Welcome to District 4! Enjoy!
Caroline Marley, 18, D4F, Before the Reapings
"So, are you ready for today?" My classmate Joe asks me, examining a spear in his hands.
"I've been waiting for this day all my life. Yes, I'm ready." I answer, watching the spear in his hands. Since the two of us are volunteering today, we decided to get up early to train a bit. His best weapon is a spear and mine is a trident, pretty different. Because of this, I agreed to just help him practice, because I'll have plenty of time in the Training Center in less than a week.
"Can you just set up a bunch of moving targets, and I can try to pretend that I didn't realize you weren't one?" He asked me with a smirk.
My mouth dropped open jokingly. "You better hope you don't make enemies with me there, Joe. My trident beats your spear any day of the week." I snap back.
"That's not true." He does a weird 180 spin and throws the spear blindly. It lands in the dead center chest of the dummy.
"Not bad. Lucky throw probably." I respond calmly.
"Pfft. You won't be thinking it's a lucky throw when that dummy is you in the Games." He says as he throws another spear.
"Jeez, what's with you and wanting to kill me. I know you wouldn't." I say, examining one of my nails which I notice is broken.
Joe stops throwing and looks at me saying, "What do you mean 'I know you wouldn't?" His face grows a bit red and he looks flustered.
"Did I offend you or something?" I ask, confused.
At this, he relaxes a tiny bit and throws his spear again. This time it misses the dummy completely and I laugh out loud. I expect him to snap back at me but instead, he looks at me laughing and laughs too. "Come on, let's spar before we have to get ready," I ask.
"Sure," he replies, grabbing his favorite spear, blunted for training purposes. I almost reach for my custom trident, but then realize that the arena won't have my custom trident, so I grab one of the other tridents. We go over to the sparring ring and start circling each other. "You really think you can beat me?" he taunts.
"I don't think I can beat you, I know I can beat you," I reply. He lunges, I twist away, jabbing my weapon under his lowered guard. However, he was expecting that, and lodges his spear between two of the prongs of my trident, and flips it over his head, where it hit the floor with a bang. I growl under my breath, and when he charges, I dive between his legs and grab my trident. He whirls around to face me, and we stand there, trying to catch our breath.
"Clearly this training session is going nowhere," He says with a big breath. "Let's just go get ready for the Reaping so we can look our best on camera. Not that you really have to." He says that last part under his breath but I catch it and chuckle, my face growing red even though I don't even know why.
"Yep, sounds good." I leave the building and walk back to my house, which is conveniently really close to the Academy of District Four. Once I enter the house, my dad is there, telling me to go get ready.
I smile and nod as he says this, and I go down the hall to my room. Laid out on my bed is my reaping dress. It is a short, long sleeve dress, made of a light aquamarine velvet that cuts off a few inches above my knees. Nice.
I then walk over to my vanity and find my makeup bag. I never really wear lots of makeup but today is the exception. I put my normal amount of it on my cheeks and face, then apply sharp eyeliner and eyelashes. Nice.
I walk back down the hall and my dad is waiting for me. "Go make me proud." He looks like he's about to tear up in pride. My dad never cries or anything like that, so that makes me almost tear up.
"I will dad." I go over to hug him, then grab my black heels and leave the house. Surprisingly, Joe is standing there, in his reaping outfit of a velvet black suit with a white shirt underneath.
"My mom told me I should pick you up because we are the 'stars of the show'," he says looking down at his feet.
"Fine by me I guess." He turns around and we start walking East.
"I wonder what the tributes from One and Two are gonna be like," Joe announces as we continue walking down the street.
"Hopefully they aren't too glamorous or anything. I hate those kinds of people." I answer, picking up a stick off the ground because walking gets boring.
"I bet they will be. They always are, and super backstabbing. I feel like the only person I will be able to trust is you, but I don't know yet."
"That's pretty brave talk coming from someone who just said they would impale me in the arena," I remark.
"Well once it's you and me in the top two, one of us is going to have to come out on top, and I'm planning on that being me." He doesn't look at me when he says this, almost as if he's unsure of what he said.
"Don't get such a big head already, the Reapings haven't even started yet," I remark, trying to get the message into his head.
"I think it's already too late for that," Joe responds with a smirk.
"We'll see how far that confidence gets you then," I say simply. It's not like I'm not confident or anything, because I have full confidence that I will be able to win this, but I don't go trying to show it off to people who it doesn't really matter if they think I can win or not. In fact, I was planning and hoping that I would be the one to get to kill Joe. Nothing personal, it's just that it would be so entertaining, plus I know all of his strengths and weaknesses.
"It'll be weird in Four without you." He says out of the blue. I just roll my eyes even though I know he's trying to be serious.
"Keep dreaming," is what I answer with. We finally neared the crowd that gathered in the Town Square for the Reapings. We chuckle at the sight of all the scared kids.
"They'll look up to us," Joe tells me, looking out at the crowd.
