The ever waited for Reaping! I hope you guys like it, it's about to get all dramatic in here!

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

The Reaping

I woke up and stared at my ceiling. I didn't even really want that day to come. I was going to have to go back into the pool of scared children. I wasn't going to get picked both times, but I couldn't be sure.

I got up, made by bed, and then washed my face in the bathroom. The sun had barely risen and I could see my brother's bed was made and he wasn't upstairs.

He was probably out at the cliff. He liked to sit there in the mornings when he was stressed.

I turned on the faucet in the dark and stuck my hands under the cool water.

I cupped some in my hands and splashed it on my face. I took some slowly breaths, then flipped on the light switch.

I looked at my reflection in the small mirror. The frame caught my eye again. Under all the seashells we'd pasted there over the years, it was painted blue.

I reached a finger out and touched a spiral purple and red one that I'd stuck on there when I was seven.

I pulled away from the mirror and left the bathroom, flicking the light off behind me.

I got dressed in my room quickly and set out quietly to find my brother.

I ran silently over the grass, passed the docks, over the fallen tree, under the flow hanging branches of the small bundle of trees that gave way to the clearing that was the cliff.

Sure enough, my blonde haired brother was sitting on the edge, staring at the sunrise, the top of the sun beginning to peak out from the water's edge.

I came up behind him and asked, "Mind if I join you?"

He nodded.

I sat down next to him and swung my feet slowly.

"I didn't expect you to be up so early," he said quietly, turning to look at me.

"I know when my family is stressed, Jeremy," I sighed.

He looked back at the ocean. "They said…they said I'd pay. For saying no."

"They told me so as well. What are you expecting?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I can't think of anything right now."

I nodded. "All we can do is wait and see, right?"

"I guess."

We sat and watched the run rise together, then we walked back toward our house. We stopped by the docks to pick some more seaweed. Our mom liked to play with seaweed and my hair.

We came in the front door and Jeremy called, "Mom?"

"Why do you do that to me?" she whispered.

We walked into the living room, and she was sitting on the couch. "I walked into your room, Jeremy, and you weren't there, and when I went to check on your sister, she wasn't there, either, and I just…"

Why do you always talk to him about me like I'm not there? I wanted to ask, but I kept my mouth shut.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Jeremy said. "We just went to get this." He held out the seaweed, and I held out mine, too. "We know how you like to decorate Dylila and your hair with this, so we thought we'd spare you the trouble of asking us."

Why do I need to have my brother around to talk to my own mother? I thought, shaming myself for my cowardliness.

"You are so thoughtful, Jeremy," she got up and gave him a hug. I stepped out of their way.

I stood there awkwardly, waiting for their moment to be finished.

Our mom pulled away first, then she turned to me and whispered, "I have something nice for you to wear. Please go freshen up."

I walked into the bathroom and took a bath. A quick one, even though I washed my hair.

Once I arrived in my room, there was a teal and dark blue dress laying out on my bed, the teal covered in sparkles.

I pulled it on over my damp hair. I found some shoes that looked like they were made of teal coral by my bed and pulled them on.

My mother came in and smiled at me. She pushed me over to my full-length mirror, the frame also decorated with sea shells, and I looked at my reflection.

My mouth hung open. The dark blue really made the blue of my eyes seem original, and the shimmery teal straps and chest made the gold sparkle.

My mother smiled at me and whispered, "You look really nice, Dylila."

I wanted to mention that this seemed like the first time she'd spoken to me directly in a long time.

She tore a piece of seaweed into thin strips, and then took two small pieces of my hair from the front. She braided the seaweed and the two pieces of my blonde hair and pulled it around my head and pinned it in the back with an amber colored bobby pin.

She pulled some of my hair out from under the braid in the back and covered the bobby pin and the end of the braid.

She took two of the other big pieces of seaweed she brought and placed them under the braid and covered the top of the seaweed with some of my hair.

She duplicated this with the other side of my head until I had seaweed braided and placed through most of my hair.

When I looked in the mirror again I smiled. I looked even better than before, but this time it didn't shock me.

"Beautiful, I know," my mother beamed.

She liked to say she used to be a stylist in another life.

She pulled away from me and went to go help Jeremy.

I touched a slimy piece of seaweed in my hair and pulled away before I messed up Mother's pretty design.

"Wow," I heard from the door, and I turned to see Jeremy standing there, staring at me.

