Chapter 11: District Six Reaping

~The Princess and the Civilian~

District 6- Angel Semifer, 15

I stand in front of my parents' graveyard with a smile on my face. "Mother, Father, it's the reapings today." I then kneel down on the grass and stare at them. "Please watch over me and make sure that I can get whatever the best for me." I clasp my hands together and pray.

I can feel drizzle of rain falling on top of my head and I look up to the cloudy gray sky. What bad luck. Double bad luck, I guess. Today is the reapings and it's raining. We will be soaked to bone while waiting for two of our names to be called and be shipped to the Capitol to be killed for entertainment...

It's all wrong. Horribly wrong.

"Angeeeeel! C'mon! We're going to be late!" I can see Emery and Lark runs to my place as they shout. Their reaping outfits are already soaked. But I can see that they have tints of mud on their reaping suits. I stand up from my kneeling position and smile in a rather reprimanding manner. "Did you guys do something today?" I ask.

Emery is the first to look guilty.

"Eh? No, of course! Not at all!" He says as he flails around. I look towards Lark, who then averts his gaze away from mine. "You did something, didn't you?" I ask, this time to Lark.

"Nothing, Angel." He says, rather stiffly. I smile at both of them and hold their hands in mine. "Come on, let's go to the reapings." They both nod and we walk to the grimy looking Justice building, fully enjoying the rain that soaked the entire District.

Rains always remind me of the day I first enter the orphanage, and therefore the day my parents died. That day, my dad finally dies after his long illness. He asks me to be strong and to take care of mom. I, of course, oblige to him. But when I went to find mom, I saw her hanging on the door with a rope around her neck. She must've been unable to cope with the fact that we'd be homeless without dad.

Nonetheless, life goes on. A Peacekeeper then found me and shoved me into an orphanage just near my house. And there, I found my friends; Emery and Lark.

Emery is a daredevil who loves challenges and making problems. He loves audacious pranks and both Lark and I try our best to keep him out of trouble. And Lark is a much more serious one out of the three of us. He could be stiff and stubborn, but I know that he always has our best interest in his mind.

For me, life has been ordinary as long as I can remember. I have my adventures with Emery and Lark, but that's pretty much it. I hope it stays that way. I'm content with the way things are, after all.

We go to the Capitol lady who will put our names in the reaping bowls and then go to stand in our respective sections. 15-year-old female for me, and 15-year-old male for them. I whisper them a 'see you later' and goes to talk with some other girls, trying to comfort the others who looks horridly afraid of the reaping.

A few minutes later, our escort appears with an umbrella on her hand. "Happy Hunger Games!" She says with a certain amount of happiness in her voice. "Despite this weather, let's just enjoy this year's reapings, okay? Now, I have a video for you guys brought all the way from the Capitol!" I appreciate the way her voice shakes when she says 'reaping'. She knows that reapings aren't an happy occasion in Districts, even when she does enjoy the Hunger Games.

I smile at the prospect of having a kind escort for this year. Whoever the tributes from our District are, they can still feel safe if it's this woman.

When the video is over, the rain still haven't gone up. The entire District is now soaked, but we all keep silent.

"Let's start with the ladies' name first." She says with a smile. I wonder what her name is. She's new to our District and she haven't been introduced yet. Maybe I can try and know her better if we aren't in this world, where she's a Capitol citizen and I'm a District citizen.

"Angel Semifer!" My eyes widen for a bit. I wasn't expecting this...

But I take a few deep breaths and smile the most charming smile I can ever manage. When I stand on stage, I can't help but feel glad that it's raining. Why? Because I can feel my tears fusing with the rain drops that falls into my face as I see Emery and Lark's stricken face.


District 6- Jerry Sawyer, 16

I can see tears glistening on the face of that nameless girl. No, she was a nameless girl until just a few moments ago. Angel Semifer. It's quite a fitting name for someone as pretty and young-looking as she is. I can't help but feel pity towards that girl who looks like she's just 12.

I look around the crowd and see two 15 year old boys look so sad and stricken. One of them looks like he's ready to kill the Peacekeepers who dared to escort her up to the stage. I don't say anything, though. I'm just a bystander, someone you see in the middle of the town and yet know nothing of. Just a perfect stranger doing his own life.

Pitiful girl. She looks like a princess who just got torn away from her knights. How poetic of me, huh?

"Now, onto the boys!" Our new escort's voice resounds in the entire District. Her hands starts to move around the reaping bowl, singling out one name from the others.

I think she knows very little about the fact that her hand movements could determine someone's fate so dramatically. Capitol people are always like that; content and nothing to fear.

"Jerry Sawyer!"

Panic instantly rose in my head as my name is called. But... I should have seen this coming. Nobody will be sad for me like those two boys for that girl. I will just... die alone, maybe leaving my parents. But it's okay, because I'm just another bystander, a civilian in the middle of a very vast amount of people.

As I'm escorted to the stage, I'm confident that only the Peacekeepers behind me can hear my sobs. But I'm glad that nobody can see my tears amidst all the rain.


Goodbyes

District 6- Angel, 15

When Emery and Lark enters the room, I feel really glad that I've cried back there on the stage, because if I had hold it in, their expressions now would have make me burst into tears.

The cheerful look on Emery's face is replaced with a look of pure sadness, like how Lark's normally stone-cold face now contorts into that of sorrow.

Emery keeps stalking around the door, telling me words of encouragement with his shouts. Lark comes closer to me and gives me a warm hug. "Just..." he whispers with a shaky voice. "Just let the Capitol pamper you and try to think happy until the end, okay?" I nod. I know that Lark would stay real instead of deluding me with thoughts that I might survive like Emery.

I appreciate Emery's thoughts, of course, but sometimes... the reality would soothe me better than lies.

"Lark! Why do you say that, idiot?! Don't listen to him, Angel! Do your best and try to stay alive!" Emery yells at Lark and he has his hands on Lark's collar. "Emery, please stop!" I almost cry. When Emery and Lark looks at me, they know that they shouldn't send me off with fighting.

They both say their goodbyes and pulls me into a group hug.

A Peacekeeper barges inside, signaling that their three minutes are over. I frown sadly, but then I realize that Emery and Lark are avoiding one particular spot on the door. I wonder why...

But when the Peacekeeper got stuck into that spot, I instantly know what Emery had hid for me earlier. It's a super glue, and now the Peacekeeper is stuck to that door.

I can't help but laugh as huge commotion ensues.


District 6- Jerry, 16

I wipe the tears away from my face as my parents leave the room. Mom is still sobbing and Dad has lost his hope on my survival. It should have hurt, but it doesn't.

After all, how could a bystander like me win against the Careers out there? It's an impossibility. That's why my parents have already accepted the fact that their only son won't ever return back to District 6.

When I lay myself on the sofa, I can hear a huge racket being made on the room next to mine. That girl. Is she alright? Does those knights of hers wreck so much havoc that it requires the Peacekeepers to create such a commotion? I don't know, but I'm kind of glad that it made the Peacekeeper in front of my door go away as well.

I slowly let myself slip away from reality and into the dreamland... sleeping the fact that I might die in another two weeks away.


How do you think of them? I really like writing Jerry. He seems so... soothing to write.

Please review :)