District Two Reapings: The Depressed and The Popular

"Even when I'm sick and depressed, I love life."

- Arthur Rubensteun

Iridescent Vale, 17
Location - District Two (Training Center)

Iridescent pulled down the sleeves of her grey jacket to hide the scars on her arms. She didn't want anyone to see them. It's just a huge mess of old dried-up blood. Plus it wasn't nice to look at. When she was thirteen, she fell into a depression and began cutting herself because of the bullying. The people who used to torment her everyday in school. But both of those things sort of stopped when she turned fourteen. Iridescent fell in love with the Hunger Games. Back then, she just realized that she was really good with maces and other heavy weapons. And she trained every single day because of that.

She raised the sledgehammer over her head, and brought it down hard against a practice dummy. Shards of plastic flew all over the place.

Iridescent grinned at the sight of the damage that she just caused. A chunk of the dummy's head was taken out.

Then she spun around, slamming the hammer against the dummy's side. If her sledgehammer struck a real person's body, it would have crushed the person's ribs.

"Your really good." a deep voice said.

Iridescent froze. She didn't like being in the spotlight. She was never used to people talking to her at all. She was mainly focused on getting perfect grades and training.

When Iridescent turned around, she frowned.

She recognized that guy. He was one of the "Populars" in school. And he's the brother of a Victor who won the Hunger Games several years ago. He has that perfect golden hair with large turquoise eyes. His name is Nicon Fraser.

Nicon sighed as he snatched the sledgehammer from Iridescent's grasp. He took a quick swing, and he made a small dent on the practice dummy.

She snorted. Sure, this guy is handsome and popular, but he isn't very strong. I bet I could take him down.

Iridescent quickly took the hammer back. She made a quick swing (just like Nicon), and slammed the hammer against the target's stomach. It made a huge dent, proving that she is stronger than Nicon.

Nicon smirked. "You know, Iridescent is such a very long name. Mind if I call you 'Dessy' for short?"

Iridescent glared at him. She didn't like the name 'Dessy' or any other nickname at all. She loved her name.

She didn't reply.

"You don't talk much. Why don't you talk?"

She felt anger boiling up inside her body. Nicon is such a bastard. Whenever someone asked her to talk more, Iridescent always snapped at them. And she just did right now.

"Go fuck with somebody else. I'm not in the mood." she snapped.

Nicon threw his arms in the air, apparently annoyed just like she is.

"Fine then. Bitch," Nicon muttered as he walked away.

Iridescent grinned. She managed push off one of the Populars.

She happily placed the sledgehammer on the table and walked all the way back home.

When Iridescent got home, she quickly went inside her bedroom to get ready for the Reaping. She laid flat on her stomach on the floor and pulled out an old box from under her bed. She removed the top and lifted out a faded black dress. It used to belong to her mother when she was a teenager. She stripped off the rest of her clothing and slid on the dress. The dress clung to the sides of her body, showing off her curves.

Iridescent smiled.

She never felt like this way before. She felt beautiful. Gorgeous. Amazing. The black dress complimented her lightly tanned skin. The black made her blond hair look brighter. It also made her look like a mature young woman.

Too bad she doesn't get to wear the dress every single day. Once she takes it off, her beautiful glow will fade away, and she will feel like a miserable person for the rest of her life.

"You do look gorgeous in that dress, Iridescent." Seraphine Vale beamed.

She blushed. "Thanks, mother. For some reason I feel great today. As if I was meant to do something great."

"What does that mean?" Her mother asked, looking very confused.

"I really don't know. Maybe volunteer or something." Iridescent shrugged, throwing her hairbrush to the side.

Seraphine frowned. "Volunteer? Now why would you do something like that?"

"It wasn't really my plan. But come to think of it, I think I should. After all I did train many years. I think I'm ready. To prove to my past-tormentors that I am strong. And no one will ever understimate me."

"No, Iridescent. I will not have you volunteer. There are better ways to prove yourself. To prove that you are a beautiful and strong young woman. Besides your bullies stopped bothering you, right?

"Mom, there are no 'other' ways to prove myself! I trained for a very long time! If I don't volunteer, then I basically threw my whole entire childhood away! That's how long I trained!" shouted Iridescent.

"End of conversation. I won't tolerate your shouting. Raising your voice at me shows disrespect. And I don't want to hear another word about volunteering." Seraphine said calmly, trying to keep her cool.

