Chapter Eight: History (Almost) Repeats Itself

Reaping Day Imminent

Sienna Starboard, District Four Female

Twenty hours.

That's all I have left before I'm supposed to raise my hand, become known to the world, and be dragged to the Capitol to compete in their precious Hunger Games.

I know I shouldn't be nervous anymore, considering how long I've trained for this. I still am.

However, twenty hours is still quite a long time, if you think about it. So, right now, I'm lying down on a sandbar I frequent, soaking up some sun and trying to figure out how I'm going to survive for the next few weeks.

I can do that in peace here. This sandbar is usually empty because I'm one of the few who risks swimming to it. The only way to get here without the drowning risk is with a boat, and if you're in a boat, you can go to locations far more interesting than here.

As I sit up, I notice two figures standing on the beach I swam from, which is odd. People almost never come to this beach because it's well off the beaten path and lacks lifeguards. (Even though our district is known for swimming, drowning is a more common cause of death here than one would think.)

As I keep watching, I notice the two of them diving into the rough surf and disappearing underwater. No surfboards, no boogie boards, not even any goggles.

Okay, now I'm starting to feel really nervous. The currents are so strong swimming is difficult here, and I don't want to watch people drown in front of me.

However, it turns out my worries are baseless. Both of them surface a couple of yards from the sandbar, and, as luck would have it, I know both of them. The one on the left is Arethusa, the head girls' trainer at the training facility, and the other one is my twin sister, Sirena.

After the two of them clamber onto the sandbar and shake the water and seaweed out of their hair, Sirena begins to talk.

"I figured you'd be out here."

Arethusa is currently showing no emotion whatsoever. "Don't blame me, Sirena was the one who led me here."

Well, that makes sense. Sirena was the only person I'd ever told about my excursions to the sandbar, but her telling Arethusa wasn't out of the question.

"So, you ready to volunteer tomorrow?" This coming from Arethusa, as she'd nominated me as the designated volunteer less than two hours ago.

Even though I'm sweating (which has nothing to do with the temperature) and my stomach is currently performing some backflips, I try to mask my fear the best I can. "Of course! Why wouldn't I be? I've been training my whole life for this!"

Arethusa smiles. "That's my girl!"

Sirena is getting a little teary-eyed. "I always knew you could do it."

"Well, you could, so clearly I can!"

Sirena, crazy as it seems, won the Hunger Games all of two years ago. We both trained hard that year, each of us trying to edge the other for the top spot. However, it ended up coming down to a coin flip, which Sirena won.

They're both so happy that I don't dare telling them my real feelings about going into the Games. Instead, I try to start up a new topic.

"Want to swim back and have some fun before it's time to go?"

Sirena nods. "I don't see why not."

At that, we sprint back into the water and begin swimming hard for the beach.

About fifteen minutes later, we're out of the water, dry, and on an actual path again.

"So, what first?" Arethusa clearly wants to get a move on, and fast.

"I don't know. Fishing, maybe?"

"Sure! Let's hit the dock!" Sirena's already running down the road.

The two of us remaining look at each other for the briefest of moments, then we sprint to follow her.

A couple minutes (and about half a mile) later, we arrive at the dock, which serves as a hub of sorts for the town. Families are sitting on the edges, casting lines into the water. The outdoor seafood restaurant nearby is busy, serving up some truly spectacular dishes. Shops line the area nearby, selling anything and everything that people think will turn a profit for the day.

As expected, there's a long line stretching away from the dock. The place is always crowded, meaning there's often a line just to go fish somewhere. And don't even get me started about the wait times for that seafood restaurant during the summer.

It would normally be about a thirty-minute wait for a spot if I was here alone. However, the person running the line sees Sirena with us, and goes pale as a sheet.

"Uh, you guys can move to the front if you want," she says, pointing at us.

I'm struggling to form coherent words right now. All that manages to get out is "It's OK, we can wait-"

"No, I insist!"

Everyone else in line groans a little, but I don't want to make a scene over it, either. So we shuffle to the front of the line, more than a little embarrassed.

