Shine

Chapter 13

District Ten Reapings

A/N: Special thanks to Yugi-smallymcsmall and IIJamesII for the wonderful Tributes featured in this chapter! Please keep submitting your Tributes! I only need four more!

Kayra Dawnbreeze –13- -D10- POV

I zip up my black dress before I leave the Reaping. I look at my brown eyes and short, wavy hair in the mirror. I think my brown curls look sort of cute today. Not that anyone will notice. I smile and walk into the living room, where my parents, two brothers, and my sister are all waiting.

"Ready to go?" My mother asks.

"Yup," I say.

"Then let's head out," my father says. And so we do.

Kayne Lytch –13- -D10- POV

I was up long before most people on Reaping day.

"I'm not sure about this, Kayne," Kylie says. She looks slightly scared, but I can tell she's having fun from the way her beautiful brown eyes sparkle when she looks at me.

"C'mon, Kylie! Jose already did it, you can do it too," I say.

"If it's so easy, why don't you go first?" She asks.

"Because then you might never come down," I say.

"Um-hm," she says, and then smiles. Jose waves to us.

"Come on guys, the Reaping starts in like twenty minutes! We got to go!" He shouts, in a surprisingly loud voice for an eleven-year-old. The guy could command an army at this rate.

"Kylie's a chicken! Kylie's a chicken!" I shout.

"I am not!" She says.

"Prove it," I say.

"I will," she says. She smiles at me. I know that smile. Oh crap, I think, before I feel a hand on my back. And I fall, face-first, off of the roof. The building is only two stories tall, which would be good. If I was orientated in the right direction. Thanks to Kylie's antics, I'm falling spread-eagled towards the ground, face first. I quickly tuck my knees in towards me and hug them with my arms, then I rotate my body so I'm falling feet first. I keep my knees bent, and extend my arms quickly, then pull them back in with a spin, so that I twirl a little bit before I land. I land on my feet and straighten my legs. Maybe the twirl was a bit dangerous, but then again, I like dangerous. I look up at Kylie, standing like an angel, arms spread, on top of the building.

"Are you coming?" I ask.

"I'm coming!" She shouts and leaps from the rooftop. I extend my arms out to catch her, and I do. I stumble a little bit from the impact but keep my footing. I hold her tight, and she wraps her legs around me. I hold her off the ground, and she smiles at me, wrapping her arms around my back. She breathes heavily. I can feel her chest rise and fall with every breath, and I can feel her heartbeat against my own chest. And I really, really, want to kiss her. But I can't. We're just friends. She doesn't know I like her like that. She doesn't know, she can't know. Unless she feels the same way. Then maybe she could know. But I don't know if she feels the same way, so I can't tell her. If I just kissed her, I might get myself rewarded with a slap in the face. And then I might get the best prize of all: The girl I love refusing to ever talk to me again. I think I won't do something stupid. Then she smiles, and her eyes glow with a bright energy that I love so much. And the urge to kiss her redoubles, and I force it away again. I lower her gently to the ground. She smiles again. That beautiful, charming smile.

"Can we do it again?" She asks. She blows a lock of curly brown hair out of her face. So cute. I want to die.

"We have to get going," Jose says, "if we want to be at the Reaping on time. It's in twenty minutes," he says, pointing to his watch.

"And I'm not even dressed," Kylie says. "My parents wanted me to wear this pretty white sundress, but I guess that's not happening." She's just wearing a brown t-shirt and pants, leather.

"You could run back home and change," I say. "You have time." I like the thought of her in a sundress, and I wouldn't mind seeing it in person.

"I could change, but if I wore a dress, then I would have to do my hair, and maybe scrounge up some of my mother's makeup, and that would take too long," she says.

"Well," I say, "I for one think your hair looks beautiful already." My heart beats faster after saying that than it did from the jump.

"Oh. Well, uh, thanks," she says. "But, makeup and-"

"You don't need makeup," I say. "You look bea- uh, fine, you know, uh, without it." Oh my goodness. Stop, Kayne, stop.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you wanted to see the dress," she says. She must see the blush on my face. "Oh, I'm just teasing. Fine, I'll run home and change. See you guys in fifteen." She runs off towards her house, and I and Jose head towards the Reaping.

"What was that, man?" Jose asks. "All 'you look beautiful,' and that. What was that? You gonna propose to her next? I thought you weren't telling her you liked her?"

"Jose, Jose. Young Jose," I say. "I'm not telling her. I'm dropping hints that she will understand if she feels the same way, and won't if she doesn't. That way, maybe if she likes me, she'll know I like her, and she'll tell me how she feels. If she doesn't like me, she won't know I like her."