I nod at him, looking up to the bright orange sun, and inhale a pretty big breath. "Now let's go give them a reason to."
Finnick Odair, 43, Mentor, Reaping Ceremony
I gaze over the crowd of children nervously awaiting the reapings. I look to my left and see that Annie is doing the same thing. The Hunger Games is the gift that never stops giving. I remember her saying to me after one particularly hard to watch Games. Ironically, it was true. You get reaped. You're scared out of your wits. You kill people and watch your allies and friends get killed. You win. You are forced to do whatever the president wants you to do. If you don't your loved ones are killed. You grow connections with teenagers. They are brutally murdered. Then the process repeats itself again.
The sad part about District Four is in the last couple of decades it became a career district, meaning all the tributes who go into the Games are volunteers. The sad part about this is the tributes never understand what's coming for them next. If they were happy in any way before the Games, they aren't happy in that way anymore. Their whole life revolves around kids killing kids. And they're brainwashed into thinking that's okay. I don't know who is volunteering, but whoever is, is going to regret it in a couple of weeks.
Annie sighs and sits down. I do the same and the Escort walks up to the microphone, testing to see if it works. "Let the Games begin." She said in a high-pitched voice.
The mayor then takes her place and gives a small speech. I can hardly tell what he is saying though because his low voice and quiet tone don't clash well together. Once his speech is over the Escort, whose name is Roxie, walks up to the microphone. I notice a boy in the twelve-year-old section faints.
Roxie doesn't seem to notice and goes on to explain the war, the effect of the districts, and basically saying what the point of the Hunger Games is. As if we don't know.
"Without further ado, we shall now begin with the girls," Roxie says calmly, in a voice sweet like candy. She walks dramatically over to the glass bowl lifted on a wooden stand on the left of the stage.
Her hand swims through the bowl for a moment but then lands on a folded slip of paper. Without any hesitation, she unfolds the paper and announces, "Marina Marley." Quite a few shocked faces show up in the crowd. Before the reaped girl even gets the chance to start walking, a tall blonde girl in the 18-year-old section steps out.
"I volunteer!" She spits out quickly. As she walks down the aisle I notice a few things. She looks confident like most careers are. She also gives off some sort of businessy vibes. Seems like she's smarter than her age.
The Escort asks for her name as she approaches the microphone. "Caroline Marley." She states with a blindingly white smile.
Roxie gasps and asks, "Was that your sister you volunteered for?" With an odd giggle, Caroline nods.
"Well now for the boys." Roxie takes a few steps to her right and is faced with another glass bowl. She eagerly finds another slip of paper and unfolds it. "Jason Simmons."
My eyes dart to the 14-year-old section and I see a dark-haired boy step into the aisle cautiously. After taking a few steps forward a boy in the 18-year-old section walks in front of him. "I volunteer." He says smoothly and calmly.
He struts down the aisle with a similar confidence in his step but there is just something that makes the girl stand out more than him that I can't quite put my finger on. He finds the microphone and before Roxie even asks for his name he says it. "Joe Simmons."
Roxie lets out an even more audible gasp than before. "Are you Jason's sibling too?" She questions exaggeratedly. Joe smirks and nods, bowing to the audience. Roxie looks like she's about to faint from all the excitement that is occurring in this year's Reapings. Because that's all this is to her, I think to myself. A game.
Joe Simmons, 18, After the Reapings
Pride swells up in my chest. There's no way I can't win this. Confident thoughts bubble up inside my head, surrounding me completely. I am interrupted by the gentle creak of the oak door mere steps away.
"Thank you so much Joe," Jason says to me as he walks closer into the room. A look of gratefulness along with a hint of guiltiness is hidden inside his face. He's not really one to show his emotions too much, but I can tell he means it.
"Sure," I reply with a smirk, "wouldn't want you getting annihilated out there by Caroline." I regret what I say as soon as I say it. Why do I have to be like this? I let out a nervous laugh.
"Yeah," Jason responds awkwardly, giving me a funny look. His face quickly brightens up, a silly look forming in his smile. "Does that mean you're gonna get annihilated by Caroline instead?"
I feel my face grow warm as I let out a little chuckle and shake my head. "No, because I'm gonna win the Games for sure." Even if that means I'm gonna have to kill Caroline.
"You better," my brother says in return. A different kind of smile fills his face. "You're going to do great, you've been training for this since like forever," he says wholesomely.
He's a pretty good little brother. The one who you can be really good friends with. No, Joe. Don't go there. You're not gonna die. You're gonna make it out alive. I make my apprehensive thoughts retreat into the corner of my mind, tucking them away. No time for that kind of thinking.
"Well, thanks," I agree.
It feels like such a short time until my brother is forced to leave. The friendliness from his presence leaves with him. Now, I am just left alone with both my greatest advantage and my worst enemy—my own thoughts.
Hi guys! I hope you enjoyed Caroline and Joe. I am sorta sad, as this is the last Career District. Thanks for your support and remember to review, as constructive criticism is always appreciated. See you in District 5!
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