Stuff like this happening is totally normal. Since my sister won the Games, everyone goes out of their way to treat her (and anyone with her) like royalty. She doesn't exactly like it, but at least she's gotten used to it after two years. (And I've kind of gotten used to it, too, since people confuse the two of us all the freaking time.)

After a couple of minutes, a family (a mom, a dad, and two little kids) pack up their gear and leave their spot open, giving us room to fish, or at least try to if the area isn't already picked clean.

Sirena and I toss our lines into the water at nearly the exact same place at nearly the exact same time. As soon as she notices this, she gets a cocky smile on her face. "Bet I can catch something first!"

"No way! I will so beat you."

Arethusa's smiling as well. "Not if I can help it!" Then, she grabs a rod of her own and expertly casts it much further than either of our lines.

All of us quietly sit down, waiting for one of us to feel the jerk that suggests we've caught something. It takes quite some time, but something will always bite if you wait long enough.

I feel it first. "Got something!" Hurriedly, I begin to try to reel the thing in.

Sirena gets the same feeling about two seconds later. "Me too!"

For just those precious few seconds, both of us are engaged in a mad race to try and pull our fish out of the water first. Arethusa's paying such close attention to us that she doesn't even notice when her own fishing rod jerks, nearly pulling her into the ocean.

My hands are sore from cranking. Sirena's probably are as well. But I won't stop until I get that fish. I can only assume she's thinking the same way.

And it ends almost as quickly as it started. Both of us pull a near-identical fish out of the water at exactly the same time (or at least close enough that neither of us can tell the difference). However, Arethusa has a sharper eye than either of us, so we turn to her for the winner.

She shrugs her head as best she can while trying to reel in the fish snared on her own line. "Too close to call."

Then, she pulls back hard, the muscles in her arms bulging as she tries to pull in her own catch. Whatever's on the other end of her line is clearly fighting hard, evidenced by the fact that she's walking backwards just to hold her position as she turns the crank.

Soon enough, however, she pulls up the thing, panting heavily. And based on the sheer size of the fish she just caught, we can see why.

"I think I'm the real winner here, guys!" She breaks out into laughter.

Sirena's laughing, too. "That was fun! But we should probably wrap up and go eat dinner. It's starting to get dark out."

Arethusa points to the fish on her hook. "You know he have enough for dinner right here, right?"

Thankfully, Sirena objects before I have the chance to. "Sure, it's enough to eat, but I'm pretty confident neither of us want to get food poisoning the day before we head to the Capitol. Right, Sienna?"

"I agree," I reply. Unfortunately, that's based from experience. The day before Sirena's first trip to the Capitol, we tried to celebrate by eating something I'd caught that afternoon for dinner. However, we quickly realized that we should've left actually cleaning the fish to the seafood restaurants that night after both of us had to wake up several times to rush to the bathroom and puke up everything in our stomachs. And let me tell you, Reaping Day must have been a blast for Sirena. Nothing like introducing yourself to the entire nation only a couple of hours after being hunched over the toilet, puking your guts out, feeling like you were about to die.

Sirena, thankfully, has an alternative. "Maybe that tiny seafood place a couple of blocks from the training facility?"

Arethusa sighs, but drops the flopping, spasming fish back into the ocean to let it swim away. "Sounds good."

We pack up our stuff, then Sirena takes her share and breaks into a dead run for the house to take a shower. Arethusa and I follow her, as we both need showers ourselves after that hard run.

However, when Sirena breaks into a sprint again after she gets out of the shower, we wonder what her rush could possibly be.

After our showers, Arethusa and I quickly arrive at the restaurant, simply named Catch of the Day.

When we look inside, the restaurant is empty, but that's no surprise.

Despite how much Arethusa, Sirena and I love this place, we seem to be the only fans of it. Maybe it's the sparse decor, or possibly the fact that it's extremely cramped (even when no one's actually there), or it could even be that they just prefer to play it safe with the much bigger restaurants by the dock. However, none of that matters.

