Finally, the first TMH Reaping! I've decided to change up the format a bit from how I wrote them in OLS. The formatting just makes it easier and less cluttered.

Corbyn Reid, 16
District 5 Male

Two years, two months before the Reaping

Term marks were finally out.

Corbyn scanned his sheet of paper, up and down, left and right. High 80s, low 90s. He smiled to himself; yep, there was a definite improvement. The lowest mark was probably his math mark, but even so, that was only an 73. Corbyn was never big on that subject anyways; so many formulas and guidelines that just had to be done correct. No room for creativity or exploration. No room for him to really shows his own ways and methods, however out-of-the-ordinary they ended up.

Sometimes, Corbyn thought, guidelines were stupid.

He was still pretty proud of himself, though.

After school was over, he met up with Linda, and they both walked home together. Linda clutched her paper tight to her chest. Unlike Corbyn, she wasn't as happy with her marks. "I got a 54 in Math, and 66 in Panemanian History, and a 57 in my electrical course! My parents are going to kill me!"
"The electrical stuff is easy. I'm kinda surprised."

Linda glared at him. "You are not helping."
"If you want, I'll help you study."

"No offense Corbyn, but you always go overboard when we study together. Like, you come up with all these crazy, elaborate explanations, but all you really need is to just say how you got from here to there. I talked to Mrs. Monroe about it and she said that as long as I can clearly explain my process, then I'll get full marks. Sometimes, the reason you get to low in math is because you don't really show how you got your answers."

"But I hate using all the formulas. Sometimes, my explanations are easier." Corbyn glanced back down at his marks. "Well...now that I think about it..."
"Hey, I'm just saying! Oh by the way, Cam's having a party this weekend and he said you could come if you wanted. I'm going."

"Ugh," Corbyn sighed. "I think I'll pass."
"Come on, it's gonna be fun! When was the last time you left the house?"
"I'm not a party person. And you just wanna go because you know Axel will be there."
"That's not true!"

"Well, I need to leave. I'll think about it." Corbyn folded up his marks and shoved the paper into his pocket. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Okay! Bye Corbyn!"

Both Corbyn's brother and sister were home when he arrived. He simply dropped off his marks on the kitchen table, then headed upstairs. In his bedroom, he opened up a textbook and started on his homework. About an hour later, he was almost done when he heard a knock on his door.

Helios Reid was standing in the doorway there, smiling. "I see someone's report card came home today?"
"Yeah, they always come out at this time."
"Well, I haven't seen Leslie's yet. Suspicious." Helios gave the page a quick glance. "Good job, son! I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad." Corbyn turned his attention back to his textbook.
"I heard from a colleague at lunch that there's a new ice cream parlor opening across town tonight. I'm thinking that we can go check it out after dinner. Sound good?"

Corbyn shrugged. He wasn't too interested in the idea, especially if it involved having to go halfway across the District just for a scoop of ice cream. "Meh. Sure, I guess."
"Alright! I'll ask your siblings if they want to come. And I think your mother's home."

Slamming his textbook shut, Corbyn slumped down the stairs. Susan Reid was busy slipping off her shoes and jacket, looking very frazzled. "Hey Mom-"
"Corbyn, give me a second! I just got home! Learn some patience!"

Corbyn quickly backed away. What was his mother so upset at? he didn't ask as she stormed past him off to the kitchen. "Helios, did you start dinner like I asked?"
"In a second, honey."
"Ugh, do I have to do everything around this house!?"

Susan groaned and headed off. Corbyn just watched her leave, then slipped back up to his room. Maybe it would be best to stay out of the way. Plus, he had the rest of his homework to do.

Half an hour later, he was called down for dinner. Most of the tension seemed to have melted away as the family ate in silence. Finally, his mother spoke up. "I see report cards have come home. Matt, well done. Leslie...your teachers have mentioned something about slacking off. Corbyn, excellent work. I noticed your math mark-"

"I'm getting the right answers, Mom. Mrs. Monroe just doesn't get my process! Hers doesn't make any sense."
"If you want Corbyn, I can help you. If you need any help, just show me your homework. We can sit down and go through everything after dinner tonight. Do you want me to do that?"

Corbyn hesitated. He wanted to tell his mother that he didn't want help, he was fine and he understood what to do. But what if his unconventional methods turned out to be wrong?
"Sure, Mom. We can look through my homework."

Susan gave him a warm smile. Corbyn just went back to eating his food. Once he was done, he headed up to his room to finish off the last of his work, before his father knocked on his door, telling him that they were about the leave for the ice cream parlor.

