District 8 Reaping
So I have to tell you, the other day I put my decorations up and ended up making up a Hunger Games version of "The 12 Days of Christmas". I ended up with-
On the 12th Day of Christmas Suzanne Collins gave to me,
A Love Triangle with Gale,
A Stuck up Girl named Glimmer,
A Brainbox named Beetee,
Some Monkey Mutations,
A Stylist named Cinna,
Snow the Evil Dictator,
A Tough Girl named Joanna,
FINNICK ODAIR!
A Cute Little Girl named Prim
A Love Interest named Peeta
A Mockingjay Pin
And a Hero named Katniss Everdeen!
As you can see, I clearly have no life. Enjoy the Chapter and May the Odds be Ever in Your Favour!
Jayden William POV
"Do you love me Jayden?"
"Course babe; say hi to your mom for me, k?" I pick up my jacket and go to leave the room when she grabs me by the shoulder, swerves me around and kisses me for the tenth time.
After a couple of minutes, I become bored and pull away.
"Look, Becca; it's been good but I gotta go" I turn to walk out again.
"Jayden?" she calls.
"What?"
"It's Lena, not Becca."
"Oh, yeah right; that's what I meant."
She doesn't realise I've just mistaken her for her best friend; again. I doubt she will; Lena's one of my… slower girls. She's also one of the biggest slags, which is fun but a little time consuming. It's as I walk down the street I happen to bump into Becca who quickly pulls me aside into a nearby ally.
"Jayden, why didn't you call me last night?" she demands, tapping her foot.
Unlike Lena, Becca is smarter and much needier.
"Oh I'm sorry baby; I was preoccupied. I hope you'll forgive me" I smile at her shyly and she sighs.
"Well, I guess" she giggles "Got any time for me now?"
I never said she was much smarter.
"I'm afraid he's already got an appointment; with me" my best friend Zach appears out of nowhere and pouts stupidly "And about 99% of district 8."
"What?" Becca looks puzzled.
"Nothing Becca; we need to go to the justice building early" I explain.
"His fans demand it" adds Zach.
We walk off, leaving Becca with that stupid confused expression on her face.
"Jeez man, I gotta hand it to you. You're smooth" Zach says.
"Please don't ever call me smooth again. Any luck with Carmen?"
"What do you think that? That girl is more uptight than the new escort's face."
Cornelius Marigold, the last year's escort, was fired for sexually harassing the stylist and arguably many other Capitolites. The new escort had been on TV: Dolly Sunbow, a middle aged Capitol newsreader who's rumoured to be more plastic than human.
"Maybe you'd have a chance if you'd sort out your own face" I smack the back of his head.
"Maybe I'd have a chance if you got off the market for a change" he snarls back jokingly.
"You could just have my leftovers."
"You think I wanna date Ziana Yogavitch? Bros before hos dude!"
"Fine, if you're still striking out with Carmen when Ryan is eligible for the reaping, I'll break up with Becca and tell her to go to you. I'll still have 4 girls left anyway."
Ryan is my younger brother; he's just turned 10. It's just him and my mom at home, ever since my dad died. Me; I don't know what to think of the games. I guess it's interesting, if a little disturbing but I hate the Capitol. They just dress like crap transvestites and gloat about their richness; any fool can do that. And by Salem's standards, any fool can run Panem too.
Angel West POV
So here we go; first reaping. I'm standing in a crowd full of people I don't know. Johnny, Nick and Switch have all gone to the 17 year old boys section and Carmen to the 16 year old girls section. I'll be the first to admit I've gotten too dependent on Johnny. He's the only person I trust right now. The others are my friends but I don't trust any of them. I wake up in the middle of the night expecting to see Carmen, Nick or Switch with a bunch of peacekeepers ready to take me back to district 13, or what's left of it. I'd be able to kill with little hesitation if I went into that arena; I've lost my family and that can make a person do unspeakable things. But then what? If I win, what happens? I don't need that sort of exposure; what if someone recognises me from district 13? They'd kill me on the spot. Dolly Sunbow takes the stage; she looks like a mannequin, right down to the wig.
"Good morning district 8; may I just say what a pleasure it is to be the escort for such a lovely, clean district. Before we begin, we have a special video from the Capitol" she presses a button on a remote and a large screen starts to play a film.
I've never seen this before and by the end I feel sorry for the people who have seen it twice. It's revolting; they call Katniss Everdeen a traitor and show grisly videos from the games, acting as if it's all worth it. There's no mention of district 13; I'm not surprised. A clip from district 13 was part of what started the rebellion after two district 8 locals; Bonnie and Twill I think they were called, realised district 13 wasn't in ruins after they noticed the same clip was used.
"Angel West!"
What? Me; I've been reaped. I shakily walk up to the stage, but try to stand up straight so I don't look like some weak child. I keep my head down; the less people see of me on cameras, the better.
Jayden Williams POV
I'm not scared; I don't wanna get reaped, but if I do, I don't think my chances of winning are awful. I'm fast and pretty good with a spear. Even so, I wouldn't wanna have to kill some little kids or even someone really weak. It's not right. Sometimes I seriously question if the Capitol think the people in the districts are real, considering how entertaining they find watching children from all of them die every year. It's like we're animals. The female tribute tries to hide herself, putting her hands in front of her face for some reason. Dolly totters over to the boys reaping bowl in her high heels; what an idiot she looks. She digs right down to the bottom to get a reaping slip and when she pulls one out holds it right up in the air.
