Livi Tarrlock pressed her hands against the cold glass windowpane. She slid it upwards. There used to be a screen, but she had removed it some time ago. Livi gingerly climbed out the window into the misty night air. With both hands on the ledge of the window, she slid carefully down. Her feet came to rest on the top of the first story shutters. She used these like a ladder, until dropping the rest of the way to the ground.

After brushing her arms off, she put her hands on the side of her house to reorient herself. She began walking north. The soles of her sneakers would occasionally begin to glide over grass, noticeably different from the friction of the dry dirt path. When she realized she was off the path, she would backtrack. Eventually she came to a field of wheat. She held out her hands as she walked through it. She was following the sound of voices now.

She came to a clearing in the wheat field where several boys were talking. They all stopped when they saw her.

"Yikes, Livi! You scared the crap out of me. I didn't even hear you come up." Said her best friend, Jace Anderson.

Jace had reason to be frightened. If Livi appeared before you in the dark, you would very likely think her a ghost. Her parents' sheltering nature manifested itself in her pale skin. She had blonde hair that was almost white and blue eyes with a thin opaque film over them.

"Sorry," she smiled, "I heard you guys from miles away."

"Woah, what's wrong with your eyes?" One of the boys asked. "Ow! Hey."

Livi knew that would be Jace jabbing him in the ribs. She never knew why he still felt he had to protect her. She was perfectly capable.

"I'm blind." She told the boy simply.

"What? No way! How did you walk all the way here?"

"The same way I walk anywhere." Livi was a patient girl, but when people found out she was blind, they all asked the same questions. It could become quite irritating.

"I don't believe you!" The boy continued, "There's no way you could get all the way here at night, blind."

"Dude. She's blind. I promise." Jace began.

"There is no way I could get here at night, blind? And why would it matter that it's night? You know what blind means, right?"

"Livi…" Jace began.

"Wow you don't have to be a bitch about it." The boy scoffed.

A bitch? Livi thought. She stood up straight. "Jace, how tall is he?" She asked him.

"About six inches taller than you." Jace told her. The boy wasn't that tall; Livi was short.

"Thanks." Said Livi. She then proceeded to punch the boy in the gut as hard as she could. He keeled over.

"You sucker punched me! You blind bitch!" The boy wheezed from the ground.

"Somebody ought to wash your mouth out with soap." Livi told him.

From the ground, the boy hooked his foot behind Livi's heel and pulled. He knocked her over onto her back. Livi felt the boy's hand on her shoulder and he brought the bottom part of his fist down into her forehead. You punch like a girl, She thought. She pushed up with her knee and was able to damage him, before scrambling free. She heard the other boys grabbing him and holding him back. He was releasing a string of colorful expletives.

"Well, that was quick. Come on, Livi. I'll walk you home." Jace told her.

That was hardly worth the trek, Livi hadn't even been there five minutes. Jace took her hand and guided her down the path. He always liked walking her home. Because it meant he got to hold her hand. Livi just thought he was being friendly.

Rye Kuna didn't wear a hairnet when he baked. His hair was already pulled back in a ponytail, so he figured he didn't have to. Besides, he wasn't exactly the hairnet type. He was the type with earrings adorning both his ears. And the type whose narrow dark eyes flickered in irritation whenever stupidity was around, which for him was far too often.

It was a dreary day outside, which was a good day for warm baked goods. Still, Rye didn't care much for warm baked goods. He did this because he had to. He worked at the bakery of his adopted father. His adopted father was a kind man who found Rye and his little sister, Pepper, dying in the street after being abandoned by their mother. The baker's wife already had a collection of orphans going, so the baker decided it couldn't hurt to let two more in. Pepper sat on the counter-top, and Rye patiently answered her questions.

"Can we go play in the rain?"

"No, Penelope."

"You don't want to jump in puddles?"

"Of course I want to jump in puddles."

"Then why don't we go find a puddle?"

"Because I have to bake."

"But you don't like baking."

"That's right. But I do it anyway."

"Why?"

"To help out Papa."

"Why?"

"Because I need to help pay for your treatment."

"Because of cancer?"

"Yes."

"I hate cancer."

"Me too."

"Is there a cure for it?"

"Maybe. But the doctor in District Nine is a very good friend of Papa's and he was able to slow it down a lot."

"How?"

"Do you remember you snuck out of bed to watch the Hunger Games last year? Even though Mama and Papa told you not to."

"Yeah."

"Do you remember seeing the muttations?"

