Here are district 7&8 reapings! Enjoy! If you read it, review it!!! He he, I can't wait to get these pesky reapings behind us.
District 7, Bower Rivil's POV
I line up with the other 14 year olds, which is pretty close to the front, only the little 12 and 13 year olds are in front of me. I wonder which kid will be called up. Another set of 12 year olds, just like last year? Poor kids. One of them was my girlfriend, Grace's little sister. That's just the way it works – Everyone who goes up knows every other kid in the audience somehow. The boy from last year went to my primary school. I wish our district was more like 11-not in wealth or stuff like that, because we are better off, (not by much), but in size. That way if someone went up, the odds are you won't know them.
Mella, our new escort, comes to the stage. I'm not sure if our escort is a boy or girl – it has shortish dark blue hair and black lipstick, with lots and lots of makeup. Normally this description would fit a girl more, but there is something boyish about her – you can't even tell by the way she/he speaks, because the capitol accent is too affected.
"Now for the boys! I think this year we have a great chance already, I can just feel it in my bones!" I jolt out of my reverie, and realise that a cool looking girl, about eighteen, is already standing on stage. Her name is Reizvolle, or something else terrifically difficult to pronounce. She has midnight black hair and deep blue eyes. She is tiny, and it's a pity she won't last too long. She goes to my school, and my older brother is dating her, I think.
"Bower Rivil!" This time I'm on the ball, and walk steadily up to the stage – if I appear weak or clumsy then I'll get no spons-
Reizvolle Krankenschwester's POV. Sorry to nice career for changing her brother's name, but Zane and Zed sounded weird,
Ugh, Bower is a total idiot! He tripped over the camera wire, and now he is unconscious. Great. Bower is my boyfriends little brother, and I wonder if he will volunteer – probably not, he hardly even talks about Bower, let alone love him.
Stupid kid, now district 7 is the laughing stock of Panem – I can practically hear the laughter. The peacekeepers are taking him away on a stretcher, and a few kids in the audience are starting to snicker. I do to – it is better to keep control than to seem shocked by my district partners – um – lack of coordination.
***
Veronica and Clover, my younger sisters come in to see me first – I have such a big family and the peacekeepers only let two people come in at a time. Clover, who is seven, is too young to really understand what's going on, but she is crying anyway, probably because Veronica is. They are attached at the hip, and I'm so glad that Veronica isn't going in, because it would crush poor Clover.
"Promise you'll come back? Promise?" whimpers Clover. Huh. Maybe she does get what is going on.
"Um, I guess..."
"Promise!" Clovers ferocity scares me a little – she is normally so sweet tempered.
"Promise." I confirm, even though I know I won't stand a chance.
Veronica comes up and hugs me, crying, and only manages to say 'I love you...' before the peacekeepers take them away. I calmly watch as they go, and only when the door slams shut do I realise that is probably the last time I will ever see them. I lunge at the door and shriek at them to come back, only to be hit in the head by the door when someone else comes in.
It's my older brothers; Shane and Zed. They are both too old for the reapings, Shane is twenty three and Zed is nineteen.
"Whoa there, you don't want to be doing a Bower there Reezy!" Zed jokes, using my old nickname from when I was little. Even though Zed is only a year older than me, he is much taller and still treats me like a kid.
"A Bower?" I ask, not sure what that means, though I've heard the name before....
"You know, that boy that got reaped, and fell over on his head and is still unconscious!"
"Still unconscious?" I mock-gasp "Is he even going to be awake for the Games?" See, even my surly attitude can be humorous... to a point.
***
I'm sitting on the tribute train with Bower, who has just woken up. He seems a bit... delirious.
Bower Rivil's POV
What the hell... what happened? I know I'm on the tribute train, I've seen it enough times. I sit up, but immediately lie back down again – my head feels so weird. I close my eyes.
Well, okay maybe ... I only saw .. the train ... only twice, but still, it's ... enough to recognise... it's the only thing in our grey, drab district .... has any colour.
Did my name get called out? I can't remember... why memory is... ... fuzzy... can't think.... The last.... remember is getting.... best suit for the reapings... I'm ... tired.... I ... might go ... sleep... tired.....
District eight, Pauley DePablo's POV
I stand with the other eighteen year olds, wishing that my fiancé's here. But no, he is nineteen, and is in the audience somewhere, but I can't see him. I pat my stomach protectively, hoping that I don't get chosen – that would be bad. Not only would Mitch, my fiancé lose an almost-wife, but also a child. That's right, I'm pregnant. Zoe if it's a girl, Jack if it's a boy. Our new escort, Estela, who used to be from district nine, comes up after Mayor Mapleton finishes his speech.
"I am honoured to be hosting such a unique and wonderful district," She says, groping for words to describe our damp district. It always rains here, and even though it's freezing cold, it's not raining... yet. Though I guess she is at a loss for words because everything here is brown and soggy, but you just can't say that in a speech.
"Ladies first! May the odds be ever in your favour... The female tribute for district eight is... Pauley DePablo!" I start, and resist the urge to faint. I shake my bright red hair in front of me face so nobody can see my face, read my expression, or see my tears. I look out into the audience, and see Mitch. He's crying, and I bet he knows that I will not survive these weeks to come. The only thing that could be worse is if someone I know got chosen, or it started raining.
"And the boy tribute is... Mark Weatherly!" Okay, that's someone I know. I know him very well. He's going to be my brother in law as soon as I get married.
Mark Weatherly's POV
Shit!
My almost-sister-in-law, Pauley, has been chosen! I feel like crying, even though we aren't that close compared to, say, her and Mitch, who's my brother is to her, but you know, we're close enough. Great. Now I'm fighting hard to survive-and that means I'm fighting hard to kill Pauley. She lets her red hair fall in front of her face, but I can tell she's crying. I look away, embarrassed, but there is nowhere else to look. When I shake her hand, like we're meant too, it's so limp that it feels like I'm shaking a piece of rubber or something.
I start to think strategy. I know that's horrible of me, but no matter what happens, District eight is going to have a victor.
I hug my jumper closer to me, 'cos it's really cold, and my jumpers really threadbare. I suppose I stand a chance, because I'm pretty strong, and with my straight ashy blond hair and blue eyes that is fairly common in district one, I'll have no problem pulling willing female sponsors.
The weather used to be alright, because the Hunger Games used to be in Summer, but because of the 95th Hunger Games, which lasted months, (there was a lot of food that year, and the Capitol ended up killing off about 20 of the tributes that year because they just wouldn't kill each other), the Hunger Games has been in Winter. There won't be that problem this year though, because if the Cornucopia's hidden, then most of us have a good chance of starving.
As if this day couldn't get any worse, A huge crack of thunder goes off, and it starts raining, soaking me to the bone in seconds.
