Argentina "Tina" Hudson (17) D4F

Mom and Dad worked so hard all the time that I just couldn't let them make breakfast. It wasn't the right thing to do! I made the food each morning, trying to switch it up all the time to make sure we never got bored. Today? Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries I bought out of my allowance. I didn't need an allowance, and I donated most of it, but it didn't seem bad to save a little bit for myself if it was to help out my family. After all, everyone should have a little bit of fun in their lives.

"Oh, Tina! You did such a good job with breakfast," Mom said, awakened by the smell of fresh food. Anyone would wake up to my pancakes; they always managed to smell great. "Classic Tina." She always liked to compliment me, but it didn't seem right. I was supposed to be humble, not big-headed, and complimenting me could mess up my personality.

"It sure is classic Tina. Did she tell you she got chosen to volunteer? She's such an amazing girl, isn't she!" Dad said, and I blushed. They were being so nice! It wasn't unusual, but how was I supposed to take that? Sure, I got chosen to volunteer, but tons of girls did. One did every single year. It wasn't unusual or anything.

"I wish Lia would do something like that. She got an A on her math test, which is something," Mom said, and my mood switched entirely. I wasn't exactly angry; anger came slowly to me. I just knew that it was one of those days - Mom and Dad loved that I trained and hated that Australia was smart in her own way. It was annoying, though that was cruel to think about my parents.

"That is really something! Lia's one of the top in her class! I could never do that. She works so hard for her grades," I said, noticing how Lia lit up when I spoke up. That was pretty much pattern, too. I'd never let Mom and Dad hurt my little sister, though I had to protect her quietly. I wouldn't want to hurt my parents either. They deserved all the love I could give them, just like everyone in the world did.

Breakfast finished a bit more quietly, Aeneas not really wanting to speak up. He was loud, but not loud enough to get involved in a situation like that. I cleared the dishes, another task I couldn't help but doing for my family, and watched everyone disperse, Mom and Dad to their jobs, Aeneas to train, and Lia to study. She lurked for a bit before she went, and I stopped cleaning up.

"Thanks, Tina," she said, pretending she had to. I would never stop loving her.

"No problem, Lia. I'd never let you get hurt. Not for anything in the world."

Rio Ryine (15) D4M

"Hey Dorian," I whispered to my cousin while he worked on his assignment. He looked up from his book, ears perked to hear what I was going to say. It wasn't going to be anything out of the ordinary, so he probably knew what was coming. "Mom's working with Kai right now, studying some really complicated math thing. She's going to be distracted for a long time." Unspoken words dangled in my silence, and Dorian considered what I was saying. He had to think carefully, or we'd alert Mom.

"Wanna go on a walk?" Dorian replied, matching my quiet tone. It was all I needed to know that he agreed with me: We should sneak out. It wouldn't be a hard task, and Mom probably wouldn't worry. We did that sort of thing all the time, and we'd be back for supper. It was just a beautiful day, and it would be a waste to spend the whole thing inside.

I got up, not putting my book away. That made noise that could alert a watchful parent to what we were doing. Dorian followed suit, and we snuck out of the house, walking as sneakily as we could manage. That wasn't saying much, since neither of us practiced stealth in the Academy and Mom had good ears, but it was usually enough. We got out of the house without being noticed and then ran off toward the beach, knowing good and well what we were going to do even though we didn't speak about it.

Pulling off my shorts, I revealed swimming trunks I had worn under the radar. Dorian raised an eyebrow but chose not to comment. Of course I had planned ahead of time to sneak out. We hardly spent a day homeschooling with Mom. And of course I wanted to swim. It was the best thing in Four, in all of Panem, to be underwater, testing your lungspan and seeing how long you could last. Dangerous, as any Four kid would admit, but we didn't go past where we could touch the bottom if we ever had to. We knew how to stay safely wild.

"Last one to the rock is a rotten egg!" Dorian yelled, sprinting into the water after taking his shorts off. I should have expected that he wouldn't mind not having swim trunks, but I was taken by surprise. I jumped in after him, trying to beat his strokes and overtake his head start. Dorian was normally the stronger swimmer, but I had tricks up my sleeve. Even if I didn't win, the fun would be worth the shame that came with it. School was so pointless. I wasn't going to need the knowledge after I volunteered. I could just swim through life, bobbing up and down and enjoying the peace.

I wasn't joking when I said I'd be on a roll

Anyways, santiago . poncini20 and I are making a collaboration SYOT! It's called Ohana: The 100th Hunger Games and is, as expected, a Quell. Go check it out and send us tributes!