A/N: Slight TW for the implied social isolation abuse in Nylon's POV.

Don't regret this

December "August" Attonal

District Three Female

As I'm escorted down the corridor along with my mother, I try and think of a way to convince her my plan will work. It's going to be hard, that's obvious. She won't really want to co-operate, she'll tell me that me risking my life is a bad idea. I don't care. When they let us into her room, I cross the room and sit next to her. Mother joins us, but seems more interested in examining the room than saying goodbye.

"You have fifteen minutes." One of the peacekeepers says as they leave. We sit in silence for a minute or two.

"So. August. I know you won't agree, but I think I should take your-" I'm cut off before I can finish the question. She figured out what I was planning. Damn it.

"No." She replies.

"Fine. I am taking your place." I tell her.

"No!" She turns to me, looking a mixture of angry and shocked. I need to try something else.

"Look, August. We both know I have a better chance of winning than you do. I'm smarter than you are, and, let's face it, you'd do well at the chariot rides and interviews but you wouldn't do well in the games." I say. Instantly, I can tell I've hurt her. I'm sorry, August. But I am taking your place. I will not let you die.

"How can you say that?"

"You know it's true."

"You don't know that!"

"But I can make an educated guess." I tell her. She sighs.

"Look, even if I did agree, someone would know we'd swapped. They'd recognise you're my sister, and not me." She looks at me with an almost hopeless expression.

"Mother, do you want to say goodbye before you have to leave?" August asks Mother. She turns and looks at us. And then I get an idea.

"Mother, am I August or December?" I ask. Mother studies us closely for a minute, and then turns back to me.

"Are you...December? I think. Sorry, I think" She can barely tell us apart. On a normal day, I'd be upset. In fact, later, when I get myself on the train, I might be upset. But today, this is good. I turn back to August.

"See, our own mother can barely tell us apart! If she can't tell us apart, how are some random Capitolites going to notice?"

August looks from me to Mother and back at me.

"She barely talks to us, December! She might not notice but our friends will. Our teachers will. It. Will. Not. Work." She hisses the last few words. She's probably right. But it doesn't really matter. I probably won't make it to the top eight so the interviews won't matter. And before that they don't really broadcast much about you apart from what you say at the interview. And I'll have enough time to prepare to not give anything away.

"Then you'll just have to prepare everyone well enough to fool them into believing you're me."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" She says. I can hear the desperation in her voice.

"August are you alright?" Mother interrupts calmly. So she remembered who's who. She smiles at August.

"No! December wants to take my place and she can't- she won't-... You can't let her take my place, Mother." August almost yells. "She's going to get herself killed!"

"I'm sure December knows what she's doing, and that-" Mother tells her. August cuts her off.

"No, she doesn't!"

"Actually, August, I do." I say.

"No. You aren't sacrificing yourself so I can live." August looks me in the eyes, almost pleading with me.

"Are you telling me you want to die?" I ask.

"No, but... I don't want you to die either. And I'm the one who was reaped. You are supposed to stay here and be safe. Ok?" And I know I can't tell her no.

"Ok." I reply. She sighs in relief.

The three of us spend our final few minutes chatting, but I don't listen, because I'm panicking inside. Everything is fine, everything is fine. Everything is not fine. Deep breaths, December. Finally, the door cracks open.

"Times up. December, Ms. Attonal, please come with us." Says one of the peacekeepers.

I have to do it now. So I turn to Mother and pull her into a hug, screaming as loud as I can.

"Please, Mother, don't go. Don't leave me here!" I yell, hoping the peacekeepers will buy it. I focus on being convincing, following Mother and August when the peacekeepers drag them out the door. The last look I see from my sister will stay in my mind for as long as I'm alive. Betrayal.

I'm sorry.

Now that my sister is December, that makes me-

I need to get used to responding to somebody else's name.

Learn fast.

