I'm so sorry! I never seem to get my updates out on time nowadays. She was just as hard to write as Franz, but it was mostly because I'm not used to her perspective.

Hopefully my next update will be quicker!

-x

I've never liked to admit it, but I'm pretty big. Maybe that was why I was having so much trouble getting out of bed? Nah. Mom and dad always say I'm perfect, and they're rich, so they're always right.

When I got out of bed, the floorboards creaked in the familiar damp spot. They always did that, because the roof had a little leak right above them. I got my balance back, and went to my closet.

Probably, I have the biggest closet in the district. My dad's the mayor, so we always have plenty left over to buy clothes. The only thing I'd ever wanted was a house in Victor's Village. They're so much prettier than ours.

I picked out a dress, and then put it back. Faintly, I remembered something special. Oh! It was reaping day. I switched it for my best dress, which was yellow. Yellow looks good with my hair.

Dad was already at work, so mom was in the kitchen, cooking toast and oatmeal for breakfast. I wished we had bacon. I really like bacon, but it's a special treat. Sometimes we have it on reaping day, and when Johanna won a few years back, we had it with eggs. That was really good.

I ate the oatmeal with mom, and she talked a bit about the reaping. She really didn't want me to go, but I was fifteen. I didn't have any tessarae. It would probably be some Eighteen with 20 brothers and sisters.

She said she liked my dress, which was nice of her. I liked it, too.

I finished my oatmeal, and went to watch an old Hunger Games. It was my least favorite one, where they starved the tributes to death in that frozen place. Maybe I would go in the Hunger Games, except for that one. It scared me a lot.

The reaping is after lunch in District Seven, so I watched the little recap of the reapings, and an interview with some Capitol people. They were really funny, especially the boy. Bell usually does the best interviews, but it got really out of hand.

Mom came in to ask why I was laughing, and she thought it was funny, too. We both like Bell a lot.

The time before the reaping went by really fast, and we had to stop watching and walk to the square.

I was so excited! Maybe this would be the year...

There were a ton of wood shavings on the road, like there always are, and I felt dirty by the time mom and I were at the square. All the people around me looked dirty, and that really didn't help.

I know it's a day off, but couldn't they go to the trouble of using it to wash up? I guess not. I don't really know any of them, so I couldn't ask.

My mom gave me a hug, and told me to go to the Fifteens, so I did. She blew me a kiss, and I smiled and went to sit down. Everyone moved away, even though I was smiling. I guess they were in-timid-dated.

It was only a bit before my dad came on the stage and started talking. He said some stuff about the Treaty of Treason, and talked a lot about the Capitol, like every year. They're really good to us, and they give us food and protect us from the things in the big woods that eat us.

Dad kept talking, and a lot of the people around me looked kind of bored, but they only have to do this once a year. They should be grateful that we do so much to keep them safe.

We listened for a bit longer, and then the speech was over. Dad let Kaylee, the escort, come up to the stage. She talked a lot too, but not as much.

"Everything is going to be great! This year, District Seven will win the Hunger Games!"

All of the people in the square looked a bit stunned, except for a few who clapped. She looked happy.

Kalee went to pick the girl's name, and I listened really close.

"Glade Acacia!"

At first, I didn't know what to think. My dad looked really scared, but Kaylee still looked happy. And she's from the Capitol, right? I walked up, and I tried to smile like her, which made her smile even bigger.

It was hard to keep up.

She reached into the boys' bowl when I got up, and she pulled out "Arvid Chaney!"

A little boy who looked really scared walked out of the Twelves, shaking. It looked like he wouldn't live for the first minute.

All of the sudden, there was a little voice from the Twelves, again.

"I volunteer as the tribute for District Seven!"

There was a little gasp in the crowd as a boy who looked almost the same as Arvid walked out, looking very set in what he was doing. Arvid started to cry.

"Carden, no!"

The other boy, Carden, shook his head, and walked up the steps to stand next to me. He wasn't showing it, but he looked scared too.

I felt bad for him. Kids as small as he was don't make it far in the games.

But then again, I realized, I'm in the games too.

Isn't that the goal?

Mom and dad came to visit me together. They were both crying. I was just glad to be out of the tiny room with Carden, but I wondered what was making them so sad.

"Glade, honey... Please come home. You're as good as anyone in this district, okay? You can do it," dad said through his tears.

I guess my mom was too busy crying, but she couldn't really do anything but hug me. I hugged her, too.

The peacekeepers came to make them leave, but my dad made them let him stay longer. They said okay, but mom had to leave.

He just sort of hugged me, and said I was his princess, and that I would be okay. I wish he had given me some sort of advice, but he didn't. And finally, he had to leave too.

My dad was gone, and I had to go back to an empty room. Carden was still having visitors.

For the first time in my life, I didn't feel so special.

-x

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