I just want to breathe again

And remember what it feels like

To catch my breath

Not feel like I'm in a cardiac arrest

Perriwinkle Barnes, 13

District 11 Male

Take my advice and never ask yourself what more could go wrong. Because Life is kind of cruel, and more often than not, he'll find a way to make things way worse than they already are. I guess it's a good sign though that no one can genuinely ever hit rock bottom.

That is until they end up on a train and head to the Capitol for the Hunger Games.

My parents, lovely people by nature when alone and horrifically incapable when they're together, are two of the most hardworking people that I've ever met. They've fought for me to have the best in life, and though I'm incredibly appreciative of that, I still question what it is that ever really made them get together in the first place.

I wasn't an unplanned baby. My parents had every intention of having me, and the disruption started right when the nurse brought in the little blue blanket, that just happened to be the shade of Periwinkle. Dad wanted to name me Joel, mom wanted to call me Mark, and the nurse came up with the perfect solution, Perriwinkle.

Unfortunately for me, the nurse wasn't there to always be there and play mediator in their fights. That job was left for me. 13 years of having to play mediator for your parents. Never being allowed to have a childhood because the people supposed to give it to me were to busy living their own still.

All of the years of mediating, all of the times I dealt with a screaming and crying parent, all came to a dramatic hold yesterday. I thought that yesterday could not be dethroned as the worst day of my life. That is until today. However, I'm getting to that.

My parents decided to tell me yesterday that they are getting a divorce. No, of course, the couldn't do that peacefully. As long as you're right why does it matter if your son's whole world is crashing down right?

And I was stupid. Oh, boy was I stupid as I stomped down the hall and into my room. I screamed at the top of my lungs "What could get worse?!" And I guess that life wanted a challenge. Because not only was I reaped for the Hunger Games the very next day.

No, my fate was far worse.

Perriwinkle Barnes, the first tribute to ever faint on stage during a reaping.

It was humiliating. In all the six years that there has been a Hunger Games, there has never been a child that has fainted on the stage. So while Life sits there and cracks his knuckles and admires his handy work, I'm sitting in the lobby of the train crying. I haven't moved since I got onto the train. This was where I sat, and this is where I'll be three days later when we arrive in the Capitol.

"Alright, well I've sat here and let you feel sorry for yourself for a good bit now." says my District partner. I didn't even realize her sitting at the table eating dinner. "Get yourself up and come eat some dinner. Even if you were well off, and by the clothes you're wearing I'm assuming you are, you haven't had food like this," she says as she gets up from the table and comes over to the chair I've been sitting in. She grabs my hand and leads me to the table, and I didn't realize how hungry I was until this very minute. "I mean, did you know that they could fry a potato?!" says the girl with enthusiasm as she shoves the thin potato strip into her mouth. "If I die in a few days I'm dying a happy woman. Let me tell you that much."

Instead of allowing me to load my plate, my District partner begins placing various items on the plate for me and hands it to me. "Look, you have to try these. They are the best of the best from what I've tasted. That white fluffy stuff is mashed potatoes with cheese! Can you believe they have cheese around here? The brown flakey stuff is fried chicken, and I already told you about the fried potatoes. They also have this perfect green bean mix, and I think there's bacon in it."

I tune her out and begin to eat the food on my plate. I have no interest in making a friend here in the games, but I have a weird feeling that my District partner isn't going to take yes for an answer at all. So I might just need to suck it up and deal with her for the time being.

"What's your name again?" she asks me while shoving another french fry into her mouth. "Isn't it like a color? Chartreuse or something?"

"Perriwinkle," I say with a distaste in my mouth. "My name is Perriwinkle."

"Oh so you can talk!" she says with a smile. "My name is Doe, like the deer, I don't get it either," she says quickly. "So I guess we both have pretty interesting names!"

I have no idea why this girl is so happy, or why she's so excited to be sitting on a train coming to her death, but she hasn't shown the slightest bit of sadness since arriving, and this whole conversation has made me just want to be in my room.

"I wonder what the dessert is going to be like if this is the food they give us!?" she says excitedly. "This is going to be a good night. I can feel it!"

I want to be the girl

That you see at the end of the day

The one that smiles

And the one that laughs

The one who makes you forget

All of the bad

Doe Benner, 16

District 11 Female

Bless his heart, but the little boy that I've been trying to cheer up since we've got on this train just isn't having it. I'm not an idiot. I know what we are on our way to, and I know that typically it doesn't make for a good time.

