Chapter 2-District 10
"Aria!" My brother Evan yelled jumping on me. Evan is only eight. Too young to
be eligible for the reaping. But Daniel on the other hand...
"Mom said it's time to get up!" Evan said.
"Oh, did she now?" I said hugging my brother so hard we fell off the bed.
"Mom said get dressed," Daniel said coming in the room.
"Alright..." I sighed picking Evan and myself up from the ground. "Go get
dressed now, Evan." I said giving him a light shove toward the door.
"Okay, Aria!" He said running out the door. I smiled to myself. At least he was
safe. I met Daniel's eyes in the mirror and my chest hurt. I turned and ran into
my brother's open arms trying to keep my tears in. He was thirteen and by all
means NOT safe from the Hunger Games.
"It's okay, Aria. You won't get picked. I promise." He reassured me.
"It's not me I'm worried about, you goofball!" I said slapping his shoulder.
"Aria, listen to me." He said grabbing my shoulders harshly. "There are
hundreds-if not thousands of names in that ball. The chances of either of us
getting Reaped is slim. And when one of those unlucky bastards get chosen, you
Evan, Mom, Dad and I are all gunna go home and be thankful and eat dinner. Then
we'll watch the Reapings and go to bed. Just like every year. Okay?"
I turned twelve about a month ago. My name is entered in the Reaping once.
Daniel would not allow me to take tessarae. The day you turn twelve you are
eligible for the Reaping and your name is only entered once. At thirteen you are
entered twice. Fourteen your are entered three times and so on until you are
older than eighteen. At the age of eighteen, it is your final year and you are
entered seven times. But if you are poor like my family, you can take tessarae.
Yu can enter your name for each supply of oil and grain. Daniel took tessarae
for our family. That means his name is entered seven times...
Daniel gave me one quick kiss on the forehead before he ent to get dressed
himself. I sighed and dug through my drawers. I pulled out a simple white dress
that went slightly down past my knees. I only wore it on special occassions,
which was rare.
i had one piercing in the clevage of my ear. They give it to you as a baby so
they don't give you the wrong baby to the wrong parents. My father made me a
little cow ear ring which I woreeveryday. I clipped it on fast and went to the
door where my family was waiting. Evan took my hand and we started off toward
the Justice Building.
Evan stayed with Mom and Dad while Daniel and I walked to the roped off area. It
went from youngest to oldrest, so I had to walk a bit farther from my brother,
but we stayed as close as possible.
After Mayor Paylor gave his speech, our escort, a short bird like lady named
Twinkle Eversbee stopped in front of the microphonem she wore these white fluffy
pants that made her look like a sheep. And her flat black shoes were actually
designed to look like hooves. Her thing, almost see through shirt didnt cover
her all that well and had no sleeves. Her hair was boyishly short and a pea
green color. Her skin was died magenta and she had blue tattoes all around her
face in swirl-like patterns.
"Happy Hunger Games! And let the odds be EVER in your favor!" She squaked in her
odd Capitol accent. "How about this year we start with the boys?" She literally
danced over to the boys' ball. She took a quick pose before she flung her hand
into the ball. She picked a name and did another funny dance back to the
microphone.
"Daniel Haden!"
Everything was still and quiet until I heard Evan whine uneasily holding in his
cries. I saw Daniel making his way to the stage. It took all I had not to cry.
But I failed.
"Daniel, no! You promised!"
He stopped and ran over to me before the Peacekeepers could grab me. "Aria, shh!
It's okay. Go back there and be quiet. Everything will be okay."
"I volunteer as tribute!" I heard a boy call. I looked around to see my best
friend Jake, who as three years older than myself climbing onto the stage.
"No, Jake!" I yelled and tried to run to him, but Daniel held me back. Jake
nodded toward us and I felt Daniel nod back and whisper a thank you.
"And what's your name, sweetie?" Twinkle asked.
"My name is Jacob Smith."
"Well, good for you, Jacob. Okay!" She said clapping her hands in excitement.
"That's the spirit of the Games! Now for our girl tribute!" She danced over to
the ball, grabbed a name and went right to the mircophone.
"Oh my...How odd...Aria Haden!"
I froze from my struggles at the sound of my name. Oh no...
I pulled free from Daniel and walked toward the stage. As long as he is safe...
As I was about to mount the stairs of the stage, I heard Evan screaming and
crying my name. Then I heard Daniel yelling.
"No! What's wrong with you people? Your sitting here watching a twelve year old
be dragged to the Games to be brutily murdered! Have you no hearts?"
"Daniel!" I yelled to him. "It's okay, be quiet now and everything will be
okay!" I quoted him.
"No!" Daniel bulted toward the stage avoiding being caught by the Peacekeepers.
I saw him pull a knife as he neared Twinkle. She screamed and attempted to run
but fell. Daniel was about to leap on her when a gun shot silenced his savage
screams.
"NO!" I yelled rushing toward his twitching body. A Peacekeeper grabbed me and
dragged me from the stage. I heard screams from the crowd as they panicked. Over
all of it I heard my family and Jake.
"You stupid bastards!" Jake yelled. They grabbed Jake and pulled him away as
well. We didnt get to say good-byes. Instead, we were shoved onto the train.
The last thing I heard was my family screaming and crying for my brother. How
much did they have to face in one day...?