A couple of days before the Reaping

Timothy "Tim" Cunningham (18)- Citizen of District 10

I'm riding Furia- the black stallion my parents gave me for my eighteenth birthday. He's a superb horse. To be sincere, taming him wasn't easy at first, but now he seems to understand who's master. Anyway, I never miss a chance to ride him, to let him show all his strength. While the wind is lashing my face, I get into symbiosis with Furia. I can feel his powerful heartbeat and his swift legs running faster and faster. Sometimes, I envy him, because he's without worries, he doesn't need to worry about his family, he doesn't need to… hell, to worry about the imminent Hunger Games! I know the odds are in my favour, yet… this danger exists, and seven slips are seven slips, after all.

I have a little break to water the horse. Then, I relax on the grass, under the shade of a tree, to which I tie Furia. I look around. In the distance, I see some cowboys lead the cattle to pasture. District 10 has a rather dry weather, but, luckily, the ranch of my family is located in a fertile valley bathed by several water streams. Not surprisingly, it is called Paradise Ranch. Yeah, my life could be idyllic, if it wasn't for the Hunger Games. Killing people just for fun… the bare idea makes me feel smothered. That's why I'm here, I need to have a ride to mind off. I don't want to think of the Reaping, I don't want to think of those poor tributes who will be reaped and sent to the arena in a few days. I can only hope that nobody I know will meet this cruel fate.

At sunset, I return home. I take a moment to admire the effect of the setting sun on Furia's coat… now, he looks like a precious metal statue lighted by hellfire. I get off my horse and lead him to the stables. There, I start brushing him to get the dust and sweat out of his black coat.

"Leave it to me, Tim," says a female voice behind my back, almost in a whisper.

"That's Mr. Cunningham to you," I reply coldly, without looking at her.

I don't need to look at her to know who's speaking. Who else among my family's workers would fraternize that much but she?

"Forgive me, sir."

She starts brushing Furia as well. "Maybe you made him run too much," she shyly comments, pointing at the sweat on his coat.

This time, I glare at her, trying to look as annoyed as possible. "You've got nothing better to do, Estrella?"

"You look tired, Mr. Cunningham. Leave it to me," she gently insists, without looking at me, though.

"Yeah, I'm tired… I'm tired to see you here," I retort.

"Please, I need this job!" she replies in a begging tone.

"I know it, that's why you still work for my family, but you're pushing it!"

"I was sincere when… when I-I said… when I told you…" she stammers, blushing.

"I don't care," I reply as coldly as ever.

"But you should. We were friends…"

"You said it well, we were friends… until you ruined all with your breakout!"

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have told you, but I couldn't hide my feelings any longer!"

My eyes meet hers, which are almost as dark as Furia's coat. "Nothing of the sort can happen between us, and you know it," I say.

"Because I'm not rich?" she enquires, defiant.

"You need to learn your place, Estrella. We belong to two different worlds, we can be nothing more than friends… or, at least, we could, because to be sincere, I don't think things will ever go back the way they were before. I cannot be friends with you knowing what you feel for me, so we'd better keep our distance for your own sake," I explain.

"Who told you that? Your family?" she replies, angry.

"I don't like your tone, you'd better calm down before you say something you're going to regret," I warn her.

"Tim…"

"Mr. Cunningham," I correct her, and then I add: "Sooner you learn to show respect the better. Now, you can go home, Estrella, that's enough for today. I expect you to come back tomorrow with a more appropriate attitude, do you understand?"

"Yes, I do… Mr. Cunningham."

"Good."

As Estrella is getting out from the stables, I start wondering whether I've been too harsh. I didn't mean to hurt her, but she gave me no choice. When I first met her at school, I thought we could be friends regardless of the social distance between us. But I was wrong. She has fallen in love with me… or, at least, she claims she has. Deeper down, I know that Estrella is not a liar or an opportunist, yet I cannot help but think that she's well aware of which benefits she would have, if we were more than just friends. In any case, I don't feel the same about her, and sooner she accepts it the better. Yeah, keeping our distance is the best decision to make, for her but also for me. We cannot go on like that. My parents have always told me that love is fickle, and that you cannot decide the spend all your life with a person just because you think you love her. Love and passion will fade away at some point, and if there's nothing else behind, it's a failure. They say that respect and loyalty are the most important things in a relationship. You need to have a strong motivation to start it… making a propitious marriage is a strong motivation. Arranged marriages have always worked, therefore I will let my parents arrange mine, as their parents did for them. After all, I cannot trust such decisions to my youth, I need someone with more experience to lead me.

