Salustiano Berlusconi, 17 District 3
"Sal!" a voice called to him. "Breakfast is ready!"
It was his mother. She always made the family a nice breakfast on reaping day, and they all sat down to eat it together, after all, it may be their last one together. He was glad of the tradition though, because a few years back, Corina, his twin, was reaped. Salustiano had thought he'd lost her, he loved her, even if she would never admit to loving him back. But she was volunteered for, by a young girl who wanted to avenge her sister. She died in the bloodbath.
He regretted it wasn't him to volunteer to save her. It wasn't that girl's job to save her, and he was Corina's brother. He should've been able to show how much he truly loved her, and then one day she'd tell stories of her brother, the one who sacrificed himself to save her. Her hero. Then maybe she'd love him. Maybe all of them would love him.
But he couldn't. Salustiano was a boy, Corina was a girl. That wasn't the way that the Hunger Games were designed to work.
"How are you two feeling about today?" his mother asked, pushing her eggs around on her plate, only picking at them. He imagined that knowing that your kids, the ones you loved most in the world could go off and die was even worse than being in the bowl yourself.
"A bit nervous, but my chances are really slim," Corina said, but Sal could see it in her eyes that she was more scared than she let on.
"The same, I guess," Salustiano replied, taking a bite of his bacon.
"It's unlikely, you're right, but it's possible. Anyone has a chance," their mother reminded them. "Be prepared. I know I tell you this every year, but it can happen. It's happened to so many people who thought they were safe," she fretted.
"Ma, you really aren't helping the situation," Corina joked.
"What your mother is saying, is that we love you both and we don't want to lose either of you, but it might happen," his father cut in.
Sal nodded along, not listening much. Empty words. All of them. He carried on eating his breakfast, wolfing it down quickly, before going up to his room again to get ready for the reaping. Another year to stand and listen to the Capitol's propaganda, and watch as two kids with their whole lives ahead of them get chosen for the death match. And then watch them get slaughtered on live television. Year after year after year.
That afternoon, Salustiano got ready for the reaping. A white button up shirt. Dark grey trousers. Blue hair clashing as usual, but Sal didn't really care. People told him he was ugly all the time. That hurt so much, but in the end, there were other things in his life that were on his mind a lot more than coloured hair.
After signing into the reaping, Sal took his place with the other 17-year-old boys, just as a yellow haired woman took the stage. Belle Shutes always chose a color which she'd wear religiously throughout the Games. This year, it appeared to be gold. Her tight curls framing her face shimmered with hair spray. Gold sequins covering her eyes, lips and cheeks caught the sunlight, as did the tight latex dress she wore.
Sal grimaced at the sight of it, looking away from the monstrosity to protect his eyes from the shine radiating from Belle's outfit. A splutter of laughter burst from the side of the stage, where Ilana, one of the mentors for this years Games, sat hunched over, unable to suppress her laughter.
"You look like a disco ball," she called to the escort, who shot her a dirty look.
"It's all the rage in the Capitol, but of course, all of you wouldn't know," Belle sniffed, waving a lazy hand at the drab colours in the crowd below her.
"Obviously some people in this place don't know fashion," she muttered under her breath, turning back to the bowl before the young mentor has a chance to respond.
Salustiano feels like he should be offended by that statement. Belle of all people, after visiting the district year after year, should no that very few people had the money laying around for lavish outfits. But then again, if that was what fashion looked like in the Capitol, maybe he didn't want to be apart of it.
The screens on either side of the stage lit up with the seal of Panem, and Belle hushed the crowd as she turned to watch it. Sal obediently turned and watched it, listening to the same words that he'd heard for years.
"Beautiful, beautiful words from our beloved President Fenn," Belle gushed. It was no secret to anyone in the district that Belle was head over heels in love with the President, and using her high standing in the Capitol had tried to make advances many times, seemingly never realizing that Fenn wasn't playing hard to get, she just wasn't interested.
"Let's start, shall we?" Belle asked, stepping closer to it, so she could reach her ridiculously long nailed hand into it. After digging around for a few moments, she pulled a name out.
Silence fell over the square as the eligible girls held their breath, hoping it wasn't them, their families crossing their fingers, terrified of losing their daughter.
"Marie Turing!"
No one moves for a few moments, and Salustiano cranes his head over to the girls section, looking for the poor girl who was called.
After a few moments of silence, a small girl slowly starts to walk up to the stage from the 14-year-old section. Sal feels bad for her, she walks up as if she's sleepwalking, not quite comprehending what is happening right now.
Salustiano recognizes the girl, her family used to be very wealthy, but had a fall from grace after her parents products started losing favour in the Capitol. He turns his head away, not wanting to watch as the girl makes her way up to the stage and stands silently behind Belle. She seems to shrink into herself, making herself appear smaller.
"Any volunteers?" she calls cheerfully across the square. Only silence answers her. Sure, people will go home and cry for their lost friend or family member. Maybe people who never knew her might tell stories of how much they miss her, but no one wants to die in her place.
Salustiano feels bad for her, but then again, at least it's not Corina.
"Onto the boys then!"
Belle reaches into the bowl again. He's taken no tessarae, but six slips still read his name.
This time, Belle plucks the first slip off the top of the bowl. Strutting back over to the microphone, she makes a show of snapping the seal and unfolding the piece of paper.
"Salustiano Berlusconi!" she calls, and Sal's heart drops.
It's him.
Tears start to well up in his eyes, and roll down his cheeks. He's going to die. He's not good enough to win. There's times when he's not even good enough to live.
The tears flow faster and faster as he makes his way up to the stage, looking at the ground to try to block out the feeling of thousands upon thousands of pairs of eyes staring at his every move.
When he makes his way to the stage, he takes his place behind Belle. Her outfit isn't any better looking up close, Sal notes.
"Can we please have a big round of applause for our two brave tributes this year, Marie and Salustiano?" Belle asks the audience, and a quiet and unenthusiastic one answers.
He wasn't brave. He wasn't strong. These people who were clapping for him now would feel sorry for the blue haired boy who got reaped, watch him get killed on live tv and maybe console his family. But then time would pass and they'd forget about him, and he'd be just another grave in the cemetery of those who weren't good enough.
"Please shake hands," Belle instructs.
Salustiano and Marie oblige, but it only lasts a second before they take their hands back to themselves. He doesn't want to get close to someone who is going to die. Someone who could be planning on killing him as they stood together.
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I've decided from now on, I'm only doing one POV per chapter to just speed it up a bit. If your tribute doesn't get a feature in the reapings, then they definitely will in the train rides.
Thank you 20 for Salustiano and RubyTree7 for Marie. Sorry Ruby for not giving Marie a POV but I'm trying to finish the reapings, which are pretty boring for me.
To anyone still reading, thank you for putting up with the ridiculously long waits in between chapters, and if you could give me a really quick review or pm just saying that you are still reading, I'd love that so I can get numbers.