However, the little life that I might get to live I want it to be one that's good. There's nothing I can do to change the fact that I was reaped in the Hunger Games. The one thing I can do is alter my mood and make this last bit worth something.

I've had a very easy life as opposed to most of the people in District 11. I never really needed anything. In fact, I never even considered touching any tesserae because my family was so well off. I don't know this boy's backstory. He looks like he was a little well off though by his clothes, so I don't think he's malnourished or anything like that, I want to make sure that emotionally this kid is okay.

"Aren't those fries so good?" I ask as he puts the first one in his mouth. The boy looks at me wide-eyed, and for the first time since I've met him, I've seen a bit of expression that didn't look like he was doom and gloom.

"Holy cow, what did I just experience?" he asks me looking shocked.

"Try the red stuff," I say sliding the red sauce to him. He dips the fry into the sauce and then skeptically puts it in his mouth.

"Oh my gosh," he says

"Isn't that like-" I begin but am quickly cut off.

"The best thing I've ever experienced in my whole life?!" he says smiling brightly.

Food has always helped me feel better when I'm feeling down, and I know that it isn't for everyone, but I thought I sensed a fellow foodie in my little District partner. Since I've gotten on the train, I've tried not to let everything get to me. The number one thing I refuse to do is allow myself to think of this as one of my last meals, because life is going to go on.

"We should watch the other tributes and see what they're like," says Perriwinkle as he takes his plate and loads it up with more fried potatoes before he walks to the back living room section of the cart and sits down. He turns the TV on, and he flips the channels for a second before he finds a review of the reaping.

I walk over to him from the table and take a seat. He sets the fries in the middle of us and motions for me to have some if I want them. A nervous feeling sweeps over me though as I watch these tributes, and I suddenly don't have an appetite.

No, Doe. You will not allow your mind to travel to dark places.

I shake my head around and then pop a few fries into my mouth. District 1 looks like a dull District this year. The girl seems calculated, and you can read the boy from 1's whole story on his face. "He looks like the kind of guy that you drink vinegar to make yourself throw up, so you don't have to talk to him," says Perriwinkle bluntly. I burst out laughing and look at him with a shocked look.

"Boy, what kind of people are you hanging out with?!" I say. "Also, what are you doing drinking vinegar?"

"I've never actually done it," he says popping a fry into his mouth. "But like, if I ever was going to, he seems like the kind that would make me do it."

We sit there in awe at the girl who volunteered from 2. My jaw drops, and Perriwinkle gets uncomfortable and starts to shift on the couch. "How do you just give up your life like that?" he asks me without looking at me.

"That's the thing," I say. "If she's comfortable enough to volunteer for something like this, she has to feel somewhat ready, or has to have something up her sleeve. She doesn't look suicidal to me, and she seems to have her head screwed on straight. This girl is out for the kill."

He turns off the TV and looks at me. I can tell the feelings that he had before the dinner are coming back. The only difference now is, I have them too. I take a breath and then start to carelessly munch on the fried potatoes that sit between us as I watch his face change from scared to thinking.

"Doe?" he asks me quietly.

"Mmm?" I ask shoving another handful of fries into my face.

"Will you be my alliance in this? I don't want to do this alone."

His face is scared and genuine as those sentences escape his lips. I smile at him and stick my hand out in front of me. He grasps it in his own, and I shake. "Of course, buddy," I say. "Doe and Perri until the end."

I told myself that I was going to update this today, and by golly I did. I hope that I have the District 12 reapings done tomorrow, and then I can be done with the freaking reapings because this is honestly my least favorite part of writing SYOTs. So time-consuming.

I always show bits of personality by tributes talking, and everything I do is pre-planned to show you a bit about them. So it's fun for me to read some reviews and then evil laugh to myself because I told you WAY more than you guys realize about individual characters.

Excited to get this show on the road! I figure I should give you a layout of how this will go.

You'll meet someone HELLA important after the D12 reapings.

There are no interviews because I personally hate them, and I think it's early enough to not need them.

I will have two training days.

I will have a private session, LadyCS style. Meaning a brief overview of each tribute, a comment section, and you'll see their reports because I hate those.

Then the bloodbath.

I want to try and drag the games out this time. I want to get better at my writing, and I feel like that's a huge portion. So, I hope you guys enjoy what I have in store. This arena is epic. I have a perfect villain. I have a perfect everything laid out in my head, and it's just all beautiful. (to me lol)

Keep it classy,

Caleb