Laken Dervissey, District Four male (18)

I was an excellent student at the Academy, but that wasn't enough. There were dozens of excellent students. I could pick out twenty of my classmates who could all be chosen for the Hunger Games. Today's match wasn't officially part of the selection process but everything counted in the Academy, especially the last few weeks leading up to the Reaping. But for me, it wasn't entirely about that. All Academy students had their reason to join. For a lot of us I think it was less about public glory and more about private demons. That was something I knew a lot about.

We all think our mothers can do anything. Most of us look forward to the day we're big and we can pay them back. But I wasn't big. I was ten years old. And I couldn't help her.

I was so small. So small they didn't even notice me. When the police asked me, I didn't remember what the men looked like. I didn't even remember how many there. All I saw was what was happening to my mother.

Thresher was a good fighter. When I was in the ring with him I couldn't think about anything but the battle. That was what I loved about training. For me it wasn't about the killing at all. Once my opponent was dead I could move on and start to think about other things again. I didn't want to think. The longer I fought, the longer I had to totally concentrate on staying alive, the longer I didn't have to think about things I didn't want to think about. It wasn't what a doctor would prescribe for therapy but it was what worked for me.

My mother wasn't able to fight. I would always wonder if she did it for me. If she didn't want to get up and run because if she came to get me she would be exposing the fact that I was there at all. When the men came, I ran. I thought she was behind me and I didn't notice she'd been caught until I was already hiding behind a dumpster. The men never even looked for me. I wasn't the one they had come for. So I saw it all, waiting for my mother to get up and fight and get away. But it never happened. It never happened and she hardly even made a sound. She knew what was going to happen to her and all she could think about was not making it worse for me.

I shouldn't have blamed myself for what happened. A ten-year-old child couldn't fight multiple grown men. There was nothing I could have done. It's funny, though, how humans can be so intelligent and yet so unable to see something so obvious. I knew I shouldn't blame myself but I couldn't make myself believe it was really true. The only thing in my mind was that my mother was gone and I hadn't stopped it.

My mother had brown eyes. They crinkled at the edges when she smiled. I didn't know if the men even noticed what color eyes she had. They didn't notice that she loved sweet peas and she sang to me every night. Every night but one. She was quiet that night.

It didn't matter whether I won or lost this fight. I'd fight someone else. Over and over I'd fight, because no matter how many times I fought, she would still be gone.

Elisabetta "Beth" Crissino, District Four female (17)

"Are you going into the Games, Mx Crissino?" Tetra's green eyes shone as she smiled up at me in the shallow water.

I smiled. "Don't worry, I wouldn't leave you all," I said. I was only the third pick. Honestly I was surprised I was even that highly-ranked. Training was fun for me, but it was just... well, fun. Like most things in my life, I kind of just fell into it. I liked physical stuff and it just seemed fun. So my brothers all pooled together to send me to the Academy for a year and after they worked so hard to pay for it I felt like I should give it a chance and luckily I ended up liking it. Another great thing about training was that it got me into swim tutoring. I loved that my brothers cared enough to raise my tuition fees but I felt greedy using so much of my family's money. So I got a part-time job teaching little kids to swim. Part-time teacher, part-time Academy student. I liked a little bit of everything and not going overboard with anything.

"Are you gonna die?" Current asked, wide-eyed.

"Kids, I'm only the third pick. I'm sure Selkie and Sunset want their chances," I said. Personally I hoped Selkie brought this home for us. She was an archery goddess, not to mention just a good friend and fun to be with. The only thing I was worried about was her mother. She'd been improving since her accident but she still couldn't walk independently. Selkie was talking about maybe being her caregiver. She was a great lady and full of heart. I just hoped she got to live her dream.

"What if you do go? Are you going to kill people?" Tempest said.

"I guess so. I think I'd rather just hang out and see what the Arena is like. That's probably why I'm not the first pick," I said. I was a big enough person to admit my limitations. I wasn't really... Hunger Games material. I could fight a little, I could survive a little, I could swim a lot, but I wasn't really a killer. Life's too sad enough, you know? Why kill people when you could hug people? When I was littler I used to dream about becoming president so I could make Panem a happier place. That wasn't going to happen, but I could be a counselor or a teacher or something like that. Something that would help people.

"Who's ready to take their swim test?" I asked.

"Me! Me! Me!" A half-dozen hands waved around in the air. Obviously, everyone in Four could swim. A lot of us could swim before we could walk. My students were kids that for some reason or another needed a little extra help. Some of them, like Tetra, had injuries or body differences that required rehab or retraining. Others, like Tempest, were super afraid of water and needed encouragement and a supporting hand to help them make peace with the ocean. I had a great time helping my little charges gain confidence and discover all the ocean had to offer.

I couldn't imagine life without the ocean. Not being able to swim would be like not being able to see. It sounded cheesy and cliché, but I identified with the ocean. People thought it was huge and scary but actually it was a really lovely place. No one thought I was scary so that part of the analogy didn't hold up, but I liked to think I was a lovely sort of person. I loved how the ocean was quiet and calm. I loved swimming under the surface in the endless blue, suspended weightless like I was in outer space, then surfacing and lying on my back so the blue was under me and the blue was above me.

The hair on my arms raised up as the air cooled. I looked up and saw a thin line of gray at the far horizon. I felt the pressure in the air change and suddenly I didn't feel so at peace.

"Uh-oh. Never mind, kids. Looks like a storm is coming," I said. The test would have to wait. The clouds rolling in looked like thunderheads. It was a million-in-one chance but I wasn't about to watch half a dozen kids get fried by a rogue lightning bolt.

"Sorry, everyone. Who wants to build a sand castle?" I asked as I shooed the kids out onto the beach. I loved the ocean. I did NOT love thunderstorms.

Laken: Tall, tan skin from being outdoors a lot, good looking, dark green eyes

Beth: Beth is of Italian descent and stands at 5 feet and 4 inches in height. She has light skin, but often sports a nice tan from her much time she spends outside. She has light brown eyes and long, slightly thick dark brown hair. She has a false tooth from a training incident as a kid and hates it.