Chestnut "Chess" Gauger:

"Young lady please tell we why you have yet again failed to provide your homework for class." Ms. Stemson sighed as she looked down at the taller 15 year old girl. "And this time please give me an honest answer."

Chestnut looked into her teachers eyes unflinchingly as her mind scrambled to come up with an excuse, after all part of telling a great lie was showing no physical symptoms. Suddenly she had it! She knew exactly what she was going to say. "Well you see Ms. Stemson my mom was cooking dinner and she was very upset because we're almost on the anniversary of my brothers death and so she wasn't paying any attention to the-."

Ms. Stemson cut into Chestnut's explanation, "Get to the point, I don't need this long winded explanation." Ms. Stemson had her arms crossed and was looking frustrated at Chestnut.

"Well anyway she wasn't paying attention and the stove caught on fire. And then some of the fire flew onto our table and our entire table caught on fire. See here's even the ashes of the homework." Chess pulled out some of the mixture of soot and ash from a bonfire she had been at last night. She had noticed the mixture that morning on her way to school.

Ms. Stemson rubbed her temples with her right hand, "Very well Chestnut, and please just turn it in when you can sweetie thanks." Ms. Stemson didn't call Chess on her lie, she knew she was lying but was so tired of arguing with the student about her lies that she let it slide. Chess kept her glum look on her face for the rest of the class, secretly wanting to cheer on the inside; her lies were always successful after all. If she had learned one thing from her brothers it was how to lie.

When school finally ended Chess quickly gathered up her things and hustled out of the classroom. She tried to run home without any of her classmates noticing but before she even realized she had slammed into a boy in her class. "Try and not bullshit you idiot. At least make up a decent lie if you do."

Chess looked up at him, "I was very busy last night helping with my family." Another lie, she thought. The boy made a sound that was halfway between a snarl and sneer. He turned angrily and walked away.

Chess walked home alone, there wasn't many people she really liked at school and those that she did put up with her but weren't really her friends in any sense of the word.

She didn't care though, she didn't mind being a loner.


Guire Oaks:

Two boys walked along the path from the lumberyard alone. What was odd about the pair was the time at which they were walking back. Walking back at 10:36 in the morning meant that they were leaving in the middle of a shift, meaning that something had gone wrong.

"Guire don't be a dick why did you have to argue with Cedar, I had to argue to even get to bring you to the lumberyard and you completely ruined it." Guire shrugged and averted his eyes. He felt bad for arguing with he brothers boss but couldn't Carreg see that his boss was a piece of shit. "Are you gonna answer me? Come on Guire!" When Carreg said his brother's name he gave him a shove.

Guire turned around, frustrated and mad, his hands balled into fists. "Oh come on, Carreg, Cedar treats his workers like shit. He's derogatory and makes fun of you all as you work. How can you work for someone like that?" Upon seeing the lazy manager yelling at his employees Guire had abruptly decided that he would never work for someone he like that. "He sits around while the loggers risk their bodies cutting down trees."

Carreg shook his head at his brother. He took a deep breath to collect himself then started speaking with forced calmness. "Do you know why he doesn't help with the wood work? He has no cartilage in his left knee, moving in any way is extremely painful for him! Do you know why he says derogatory comments to the workers, because we found that as a squad that was the best way to encourage us and worked better then being positive. But how would you know that?" At this point Guire wished he could just sink into the ground. His eyes were looking around wildly as if to find a hiding spot to cower in.

His brother continued on his tirade. "But you know Guire, you would never know that because you always assume that you can judge people within a full 2 minutes of meeting them." Carreg was fuming.

Guire was upset. This was the third time this week that Carreg and him had gotten in an argument. It seemed like they always got in arguments, anything trivial set them off now and days.

Without a word he separated from his brother and murmured a sorry to the ground. Then with his hands in his pockets he wandered home while his brother moved to go back to the lumberyard.

Guire should have gone back to school for the rest of the day but went home and pouted. His brother would still be steaming as he had been trying to get Guire a job for when he left school.

Eventually several hours later his sisters, Olivian and Emile came home from school for the day. Olivian being the older sister she was had noticed Guire's absence. "Guire, why weren't you at school today?" She asked, in a non-threatening tone.

He briefly explained how Carreg had taken him to his work and the ensuing result, of him arguing with the foreman who was nasty and of his and Carreg's argument.

Olivian took this all in with an impassive face. When he was finished she sat down at their kitchen table and gestured for Guire to join her at the table. "Well Guire, I agree that what you saw could make you angry but you need to understand where Carreg was coming from. He really enjoys his boss and thought if you two worked together you would get closer and now that you stomped on both ideas he's really annoyed."

