A/N: Thank you to my lovely reviewer, Felicity Hartington. It is good to know that somebody is enjoying the story so far and thank you for the advice. Anyway, on with the story and now we have the action in District 12 as it unfolds.

Disclaimer: I do not own the hunger games or the characters.

2. District 12 Reaping

Maysilee's POV

I'm woken up rather early today by my parents. This has always been the plan when it comes to the terrible event we all call reaping day. I have recently been thinking that I might be getting to used to the idea of reapings and the idea my name could be picked. The year I turned 12 there had been no sleep for me the night before the reaping with the nightmares that had plagued my mind of the District 12 escort reading out my name and my mind picturing the brutal ways I could have been murdered in the games. The year after that hadn't been much better. Now, on the 4th year my name has been put into the reaping ball, the nightmares are completely gone. This makes me smile slightly as I leave my small bedroom to head in to the main living area. Soon all four of my family are inside the one area.

There is mum and dad, of course. Then there is my twin sister, Marina. We aren't completely identical like some twins are. There are small differences that easily distinguish us. People find us a little freaky becuase there is a connection between us that nobody can really understand much. We can sense what each other is feeling a lot quicker than anyone else can and that comes in handy when it comes to days like this. Looking at my twin, I can see an expression in her eyes that speaks more clearly than any words could. She had been plagued by nightmares last night. It is easy to tell I am the more strong, confident one of the two of us and Marina is the more sensitive one. I am always the one that goes that little bit higher when we decide to try climbing up a tree and the one who will go to the hob if we really need to trade for anything there. The difference between us is most prominent when the games are on. Marina usually gets a little bit teary when she watches our tributes die year after year. With me I hide my upset and choose to show my annoyance instead, not letting the things on the screen get to me.

As we were woken up so early there is plenty of time for us to prepare for proceedings. Marina is the first to go and wash as we all know she likes to take a little longer than me. That way she can take her time to dress while I take my wash and do the same. I wait longer than usual before my turn. While I am getting myself clean I do my best to focus all my attention on that to avoid thinking about the reason I am making myself look pristine. I don't want to think about the reaping until I am actually there. That way is so much better. When I have scrubbed my body enough to be satisfied, I wrap a small towel around me and leave the room for my bedroom. On my bed there is a dress laid out ready to be worn and I have to say that it the best so far that I have been able to wear to the reaping. The fabric is a lovely brown colour since mum knows that it is my favourite. Once I have put it on the only thing left is my hair, which I brush lightly before using the front part of my hair on the left to make a braid. Walking in to the living area, everyone else seems to have been waiting for me. Marina is in a dress that is the same style as mine but in green and her hair is pulled towards the back in a tight bun. There are no words betwen the four of us. On a normal day there would be idle chatter about school, work and outfits but not on reaping day.

Marina clutches my hand lightly on the way to the square. It makes me wish that I could tell her everything is going to be fine but I can't be certain and I don't want to lie to her just in case. The odds are very much in our favour though. My mother and father own a small shop that sells what medical supplies they can get their hands on so it makes us a lot better off than many of the others in the district, especially those who are unfortunate enough to live in the seam. Me and Marina have never had to sign up for any tessera so our names are only added to the ball 5 times each. Considering the glass ball of girl's names always seems to contain hundreds of names I think 10 between us is pretty small. She knows this of course but I can understand why it still scares her that her name is in there at all. It doesn't take long before we are both registered with the peacekeepers and settled in to the roped off area for the 16 year old girls of the district.

I hear a voice call out among the group in our area and my eyes easily catch sight of Edith Everdeen. She isn't really hard to spot with so many seam children around her. The long blonde hair gives her away quite easily. It is Marina who takes control this time and leads me towards our friend. We finally manage to get through the crowd and stand next to the girl. Edith gives a weak, forced smile in our direction to try and be friendly and comforting. We have all been friends quite a while since Edith wanted to know more about only healing and medicines. It worked out just perfect and I doubt either me or Marina would want to be stood next to anyone else but her on a day like this. There is an eerie silence around the square because people just aren't in the mood to be chatting with everyone around them. This is especially true for the ones in roped off areas like us who know that at least one slip of paper currently held in the glass balls on stage has their name written on it. I don't think there will be even one person who actually wants their own name to be picked out and read aloud to everyone. There may be people in districts like 1 and 2 that want their name to come out but not here in 12 where we have only had 2 victors in 49 years.

