.:.:Mimee Rodriguez, 15:.:.
I try to stay away from trouble most of the time. I honestly do. It's just that trouble loves finding its way into my life.
One of the forms of trouble in my life is Calle Margison. She's the goody-two-shoes of my class who just loves provoking me. She has her own little group of girls who follow her around everywhere and agree to everything she says.
I was walking down the corridor with my head bowing down to avoid any unnecessary attention. I had to carry my books in my hands since the orphanage wouldn't buy me a backpack. Calle was in the middle of the corridor for some reason. It was no surprise that I bumped into her. It was practically her fault.
She shrieked. I didn't see the point; they were just books, not rats or snakes or anything
"I'm sorry!" I said quickly anyway. You never want to mess with Calle.
She just glared at me and rolled her eyes. With her posse following behind her, she walked away, but I heard her something as she passed me.
"Excuse me?" I might have sounded a tad bit rude, but what do you expect when someone says something about you while you're standing right there?
"I said," she emphasized the last word. "The world is better off without thieves like your family. You should've died as well."
I stared at her, wide-eyed. A few other kids heard and were staring as well. Then I lost it.
I punched her in the face.
The aftermath wasn't pretty – she had a bloody nose and a bruise just under her eye. But it was a masterpiece to me.
"I wish I did too, darling," I hissed.
They told on me, obviously. I went to the principal's office. I refused to say anything about her insulting my family, so she gave me the punishment. I was suspended for three days, in other words, until the day after the reaping.
I wish it was longer. I absolutely despise my school and everyone in it. It's full of injustice. The teachers have favourites and least favourites. The bullies provoke on the weaker ones' sensitive sides to get them in trouble. Injustice, I say.
At least, if I get reaped, I won't ever have to go to school ever again, I muse. Of course I don't want to be chosen for the Hunger Games. They're horrible. All of the orphans gather in a large room in the building where there's a large TV all of us watch it from. We don't have to if we don't want to, fortunately, but I've watched it a few times. I remember in my first Hunger Games, a tribute killed off all the other tributes by chopping their bodies into three parts – the head, the torso and the legs. I shiver at the memory.
I spend my time alone in my room, which I share with seven other girls, getting ready. There isn't any hot water in the bathroom but it's still refreshing. I use one of the big girls' shampoos to wash my hair. It smells of strawberries. I change into a green dress that was my sister's when she was nine…
It's hard to hold back a tear. My family were all whipped to death for stealing food. My father was caught stealing bread from the baker, my mother was accused of stealing money from someone and my sister was blamed for four missing apples. What hurts most is the fact that they stole all those for me. Most of the food was given to me since I was the youngest. And now, because of me, they're dead. They died horrible, painful deaths.
The dress fits me perfectly despite it being for a nine-year-old. I'm very small for my age. I brush my still wet hair and put it into its usual two braids.
When I'm done, I go to the cafeteria to eat lunch. It's a rather spacious cafeteria, with several tables, but it's very bleak with grey walls and white tables and chairs. The cook gives me a plate with a small baloney sandwich, a small cheese sandwich and a tomato and lettuce sandwich. I nibble on the bits of lettuce but leave the tomatoes and the bread. I eat the cheese and baloney sandwich.
I am alone the whole time. All of the kids are at school right now and wouldn't be here in half an hour to get ready for the reaping, which in our district starts in the afternoon after school. The cook already went through the door to go back to the kitchen. When I'm finished, I just sit there for a while enjoying my time alone. I fiddle with one of my braids.
A kid comes in. Another kid follows. I stand up and walk out of the cafeteria. I hate company, especially when they're other kids from the orphanage.
I leave the building alone and walk to the town square. Alone.
.:.:Kaiden Hensworth, 15:.:.
"Kaiden, get up!"
My eyes shoot open. "Wha- Garret? Where am I?"
"You fell asleep in the clearing," he says.
I sit up. I am definitely in the clearing. I came here in the morning alone when Garret was asleep. The sun wasn't fully up, and the grass was soft and felt so comfortable… I am under my favourite tree. It looks exactly like it did when I first came here.
"What time is it?" I ask Garret.
"Nearly twelve! The reaping starts in less than half an hour!"
I practically leapt onto my feet. We made a mad dash for our house. The clearing was sort of on the outskirts of the district, but it was close to our house so we got there in less than ten minutes. Garret is already dressed in a blue button-up shirt, which was once mine, and brown trousers. I dig through my dresser to find some decent clothes to wear for the reaping.
"Kaiden?"
My mother is at the door, holding a hanger with a white collared shirt and black trousers. I smile at her. "Thanks so much."
She smiles back and hands them to me before leaving me to change. I put the clothes on and check myself in the mirror.
My black hair reaches my shoulders. I grab a come and try to tame it down. I throw the comb… somewhere and run out of my room to the front door. Garret is waiting with my mother at the pavement.
"Hurry up! We have fifteen minutes left!" my mother says and we all run to the town square.
We laugh together. I don't know why, but still, it felt good to be able to laugh again. We were all running late, me and Garret for the reaping and my mother for her afternoon job at the dressmaker's. Mother's holding Garrets hand and I'm running a bit ahead of them, urging them to hurry up. They laugh even more and try to chase after me. I'm too fast for them.