"And the male tribute is… Jayden Williams."
Ok I lied; I am scared. I hear all my female friends give a gasp of horror as I walk up to the stage. It isn't until I get there until I realise my mouth is wide open in shock. I promptly close it. Dolly takes mine and Angel's hands and lifts them up like the reaping slip.
"Ladies and Gentleman, this year's district 8 tributes, Angel West and Jayden Williams!"
I glance over at the girl again; I recognise her as one of Carmen's friends. I hope I can somehow use that to my advantage but for now I'll just try and keep the peace between us.
Angel West POV
My whole family come in; Carmen, Switch, Nick and of course, Johnny.
"Oh angelface I'm so sorry you got picked" Carmen cries as she hugs me tight.
"If you were that sorry you would have volunteered" sniffs Johnny.
"Lay off her Johnny; it wasn't her fault" I feel weird defending Carmen, but then I also feel weird getting comforted by her.
"Woop woop" Switch agrees (at least I think he agreed).
"Jesus kid, be careful; we want you back in one piece when you win" Nick says gruffly "And make sure you don't turn into one of, eurgh, them."
"Hey, what are you guys getting all sentimental for?" Johnny sighs disgustedly but then he gives me a serious look "But for real Halo, we don't want those Career bastards messing up that pretty little face of yours."
"I'll be careful" I say and I kiss him on the cheek.
He goes red so we promptly say our goodbyes and they leave. Ok, don't panic; I can do this.
Jayden Williams POV
I wait for a long time before anyone actually shows up. Without warning, Zach flies through the door, landing on the hard wooden floor. He gets up and brushes himself off.
"Nice of you to drop in; or fall in" I joke.
"Yeah, well all your little fans wanted to say goodbye. Anyone who was female is being kicked out as we speak" he pauses "Well, except your mom. But she didn't exactly look female in the first place."
"You are such a douche" I shove him.
"And you're a man whore" he shoves me back "But you're a man whore who people believe can win the games."
"Thanks. You're a good friend."
"Don't I know it. Good luck man."
Capitol
"Get off me you impertinent girl; my face doesn't need any prepping especially by the likes of you" snaps Athena Lockwood at Clarice, the makeup girl.
"Y-yes ma'am" Clarice scarpers.
"Hey Athena!" snarls Raymond from the snack table "Nobody yells at Clarice, but me, you got that?"
This is not a day to mess with Raymond; after the tabloids had soon got wind that he had broken up with his long term girlfriend Tallulah, the stress lines had started to appear prompting him to get a new layer of surgery. Athena doesn't say a word; she just walks over to him and looks at him like she's talking to a child.
"Now Ray, there's no reason why we can't get along. I may even be able to help you" Athena snaps her fingers "Aphrodite!"
A petite brunette girl runs over to them, her hair piled on top of her head showing off her bright blue eyes and heart shaped lips.
"This is my niece, Aphrodite; she's supposed to be a gamemaker but she's a dab hand at make-up" Athena explains.
"Raymond already has a make-up artist" pipes up Clarice.
"Dear, Aphrodite is only here to help. She can be your… assistant. So what do you say Ray? Shall we get on with our interview?"
Raymond, stunned into silence both by the incredibly attractive Aphrodite and the fact someone had called him Ray, a name he'd never been called, simply nodded and walked into the studio. But as the lights shone on him and Athena, he regained his control.
"Good evening Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to The Raymond Show with me, Raymond Miles. Tonight we have a treat for you; please welcome our new head gamemaker, Miss Athena Lockwood."
Athena smiled secretively at the audience and nodded.
"So Athena, we've heard some very odd idea you've came out with. Is it true you fired all of last year's gamemakers?" Raymond asked, as an article flashed on the screen behind them.
"Yes, quite true. Those gamemakers didn't understand my vision so I hired some old friends who did" Athena explains.
"And they're here with us tonight. Please welcome, Zeus Marines!"
A tanned, strong looking man with blonde hair and a long beard takes the stage.
"Hera Brigadeer!"
A blonde, fierce looking woman of about 30 joins him.
"Aphrodite Lockwood!"
The young brunette girl struts on stage, blowing kisses to the crowd as she walks.
"And last, but certainly not least, Hades Gloomwidow!"
A thinner, sickly looking man takes the stage; his hair is a bluish black and he wears a very serious expression on his face as if he is concentrating on working out a solution to something. After a brief interview, the five gamemakers reunite.
"So, does Salem suspect anything?" Hera hisses almost spitefully.
"Of course not; he's far too self-absorbed by his own arrogance. All of you need to prepare some ideas for mutations; I've already got the arena covered. These games are the perfect way to gain Salem's trust" Athena smirks "Now scram; we don't need people getting suspicious."
I need to tell you guys, I won't be doing the justice building bits for the other four reapings. I know it's not really fair but I just lose my inspiration in the end. Also sorry if the last part was kind of boring; I just wanted you to know Athena can't be trusted.