…...

A couple of weeks before the Reaping

Estrella Sol (17)- Citizen of District 10

I don't want to go to school today. How can I face him after he rejected me? Yesterday, when I confessed my feelings for him, I knew that I would have shocked him, but I didn't expect him to react like that. That's not of Tim. Despite his social position, he has never been arrogant… yet, he told me I wasn't enough for him. I thought he would appreciate my sincerity… pretending that everything was okay was an illusion, he would have found it out sooner or later. I don't want to go to school today. I'll call in sick. I just want to stay in bed, curled up like a cat, my head under the blanket. But I can't. As usual, my grandma comes to wake me up, but today she's gentler than she usually is. She even sits on my bed, caressing my back. She knows what happened, of course.

"You know that staying in bed is useless, don't you?" she says.

Since I don't reply, she goes on: "It wasn't you who made a mistake."

I uncover my face to watch her right in the eye. "It's my fault, instead," I say, wiping away my tears.

"No, it isn't. If he cannot love you for who you are, then he doesn't deserve you," she rebuts.

"He doesn't love me, and I cannot force him."

"That's true, but there are many ways of saying it. He could have been more sensitive, don't you think?" she points out.

"I don't know… the way he spoke to me… it wasn't of him, I wonder…"

"Don't justify him, he has no excuse," she says, interrupting me.

"What should I do?" I ask with a sigh.

"First of all, you should get ready for school. Only cowards hide in the face of difficulty. You don't want to be a coward, do you?"

"Of course not," I reply, while I'm getting up.

"That's my girl! Now, get dressed, so that we can have breakfast together!" she says with a smile, and then leaves the room.

I wear the school uniform- a white shirt with the school logo, and a long, brown skirt for girls, whereas boys wear the same white shirt but with brown trousers. I comb my dark hair in a braid. I look at my reflection in the dusty mirror. What's wrong with me? Maybe my skin is too olive, maybe I'm not tall enough… or is it that little mole on my left cheek?

"Estrella!" my grandma calls me from the kitchen.

I snort and join her. She has already prepared breakfast- a cup of milk, bread and butter. She has added some sugar to the butter.

"How did you get sugar?" I ask her, as soon as I taste it in the butter.

Like all the products coming from other districts, sugar is quite expensive. Not that meat is any different. Despite the fact that District 10 specializes in livestock, poor families can rarely afford to buy meat, because most of our production is sent to the Capitol.

She smiles in response. "Yesterday, it went well to the market, so I thought you'd like to eat something different for breakfast," she explains.

On Sundays, there's a great food market on the main square. It is meant for selling products like meat or cheese, but you can find all kinds of stands. Actually, you should have the permission to sell your products, but stopping all the illegal sellers like my grandma is hard, also because peacekeepers tend to turn blind eye, since they're the first to buy from them. My grandma sells necklaces, which are made of all kinds of things she can find around, from plastic beads to feathers. Once, she managed- don't know how- to find some little shells, and made such a wonderful necklace that, when she finally sold it, we had no money problems for weeks. I usually help her, but yesterday I was with Timothy.

"You should have saved that money, we can live without sugar," I say.

"Strange gratitude," she comments.

I snort. "You know what I mean."

"I spent that money, because I knew we could afford it. Now, eat your breakfast and keep your chin up! Remember that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger! You're too sensitive, Estrella, your heart is an open book… I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, but you need to understand who you can open up to and who not, otherwise they could take advantage of your weakness."

"That's not of Tim!" I exclaim.

"You said the same about his reaction. Sometimes, people are different from what they seem… take it from someone who has been down that road before."

I go to school by foot. Luckily, it is located on the outskirts, not too far from where I live. I don't know if we could afford a bus pass, school fees are already a burden to us. But, as my grandma is used to saying, school is poor people's best chance to have a decent life, therefore she's made sacrifices so that I could attend it. But I had to help her somehow. She has taken care of me since my parents' death… if it hadn't been for her, I would have ended up in a community home. She's too old to have a permanent job though, that's why I work part-time at Tim's ranch. Mornings at school, afternoons at Paradise Ranch… my life is definitely busy, but I'll do anything I can to support my family.

Schooldays are all the same, the only class I really like is that of Panem's history, but today I cannot concentrate. When the bell rings signaling that it's break time, I immediately go to the courtyard, hoping to see him. But he avoids me on purpose. What should I do?

