District 5
Adrienn Lowell, 12
When I wake up, I feel all jittery and strange. My heart pounds painfully. I can barely contain the fear in my body, and it's all I can do to resist breaking into tears when seeing the calendar on my wall. It's flipped open to remind me that today's the Reaping day. I couldn't forget, since my parents have eagerly been counting down the days until I can finally volunteer.
There's a faint knock at the door, and Bobby sticks his head in.
"Mom and Dad want you outside for breakfast. Mom wants enough time to dress you up and stuff," Bobby says somberly. I nod, but stay in bed, unable to get up. My limbs feel very heavy, as if my muscles have been replaced with lead overnight. Bobby sees my reluctance and comes over to me.
He wraps an arm around me, and I feel myself relax a bit with the comfort of my older brother. Nothing could ease the fear rushing through my body, but at least I can manage to untangle myself from my covers.
"You're going to be alright," Bobby promises me. "It was prophesied, remember?"
I nod, despite the doubts I have. I told my Mom about my fears once, my worries that I would perish in the Hunger Games. Mom just told me I had to have complete faith in the prophet, and I would one day bring home immense wealth for the family.
Mom and Dad are busy in an unusually cheerful conversation when Bobby and I walk in. Mom has prepared a meal far fancier than we would normally have, presumably to celebrate the occasion. Or perhaps she didn't mind spending money on higher quality ingredients with the assumption I would bring back a lot of riches quite soon. Typically, we would just have a slice of bread for breakfast. Dad and Mom's jobs at the power plant aren't enough to afford us more than that. Today, however, there are plates of eggs and bacon, far outside our normal budget.
Bobby's face lights up when he sees the meal. It's not enough to perk up my mood, but I put on a smile anyway.
"Ren! Are you excited? Today's the day!" Dad says, cheerily. His face is already flushed from the glass of whiskey in his hand, which isn't unusual, but he's in a much better mood than he normally is.
I nod as I take a seat at the table. There's a lump in my throat. I don't trust myself to start talking, because then I might start crying.
"Is that whiskey?" Bobby asked, already shoving bacon into his mouth. His sympathy seems to have disappeared with the introduction of food. I take a few bites of the eggs, which are good, but my stomach is in too many knots to eat much more. I set down my fork.
"Yes, and a good one! Paige purchased it last night in celebration. It's very good, try it!" Dad says, offering the glass to Bobby. Bobby takes a small sip and his face wrinkles in disgust.
"That's very good," Bobby says, obviously lying. Dad doesn't seem to catch this, and offers the glass to me next. I decline politely.
"Taste it, Ren," Dad says, a little more aggressively. He passes the glass to me, his elbow clumsily knocking over a salt shaker. I take a small sip, immediately recoiling at the strong taste. I hand the glass back to Dad, muttering some false compliment about the drink.
"I normally wouldn't spend very much on alcohol," Dad begins, already lying, "but today is a special day, and we have cause for celebration. Our darling Ren is going to be Volunteering today, and she'll bring us back an immense fortune. The next time we see her, we'll get to have a nice house in the Victor's Village rather than this tiny apartment. When Ren wins, we're gonna host a big party for every important person in the District. Maybe I'll become mayor someday," Dad remarks, with a wistful smile on his face. He takes another long sip of his whiskey.
The day I was born, a huge storm occurred. In the midst of all of this wind and rainfall, the town prophet appeared at our door. She invited herself in, claiming to have a prophecy about me. According to my parents, she prophesied that I would storm through the Hunger Games and change our lives forever. Ever since then, my parents have been encouraging me to Volunteer so that they can become one of the wealthy and influential families in the District.
"Let's make a toast," Mom suggests, and Dad immediately nods in agreement.
"To victory!" Dad bellows, raising his glass.
"To victory."
District 5
Zack Balfos, 15
"Go!" I shout, and Aaron leaps across the alleyway. He manages to reach the next building's roof, landing what he would call 'gracefully'. Aaron brushes himself off, and punches the air victoriously.
"Did you get it?" he shouts at me.
"Yeah!" I respond, waving the camera excitedly. "Carson, you go next."
The street we're on is not one we've been on before. Grayson scoped out the area yesterday, and promised us a fairly exciting parkour run, with several tough jumps. He didn't lie; so far, the jumps have been just long enough to challenge us, but we haven't had any super-close calls yet.
Carson leans over the edge of the building, looking down at the alley below. It's only two stories up, but the ground is concrete below and if one of us were to fall, it would probably mean a broken leg.
"It's kind of a far jump," Carson notes nervously.
"Not that far," Shane says. "You've done much more difficult ones. Even that jump back there was tougher," he notes, gesturing a few houses back. This is enough to convince Carson, although he still looks a bit anxious. This isn't unusual. Carson is probably the most hesitant when it comes to our adventures.
Carson walks back a few steps for a running start, before launching himself off the roof of the building. I scramble to aim the camera at him as he flies through the air, before landing hard next to Aaron on the roof. Aaron helps him up as Carson brushes gravel from his knees.
"You okay?" Shane calls, preparing himself to jump.
"Yeah," Carson says, "Watch out for the gravel though. It's kind of sharp."
Shane winds up before jumping, and he's quickly followed by Grayson and Jesse, until I'm the only one left.
