Chapter 2 – the reaping
When we get to the square we are one of the last people to arrive, I give my family a quick hug before they leave to go watch in the area roped off for everyone else not being reaped and I go to the section marked for the girls aged 17. in my section I spot silver, a good friend of mine who I have known since I was young, our fathers worked for the same jewellers and we always got paired up together and forced to make awkward chit chat, however that original awkwardness soon turned into a real friendship and I begin to laugh as she starts pulling faces at me as she walks over to stand next to me in the square, I start to say something to her but end up shaking with laughter as silver trips up on something, her own feet probably, and ends up on the floor in a heap as she took half the girls down with her, when she finally manages to get herself up and over to me I take in her mud covered clothes and tangled hair from her fall, "smooth entrance" I say casually while trying to suppress another laugh "well" she said trying unsuccessfully to sort her hair out "what's the hunger games without some drama" be both begin to giggle and I look admiringly at my friend and her ability to make even the most serious of situations something to laugh about.
We manage to pull ourselves together as our hunger games mentor, and frankly all round idiot, Althea combe waddles up onto the stage in heels she clearly cannot walk in and her plump figure squeezed into a tiny frothy pink dress that is about 5 sizes too small, I adore capital fashion but even I have limits. When she finally manages to reach the centre of the stage she welcomes us all and wishes everyone a happy hungers games, god I wish she would hurry up, it's the same thing every year and after five years of standing and listening to the exact same thing iv grown pretty board of it. When all of the boring wafting is finally out of the way we get down to the serious stuff, "lets have the gentlemen first shall we!" Althea says as she toddles over to the boys reaping ball, she does this every year even though she is supposed to do the girls first, nobody's bothered to tell her yet, she reaches into the bowl and reads out a name, I have no clue who it was as instantly about three boys volunteer, after a bit of scuffling and arguing a boy tribute is chosen, I roll my eyes when I see who is up there. Marvel, an 18 year old who is the single most cockiest, arrogant and big headed person I know, I often see him walking down the street like he owns the place with girls trailing after him with longing eyes as his floppy blond hair and white smile makes them weak in the knees, I cant deny he's not good looking, he is far from it, but there is something about how he thinks he can do whatever he pleases that makes me want to slap him. Everyone claps and cheers as he takes his place on stage and he starts blowing kisses to the camera as people go mad for him, I look at silver and she rolls her eyes, she detests marvel about as much as me. Now the cheering has died down althea takes centre stage again, "it's now time for the ladies! Oh how exiting!" she reaches into the big clear bowl and after some faffing around and dropping the first name she picks she finally manages to grab hold of a name, with a careful flick she opens up the tiny piece of paper and reads the name out in a loud and clear voice.
"Glimmer Woodjewel"
I freeze. I feel like I've been shocked right out of my skin. But even though im shocked im not scared, no not scared because we district 1 are a volunteer district, which means im safe, completely and utterly safe. But a small sob next to me brings me back to my senses, I look up to see silver, her eyes filled with tears and it dawns on me. Iv been standing here, wrapped up in my own thoughts for at least a minuet.
Nobody has volunteered.
"Um Glimmer Woodjewel?" Althea scans the crowd again with a worried look on her face and I realise I have to go on stage; I take a wobbly step forward but I trip and start to fall, silver gets to me just in time and holds me firmly in her hands, I look up at her, my green eyes wide with fear and I se her staring back at me, her own eyes still wet with tears but full of determination. From that one look I know that I need to be strong, stronger than I ever have been as my entire life depends on it. I feel myself straighten up, the straighter I get the smaller my will the break down feels, I know my emotions have not gone away, its more like they have been stuffed into a box and that's fine, I will deal with my feeling later but right now all I have to do is be strong, strong for my best friend who caught me when I fell, for my mother who is losing her little girl, for my father who spent all morning buying ingredients for my favourite meal, my little brother… my little brother who needs me to help him do up his shirt buttons, I must be strong for all of them. I begin to walk as confidently as I can, swishing my hair and forcing my moth into its most winning smile, my feet find the stage and I force myself up them even though every fibre of my being is screaming to run away, I find the place im supposed to stand so the capital cameras can lock onto my face, scanning for any kind of weakness that might affect the betting's but I stand tall knowing that this is when viewers pick out the weaklings and I will not be one of the weak ones, not a chance.