"Forget him," says a voice behind my back.

I turn around. It's my best friend Celina, who's smoking a cigarette. I've told her thousands of times that she shouldn't, but she's too stubborn to listen to my advice.

"He's out of your reach, Estrella," she continues.

"How can you…?"

"How can I know that he rejected you, if you didn't tell me anything? Just look at your face! Do you think I wouldn't notice those reddish eyes? I'm your best friend!"

"Right," I say, looking down.

"Do you want to smoke?" she asks, offering me her cigarette.

I don't like smoking, but today I'll make an exception. The only problem is that I immediately start coughing, as soon as I put the cigarette in my mouth.

Celina chuckles. "You'll learn."

I frown in response. The only thing I would like to learn right now is how to deal with boys.

…...

Present day

Timothy "Tim" Cunningham (18)- Citizen of District 10

I've gone out for a ride with Furia early this morning. One more time and then I'll be safe for the rest of my life... I keep telling myself. I cannot help but worry about the Reaping, since it involves me and both my siblings this year- Rachel for the third time, and Jason… this year, it's his first Reaping. I remember my first Reaping, I was scared to death, even if I had only one slip. No one I knew ended up in the arena, but both our tributes were too young and hopeless to survive. The following year, District 10 was luckier. We had a victor, Selena Wellington, who's our current mentor. Since then, no one else from Ten has won the Hunger Games.

I come back home when the sun has already risen. My mother has prepared a robust breakfast- bacon, eggs, French toasts, fruit juice… you're only spoilt for choice. My siblings are already dressed up in their Reaping outfits, and they're now having breakfast. Jason is wolfing down it… I know what it means, he always eats like that when he's nervous.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Hey, kid, you should slow down a bit," I advise him.

"You're not hungry?" he replies.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Tim?" asks my mother.

"Yeah, my stomach's in a knot. I'll eat something after the Reaping," I answer.

"Go have a shower, then, it might relax you a bit," offers my father.

I do what he told me, but it doesn't work. I'm not relaxed at all. But I have to face the Reaping, no matter what I feel. I choose my outfit- a simple, short-sleeved, green shirt, jeans, and dark sneakers. I don't want to attract too much attention. I sincerely hope that the cameras won't even frame me. We go to the main square by car. Normally, our chauffeur would drive, but, since he has the day off due to the Reaping, it's my father's turn. He's the only one of our family who can drive a car, by the way. For my part, I've never been interested in cars. I take it only when it's absolutely necessary. Honestly, I don't see why some people prefer it over a healthy walk or horse ride.

It takes half an hour to get to the square. Everyone looks so nervous, only Rachel is serene, but it doesn't surprise me, she's definitely the bravest among us. Our father parks the car. While he's going look for a place in the crowd along with our mother, my siblings and I reach our respective sections. We are all eligible this year, and this fact fills me with a growing concern. I look at Selena Wellington, as she's taking her place onstage. She's chewing something, but I don't need to guess what it is… everyone in Ten knows that she's addicted to chewing tobacco. Clearly, Selena doesn't care about the Reaping, since she seems to be wearing the first things she has randomly found in her closet- a long, olive-green mackintosh (but is it not too hot to wear it?), a worn down, blue T-shirt that exposes her belly, a plaid skirt, black nylons, and black shoes with wedges. But the escort is even worse than her, he's dressed up as a cow full of sequins!

"Hi, everyone! Welcome to the Reaping of the 99th annual Hunger Games!" he shouts.

Why does he speak so loudly? He has the mic!

"As always, we're here to celebrate the bravery of our tributes, who face many difficulties in order to win! It's time to call them onstage!" he continues, his voice shaking with emotion.

He starts with the boys this time. He rummages in the ball, and then chooses a slip of paper. Everyone in the crowd is holding their breath. Why does he not hurry up?

"Jason Cunningham!"

No, it can't be… only one slip, only one slip… and the escort chose that one! I stare at Jason, as he's approaching the stage. When he passes by my section, he looks at me. His blue-green eyes are full of terror. When our eyes meet, I get what I have to do.

"I volunteer!" I shout, before he mounts onstage.

I get out of my section.

"Oh, a volunteer! Excellent!" comments the escort, excited.

"No, Tim! You can't do it! I won't let you!" says Jason, getting in my way to stop me.

I push him aside, trying not to hurt him. "I volunteer!" I repeat.

Jason doesn't want to give up. Luckily, Rachel intervenes and takes him back to his section. I nod at her. She's trying to appear strong, but I can see that she's about to cry.

