena's ear. She nods and stares off into space for a second, lost in thought. The entire crowd is riveted on her face, but whispers run through the masses. The mayor has a quiet but heated conversation with her before she clears her throat and addresses us again. The silly Capitol accent dies a little from her voice as she says uncertainly, "This is obviously unprecedented and an error in the reaping ball. But we have decided, in order to be fair to the people of District 5, to the families whose children have not been chosen." A bad feeling settled into the pit of my stomach. Her voice is stronger now. "Will the eligible family members of Ocia Akari please come up here?" The audience is completely silent again. Marie gives me a sympathetic look but I ignore her. If they force me into these games, I will go in with my head high. They cannot break me by taking me from my home, for they have nothing to break. Ocia is gone. Addalia is dead. I have no close friends that will mourn overmuch on my death, and I am angry at my mother.

I mount the steps to her and she shakes my hand. I keep my expression fearless, and if not fearless, stony. The Peacekeepers come up on stage and escort us into the Justice Building, their hands on their guns in case we tried to escape. Dion is led to the door on the right, and me the left. A single desk resides in this room, and the Peacekeepers don't leave until I'm sitting in the chair behind it. To my utter surprise, my first visitor is not my mother. It's the mayor.

The mayor is a squat, mostly bald man who enjoys wearing expensive suits. He often struts around the city like a peacock, wearing a light-up tie. Nobody knows his name. To us, he's just "the mayor." I cross my arms and watch him as he sits down across from me.

"Etolia," he says. I'm surprised he knows my name. I don't remember Elena ever saying it during the reaping. His next words surprise me even more. "Etolia, I'm sorry." For a moment, I forget I'm supposed to be composed and confident and just stare at him in shock. He was being…nice? It was too good to last. I can tell by his facial expression that the excuses and useless facts are coming. "It had to be done however, for the good of District 5. You see, I had two choices. I could call for another name to be pulled out and risk another fourteen year old tribute like Dion Zemos, or I could use you, a strong, fearless sixteen year old."

"I see," I say. I don't uncross my arms, which are entangled so tightly I don't think they will ever come apart.

"Your district token," he holds something out to me. I don't take it.

"Isn't my district token supposed to be something of sentimental value to me?" I ask.

"Are you contradicting your mayor?" he asks officiously. I give a great sigh and take the thing from him. It's not like I have anything else I want to take with me. It's thin, thinner than paper. It has a feel similar to skin, and a design on one side. A gray cloud with a yellow lightning bolt in front of it.

"Win for us, will you?" he says, standing up. The nerve of that man. "Whatever it takes."

"Oh? So you want me in the Career pack this year?"

His eyes fix on mine with a startling intensity. "That's exactly where I want you to be." I barely have time to register that in my mind before he leaves and my hysterical mother rushes in. Immediately she flings herself on me, her tears soaking into my shirt. I sit there, stiff and unresponsive as she weeps. At last she releases me and sits across from me. She seems hurt, but not unsurprised, by my response. She knows I closed my heart years ago, in order to avoid more pain. It was after Addalia's electrocution, and I've never opened back up again since. It suits me just fine though. It's the reason I have no close friends and why I'm not bawling my eyes out like my mother. My attitude plays a big part of having no friends, but I think I also refuse to let myself get close to people. I refuse to let myself get hurt again. I want to win. I will win. I have no qualms about killing the other tributes.

"Etolia," my mother says, "I can't stand the thought of…of…losing another daughter. So you have to win. Then we can live with no fear. You'll never go into the electricity generator rooms, and we can both be safe." She doesn't say it, but I know the hidden plea behind her words. Then you can open up again. The only problem is, it's just not that simple.

Before too long, her time with me is up. The Peacekeeper at the door asks me if there's anyone else I want to see as my mother leaves. I say no, and he nods. I might've said I wanted to see Marie if I had known that not seeing anyone else would mean the Peacekeeper would sit in front of me instead. He stares at me with those unblinking hazel eyes. I shift uncomfortably. I can't wait until it's noon, when the train leaves with us on for the Capitol.

There. No cliffhanger at the end of this one :) Review por favor!