Nylon Wishart, 14

District Eight Male

What's going on? The lady with the odd hair and funny accent called my name, and then the people-in-white pushed me onto a stage. Then they brought me to this room. It's quite a nice room, and it's really big as well.

But this is just really confusing, honestly, because normally I just go home after the gathering in the... garden? It's not a garden. Paved, outdoor room. That's more accurate, but not really quite right. My parents burst through the door before I can think of a good word.

"Nylon! Nylon sweetheart I'm so sorry." Mum is crying. Why is Mum crying? What's going on?

Dad spends the next few minutes trying to get himself to calm down, and then tries to do the same for Mum, which he manages eventually.

"What-" Dad cuts me off.

"Nylon, there's going to be a train, okay, and when you go on the train you need to ask the Escort to watch last year's recap and-" Escort? Recap of what? Which question first?

"Dad, what's an Escort?" I ask. He looks at me oddly.

"The lady with the odd hair, sweetheart. And the recap of the Hunger Games." Mum says. She always seems to know what I'm thinking. "The Hunger Games is... it's just a- just a...big... game. Okay sweetheart? And you need to try your hardest to win. That's why you need to watch the recap. Okay?"

Okay. That makes sense.

"Thanks Mum."

She smiles at me, although there are still tears on her face. Dad whispers something to her that I can't quite hear.

"Nylon," Dad says, his tone serious, "There's another girl from District Eight, I think her name is Cassandra. You need to convince her to be your teammate, okay? And if you have time after you watch the recap of last year's Hunger Games, watch another one."

"Okay."

I need to watch...last years...ummmm...Hunger...Games. That's an odd name. Why is it called the Hunger Games? And I...need...to be friends with Cassandra. Okay. I can make friends. I think. How hard can it be?

Whilst I'm thinking about that, one of the people-in-white opens the door.

"Marvin and Serena Wishart, I must ask you to leave now." Says the person-in-white. Mum starts crying again, and Dad wraps his arm around her and starts leading her out.

"Good luck, son. I'll see you soon." He says.

Don't leave. Why are you leaving? I start to follow them, but the person-in-white stops me.

"Nylon Wishart, you need to stay here." Says the person-in-white. What? Ummm...Okay? I don't quite understand what they're taking about. I'm sure Mum or Dad will come back and get me.

One, two, three, four, five minutes pass. Then ten. Twenty. It must be half an hour now.

But the longer I'm forced to wait, the less likely it seems. They must be coming back to get me. They have to come back and get me. Right?

And it's while I'm sitting and waiting for them to arrive that I remember a conversation my parents had. One I definitely absolutely wasn't meant to hear. It was...four years ago, I think. Around the time when Gavin went away. I think they mentioned something about Gavin being in a game. Maybe it was the Hunger Games? But then why didn't he come back. Maybe he's still playing? That would make it a very long game.

Before I can figure out if I really want to be part of this...Hunger Games, one of the people-in-white appears.

"Nylon Wishart, I need you to come with me."

What would Mother do?

Kasia Grant, 12

District Five Female

I was reaped. This is fine. I'm going to be fine. These are the only things I can think about. I need to stop thinking about this. I need to stop panicking. Am I panicking? I don't think I'm panicking. Oh... I am panicking.

"You have fifteen minutes." Says one of the peacekeepers escorting my father. She closes the door behind her too loudly. Honestly, I need to get used to loud noises. There will be twenty-three cannons fired during the Games. And everyone single one of them will be loud and startling. I can't afford to let it distract me.

"Kasia. I-" He cuts himself off.

"What is it?" I ask. He doesn't respond for maybe ten seconds.

"You- You're so much younger than your mother."

I- I would be, wouldn't I? Unless my mother is the same age as me, which doesn't make sense.

"Yes... I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

He smiles at me. Sadly. I notice the tears in the corners of his eyes.

"No. I mean... your mother was..."

"Mother was what?"

"You're a smart girl, Kasia. Who do you think your mother was?"

