So I've been reading 1984 by George Orwell for my summer reading, and I was thinking how much the Hunger Games is reminiscent of it. If anyone wants some good dystopian fiction, go read 1984. Total classic. :)
Our boy Adrian is fom MyrtleFalls and our girl Athena is from Call me cat333. :) R&R!
D1 MALE: ADRIAN RAIN
"Hey! You!" An older student at the training center calls me over from the swords. Does this older girl want to spar? I'm fine with it, but usually the seventeen and eighteen year olds keep pretty much to themselves. If they have a younger sibling that trains, then they will sometimes interact with the rest of us, but even then it's rare. That's actually how I started training- my older brother Shade trained and I was fascinated with all of it. I smirk. If I'm being called over, they must have finally realized that I'm just as good- better, even- than them.
"What do you want?" I reply.
"I heard you were planning to volunteer today, is that true?" A boy stands slightly behind her with his arms crossed and nostrils flaring- are they afraid I'm going to take this monster's spot in the Games? Idiots. At least I'm a threat. They finally acknowledged the fact that they're not as good as a sixteen-year-old boy! And a small one at that- I'm five feet, five inches tall and scrawny. But my eyes, hidden under my shaggy blond hair, would totally give me away. I'm too fierce to not make up for my size.
"No, I was planning on waiting till I was eighteen- in two years," I reply smoothly. No need to get in a fight today. They can go do their training, and I can do mine. If they're not attacking me in any way, I don't need to start a fight with the truth- I know they think I'm good!
The boy grunts and turns back to his double-bladed battleax, but the girl isn't through with me yet. "Well, looky here!" Some of the other eighteen-year-olds turn and look at me. "We have a boy who thinks he's gonna volunteer in two years! Ha! You're too scrawny, too weak, to survive five seconds in the Games! I bet you're too much of a coward to volunteer at all!" And that's when I snap. I'm not going to let any of them treat me like that. They're gonna pay!
I fly at the girl; lucky for her I left my swords at my training station. I punch her and she scrapes her nails down the side of my face- the sting is immediate.
"No!" I'm yanked back by another girl, but this time I relax. It's my friend Micah. She pulls me away from the older girl, who sneers and stalks back to her friends. "Are you all right, Adrian?" I nod. "Let it go. She's just trying to make you mad- you do have a reputation for being a hothead!"
"Just… let me at her- nobody tells me I'm weak!" Micah's losing her grip on me and she calls over her shoulder.
"June! A little help here?" Another pair of hands drags me away. June, while Micah just wants to volunteer to get her family some wealth and one of the new houses in the Victor's Village, trains to fight and wants to go into the Games for the glory. I can't break free from her iron grip and my two friends manage to pull me all the way to the other side of the training arena. The girl who provoked me is already laughing with her friends.
"C'mon guys. Let's go. I can't stand to look at her ugly face anymore." I storm from the center and onto the street. The words echo in my ears. You're too much of a coward to volunteer at all! That girl will tease me even more now, for being restrained by two girls. I won't ever get a break, since that girl has boasted to everyone that she's gotten a job at the training center for after this reaping.
"Adrian! Adrian, wait up!" I stop walking for a moment and allow June and Micah to catch up with me. June almost overtakes me as I slow my pace, while Micah comes up behind, panting.
"You guys go on ahead. I need to drop by my house for a second." June shrugs and walks past me; Micah hesitates for a moment before following June. I walk the block to my house, change into a pale blue shirt and clean jeans, and jog back out the door.
"Hey, bro- where are you headed?" Shade is walking sleepily down the stairs when I dash out the door. Mom and Dad aren't up yet, which means I almost got back out of the house without any conversation.
"Where do you think? It's reaping day!" He grins and I keep going. The small exchange slowed me down enough so that I don't have any time to find June and Micah before I'm directed to my place. I roll my eyes and join the other sixteen-year-old boys. Thanks to my height- or lack thereof- I can't see into the girls' section to find my friends.
"Seventeen years ago, the districts decided to rebel and their evil attempts were quenched…" the Treaty of Treason begins. I ignore it in my horror. The escort has arrived and they are hideous. The grotesque fashions of the Capitol are too much for me. A girl volunteers- I'm glad to see it's not one of the jerks from the training hall- and then the words hit me again.
You're too much of a coward to volunteer at all! Soli, the escort, reaches for a boy's name in the decorated bucket and before she even finishes unfolding the slip of paper I'm running up to the stage.
"I VOLUNTEER! I VOLUNTEER!" Groans from the eighteen-year-old boys erupt as I climb onstage. Soli is surprised, but she holds out her microphone.
