OUR LAST REAPINGGGGGGGGGG! YAY! This might be one of the shortest chapters yet (I got especially lazy with Erin- sorry, CandleFire), but I honestly don't care. As I've said ten times already, your character will most likely get a longer chapter in the Capitol.

Beckett

I grab a slice of bread and sit down quietly at the table. A few minutes later, my mom walks down the stairs. She makes herself a cup of tea and sits across from me. We don't say anything for a moment. The tension in the room is unbearable. Finally, my mom breaks the silence. "Are you nervous?" She asks. I shrug. "Yeah." I say. "I'm more scared for Sasha, though…" My mom nods. "Me too." This remark annoys me a little bit. "You mean, you care more about Sasha than you do for me?" I retort. My mom sighs and takes a sip of tea. "Maybe I do." She mutters. I don't think she meant me to hear her, but I did. I grit my teeth. "I get it." I snap. "You love Sasha more than me, even though he's not even your real son. That's fine." I know I'm being a little bit harsh, but it's true. My mom rolls her eyes. "That's not fair." She says. "Just because I adopted him doesn't mean I can't love him as much as I would a real son." "Well, could you at least not make it quite as obvious that you like him more than me?" I request angrily. "I love you both equally!" My mom protests, but I ignore her. I stand up and storm up the stairs to my room, slamming the door shut as I enter. I sit down on the edge of my bed and bury my face in my hands. I almost wish that I was given up to the orphanage, just like Sasha was. Then I would be able to be adopted by a family who actually cares about me.

I hear a knock on my door and a moment later, Sasha enters. He sits down next to me, looking concerned. "Are you alright?" He asks me. "I'm fine." I snap. I feel bad immediately afterwards. "Sorry." I murmur. "I'm fine. Just… stressed about today." Sasha nods. "Maybe dancing will help." He says. My face lights up. I've loved doing ballet ever since I was little. I learned it from some secret dancing DvDs we own, as well as from my mom. The kids at school tend to tease me about it, but I don't care. It's the one thing I love to do. It helps to ease my stress.

My brother and I begin to dance, twirling and spinning and leaping. My body becomes a blur of movement, and my worries seem to melt away. I let out a sigh of relief. Everything will be okay. Both me and my brother will be back at my house tonight, safe and sound. Neither one of will be picked.

At least, I don't think we will be…

xxx

The mayor trots onto the stage, limping considerably. His almost bald head shines in the sunlight, and his ancient face is covered in wrinkles. "Good… afternoon!" He wheezes. He has to pause between every couple of words to catch his breath. "Today we… come together to… celebrate this very… wonderful occasion!" He goes over Panem's history, then discusses our one and only victor, Cocelia. She won over 20 years ago by stabbing the girl from District 1 with a sword. Cocelia looks a little nervous up on the stage. Her eyes are squeezed shut and she's clutching the arms of her chair so hard her knuckles have turned white. I've heard she suffers from intense nightmares.

Our escort walks on to the stage, looking exhausted and bored. I can't say that I blame him. He hasn't had a single victor in all the years he's worked at District 12.

He heads to the girls' bowl of names and chooses a slip. My breathing quickens. I repeat a few words over and over again in my head. Don't let it be Vanessa. Don't let it be Vanessa. Don't let iu be Vanessa. Don't let it be Vanessa.

"Erin Arden!"

I breath out a sigh of relief as a girl walks up to the stage, looking extremely angry. She glares into the crowd. Her large brown eyes seem to say, you did this to me. And you're going to pay. I shudder.

The escort moves to the boys' bowl now. "Sasha Roy!"

Oh my… oh… oh, no. No! NO!

When I see him walking slowly to the stage out of the 15 year old section, a horrified expression on his face, I lose all of my self control. "I volunteer!" I scream, running forward. Our escort's eyes practically bug out of their skull. He strains his neck to look for whoever was stupid enough to actually say those two words.

I make it to the stage. The escort looks me over, a grin slowly spreading across his face. "And what is your name, young man?" He asks. "Beckett Roy." I announce, trying to keep my voice from quivering. It'll look bad for the cameras.

I'm taken to the Justice Building and put in a room. The furniture is somewhat old, but it's comfortable. I sit down on the plush couch and wait.

I don't have to wait very long before the door opens and my mom and brother charge into the room. Sasha throws himself into me, clutching me so hard I can hardly breathe. "Why?!" He shrieks. "Why did you volunteer?! WHY?!" "I had to." I whisper. "To keep you safe." Sasha doesn't respond. He just cries into my arms.

When Sasha finally pulls himself together, my mom comes forward. She stands before me awkwardly, fiddling with her thumbs. "Listen." She says softly. "I know… I know we haven't always seen eye to eye on things. But I want you to know that I love you. So, so much." I pull her into a hug, where we stay until a Peacekeeper comes in and orders everyone out. "I love you!" I scream one last time before they leave.

Vanessa, my girlfriend, comes in next. She pulls me in for a long, sweet kiss. Then she hands me something. I look carefully at it. It seems to be a small toy soldier on a pendant. "It can be your token." Vanessa tells me. "It can be your reminder to keep on soldiering on, no matter what." I have to bite my lip to keep from crying. I embrace her again before she's taken away.

The next visitor I get is unexpected. The door creaks open, revealing a tall, burly man. He has thick blond hair and deep blue eyes. He looks at me with a sad expression on his face. "Dad?" I ask, astonished. My mom and dad got divorced when I was little. My mom kept custody of me, so I haven't seen him in more than ten years.