"Right, right. Of course. And that'll work," Jose says. "What if she never likes you?"
"Then I'll be alone forever, I suppose," I say. "Why, Jose? You got your eye on her?"

"No!" Jose says. "I would never! Just saying though, it's possible if you don't tell her anything now, she'll move on."

"Move on?" I ask, stopping to look at Jose. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that she's doing the same thing, and you can't see it. What do you think that nervous, 'Oh. Well, uh,' was?" Jose asks.

"I mean… I mean… she just doesn't get complimented a lot," I say.

"Right…" Jose says. "Okay, dude, whatever. I've done my bit. Just don't blame me if she gets a boyfriend, and you tell her how you feel, and she's like, 'Kayne, I used to feel the same way, but I never thought you liked me. I'm with Josh now.'"

"Don't even joke about her getting with Josh," I say. Josh is, I guess you would call it, my arch-nemesis. I never did anything to him, but he hates me. I don't know why. It would hurt if Kylie was with anyone else, but it would hurt even worse if it was Josh. She knows how I feel about him.

"Sorry, dude, sorry. Anyway, what did you think about..." He trails off as I think about Kylie. Could she feel the same way? I'll have to ask her after the Reaping. Finally tell her. I feel butterflies in my stomach as I think of it, but I make a promise to myself. I will do it. I will tell her how I feel. I don't know if I'll be able to keep it if the words will come out when I want them, but we'll see. I'll do my best.

Kayra Dawnbreeze –13- -D10- POV

I leave most of my family at the edge of the Reaping. My oldest brother is too old and my sister is too young. Only my other older brother, Maxim, is the right age, fifteen. I spot a friend and wave her over.

"Hi, Kayra. What's up?" Neem asks.

"Not much. I hope I won't get Reaped. Maxim too. Apart from that, not much. Any plans for later?" I ask.

"Not really. I and a couple of friends are hanging out. Want to come?" She asks.

"I don't know, Neem," I say. She knows I don't like large groups. Especially of people I don't know.

"They said they'll have food for us," she says.

"I don't want sympathy food," I say.

"Kayra," she says, looking me over, "you're all skin and bones," she pokes my chest, in between the ribs, causing my skin to stretch inwards, pulling it taunt. "See? You can't be all high and mighty. Your parents might be, but you can't be. You can't afford it, you get any skinnier and you'll die. Come, eat. Okay?"
"Fine," I say. "I'll see you then. Bye."

"Kayra!" She shouts after me, but I walk away. I know I shouldn't, she's my only friend after all, but… something about her offering me the food, it just hits me wrong. I know she's just trying to be nice, she's in the same situation I am. And maybe that's what makes it worse, a girl who only has a couple of pounds on me feeling bad for me. I'll apologize later, and I will eat the food. I wish my parents would get off their high horses and let us take tesserae. Then maybe I wouldn't be so hungry all the time. But then again, who am I to ask that, when I get angry at people who just want to help me?

"District 10, to your places. Please, I want to be at home watching you die, not here with you poor people," Golden, the District Ten escort says. Rumor has it she wanted District One, but somehow it got changed on her paperwork to ten. She blames the District One escort.

I walk to my section and wait patiently if a bit nervously. Golden reaches into the Female bowl and unfolds a slip of paper carefully.

"The Female Tribute from District Ten is… Kayra Dawnbreeze!" I freeze for a second. I'm shocked. It can't be me. It can't. I can't be the one chosen. I'm going to die. I want to faint, to freeze, to be anywhere but here. Instead, I let a little whimper out and walk slowly to the stage. I get there, tell Golden my name, and shake hands. I can't cry, I can't do anything, I can't process anything right now. To all the people watching, it must look like I care about my death as much as Golden does. A great first impression.

Kayne Lytch –13- -D10- POV

I and Jose arrive at the Reaping before Kylie does. We hang around the edge for a bit. Neither of us has any family. My one brother, Alix, is in the Capitol, but not in a good way. He's in jail there, for life, for 'inciting a rebellion'. My parents are both dead. Killed themselves, it was too much for them to take. I promised them that I would be the strong one, that I would stay alive. And I have. Some days I'm not sure it's worth it, but then I see Kylie again. As long as I have her, life will be alright. I won't think about what would happen if I didn't have her. That won't happen. I keep an eye on the path from Kylie's house and am rewarded when she comes down the path with her family. I wave at her, and she quickly says something to her family, then comes over. She's wearing the white dress that she mentioned, and considering how she smells, I'm guessing she must have taken the twenty minutes to shower and dress, without worrying about anything else. She's not sweaty anymore and smells like flowers. I don't know why she smells like that, but she does, and I like it. Her dress is white, knee-length, with wide straps and a medium-cut chest. She looks beautiful.