Althea, now much more cheerful with both tributes defiantly here, comes forward and gestures for me and marvel to shake hands, I hold my hand out and marvel grabs it, a little too firmly and we shake hands which confirms us as the two district one tributes. I drop my hand quickly, not trusting the glint in marvels eyes that screams out danger and turn to the crowd as everyone applauds us, well not everyone.
I catch my father's eye first, although not for very long as he quickly looks down, trying to be the strong one in my family as its obvious from one look at my mother that she has already fallen to pieces, my father holds her tightly in one arm but she is still barley able to stand, it's the look of someone being crushed from the inside, I don't see her face however, she has buried her face into fathers shoulder as sobs jolt through her, im glad I cant see her face as the image of my mothers heart broken face is something I never want to see. This is nothing however, compared to the feeling I get when I lay eyes on my brother. He looks smaller than ever in them short few seconds I look at him, but he it not crying like my mother or trying to stay strong like my father, his big blue eyes look at me with so much love I can almost feel it hitting my body in waves, he continues staring at me as his little hand reaches up to touch the bottom of his ear.
When me and calico were little we used to use hand gestures to talk to each other, silly little moments so we could communicate in our own secret language, both of us found it hard showing and talking about our feelings towards each other so the hand gestures came in useful in that way, when one of us wanted to say sorry we would touch our nose twice, instead of hugging one another we would sometimes tap each others elbow, and when one of us wanted to say I love you….we would touch the bottom of our ear. With out even realising it, I reach up to touch my own ear as I look down at my beautiful brother.
This moment is quickly broken however as a squad of peacekeepers arrive to take us to the justice building, the fanciest building in the district with its thick gold carpets and creamy walls decorated with tiny flowers. Thankfully, once we are inside the building I am separated from marvel and led into a room with a large couch covering one wall and a small bookcase beside it, you know, in case you want to have a little read to pass the time before your impending doom.
I walk over to the couch and sit down, softly sinking into the puffy cushions and wait for my goodbyes to get underway, I hope it will be quick as my promise not to cry seems more and more unlikely as time passes. Shortly after I've sat down, my family crash through the doors and smother me in hugs, kisses and salty tears; my mother pulls herself together long enough to tell me I could win, even though Im not a volunteer im still from district one and therefore have a much better chance of winning than lots of other districts. Both my parents get serious then, "make sure you're in a career pack, once you're with them they will supply you with all food and medicine you will need but don't stay with them when there is only a small amount of you left, once the tension builds up to a certain level they will all turn on each other and you will become a target" my father tells me and continues to give me advise and so does my mother, calico simply hugs me until the guard arrives and tells us times up.
The guard practically has to drag them away as they shout their goodbyes and promises to see me soon. Once they had gone I cover my face with my hands and try to breathe normally with little success, I don't even hear the door open but suddenly I wasn't alone, a warm pair of arms envelops me and I look up and see the choppy white – blonde hair that belongs to silver, she looks at me up and down and opens her mouth but instead of saying something loving and caring like "you will always be my best friend" or something along them lines she gives me a shake and says "pull yourself together or I swear to god I will mess up that pretty little face of yours!" she gets up and drags me off the couch so we are standing face to face. Silver holds my face in-between her hands so I have no choice but to stare into her eyes for what could be the last time, this thought distresses me and im about to crumble, silver spots this and gives me another sharp shake "no glimmer, your in the hunger games now you cant do any of that emotional crap it wont get you sponsors" I know she's right and I've already vowed to be strong but it doesn't mean its not hard. I feel weak in comparison to silver "but what if I don't win? What about my family? What if nobody wants to team up with me and im left all alone?" I start to list all the things that could go wrong until silver covers my mouth with her hand, "stop it! Bloody hell glim shut up and let me finish! You WILL win, its not like your totally unprepared I mean you come top in all the races and you know you can fight like a bloody animal if someone pisses you off, your smart and you can put on a show and make people believe anything with a bat of your eyelashes. Come on glim if you don't think you can win then how are the rest of panem supposed to believe it!" the guard has arrived by now and began to grab her shoulder but she shook it off furiously "you will win glim, I know you can" she gives me a tight hug them storms out just like how she walked in.