Lester's Pov:

I woke up the same way as always; tired. I rolled out of bed and stretched my sore muscles. I started to put on my work clothes before I realized that I didn't hear my neighbors through the paper thin walls. After thinking about it for a minute, I remembered that today everyone had off because it was reaping day. I sighed and stumbled to my small closet to find something presentable.

After sifting through my meager selection of clothes, I finally found a shirt without too many holes and a slightly smelly pair of pants. It was the best that I could do. On my way to the other side of the room where my small kitchen was, I passed my tiny mirror. Blue eyes stared back at me. My curly brown hair could use a hairbrush, but I couldn't be bothered. My acne and flab was far from flattering, but even after months of working out, I still had no muscle.

I started boiling some water to make coffee, but spilled it all over myself instead. Ever since my dad had kicked me out of his house a few months ago, I had had to figure out how to do a lot of things myself. See, my dad was the mayor of District 11. He had everything, and gave me anything I wanted. Then, I may have accidentally encouraged my younger cousin that he should follow his dreams. How was I supposed to know that his dreams involved trying to overthrow my dad? My dad freaked out and disowned me until I could prove myself to him. So now I had that to worry about on top of trying to have enough to eat.

With hunger gnawing at my stomach, I stepped outside to take a walk. I had nothing better to do, and it would help me dry off.

Outside, the air was perfectly still. It was almost like the world was holding it's breath. In addition to that, it was silent too. It was calming, but also unnerving. All of my neighbors must have been taking advantage of the day off and were sleeping in. Or maybe they were just all whispering as they got ready for the reaping.

Suddenly, I heard shouting from an alleyway off to my left. I could have just walked by, which is what I would normally do, but I was feeling heroic today, so I went to go check it out.

In the ally I found a girl who looked about 12 years old, throwing rotten fruit at three muggers, and yelling insults at them. She didn't look very scary to me, but she must have been a good shot because the muggers were covered in fruit guts. The girl threw one more piece of fruit that hit the man in the middle, and splattered on the others, and they turned and ran straight out of the ally.

With the main threat gone, the girl turned her stare on me.

"Oh, are you their backup?" she asked.

"No, I'm-" Opening my mouth was a mistake because the little girl aimed perfectly into my gullet and I got a mouthful of yuck. I decided that I would let my feet do the talking. I turned and followed the muggers out of the alleyway.

I was almost home when I realized that the sun was far further up in the sky than it should be. Great, now I didn't have time to change because I was already late to the reaping.

I scrambled into my spot with the 15-year-olds just as the escort was calling the girl's name.

"Meg Mccaffrey,"

The girl that walked up onto the stage from the 12 year old section had messy dark brown hair and rhinestone glasses. She was sporting red sneakers, yellow leggings, and a green dress. She looked like a stoplight.

" Very nice. Now for the young men." the escort said.

He strode over to the other fishbowl and drew a name.

"Lester Papadopoulos,"

I rolled my eyes. Just my luck. Perfect. Now I get to go die for some stupid game.

After I took my place onstage, I looked over at my district partner. She looked at me and sneered. Then it hit me. This was alley girl. The one who just minutes ago was pelting me with rotten fruit. I had to spend the last few weeks of my life with her? My life really was messed up.

District 1 (luxury): Luke (18) and Clarisse (17)

District 2 (masonry and defense): Jason (16) and Thalia (15)

District 3 (technology): Leo (15) and Annabeth (17)

District 4 (fishing):Percy (17) and Samirah (16)

District 5 (power): Will (18) and Hazel (14)

District 6 (transportation): Carter (17) and Sadie (15)

District 7 (lumber): Walt (18) and Reyna (18)

District 8 (textiles): Calypso (15) and Magnus (16)

District 9 (grain): Zia (18) and Frank (16)

District 10 (livestock): Grover (17) and Piper (16)

District 11 (agriculture): Meg (12) and Lester (15)

District 12 (coal): Bianca (16) and Nico (14)

A/N: I forgot to put a disclaimer on my last chapter, so here it is. I do not own any of Rick Riordan's work or Suzanne Collins' work. Please like and comment!