What does matter is that this place serves some of the most delicious things a person could ever eat. All three of us can attest to that fact.

As soon as we've come through the entryway- ducking a bit to avoid hitting our heads- the one waitress at the place notices us. "Well well well, if it isn't two of my favorite customers!"

Both of us smile as I try to get everything settled. "We'd like a table for three, please. My sister will be here any-"

"Hold up!" A voice yells from outside the restaurant. A second later, Sirena steps in with a girl I don't recognize. "Make that a table for four, please."

"Sure thing!" She directs us to a back table, right underneath a tinted skylight, and quickly takes our order (since there's no one else in the restaurant). "For you three, I'll assume the same thing as usual, right?" As we nod, she turns to the girl Sienna brought with her. "And what would you like, miss?"

She looks nervous, but comes to a fairly quick decision. "I'll just have what she's having," she says, pointing to Sirena.

The waiter scribbles down our order on a sheet of paper, and puts it on the empty ticket line so the cook can work his magic.

Arethusa turns to Sirena. "Who's your friend?"

Sirena twitches in place for a couple of seconds, but manages to choke out some words. "This is Kylie." She pauses for the tiniest of moments. "My girlfriend," she elaborates.

It takes a second for the full meaning to sink in for me. "Wait, you mean your girlfriend girlfriend? As in-"

"Yes, Sienna," she says, cutting me off, "We're dating."

"Cool," is all I can reply.

Soon enough, all conversation stops as the waitress passes out our orders and heads back into the kitchen, leaving us with heaping plates of food to devour.

Needless to say, it's gone pretty quickly after it's put in front of us. Even Kylie, who seems to have never been here before, wolfs down her food just as fast as the rest of us.

"I'll deal with the bill," Sirena says. "You guys can head out."

We heed her advice, and walk out of the restaurant back to where the dock is. It's completely dark outside, but our way home is still lit thanks to the streetlights that periodically light up the road.

Sirena comes out, and that prompts both Arethusa and Kylie to say their goodbyes.

"Sorry, Sirena. I wish I could stay longer, but I've already been away from home all day, I have a family who wants to see me," Arethusa says.

"I have a class tomorrow, I need some sleep," Kylie says.

Then, both of them hurry off in the opposite direction. This is only interrupted by Arethusa yelling "See you at the Reapings, Sienna!" Then, they both disappear into the night.

Well, crap. Arethusa's comment just pointed out the downside of all this: I have to volunteer for the Games tomorrow.

But I try to force that out of my head on the walk home.

When we get home, Sirena holds the door for me so I can get in, then she stumbles along after me.

Even though Sirena has a Victor's Village home set aside for her when she's ready, she doesn't live there yet. She says she'll move in once I compete so that we'll still be living near each other if (although this is a when for Sirena) I win the Games.

As I throw open the door of the house, no one's home, no surprise. My parents work as sailors, so, big shock, they're out on the water most of the time, not at home.

"Are Mom and Dad coming tomorrow for Reaping Day?" I say this mostly because I want to see them one last time before I leave.

"Yes, they are. They called me while I was getting Kylie. They said they'll be home tomorrow morning. That leaves plenty of time before the Reapings."

"That's great," I say as I trudge upstairs to our room, so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Collapsing into what I hope is my bed, I wait for Sirena to inevitably follow my example.

Thankfully, it doesn't take long for Sirena to admit how tired she is. She staggers in after me and sits down on the end of the other bed, turning off the light on the way in.

"Good night, Sienna," she says as she crawls into bed and starts snoring softly.

Even though she's already asleep, I say one more thing anyway, for what might be the last time.

"Good night, Sirena."

Author's Notes:

-Wow, we have a high portion of legacy careers in this one. Three out of five so far!

-Thanks to goldie031 for Sienna.

-Eight tributes down, sixteen to go. Two-thirds of the tributes remain! Up next, the D4M.

-Finally, I'm running out of creative ways to say "One Day Before Reapings." If anyone would like to PM me any suggestions, feel free to do so!

-See you all next chapter!