All of us are panting heavily once we reach the square. Everybody's already lined up and the mayor is making his speech. We check in and Mother gives us each a peck on the forehead before going to where the adults are watching their children. Garret waves me goodbye before going to where the other twelve-year-olds are. I breathe out a puff of air as I arrive at my line. Thankfully nobody notices. I look around and see Travis grinning and shaking his head at me from the sixteen-year-olds. I roll my eyes and smile as well.
"…and now, Gabriella," the mayor says, pointing his hand to a lady with an orange wig and an orange and yellow dress.
She jumps up and takes quick steps towards the microphone in those unbelievably high heels of hers. "Well, well, well! Look at all of you, dressed up and looking nice for the reaping! Welcome to the 100th Annual Hunger Games, or as I call it, the fourth Quarter Quell!"
I nearly gag at the happiness bursting from her. She's actually happy that we're all being sent to our nearly certain deaths.
"So, as tradition goes, we shall chose the female tribute's name first." Gabriella goes over to the girl's glass bowl and wastes no time to grab a name. "Mimee Rodriguez!"
I look around to see who the poor girl is. Other people are looking for her too. I suppose nobody knows her.
A small, skinny girl with her bright red hair tied into two braids steps out of the fifteen-year-old girls' rows. Her eyes are wide in surprise and she's breathing shakily. Her tiny feet lead her to the stage and she stands next to Gabriella. She holds her chin up high and I see tears lining the bottom of her green orbs.
"See you soon, Mom."
She is hushed away by Gabriella.
"Now for the male tribute!" Step, step, step, grab, open, read.
"Our male tribute is Kaiden Hensworth!"
My eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.
I think I've been reaped.
.:.:Mimee Rodriguez, 15:.:.
The boy has shaggy black hair and intimidating brown eyes. His eyebrows are knitted in deep thought as he goes up the steps and to Gabriella's side. He looks at me and I realize I was staring. My eyes quickly dart away and I wipe a tear away.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Gabriella puts a hand on my and the boy, Kaiden's back, pushing us forward. "Your tributes for the 100th Hunger Games!"
Some idiots clap from the crowd, but the applause is next to nothing. A peacekeeper pulls us away and drags us into the Justice Building where we're urged into separate rooms. Crying rooms.
I sit down on a couch, my hands perching on my knees. Finally, I let the tears out.
The leave a trail down my cheeks. I sob. I mourn for my family. I mourn for my dead family who will not come and visit me as I leave for my certain doom.
I walk over to a mirror on the wall. My eyes are a bit puffy. I pour some water from a water bottle on the table and try to make the redness less visible. It works, slightly. I untie my braids and let my hair free. I run my fingers through it. It's nice and wavy now. I feel pretty when my hair is down but people make fun of my red hair when it's untied. So putting it in braids makes it less noticeable.
"We're going on the train now," the gruff voice of a peacekeeper says.
I sigh and follow him. I hope my district partner is nice enough to let me ally with him.
.:.:Kaiden Hensworth, 15:.:.
"Mom, Garret, please stop crying…"
Garret grips onto my shirt tighter. "We don't wa-want you to g-go," he stutters, choking on his own sobs.
"No-one wants their family to go into the Hunger Games," I say.
Mother is on my left, hugging me and crying into my shoulder. Garret is clinging onto me as if his life depended on it and is crying into my white shirt. It didn't matter; I was never going to wear this shirt again anyway.
"It's my fault," Mother sobs. "If I worked harder and had a better job, you wouldn't have had to take the tesserae, and you wouldn't get picked…"
I shush her before she can say anything else. A small droplet is forming in my left eye.
"I'll be fine," I whisper. "I'll… I'll win for you guys. I will win and come home to you. We'll live in the Victor's Village and we'll never go hungry. Mom, you wouldn't have to work so hard anymore. We'll have a great life, the three of us…"
"Time's up," a peacekeeper says. "Someone else has come to visit you."
Mother touches my cheek once more before taking Garret by the hand and pulling them away. Garret gives me one more blue-eyes stare before leaving the room. Travis comes in.
He awkwardly walks over to me and gives me a hug. He pulls away and puts something in my hand.
"I can't stay for long, but my sister wanted me to give you this. For your token." He gave me a small black stone with a carving of a wolf on it. "Good luck. I'm betting on you."
I smile and nod before he walks away and I'm left alone in the crying room. The tear that had formed earlier finally streams down my face but I wipe it away.
The same peacekeeper that took Garret and Mother away comes back and tells me I need to board the train. I follow him and soon, I'm a vehicle that feels like the lap of luxury.
My district partner is sitting in a corner by herself, her eyes closed, her hair free from its previous two braids. Mimee.
She suddenly opens her eyes and stares at me.
"I need to tell you something," she says, sitting up properly. "In the arena, I'm probably going to die early. If I don't, then I'll just probably be a burden to you. So you don't have to team up with me if you don't want to."
I shake my head. "It's fine. If you want to be my ally, it's fine."
She smiles appreciatively. I nod and walk away, going into a room which I supposed was mine.
"I'll see you at dinner, Mimee Rodriguez."
That was a really quick update o.O. But I enjoyed writing this chapter and so… yeah. I hope you guys liked it!
Silly old me forgot to put in the question for last time as well. So here are the sponsor questions for this chapter and the last chapter:
Which district was the boy that set up the land mines around the Career's supplies from?
Who kills Wiress in the 75th Hunger Games?
That is all. I'll see you in the next chapter! Toodleoo!
~NISA~