Guire took all this in the quietly replied, "Why would he even try to get me to work with him? He knows we haven't been getting along in the last two years, he should just leave me alone so that we can have our own space." Guire was agitated by his brother's actions.

"Because Guire he probably thinks that the problems you two are having are mainly from your age differences. Remember like 5 years ago when you and I always had problems with ease other." She smiled lightly as she said this. Guire remembered how his sister and him use to always yell and try to fight each other over the simplest things, like who had the bathroom. Luckily as they had aged they stopped the physical fighting and eventually the arguing and insulting each other.

"I guess you're right," said Guire, with a non-committal shrug. In the mean time though he had to steel himself for another scolding when his brother and parents came home.


Chestnut "Chess" Gauger:

She walked all by herself into the reaping pen. She had no one to accompany her and due to this felt a bit awkard. Her brothers were no help. Birch had just turned 19 six months ago and was finally exempt from the reaping. Grover on the other hand was six feet under. Upon the memory of why she was walking alone into the pens and not with her older brother Chess begin to look at the ground and scrunch up her face, trying not to cry.

"You ok Chess?" A classmate asked. She looked concerned. Chess fell back though into what she was comfortable with.

"Oh yeah dust got kicked into my eyes when I was walking into the reapings."

"Oh ok," the classmate was a bit surprised. She scurried away leaving Chess alone once again. Chess immediately regretted the lie; she could have had some company for the reaping. If only she hadn't immediately summoned up a lie upon the first question.

"Hello citizens of Dissstrict 7! How niccce to see you!" There escort Cassiopeia had come out of the Justice building, elaborate headdress on, talking like she had for the last few years, hissing her S's and C's so that she sounded like a serpent. She also wore a long dress down to her toes that looked like scales. "I am very excited for this year's gamesss. I can't wait to ssssee what tributes come out of this district." She lifted her hands in the air excitedly as if this was the most exciting day in her year. Well for her it probably was Chess thought.

"Who should I sssselect first the girls?" She turned to one side and cupped her ear as if expecting people to cheer. She received not a single sound. "Or the boyssss?" At the word boy one person gave a whoop that echoed awkwardly around the square. Cassiopeia looked thrilled in the direction of the sound.

"I'm glad ssssomeone is excited! Now then," she made her way to the reaping bowl. "Our male tribute isssss Guire Oaks!"

Chess felt the pressure around her chest loosen ever so slightly. She had never heard of this boy names Guire before and so it didn't matter to her that much that he had been reaped. It took her a while to spot the boy shuffling on stage. He wasn't screaming which was always good, Chess actually thought he looked pretty composed. When he turned around on stage though she saw his eyes flickering quickly around the square as if he was looking for a place to run away too.

Chess was snapped out of staring at Guire by Cassiopeia's voice, "And now for our lovely female."


Guire Oaks:

He felt like someone had put his brain on ice. He couldn't think. He kept looking at different faces in the crowd but recognized very few of them out of the entire district.

He found his younger sister Emile in the crowd. She had tear-stained cheeks and had the two girls next to her holding her up so that she didn't drop. Guire thought about if he could make it back to her. What he would have to do to make it back to her.

He would have to raid the cornucopia? Or would he have to run away immediately? But if the arena was in extreme conditions he would need supplies. Or would an ally be an asset to him or a hindrance? Would he be able to drum up sponsors by the time the games started? What type of interview would he give?

These thoughts and brief strategies flooded through Guires mind and he was staring off into space. His focus finally broken by a scream from the girls section.

"Let me go! Let me go! LET! ME! GO!" A girl who looked about 15 had been grabbed by a peacekeeper and strung across his back in a fireman carry. She stopped yelling words and was just screaming at the top of her lungs, fists flailing against his back. Guire assumed he had missed the girl's name.

"You can't reap me! I'm too important to die! I'm too important to die!" Guire saw Cassiopeia cover a snort of laughter with her hand. The Peacekeeper smiled at that comment as he drew closer to the stage. He placed her down but still grabbed her arm to make sure she wouldn't run off again.

"Now then Chessstnut, don't run off again dear." This girl Chestnut looked up at their escort with tears in her eyes.

"You can't reap me! I'm too important." Guire crossed his arms and turned his back slightly to the girl. Whatever she was like he was sure that he didn't wanna get to know her. She seemed like a stupid, lying little girl.


More then halfway done the Reapings now!

If you're reading this story I would love to hear what you have to say and think about this chapter and story! Let me know in the reviews below!

Tell me who your favorite tributes are out of all those you've met!