"We got it, we got it! There's no need to shout like that!" says the escort, when I'm finally onstage.

Coming from him…

"My name is Timothy Cunningham! Jason is my brother… I won't let anyone hurt my family, that's why I volunteered!"

"How brave! I think our tribute deserves a round of applause, doesn't he?" says the escort, addressing the crowd below.

Someone applauds, someone just nods… but I don't care, Jason is safe, that's the most important thing.

"Now, it's girls' turn!" the escort goes on.

Please, not Rachel, I couldn't stand it… and it's not Rachel indeed, it's Estrella Sol! No, it can't be… Estrella has been reaped! The odds are not in my favour today, that's for sure. I avoid looking at her. The escort asks for volunteers, but no one answers.

"I give you the tributes of District 10, Timothy Cunningham and Estrella Sol! As always, happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour!" he says eventually.

Once in the Justice Building, we're immediately assigned a waiting room for visitors. Mine is a bit creepy, with the head of a bull hanging above a fake mantelpiece. Luckily, my family visits me, diverting my attention from that ugliness. My parents hug me.

"Oh, Tim, my son!" says my mother, teary.

"We're so proud of you, you're the best son a parent could ever have," adds my father.

She breaks our embrace to watch me right in the eye. "Promise us that you'll try to win… that you'll try to come back home alive!"

"I promise. You know that I'm strong, mum, they'd better not underestimate me!" I reply, trying to sound as self-confident as possible.

"Once they'll see your strength, they won't. But you'll need to be careful, Tim! Strength can make you a target! Find some allies, if you want, but don't trust them, because they'll try to kill you at the end!" he points out.

They don't say anything about Estrella. Of course, they don't know that we are... we were friends. They wouldn't approve.

"You shouldn't have volunteered for me," says Jason at some point.

His eyes are full of tears. That's something that really breaks my heart, and I have to fight hard to avoid crying as well.

"I had to, instead. You know, you're my little brother… no one can hurt you… expect myself, of course," I rebut with a smile, messing up with his hair.

"I'm not little!" he protests.

"You're right, Jason. You're the man of the house now, you'll have to help dad with the ranch. Promise me that you'll do your best, and I'll promise you that I'll win for you."

"Deal."

Then, it's Rachel's turn. She hugs me.

"See you soon, Tim," she whispers.

"See you soon," I whisper back.

You don't need many words to speak to Rachel, yet I wish I could find something more to tell her.

…...

Estrella Sol (17)- District 10 female tribute

Timothy is my district partner, the odds are not in my favour, doesn't matter what the escort says. How can I even think of fighting against him?

My thoughts are interrupted by Celina, who hugs me tight as soon as she sees me. She smells of smoke, but I don't care. She's crying, whereas I'm just… I don't know… I'm scared stiff, I suppose… so stiff that I can't even shed a tear.

"That's so unfair! You signed up for tesserae just to help your family, and you get this!" she says.

"Hey, it's not the end of the world…"

She breaks the embrace. "How can you be so calm?" she asks me.

"I haven't realized what happened yet, I suppose," I reply with a shrug.

No, I've realized what happened, but panicking would be useless. Besides, I don't want anyone to worry about me more than is necessary. I need to be strong for those I love.

"What are you going to do with Tim?"

"I don't know and, honestly, I don't want to think of him right now. Celina, you have to promise me that you'll look after my grandma while I'm away… I-I don't know… I don't know, if I come back… it's a great responsibility, b-but…" I stammer, as tears start flooding from my eyes.

"I'll do my best, I promise," she says with a nod.

Then, she pulls a necklace out of her pocket and gives it to me. It is made of white beads and feathers. It's the necklace my grandma usually wears, the one that I made for her! "Your grandma wants you to have this," says Celina in a sad tone.

"Thanks, but how… where is she?"

Since Celina doesn't answer, I start worrying. "Where is she, Celina?" I insist.

She looks down. "Your grandma… after you were reaped, she felt bad… she has been taken to the hospital."


Ok, I know that finishing a chapter with such a twist is cruel, but don't worry, you'll find out how this story goes on as soon as possible. Anyway, the relationship between Estrella and Tim reminds a bit of that of Rebecca and Adam from District 9, but it shows, let's say, another aspect of our main theme (love), namely the pain of being rejected. What do you think about it? Speaking of love, are there any aspects of this theme you'd like me to write about in the following chapters?

Thank you a lot for reading, reviewing, and also for submitting :)