Mark's POV
I jumped down the last three steps of the stairs, hitting the ground with a loud thud.
"Good morning, Hon!" my mother called from the kitchen. Everything was crystal clean, meaning she must've stayed up all night. Mom always cleaned when she was nervous.
"Hey, Mom."
"Look, I made your favourite" she said lightly, bringing me a plate of eggs with steam billowing off. There were bags under her eyes, "Only the best for my little boy. My, you're growing so fast. Fourteen already?"
"Thanks, but I really can't take this. Molly or Sam should-"
"Don't worry about it, I made them for you. Can't a mother spoil her child every once in awhile?" she grinned guiltily. I sighed but ate the food just to please her. She was always this bad this time of year, always on the day of the reaping. I'm positive that when Molly is of age she'll get the same treatment.
After I was finished, I wiped my mouth with the back of my arm and stood up.
"Really, Mom" I started and took a large swig of juice, "I'll be fine." I kissed her on the cheek before jogging out. I had only walked a few feet before I saw her.
"Christine!" I yelled slowing into a walk. She looked over and me and grinned. She was petite, shorter than me with red hair that, like always, was pulled back into a loose ponytail.
"Her there, stranger," she said smiling. I chuckled before reaching her side .
"So what do you feel like doing today?" I asked.
"Well, I don't know... how about we just go into town?" she began.
"But we've gone there a million times already!"
"We could…go see if Mike is awake-"
"-Which he never is."
"I know!" she froze, as if mid-epiphany, "We could play that game... you know what's it called?

"Something that begins with a 'T'…" she tried to recall, tapping her foot.
"Tug-a-war?"
"No…it's not that, duh" she paused before her face brightened "Oh right, I think I remember…" she grinned devilishly at me "TAG!" she yelled and sprinted away before I had time to blink. I grumbled before racing after her.
I chased her for a few minutes of non-stop running before I finally forfeited. I huffed and puffed.
"You're impossible," I panted breathlessly, "Aren't we a little old for tag?"
"You're never too old for tag" she said seriously, looking off in another direction.
"Hmm," I murmured tiredly. She laughed and began to jump away.
"Not again!" I whined.
"No, of course not, it's no fun when you're it, everyone knows that," she said innocently, grinning cheek to cheek. I rolled my eyes, walking with her. We walked until we had reached a small brick wall, which we both promptly climbed on top of and sat down.
"What would you do if you had a million dollars?" she asked curiously, holding her arms spread out like wings on a plane..
"I would give you a quarter, and the rest would go to my family," I said simply.
"You are too nice," she complained, "I meant greedy things like, I for example, would buy cheese cake. Mountains of the stuff."
"I've never had cheese cake though," I said.
"Well, trust me, it's the best thing ever."
"Then I'll buy cheese cake." I shrugged.
"Noo! You can't just take my answer!" she raised her eyebrows angrily. I smiled in amusement.
"Then I guess I would get….gum. I only had it once, but it was amazing" I said.
"Really?" she turned around, looking into my eyes "I don't think that would be a good choice."
"So let me get this straight. At first you ask me the question, and then you say my answer is, in fact, wrong. Then when I correct my mistake, you complain about me taking your idea and then when I finally answer the question the way your wanted me to... you tell me it's a bad idea," I said half-jokingly.
"Well…when you put it that way," she pulled at her ponytail with a smirk.
"You amaze me," I said. She stopped again, looking at me with a different look, as if she was trying to read my thoughts
"What?" I said nervously.
"Nothing," she whispered, looking the other way.

I jumped off the landing, hitting the ground solid.
"We got to go," I stated.
"Is it really that time already?" she complained.
"No, pssh, but I just want to go to the town square because I'm so excited," I said sarcastically, "Yes, of course it's time!"
She sighed before joining me on the ground, stumbling a bit. Still wobbling, I helped her recover by wrapping my arm around her to steady her.
"Whoa, careful there," I mumbled. It was only a second until I realized that she was perfectly alright, standing straight, and yet I still held her.
"Oh, sorry," I said in chagrin, pushing away from her. She looked at me with the same expression from before.
"What?" I said, annoyed.
"Nothing," she mumbled again "Just, Mark, I…"
"Yes?"
"Uhm…never mind" she said shaking her head, "So, should we go?" And with that silent agreement we both began to walk toward the reaping.

Christine's POV
"-and the boy who will claim this almighty glory is…." the woman spoke, though I only half-listened. I was in a daze, thinking about only one person in the room. Mark. I'm not sure why either of us didn't say anything about that certain connection I knew we both felt... maybe it's easier just not to mention it? I'm not sure. But I promised myself that I would tell him tonight. "…Mark Kale." my brain snapped back into reality as the name was spoken.
"No," I heard him whisper so softly.
"No," I echoed him, "NO!"
"That's me," I heard him whisper to himself, "Walk."

"No!" I yelled again. Many faces turned now, watching in sorrow as tears ran down my cheeks. When he gotten on stage, he stood there looking lifeless. He stared down at me as I watched him.
"I love you," I whispered though I knew just as well as anyone else that he couldn't hear me over the buzz of the crowd. I had waited too long.
"And the girl who will represent district five is…. Christine Mase!" my heart skipped a beat, but I felt a strong determination. I knew if I hadn't been called I would have volunteered; I wouldn't let him go that easily. Love, I thought.
"NO!" My father screamed "NO! Someone volunteer!" he yelled over the crowd. He was near me as I began to walk forward.
"No, you can't go," he growled, "I Volunteer!"
"I'm sorry, sir, you can't do that..." the woman on stage said awkwardly, looking down at us with a sad look.
"Let me go, Poppa" I murmured, lightly pulling my arm out of his grasp, "I love you."
"No... my little girl, my precious little girl..." he moaned now, "NO!"
My heart collapsed. This was too much. I couldn't, I wouldn't, but I had to. I felt as if my whole heart had been torn apart.
"Please Christine," he said, reaching out.
"I'm sorry," I said before taking the final steps towards my future with Mark, where I would remain for the rest of my life.

okay guys, i need some feed back please, do you like do you not? it's hard to write when i don't know what you think thanks to fazzems again