My dad smiles at me. "You're so tall now." He whispers. "I wish I could've seen you grow up." He pauses for a moment, a tear trickling down his cheek. "Make your dad proud." He says. "Win this game." And with that, he's gone.

I contemplate what he's saying for a long time. I have to win this. For him. For my mom. For my brother. For Vanessa. I've got to win. It doesn't matter what I need to do. I just need to get back to them.

I'll become a monster to see my family once more.

Erin

Thump.

The boy in front of me knocks me to the ground. My vision is blurred, and my forehead throbs with an intense pain. I reach my hand to my skull, and it comes back bloody. "Freak." He taunts. Red hot anger burns inside of me. I jump to my feet and aim a punch at his face. The punch makes contact, but I'm not very strong, so it doesn't have much effect on the boy. He staggers back a little, but is quickly able to regain his composure. He smirks, saying, "Nice try." Then he shoves me backwards so hard that I fall back to the ground. I land with a thud and a groan.

I turn to the side, looking for something, anything, to help me. I spot a rock within my reach. It's not very big, but it's good enough. I grab it and chuck it at the boy as hard as I can. He blinks and lets out a small yelp as the rock hits him in the shoulder. While he's distracted, I get up and punch him in the gut. I don't wait around to see his reaction. Instead, I run off, yelling, "Bye!"

When I'm sure I've lost him, I sit down and lean against the edge of a building, trying to catch my breath. I lean my head back, panting hard. It's a cold, dreary morning. A fine layer of coal dust layers the streets, and the air is gray and gloomy. A typical day in District 12.

After a moment, I figure I should head back to my house. I need to get ready for the Reaping soon. I'm a little bit nervous about it- I mean, everybody is- but I'm not particularly scared. I've taken out a ton of tesserae, yes, but I know kids who have taken out more than me. I wouldn't particularly care if I was Reaped, anyway. It would suck, of course, but it's not like I have that much going for me right now in my district.

I begin walking back to my small home, trying to avoid any kids I see passing by. Finally, I reach it. It's extremely small, but then again, some people in District 12 don't even have a house, so I guess I should be grateful.

I guess.

xxx

I wait impatiently for the Reaping to begin. I wish they would just hurry up and finish it already. I have things to do, people!

Finally, the mayor begins to speak. He welcomes us to this amazing event (wink, wink) and reads Panem's history off to us. I zone out during it. It's so boring.

The escort, Bramble Hardingway, comes out next. He wears a yellow shirt that's so bright I literally have trouble looking at him. His pants are black with silver stripes on them. His shoes are blue, and he has vines tattooed into his arms. "Good morning." He says, not nearly as peppy as any other escort. "Let us choose two tributes to represent this… amazing district." He says the word amazing with evident disgust. It's clear he doesn't think our district is all that great. Honestly, though, can you blame him?

He walks to the girls' bowl and chooses a name. Despite my attempts to stop myself, my knees start shaking a little. "Erin Arden!"

Oh. That's… unfortunate.

Whatever. I can win this thing. I walk up to the stage with almost no emotion. Each step I take seems to have a little bit more purpose than before. I'm pissed off right now. If the Capitol is going to do something like this to me, than fine. I'll just win it all and shove my victory down their throats.

"Do we have any volunteers?" Bramble ask. I know no one is going to step up. After a few moments of silence, Bramble grabs a slip from the boys' bowl. "Sasha Roy!"

"I volunteer!"

Wait, what?!

We almost never get volunteers in this District, seeing as it's so poor. Who could possibly do this?

A boy runs forward and steps onto the stage. He's pretty tall, with light skin and blond hair. When Bramble asks for his name, he says into the microphone, "Beckett Roy". Oh, that was his sibling that was Reaped. That would explain why he volunteered. Still, though, he must have a pretty close relationship with his brother if he's willing to risk his life for him.

The two of us are grabbed by firm Peacekeepers and taken into the Justice Building. I sit down in the room I've been assigned to for a moment, lost in thought. Eventually, my family comes in.

We stand across from each other for a moment, unsure of what to say. I have to admit, I'm not super close with them. My mom and dad are almost always working in the coal mines, so I rarely get to see them. We've never had a lot of money, so I've had to work hard from a very young age. I despise working- it's exhausting, and kids always tease me at school for how messy and dirty I always am. When Zane, my little brother, was born, my family had a little bit more money, so he never had to work quite as hard as I did. It's really frustrating and has formed some sibling rivalry between us.

Finally, my dad speaks up. "Erin." He begins. "We know you can win. You're fast and clever." "Resourceful, too." My mom pipes up. My dad nods. "We believe in you. But you have to make it home to us. You've got to win. Promise you'll win." I flash them a smile. "I promise." I say. They each give me a quick hug, and then they leave. There are no 'I love you's or 'we'll miss you's. I'm alright with that, though.

No friends come to visit me. Nobody wants to be friends with the dirty, ugly girl from a poor family. It's not long before I'm taken to the train. I take a deep breath as I board.

Let's go fight some children.

That's it! Weirdly enough, I don't feel nearly as excited as I should be. Oh, well. I'm still happy.

Also, quick note: I know Katniss mentioned there were only two victors in District 12. In my story, those two are Haymitch and Cocelia. That doesn't mean no district 12 tribute can win these games. If a District 12 tribute wins, I'll just say that there were actually three District 12 victors.

Okay, here are sponsor questions:

What is the name of Erin's little brother?

What does Beckett love doing?