Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. Please don't sue!

Crisanto scanned the crowd, looking for Clover, Mitchull, and the rest of the gang. He needed to find them soon—otherwise they would get ticked at him for not showing up for the traditional D7 exchange goodbye. Spotting them, he grinned widely and strode over, waving his leather bracelet token.

"Cris! There you are! I was starting to get worried!" Clover laughed. She wasn't serious, really. They knew if something were really wrong, he would have shown up EARLY rather than late.

"Cris, my man!" Mikall high-fived him, "You ready for the exchange? Toss that in the middle with the rest of the stuff." Crisanto complied. This was the most fun part of Reaping day for him and his group of friends—trading tokens to remember each other by, just in case one or two of them were the ones taken.

"Okay. Kassie, you're up first. Close your eyes and grab one, before I do it for you!" Crisanto teased. Everyone giggled, including Kassie. As soon as she had picked up her token—Micha's spider-web scrunchie—it was Crisanto's turn. He looked with wide eyes at the token he pulled.

"Ashelly, you didn't need to give up your medallion!"

Ashelly grinned. "I was hoping you would get it!"

Crisanto looked into her eyes. "Really?"

"You bet!"

Mikall and Mitchull started chanting softly: "Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her, kiss her…"

Crisanto gave Ashelly a peck on the cheek. Ashelly giggled and took her place in line for the pile.

"Aw, dude! It's the Reaping! Now or never, right?" Mikall said unhappily.

"We don't know that, really. And it's not like I need to force anything."

"Suit yourself, but she's into you. Even we can see that!" Mitchull punched him on the arm.

"That's a first."

All three boys laughed. "What about you guys?"

"See, Cris, unlike you, we prefer the single life. That way, we can flirt with whomever we want, and we won't have some mad chick breathing down our necks!" Mikall winked at a pack of girls. "Yeah, ladies, we're hot and single!"

Cris rolled his eyes. "If you were half the chick magnets you think you are, every girl in Panem would be stuck to you."

"You're just jealous of our awesome skills!"

"What, like the ability to squeeze twenty dirty jokes in one conversation?"

Mitchull smirked. "Actually, I broke the record talking to Jef. It's now 26 dirty jokes in one conversation."

"Dude, I was listening in on that, and it wasn't even close to 20!" Mikall retorted.

"Whatever. But remember: Denial—it's not just the hardware store uptown."

"It's spelled 'Da Nail, genius!"

"Yo momma!"

Cris rolled his eyes. If they were going to start this again…

"…and the male tribute from District 7 is…"

The crowd froze.

"…Crisanto Ryzan!"

Horror flooded Crisanto as he walked up to the platform. When he turned around, he could see Mitchull with his jaw to the floor, and Ashelly in tears.

"Dude," Mikall mouthed. "Oh. No. Dude."