"How do I look?" She asks, and she twirls. She put on heels. The dress fans out beneath her as she spins a couple of times, and then stops. She looks at me expectantly and smiles.

"You look… stunning," I say. There's that urge to kiss her again. I do want to tell her how I feel, but I'm so scared that I'll ruin our friendship.

"Thanks," she says. She blushes, and fiddles with a strand of her hair. "Um, uh… you look nice. I mean, you haven't changed, but um… uh… how was your walk?"

"It was good," I say. "Yours?"

"I didn't really walk, I ran most of the way home, and then I had to shower and get dressed, and uh… yeah. I shower like, really hot, you know? Red marks all over my body when I'm done. My siblings say that I'm crazy," she says.

"Cool," I say. "Or, uh, hot, you know. I do the same thing. I… uh… what do you want to do later?"

"I don't know," she says, and the strange look in her eyes is replaced by their familiar shine. "What did you have in mind?"

"Um… I don't know. I was thinking about-" I'm cut off by Golden's voice. "I guess we'll finish this later," I say. "See you soon, Kylie!"

"Bye, Kayne. L-," her voice catches. Odd. "See you soon!" She says and runs off. I stand in my section, waiting for the Reaping to begin. It does, and I see the girl who gets Reaped. She looks about my age. She looks sort of like Kylie, except not as beautiful. Then Golden reaches into the Male bowl.

"And the Male Tribute from District Ten is..." she unfolds the slip of paper, "… Kayne Lytch!" I can't believe it. I walk towards the stage. What will I do now? Kylie will never know how I feel. I'll never be able to protect her. What if she gets Reaped? I couldn't do anything about it. Because I'll be dead. And little Jose. What if his next roommate is some jerk? What if he hurts him? And Kylie… Kylie…. She… I hope she'll be happy. But what if I… what if I can't protect her, and somebody hurts her? Somebody like Josh? What if? When I reach the stage, after I say my name, I burst into tears because of all these thoughts.

"Screw the Capitol! Making us play this rigged Game! It's all-" I shout before a Peacekeeper places his hand over my mouth and pushes me back away from the stage.

"Calm down, Sir, or we'll be forced to sedate you," he says. "Are you going to be calm?" I nod. He releases his hand. "Good," he says, at my silence. As Golden repeats our names one more time for everyone to hear, I find Kylie's eyes in the crowd. She's crying. And as I look at her, her eyes find mine, and for once, I know exactly what she's thinking. And I'm going to come home. For her.

"The Tributes from District Ten are Kayra Dawnbreeze and Kayne Lytch!"

A/N: Okay, that was the District Ten Reapings! What did you think? Yes, you. What did you think? How do you like the most out of this pair and all of our Tributes? When is your wonderful Tribute going to be sacrificed to me *cough* I mean, when is your wonderful Tribute going to join the ranks of boys and girls battling for their lives? I currently have 20/24, so please, submit your Tribute soon! Special thanks again to Yugi-smallymcsmall and IIJamesII for the wonderful Tributes featured in this chapter!

Tribute list:

D1M: Lustero Aldor, 17, by Yugi-Smallymcsmall

D1F: Diamond Knowles, 18, by Tyquavis (Previous character connection)

D2M: Ares Moretti, 18, by Andii99

D2F: Giselle Serpentine, 16, by Red Roses1000

D3M: Becquerel 'Bec' Grey, 15, by foxfox12

D3F: Clear Palatino, 12, by foxfox12

D4M: Falcon Lockdust, 17, by Nautics

D4F: Thia Zollis, 15, by JustAPersonReading

D5M: Emery Colt, 17, by Hawkmaid

D5F: Serena Holden, 16, by Andii99

D6M: Andrew Spayler, 15, by AspiringSteampunk0909

D6F: Harper Satin, 16, by Primione394

D7M: Aster Ochs, 17, by Red Roses1000

D7F: Vallory Stensland, 16, by Hawkmaid

D8M: Silk Daisly, 16, by IIJamesII

D8F: Rhylee Kaski, 16, by Primione394

D9M: Open

D9F: Athena Rye, 14, by Primrue394

D10M: Kayne Lytch, 13, by IIJamesII

D10F: Kayra Dawnbreeze, 13. by Yugi-Smallymcsmall

D11M: Open

D11F: Open

D12M: Open

D12F: Camelia Lloha, 12, by Primrue394