The silence is broken by an enthusiactic voice complete with annoying accent. It is noone other than our escort, Druella. The woman really does look repulsive in that horrible outfit and make up. That is without the long, scarlet wig that completes the ensemble. The first thing on the agenda is a propaganda video that seems to be shown every single year without failure. Some of the more arrogant ones in the district actually mouth some of the words in a mocking way because it is so memorable. My attention turns to Marina, who is looking at the boys in the area for 17 year olds. I know exactly which one of them has caught her eye, Tobias Undersee. I have no idea what my sister sees in him to be honest but maybe he will grow on me. I have no time to dwell on this as the female tribute is already being picked out from the glass ball and Druella clears her throat before reading out the name of the unlucky girl.

"Maysilee Donner!"

At the sound of my name I go blank, not capable of any thought whatsoever. I am literally just caught in a surreal moment where my own name rings aroung in my head in Druella's Capitol accent. The sound is not that different to how it was in the nightmares that used to haunt me. The only thing that brings me out of this state is a hand squeezing mine tightly. I don't even need to look to know that the hand belongs to my twin. Looking up, I can see her face already stained with tears. Edith is better at keeping her emotions in, channeling them all into a tight hug that I never want to end, I don't want it to end because when it does I will have to face the fact that my name has been picked. I am going in to the arena to die. It seems reluctantly that my friend lets go of me but my sister is still clutching my hand for dear life. The gesture nearly brings tears to my eyes. I don't want to leave her. Right now I would give anything for something to take me back in time to this morning and make a different name get called. Looking at Marina there are so many things I want to tell he before I go but now is not the time to do it. I force myself to force her hand away and my feet slowly but steadily take me up to the stage where Druella is waiting with a sadistic smile. Once I am up there I try to figure out the best tactic to run away and escape but I know it is next to impossible to even attempt it. I force myself not to cry because I don't want any of the other tributes to try and peg me as weak even if I know I don't stand a chance. I have to try, for Marina.

Haymitch's POV

By the looks of the scene that unfolded in the section for 16 year old girls, this year's unlucky female was quite well loved by her friends and family. Maysilee Donner had near anough had to tear herself away from a girl that looks just like her. I am guessing they muct be twins. There was another blonde there too who looks too different to be realted to the two. Maybe she is a friend or something. It is easy to tell by looks that the newest tribute is from the merchant part of the district. It is always more shocking when that happens because people from there didn't usually have to get much tessera so generally have a lot better odds than us seam kids. It just goes to show that the darn odds the prissy people of the Capitol always go on about mean just about nothing. Anyone in the age range can be picked no matter what part of the godforsaken district they come from. The stage is now the center of everyone's attention since our escort now heads to the ball with boy's names and rumages around using her long, freaky nails before grasping one of the slips of paper that will doom yet another poor soul to a brutal death.

"Haymitch Abernathy!"

Damn. 2 years off being safe from this idiocy and my name has to be pulled out of the bowl. Maybe if I just stand here for a minute completely still I might find that I misheard and it was just a similar name that had been chosen. I know it isn't really going to work but anything is worth a try once if it could get me out of this. When I finally start to make my way towards the stage the others have already made a passage for me to walk through. Reaching it, Druella offers me her hand to help be get up the steps but I instantly shoot her a look which should warn her to back off. I don't need her help when it is her that has put me in this situation by pulling my name out of the ball. While we are being inroduced in front of everyone my gaze fixes on my fellow tribute. The girl doesn't really look like she could kill anyone. Looking at her I know that I will never be able to kill her. It is only when the anthem starts to play that I look out into the crowd, spotting the amount of cameras around the place. The crowd in the Capitol probably expects me to be on the verge of breakdown but that only encourages me to look as strong as possible. I won't give them the satisfaction of letting them see me show emotion like that. Now the anthem has finished my attention is turned to the peacekeepers that have come to march me and Maysilee in to the justice building to say our goodbyes.