"Yeah."

"Well the doctors made a muttated virus. Do you know what a virus is?"

"No."

"It's a tiny little germ that you can't even see. Anyway, the doctors made one that only affects your cancer and not you. The mutt virus not only hurts it, but helps your body's natural defenses to attack it."

Rye stopped working his rolling pin and looked up at Pepper. She had a confused look. There were so many questions bubbling behind those small brown eyes that she didn't know which one to ask. Oops, I broke it, he thought.

Rye heard the bakery door swing open. He saw his redheaded adopted brother, Crusten, walk in with his wife, Ceres. Pepper remained silent.

"How's the prince of bread-kingdom, today?" Asked Crusten with a malicious smile. His wife let out an automatic cackle from behind him.

"Fine. And how are the Lord and Lady Douchebag?" Rye instantly regretted saying that in front of Pepper.

"Watch your mouth you little whelp"

"Whatever. I think the name Ginger Prince fits better anyway."

Crusten ignored him and walked around the counter to the cooling rack. "I'm taking some bread." He informed Rye.

"Did you ask Barric?"

"What Barric doesn't know won't hurt him." Crusten's comment induced more staccato chortles from Ceres.

Rye said nothing. His eyes flickered back and forth between Crusten and Ceres. He knew Barric wouldn't mind Crusten taking some bread, but Rye sure as hell minded. However, twenty-one-year-old Crusten towered over fourteen-year-old Rye, so there wasn't much he could do about it.

After making it all the way back to her house, Livi simply climbed back up the same way that she always did. She had said goodnight to Jace, and quite literally blind to his advances, left him standing outside her window. When her parents woke her up the next day for the reaping, they were none-the-wiser. Livi explained the mark on her forehead as bumping her head in the bathroom. Her parents had laid out a dress they liked for the reaping and she put it on, although she didn't know what it looked like. Livi dreaded the reaping. She wasn't afraid of being picked, she didn't even really consider that a possibility (as the mayor's daughter she had never taken tesserae). However, she didn't like standing alone among the other District Nine girls; most, if not all, of her friends were boys.

"Rye wake up! It's Capitol fun-fun-fun day!" Barric called up to him. His adopted father was perhaps the one person that could awaken Rye without causing him to scowl. Rye dressed himself and then floated to the kitchen to get breakfast before the reaping. Barley (Barric and Wendy's biological son) was there. "Morning Rye." Barley said to him. Rye ignored him. Barley just shrugged; he knew it wasn't personal, that was just how Rye was. Their dog Bake (originally named Bark but thus pronounced by his owner Pepper) wagged his tail under the table and began begging for scraps from Rye. "How about we send you to the reaping, Bake?"

Both Livi and Rye stood alone in their respective sections. Their Capitol escort drew Rye's name first. "You have to be kidding me." He said to himself. He didn't look distressed, but supremely irritated standing next to the escort.

Next Livi was reaped. Well that's just not fair. Her next thoughts were of her best friend, Jace. But at least he was okay. She confidently and slowly made her way to the front of the crowd.

"My, my! It seems we have a brave little blind girl!" The tribute squeaked. "How precious is she, folks?"

Livi clenched her hand into a fist and asked Rye how tall the escort was. He said nothing. She released the balled up fist and moved in front of Rye. She began raising her hands. She placed them on Rye's face to get a sense for what he looked like. Rye's cheeks flushed red and he felt a vein pulsing in his forehead. He hated being touched.

In Livi's room in the Hall of Justice she was met by her father, mother and Jace. Her mother stroked her thin blonde hair, and Jace frantically worried about whether or not this was the time to kiss her. Her father, the mayor, paced the room.

"This is a mistake. It's all a terrible mistake. I'm the mayor! This isn't supposed to happen. I have friends in the Capitol. People I can call. We'll get you out of this Livi. We'll get you back home."

"Dad." She said looking up at him with blue glazed eyes. "I am not as fragile as you think I am."

In Rye's room he was met by a somber Barric. And by Wendy, his adopted mother. Wendy held Pepper in her arms. Barley was there. Even Crust and Ceres were there. The two didn't take pleasure in Rye's being reaped, but they weren't particularly engaged, either. In that small room were the only people that Rye ever loved, and two others. Rye sighed. At least his birth mother hadn't shown up.

Rye put his sister's head in his hands, and kissed her. Her face was wet from tears. "I promise, Penelope, when I'm back from the games. We'll use the money to make you all better."