Amelia Williams, 13
District 5 Female

Two years, five months before the Reaping

Bipolar.

That was what the doctor called her. Bipolar. She didn't react at all. Her mother just nodded with tears rolling down her cheeks, and her older brother choked back a sob as he reached out to grab Amelia's hands. Amelia just stared at the clipboard containing her diagnosis, full of big typed-up words and the doctor's sloppy scrawl.

The journey home was a quiet one. Nobody really said anything. What was Amelia supposed to do? She wanted to laugh in her mother's face, for constantly doubting that her sweet little girl was so normal and perfect. She wanted to sneer at Damon, knowing that he'd never receive as much attention from their mother as she would.

But she kept silent.

In a way, it explained everything. How an 11 year-old girl could have such sudden and violent mood swings. How sometimes, she wanted to kiss her family and tell them how much she loved everything about life, and other times, she just wanted to destroy everyone and everything in her path, then turn on herself.

Some days were good days. Those were the days when Amelia was grateful for everything her family did for her, and she could never stop smiling. She didn't want to think about her other side; she just wanted to be happy and make others happy. She wanted to be the nice, sweet, innocent little baby everybody saw her as.

Once they got home, Amelia decided to retreat to her room. She laid on her bed for a bit in silence, until she heard her mother yelling her name. After a few minutes, she finally made her way downstairs, taking as much time as possible.

Dinner consisted of small bowls of lukewarm broth, and lumpy, grainy bread made from the tessarae Damon had been collecting. It was probably the largest meal they had all week, and Amelia didn't realize how hungry she was until she slurping the broth down and ripping chunks of bread apart.

Claire Williams just watched her daughter eat. "Amelia, if you don't mind, tomorrow, I'm going out to see if we can find some medicine to help you. I know we might have to stretch money a little more now, but I want you to feel comfortable-"

Yep, that was exactly what they needed right now. Claire's meager factory paycheck drawn out to the point it had stretch marks, just to cover some shitty, tasteless, overpriced pills that young Amelia knew would never work.

"What's the point?" she asked her mother. "It's not gonna work."
"We won't know unless we try, honey."

"You can't fix me. I'm a freak."

Amelia knew she sounded like an ungrateful brat and her tone was much harsher than she intended but right now, she didn't care. Claire gasped, just staring at her daughter in shock. "No, no, no...Amelia, you're not a freak. Being bipolar doesn't make you a freak. It makes you...special...and unique...but you're not a freak!"

"Shut up." Amelia blinked back tears. Was she really going to cry over this? How pathetic. Normal people didn't cry. "Yes I am."

She felt someone nudge her. It was Damon. He gently rubbed at her shoulder, something that used to calm her down when she was little. She used to love it. This time, it didn't work. She wanted to push his arm away, then scream at him to leave her alone. She didn't want his pity. She didn't deserve pity. She didn't deserve the way people felt sorry for her.

She didn't deserve anything.

Amelia recoiled from her older brother's touch. He reached for her again, but Claire just shook her head and mouthed to him, Leave her be. Damon nodded and backed off a little, which was what Amelia wanted. She got up, shoved her chair away, then ran off to her slowly moved her door in order to make as little noise as possible, then gave up and slammed it shut. Loudly.

Flopping backwards onto her bed, Amelia just stared up at the ceiling. Life would've been so much better if she was someone else. Some other eleven-year old with a normal life and a normal family. Hell, she just wanted to be a normal kid.

Was that too much to ask for?

The minute slowly ticked by, each one felt like an hour. Amelia's tears had subsided somewhat, but she felt no urge to leave her bed. She rolled over onto her side and just stared at the wall. She felt exhausted. But maybe the episode was over?

There was a knock at the door.

"Amelia...honey?"

Amelia didn't say anything. She didn't really want to face her mother right now. She didn't believe that sweet voice for one second. Claire was going to yell at her, wasn't she? Amelia didn't want to be yelled at. She just wanted to be alone.

"If you want, you can always talk to me, okay? I'm here for you. You're my only daughter and I want you to be happy. We'll get through this together. I brought you some dinner, if you're still hungry" There was a quick pause, then Amelia heard the sound of something being placed on the floor.

Then she heard her mother's footsteps retreat. Amelia waited for a few minutes, then slowly opened up her bedroom door. Nobody was there. She snatched up the small bowl, careful not to spill it, then quickly closed the door behind her.

So now that I'm almost done OLS, with my (spoilers) Victor revealed, I have shifted my focus to getting the the TMH Reapings done! And here's our first pair up. What did you think of them? Do you like one more than the other?

District 6 will be next up! I'm aiming to have it up by the end of July!

-Vr