Pre-Reapings

Gemma Merlot, 17, District 1

"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" Aisling asked me as her eyes scanned over the book she was reading. She fiddled nervously with her thick-rimmed glasses as she appeared to be lost in thought, "Maybe you should reconsider..."

I crossed my arms and shook my head. Aisling was my best friend but she could never understand why I had to do the things I did. Of course she was one of the few people I could actually open up to, but it's was truly difficult to explain certain decisions to others, no matter how close we were.

Two years ago, my brother, Apollo had volunteered for the Games. After Claudis Napoli of district 2 had won the 4th games by volunteering, many of those in the upper districts had followed the suit, although few had been as successful as him. Apollo would have won, if his allies (the pair from district 2) hadn't betrayed him.

Aisling sighed in the way only she could, "Trust me. I know you want to avenge Apollo, but I'm telling you, volunteering is not the best way to do it."

"Are you just going to read that book and try to talk me out of it or are you actually going to help me get ready for tomorrow?" I groaned, while playfully throwing one of the fluffy pillows at her.

"Fine, fine," she responded, closing the book and hopping off my bed, "I'm coming. Anyways, where's the rest of your family. It's rather quiet right now, isn't it?"

My eyes flicked upwards in thought as I attempted to recall where everyone was, "Let's see. If I'm not mistaken, my father and mother are hosting a wine tasting event and Vera and Amirah are out dress shopping for tomorrow. My father promised them they could both get new dresses for the reapings. Perks of being the Wine Princesses of D1, I suppose."

"Speaking of dresses, mind if I borrow one from you? I'm rather sick of all my dresses. Not that it really matters, though...all the camera are going to be on you."

I nodded, motioning to my closet, "Be my guest. Just don't take the blue and black dress."

"The striped one you bought last week?" she asked as she rummaged through a handful of my dresses.

"That's the one," I replied as I took a seat in front of my vanity and began applying my makeup.

Peeking her head out from my closet, Aisling asked, "Would this look good?"

The dress she had chosen was deep, emerald green- the one I had worn to Apollo's reapings, two years ago. As I looked at the dress, all I could think about was my brother and the anger and resentment I felt towards his games. God, I hated that dress.

"It's perfect, Aisling," I replied, my voice coming out much more steady than I had thought, "The color will bring out your eyes and you know what...you should keep it. I never wear it, anyways," I added, nonchalantly.

"Really? Oh wow, thank you, Gemma," she gushed, cheerily, her mood clearly the opposite of whatever I was feeling.

"Your welcome." I responded, almost bluntly, but careful to avoid revealing my feelings.

As I did so, all I could think about were the games. I had my plan set in stone, the one I had been working on for well over two years, but I would have to get my feelings under control for these games. Patience, more often than not, was the key to success. And at this point, it almost didn't matter if I won. All I wanted was revenge. I would do whatever it took to take down district 2.

Lisle Ellis, 16, District 8

"Ouch!" I screeched as the needle pierced my skin again, this time drawing a little blood, "Can you be a little more careful, Lacey?"

My sister huffed, "It's completely your fault. If you would just stay still Lisle, we wouldn't be having this problem. Besides, I have to meet Marx in 10 minutes so I'm in a rush. I'm obviously going to poke you if you keep moving like this."

I rolled my eyes, "Just go, Lacey. I rather die in the Hunger Games than continue to be stabbed by your needle. I'll just finish the dress up myself...I mean, I'll ask mom to finish up the dress."

"Thanks," she responded flatly, dropping the needle and dashing out of the family room, grabbing her self-designed handbag as she left.

I didn't really want to argue with my sister the day before the reapings, but ever since she started dating Marx, it's all we've seemed to do lately. Marx and I had been friends for the longest time and the truth was, I had always had feelings for him. And then he decided to go for my sister and everything changed. He distanced himself from me and all my sister ever wanted to do was be around him.

With caution, I stepped out of the dress, careful to put the needle in a place where no one could mistakenly hurt themselves with it.

Even after our fight, I still had to admit that the dress Lacey had designed was beautiful. It was a strapless light orange blouson dress which she had recommend to pair with my mother's tan ballerina flats to complete the look.

As I debated if I should head over to the shop, I noticed a quick hand-written note from my other sister, Lea, lying on the table.

At the shop. Won't be back until late evening. Mom says your in charge of dinner...and cleaning the carpet.
- Lea

P.S. If Lacey hasn't left yet, tell her that the new fabric she wanted for Marx's suit just came in.

Of course the only person in the family eligible for reaping was put in charge of all the chores. I had planned on spending the evening painting- doing something to take my mind off of the impending reapings but as the only one in family without an interest in designing, here I was- left with all the chores.

Honestly, I didn't mind hardwork, I just despised the fact my family gave so little regard for my fears. Back when Lea and Lacey were eligible for the reapings, my parents would do everything in their power to make my sisters feel at ease. I hated to admit it, but it was really lonely having nothing in common with my family.

As I headed towards the kitchen to look for a pot to boil some water in, I flipped on the TV. A rerun of last year's games were playing on a loop. A large part of me was hoping that this would be district 8's year to win. The lower districts hadn't had much luck, but last year with Sirco Till's win, we suddenly all felt that we fared a better chance than before.

Contrary to my feelings, my family actually held some sort of appreciation towards the Capitol. Any and all Ellis designs were widely popular in the Capitol and my parents and sisters ate up all the praise they sent our way. I, on the other hand, saw through the false praise and knew the moment our designs went out of style, the Capitol could care less about us.

For years I had been hoping for the opportunity to become something more than another another face in the crowd of district 8, but even with my family's popularity, it appeared that I would have no such opportunity any time soon.

That's all I ever needed. The opportunity to make something more for myself.

a/n: So there's our first chapter. It would mean so much to me if you reviewed! I'm so excited and I'm glad you are all too. Anyways, here are some questions for you guys:

1. What did you think of Gemma?

2. What did you think of Lisle?

3. Overall, any thoughts you'd like to add?

Thanks so much for all of your support thus far! - Cass