Being the cameraman, I always have a tougher job jumping across, since I need to keep the camera safe and shooting. I don't mind much; I really enjoy my task, especially since I'm the one who gets to rewatch the videos later. It's still a bit of a hassle, though, and I really want one of those cameras that go on your head, so I can keep my hands free. I don't have the money, though. I lucked out and found this camera in an abandoned power plant.
I back up across the roof for a really big running start. The roof's flat, fortunately, which makes it a whole lot easier. My friends are egging me on as I start running, boosting my confidence a bit. I try to hold the camera steady with one hand as I watch my feet. As soon as my sneaker hits the edge of the roof, I launch myself across.
I feel like I'm flying. Only for a few seconds, though. The next thing I know, I've landed among my friends in the gravel on the next roof.
When I enter my house, I see that all of my family has congregated in the kitchen.
"Where have you been, Zack?" my Mom demands as soon as I open the door. "The Reaping starts soon!"
"I've got half an hour," I shrug.
"Zack. You still need to take a shower, get dressed, and take care of that mess you call hair. The walk to the Town Square already takes fifteen minutes, and who knows how long the check-in line will be?" Mom says sternly. She shakes her head and lets out a disbelieving laugh. My brother Quinn gives me a sympathetic grin.
"Mom, can I go ahead to the Reaping? I don't want Zack to make me late," Riley says.
"Go ahead," Mom smiles. "Lance, Quinn, accompany her. You shouldn't be late either. I'll wait with Zack."
"I can stay with Zack," Quinn offers.
"No, I don't want you being late. You're eligible; it looks very bad if you check in late. No one will notice if I slip in the back. Zack, on the other hand…" she turns her attention back to me. "Honey, we could get sued if you miss the Reaping."
"I won't miss it. I have thirty minutes," I argue.
"Twenty-five," Riley quickly corrects, already leaving.
"Well, it would have been thirty if we didn't have this discussion."
Riley doesn't hear me and exits the house, followed by Quinn and Dad. I look back at Mom, who's staring at me with the utmost exasperation.
"Get dressed quickly, Zack."
I shuffle down the aisle, one of the final kids entering the Reaping. I'm technically late, but everyone knows that the Reaping doesn't actually start for another ten minutes. I've made it in that gap, so I won't get in trouble or anything, no matter what my mom thinks. I know Mom is watching me walk down the aisle, so I quickly turn into the crowd of fifteen-year-olds. The moment I do, I scruff my hair back up. Mom made me comb it down and even put some product in it, but there's no way I'm letting my friends see me looking like that.
I push past a few of the other kids crowding up the section, searching for at least one of my friends. Reapings are hard to get by when you're by yourself. It always a little comforting to have someone to laugh with when the escort says something dumb.
"Welcome to the District 5 Reaping," our escort announces. I groan, thinking I won't have time to find any of my friends.
"Zack!" I hear someone hiss at me. My face breaks into a smile at the relief of hearing Jesse's voice. I push past someone to get to him.
"Hey," I whisper. Our escort, who's name I re-learn is Phrixos, launches into a speech about how fun the Hunger Games are and follows by reluctantly showing us the boring video they're required to show us every year.
"These are quite boring," Phrixos admits. "I know you're all like me and would rather get on to the gore, but-" Phrixos looks off-stage and quickly launches back into promoting the film. "It's important!" he smiles.
I exchange a look with Jesse, who rolls his eyes. I try to hold back my laughter, but as soon as I start to laugh, I can't stop myself. I begin giggling, covering my mouth with both hands. I'm still laughing when Phrixos draws the guy's name.
"Zack Balfos," he announces.
I immediately stop laughing and my face goes slack. I can feel all eyes point to me, and then the cameramen up on the rooftops find me and I can feel every eye in Panem on my dumb expression. Even though my heart is thumping painfully, I forced myself to grin as if everything's cool, and give the camera a chill wave.
People part for me, so it doesn't take me long to reach the stage. I don't normally have stage fright, but with everyone staring at me with pity and judgement, I feel relief.
I don't want to see any of my friends or family, because I'm worried I'll cry if I do, so instead I focus on a point in the distance and try to keep my mind blank. I think Phrixos is calling for the girl, but there's a roaring in my ears so I don't hear who it is. I briefly glance over at her as she walks up onto the stage.
I don't know her. I don't have any girl friends and Riley's too old to be Reaped, so I figured I wouldn't recognize her. I can immediately tell she's older and taller than me, and probably smarter too. I look back at that point in the distance, but I'm immediately snapped back into reality when Phrixos asks for Volunteers. Volunteering is unusual in District 5, but there's a chance for me.
There's silence in the square for a moment. Then, a tiny voice at the far back says, "I Volunteer."
I'm shocked as a twelve-year-old girl, looking not particularly strong, not particularly bloodthirsty, comes walking out into the aisle. Is she crazy? The other girl sobs in relief and runs off the stage. The crazy twelve-year-old walks down the aisle, hugging herself, looking terrified.
When she gets up to the stage, Phrixos immediately gives her the microphone.
"What's your name?" Phrixos asks eagerly. "Why did you Volunteer?"
"My… my name is Adrienn Lowell. I Volunteered because… I think I can win," she says. I can see Phrixos's skepticism behind his excitement. He nods, almost at a loss for words.
"Well… go ahead and shake hands," he tells us.
I offer my hand to Adrienn. Her eyes jump to mine nervously, but they quickly look back down at her shoes. She gives my hand a quick, limp shake, before hugging herself again.
"District 5, your tributes for this years' Hunger Games: Zack Balfos and Adrienn Lowell!"