"I'm Adrian Rain, and this goes to show all you morons from training that I can win these Games!" The girl who teased me is glaring at me, but I can tell she's smiling when she sees the fingernail marks on my face. Her boyfriend is extremely angry and I smirk down on him as I am proclaimed tribute.
D1 FEMALE: ATHENA MONROE
These Games will make me or kill me. My mother always likes to say that, but I'm not quite sure what she means. She's never encouraged me to volunteer, either. I mean, duh, twenty-three people die each year, but I'm powerful and clever- why shouldn't I win? Mom trained me herself and she knows how skilled I am. I'll just kill a few people and then come back, no big deal. They're not that important, are they? It's not possible for a few battles to change a person that much, is it? They show pictures from the Dark Days of soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, but that was in the Dark Days.
I poise my feet to run as the escort, a woman with golden tattoos around her eyes, plucks a name from the reaping ball. I can win this and Mom will be proud when I come out on top. The name isn't even finished when a girl starts to run forward. No! I won't let her steal my place up there on the stage! A crowd of other girls must feel the same way- dashing for the steps on the side of the platform with abandon. Must they be so much like lemmings, all following the one? Volunteering is the biggest thing ever, yes, but can't they see the easy way to do this? I run straight for the stage, vaulting up and over the edge. No! Two other girls had the same idea, and they've scrambled onstage as well. I slug one right in the eye, and she howls in pain. I refuse to wince as she digs her fist into my side and kick the other girl in the belly. She doubles over and receives a broken nose, courtesy of my elbow. She's not used to pain, by her cries, and I shove her off the stage. The other girl, though, keeps fighting. She doesn't grimace when I pull her away from me by her long red ponytail; she digs her teeth into my shoulder and they break my dark skin.
"Get off of my stage, girl!" I grab her by the throat and literally throw her into the crowd. As she struggles to her feet, I give my name. "I'm Athena Monroe." These Games will make you or break you. Well, if this is basically what they offer, I should be pretty well off, shouldn't I? I roll my shoulders as Soli prepares to select a boy. The only kid who'll be out of the Games- unless he gets up here freaking fast- will be the boy whose name is drawn.
"I VOLUNTEER! I VOLUNTEER!" A sixteen-year-old bursts forward and reaches the stage almost before anyone else has time to react. I examine him as he tells everyone his name is Adrian and this is to show all those morons in the training center he's not a coward. He's definitely one of those overly proud, picked-on, stubborn kids. If the past Games are anything to go by, he'll be killed by his own pride. I, on the demand of my mother, keep a realistic assessment of my own weaknesses. And there she is in the crowd, beaming as I walk into the Justice Building.
"You volunteered? I trained you to protect you if you were selected!" she says as she strides into the room for visitors. I grin and hug her. She's the one who trained me, so she deserves a chunk of the credit! It's not like I'm gonna die. Sure, people do, but I won't!
"Sorry, Mom, but at least we both know I'll come home! Well, you trained me, so you deserve some of that happiness for yourself!" We laugh, but then her face grows serious.
"Just remember… these Games will-"
"Make me or break me, yeah, I know! Don't worry, I'll be home before you miss me!" She smiles, but the grin is a little weaker. She steps back and my father Jett hands me a small heart charm.
"I love you, daughter. Don't ever forget who you are." I accept the token and my parents leave after my mom hugs and kisses me a few more times. Then Agatha and Harry come in, both teary-eyed.
"You never told us you were going to volunteer!" Agatha says, almost flying across the room in her hurry to reach me. Harry nods and takes my hand in his. I shrug.
"Well, there's nothing to be lost- for me, since we know I'll be coming back, and there's glory for the district and wealth to gain, so I decided to go for it." Agatha knows it's not worth it to try and convince me that I might die, since I only believe that I can win. I know my weaknesses, so it's a realistic bet. Unlike some of the kids I've met before, who thought they were invincible. Most of them have died in the Games by now. I'm not like them.
"I can't quite believe this is happening," she cries. I consider it for a moment.
"You'll know. As soon as the Games begin, you'll know. And as soon as they've started, they will have ended and I'll be back home, deal?"
"Well, then, just come back quickly. All right, Athena?" I nod and Agatha, truly crying now, hugs me. We're like siblings. Harry stays a few minutes after his twin sister leaves, holding my hand. Finally he stands, and I stand alongside him.
"Promise me you'll come back, okay?" he says, but kisses me before I have a chance to assure him once more that I'll come home. I love him; he's so sweet. I smile as I'm left alone with my thoughts. I'll be fine in the Games. The odds are in my favor, after all. And I've got motivation at home to push me through. I'll win the Hunger Games, won't I?
Three more reapings! I should be finished just before I leave, so :).