Ryx Marker- District Three male

"Who can tell me the answer?"

My hand shot into the air, along with a few other students'. Mr. Ducklow looked over the raised hands. I strained extra high when he was looking at me, leaning sideways out of my seat, but he didn't pause. He looked over my head and smiled.

"Ada?" he asked.

Ada? I turned around to see her in her chair. Ada hardly ever raised her hand. She wasn't dumb or anything, but she wasn't really the kind to take a risk in front of everyone. She leaned forward in her chair to give her answer.

"April ninth, 1861," she said. I felt a little thrill. That was the wrong answer. I had another chance.

"Close," Mr. Ducklow said. "Who can add some more-"

My hand shot back up. Mr. Ducklow smiled.

"All right, Ryx. What else can you add?"

"It was April in 1861, but it was the twelfth," I said. "April ninth was when the war ended. It started on the twelfth when General Beauregarde shot at Fort Sumter."

"Awesome answer," Mr. Ducklow said. "After that, President Lincoln..." I wasn't listening as he went on. I already knew most of what he was talking about, since I'd been reading ahead for weeks. I liked to study super hard before we got to a subject. That way I always knew the answers. I wiggled a little in my chair, pleased that I'd done well for Mr. Ducklow again. It was very important to me to make sure I was always his best student. I loved how he would always look at me if no one else raised their hands. Usually I raised my hand too, but sometimes I let other people have their moments, and only came in if they were wrong or didn't tell everything.

Later, when we sat down in groups to write three paragraphs on why the war started, I took the tablet for my group and started typing our paragraphs.

"I already know a lot, so I can write it," I said.

"Of course you know a lot," Neo said in a peevish tone, his arms folded. "You always know a lot."

"It's just what I'm good at," I said. I started to write.

The American Civil war was the result of variegated contentious disputes. The aforementioned conflicts were largely the result of cultural contradictions between the agricultural South and the industrial North...

"What does 'variegated' mean?" Tungsten asked.

"It means 'various'. Like, a lot of different reasons," I said.

"Why didn't you just say there were a lot of reasons?" Tungsten asked.

"Because that didn't sound smart enough," Neo objected.

"I'm not going to hold myself back because some people can't keep up," I said.

"No one wants to keep up with you. Then we would have to be near you," Neo said. Tungsten nodded along. Marie, who was always congenial and full of amity, discreetly looked away.

"Let's just get this written," she said.

Fine, I thought. And I'll keep writing in, since I'm the only one here who actually knows what we've been learning about. I didn't care if none of my partners did any work. Mr. Ducklow would see my paragraphs and give me an A, like I always got. It didn't matter if I didn't have any friends and everyone teased me. Someone thought I was smart.


Andrea "Dr" "Dre" D'Amour- District Three female

"Go ahead and ease into crane apose. Fold your left leg and stand centered on your flat right foot. Arms together, hands in the center of your chest. Take nice, deep breaths and focus on your breathing. No need to rush. Let it flow naturally."

Yoga was the best exercise for me. Why? Because it's nice and slow. That means you can talk! Yoga was a chance to hang out with friends and do something productive at the same time as you caught up with them and talked about anything you wanted. You came out feeling fresher in your body and your soul.

"Are you going to do yoga in the hospital when you start?" Kassia asked me after the yoga session was over.

"Yeah, of course! It's super good for you, especially for people who are too fragile to do heavier stuff," I said.

"Take me with you," Kassia said jokingly, but only kind of jokingly. She fist-bumped my shoulder.

"Aw, I'm not really staying," I said. "The Capitol's not for me. I'm going to be going crazy after a week."

"But it's the Capitol," Kassia said. "Dresses and candy and jewels..." She twirled around.

"Eh. I'm more of a sand and beach and open air kind of person," I said. I put a hand to my forehead and stopped walking.

"I'm getting a vision," I said. "I see the future... my future. I see me working in the Capitol in a dazzling white hospital. It's super boring. I see me retiring as soon as I can afford it. I see me buying a little beach hut in four and teaching yoga on the beach. I'm super happy... and tan."

"You see anything about the Reaping?" Kassia asked.

"Sorry, fortune telling isn't an exact science," I said.

"What if you get Reaped? Will it still happen then?" Kassia asked.

"Of course!" I giggled like it wasn't even something to be worried about. Truthfully, it was the only thing to be worried about. The fortune-telling thing was kind of a joke, but it was also kind of real. It was a little hobby of mine to try to predict the future based on a combination of what I knew about someone, a little intuition, and a good helping of luck. I really did see all that stuff about the hospital and the beach hut in Four. And it was also true that fortune-telling wasn't an exact science, but it wasn't entirely true the way I said it. I did see something about the Reaping. More accurately, I saw nothing. I had no idea if I would get Reaped or not, but if I did, I saw nothing. No future at all. I knew exactly what that meant.


Ryx: messy red hair and blue eyes. 4'11. Caucasian with pale skin. He has a lot of freckles and glasses.

Andrea: Her parents' ancestry is from France, but she identifies as being Middle Eastern since her birth mother's family is from Kabul. She has fairish skin and a dotting of light freckles across her face. Andrea has bright green eyes and wavy, sandy brown hair that reaches to her waist. She is around 5'4 and weighs 120 pounds.
Dr. Dre is long forgotten in Panem LOL. Andrea's nickname is a coincidence