I lifted up my skirt a little to show him my shoes.

"And the seaweed completes the elegance," he said. "Now I wish my hair could be braided."

I laughed. "You look great without the weed, Jeremy."

He was wearing a dark green suite jacket unbuttoned except for one near the bottom and a white long sleeved shirt.

His slacks matched his jacket, but he wasn't wearing any shoes.

I eyed his feet and gave him a questioning glance.

"I told Mom I was going to put on my shoes later. Yeah, right," he said quietly.

I laughed. "Let's go. Mom is probably waiting by the door."

And I was right, of course. Mom was waiting, tapping her silver flats on the floor.

She was wearing a dark green and silver dress.

Once again, I was the odd one out of the family.

"Don't you just look fantastic, Jeremy!" My mother smiled at him and adjusted his suit collar a little bit. "Are we ready to go?"

He nodded. "Of course."

We left the house and filled into the square. I slipped away from my brother and stood next to one of the twelve year-old girls I recognized from school.

"Hey, Journey," I whispered.

"Hey, Dylila," she replied quietly. "Are you scared?"

I shrugged. "Kind of."

"I'm really scared," she whispered.

"Why?"

"Because it's my first year…and I remember your first year."

I sighed. "Journey, that's not going to happen to you."

"Please, don't say that! You'll jinx it!" she squeaked.

A couple Peacekeepers walked by, and we fell silent.

There was a loud pang from up on the stage, and I looked up to see a woman in a dark red and pale blue dress that came out in giant folds and fell around her like a ball gown. She was wearing a huge hat that was dark red, purple and pink over her blue and brown hair. Her make-up was outrageous; she had pink eye shadow that went up and pressed against her eye brow until the eye brow ended and it flared up until it reached the top of her eye brow and ended on both eyes.

The shadow was covered in pale blue sparkles.

She tapped on the microphone and called out in a high pitched voice, "Hello, everyone, my name is Daphnia Pearlman. Welcome to the 56th annual Hunger Games! I know this must be exciting for all of you! Having this beautiful District to live in! Well, I hope you can bring even more pride to it by your victory! Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

"Ladies first." She reached a long finger nailed hand into the bowl on her right.

Her finger nails were painted dark red and pale blue with gold designs on them.

She unfolded the piece of paper she chose and called out into the crowd through the microphone, "Dylila Gardens!"

My eyes grew wide and I froze, once again.

M-Me? Again?! But…I tried to calm down, but a Career will take my place again. A Career will volunteer, right?

But no one volunteered. And the crowd of girls began to part for me. And Journey looked absolutely horrified.

I started my slow walk into the isle, and the Peacekeepers came up behind me and guided me to the stage.

I climbed up the stairs and stood on the stage in front of everyone. The girls had filed back into place and my mom seemed slightly shaken up about it.

I couldn't feel anything. I was going into the Hunger Games.

They said I'd pay.

"Now it's time for the boys," she walked over to the bowl to her left and pulled out another piece of paper. She unfolded it and stopped for a minute. She stared at the name, but then she read it out into the crowd. "Jeremy Gardens."

What? NO! I thought, horrified. He can't…we both can't be!

And no Career volunteered for my brother, either. He climbed up onto the stage, and my mother broke into tears. She cried her head off into her own hands.

Thanks, Mom, for showing you cared when I was picked.

Jeremy stood up next to Daphnia and she said into the microphone, "Well isn't this strange? A brother and sister going into the games together! Well, shake hands, you two."

She backed away and we turned to each other. There were tears in his eyes. I could tell by the moisture of my cheeks that I was crying as well.

But I wasn't crying for me. I was crying for him.

And I knew he wasn't crying for him, either.

He put his hand out first and I took it.

We shook briefly, and then we pulled away and turned back to stare at the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your District 4 tributes for this year's Hunger Games!"

She started clapping, but no one followed. Instead, Journey touched three fingers to her lips and raised them in the air.

The whole crowd followed, even our mother, whose hands seemed to be the one thing that kept her head attached to her body.

Daphnia cleared her throat and took up off the stage.

My brother and I are both going to the Hunger Games.

One of us is going to have to die, for the other to make it home.

And neither of us are probably going to make it.

Aaawww, I feel so sad about this...

THEY'RE BOTH GOING INTO THE HUNGER GAMES WHAAAATT?

;)!

Thanks for Reading!