Who do I think my mother was? I run through a list of possible names, people, places in my head. Maybe a peacekeeper who had to leave the District for whatever reason? No, I'm sure Father would tell me if that was the case. What about... the- No, that's stupid, of course it wouldn't be her. So who else? More names. More faces.

"Kasia, surely you must have some idea who she is?"

Your so much younger than your mother. What does that mean? I'm getting frustrated. I need to stop being frustrated. Being frustrated will get me absolutel nowhere in the arena.

"No. I'm sorry." I reply.

He looks at me like I'm missing something obvious.

"Kasia, she- She was-" He pauses. "Think back to twelve years ago."

I wasn't alive twelve years ago... Unless.

That's not what he means.

There is no way he means that.

He can't mean that.

"You mean-" Before I can finish my sentence, he cuts me off.

"Yes."

We stare at each other for a few moments.

"Well," I start. "Then, I guess, goodbye."

"Yeah," He replies. "Goodbye. I'll see you on the screen."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, until one of the peacekeepers opens the door and asks Father to leave. I watch him go. As he leaves, I'm sure I hear him say something. I must have misheard, though, because I heard him say "and when you arrive home.", and that just seems so random. Maybe it's to do with what he said a few minutes ago. I don't quite remember what we talked about. I need to stop thinking about that.

All I need to think about now is the Games.

You made your choice.

Byk Shepherd, 18

District Ten Male

"You have fifteen minutes." Says one of the peacekeepers before closing the door behind my friends. I assume Ma wanted to see Vivian first. I don't blame her.

Right now, I have fifteen minutes to say goodbye to Lardon and Brielle forever. If all goes well, Vivian comes home. I don't.

Brielle hugs me immediately. Lardon doesn't. He meets me eyes as Brielle starts sobbing.

"Calm down, Brielle." I say. "You don't need to worry about me."

"Are you joking? Of course I need to worry. We all you know you didn't volunteer to go in with Vivian because you wanted to kill her!" Brielle practically yells.

"She's right, Byk. It was stupid of you to try, and terrible luck you were reaped after that." Lardon's voice cracks.

"Whatever I'm going to face in the arena, it can't be worse than watching Head Peacekeeper Arrow beating someone in the square when you're trying to go about your daily life!" I say back.

"Yeah, but in the arena you can't ignore it." Lardon fires back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was easy to ignore a public beating. I've watched the Games. We've all watched the Games. I'd rather go in and guarantee my sister lives and my mother and sister don't starve for the rest of their lives at the cost of my own life than stay here and watch Vivian die!" I'm yelling by the end.

Lardon and Brielle stare at me.

"That doesn't mean you had to try and volunteer!" Brielle says.

"It's not like it would have changed anything if I hadn't! No one else would have volunteered, and my name was on the slip anyway!" I say back.

"Of course it changes things if you hadn't volun-" Brielle starts. Lardon cuts her off.

"Byk's right, Brielle. He still would have gone in even if he hadn't volunteered. In fact, maybe the fact that there's no volunteering this year altered the results."

"And how would it do that?" Brielle asks, wiping away her tears.

"I don't know," Lardon says, "But maybe it did."

"Maybe everyone reaped is going in with a sibling?" I add. Then I realise something else. "No, how would they make that work? It would be too complicated."

We spend the rest of the time trying to figure out if there's a reason both me and Vivian were reaped or if it's just bad luck.

Brielle says bad luck.

Lardon doesn't, he thinks the Capitol is behind it.

I'm not sure. Chances are I'll never find out, and does it really matter anyway?

When the peacekeeper comes to escort Brielle and Lardon away, they say goodbye and leave. Before the door closes, I think I see Lardon comforting a crying Brielle.

Goodbye, my friends.

Now, I have to face my mother.

Well, it's a very late chapter, but school has been mad. I hope I'll be faster on the next chapter. A huge thank you to Sarcasmhonesty, who submitted Byk, Rawlimad000, who submitted December, Katarinakat, who submitted Kasia and iijamesii, who submitted Nylon.