"No! I'm turning eighteen soon. And you can't do anything right now. It's my life."

Iridescent stormed passed her mother, but Seraphine caught her arm.

"Don't you dare walk away from me, young woman! Or els-"

"Or else what? Drag me away from the stage?" Iridescent sneered as she ripped her arm away from her mother.

"If that's what it takes." Seraphine said firmly.

"I really don't have time for this dramatic bullshit. I'm gonna be late."

"You Only Live Once."

- Mae West

Nicon Fraser, 18

Location - District Two (Training Center)

Nicon grunted as he jammed a mace into a wooden dummy's head. He tried ripping the mace out, but the spikes were stuck deep inside. He cursed. He made a fool of himself in front of Iridescent. How? How can a small girl like Iridescent be stronger than him? If they were in the final two in the Hunger Games, he would surely win because he was good with long-ranged weapons. Nicon was skilled with throwing knives, ninja-stars, spears, tomahawks, and etc.

BUT...

If he was in close-combat, he would probably lose because he wasn't good at self-defense and running. Those were his major weaknesses.

Most of all, his preferred weapon is a blowgun. He had the perfect aim. Nicon tossed the mace aside and picked out a slim-looking tube. He slid fifteen basic darts inside the tube, and took a huge breath. He released the air, and the dart spiraled through the air. It struck dead center, hitting the dummy's chest.

Nicon took in a huge gulp of air, and he began blowing rapidly. Each dart finding hearts, throats, foreheads, and stomachs.

"Your amazing, Nicon Fraser!" His little fanclub cheered.

Nicon sighed in annoyance.

Everyday, his little fanclub would stalk him everywhere he went. The beach, the mall, the pizza shack, his own house... You name it.

His fanclub was just a small group of girls. Thank God there wasn't any boys. But he felt like some of the boys in his class had a crush on him.

Their names were Clarice, Rosine, and Antonia.

"Can I try, Nicon? I wanna see how good I am with a blowgun." Clarice said excitedly.

She ripped the blowgun out of his hands, and took in a huge gulp of air. The dart flew straight out of the tube, and it missed the whole entire target.

"Wow... You suck." Nicon commented.

Clarice's face fell.

"Now let me try!" Rosine shrieked.

She snatched it, and blew a dart. It completely missed. Rosine sighed as she passed the blowgun to Antonia. Surprisingly, Antonia managed to hit the board. It lodged right next to the bullseye.

Nicon smirked. "Not bad, Rodriguez. Wanna take another shot?"

Antonia smiled, and took another shot. Her smile disappeared once she saw the dart hit the wall instead.

"Never mind then..." Nicon muttered.

Nicon ditched the girls so he can get ready for the Reapings.

"I can't believe I wasted my time with those stalking-sluts. They aren't skilled with any weapons at all. And Rosine is planning on volunteering this year. Pfft. One of the first few District Two tributes to die in the Bloodbath." He said to himself

He quickly pulled on a grey button-down shirt and some nice black dress pants. He also splashed water on his hair, and combed it.

"Hey, honey. You missed breakfast. At least grab something light before heading to the Reaping." His mother called out.

"Mmm... That's why your not as strong and muscled as me." His Victor brother, Oceanus, grinned.

"Shut up, fag. A person does not need to use steroids in order to win the Games."

Oceanus picked up a piece of buttery/greasy toast, and threw it like a frisbee. Nicon opened his mouth, and caught it.

"Thanks, douche." Nicon said with his mouth full.

Nicon made it just in time for the girls' Reaping.

"And our female tribute is... Elizabeth Knight!" Rebecca Stoneman shrieked.

Dozens of screaming girls shot their arms into the air, but apparently none of them were chosen except for one familiar-looking girl.

"My name is Iridescent Vale. Possibly District Two's future Victor."

Nicon smiled. This was going to be more fun than he thought.

When the male tribute's name was halfway called, he volunteered.

"Oh my gosh, are you the brother of Oceanus Fraser? Victor of the Seventy-First Hunger Games?"

"Yes, Rebecca. And I'm going to try my best to bring District Two to victory!" Nicon beamed.

"Great! Can't wait to see you guys in action. Shake hands now."

Iridescent turned her face into a look of disgust.

"Hello there, Dessy."

Nicon then kissed her on the lips, momentarily stunning Iridescent. But through the corner of his eye, he saw his old girlfriend, Emilia, walking away from the crowd, angry.

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