Lavender Byzantine, 14

Velvet and I sit side by side on the stairs that lead to her house. The wind flows through my blonde hair, revealing my pale face to the warm sun. I enjoy the moments of silence, knowing how rare they can be. The district is usually filled with commotion, children going to school, adults going to work, Peacekeepers ensuring we stay in line. Today's a special day, the commotion is gone and two children will be forced to leave home to compete in the Hunger Games, where it's guaranteed one of them will not return home.

"What are you thinking about?" Velvet asks me. I turn to look at her and shrug.

"Oh, not much. Just a little worried for tonight." I say sincerely. She nods, understanding. The fear of the Games only gets worse as you get older.

"Shall we?" She asks me. I smile and nod, standing up first. I hold my hands out to help her up. I brush off my jeans and hear some laughing behind me. I turn to look and see a group of girls pointing and laughing at us. I start to walk towards them, but Velvet stops me.

"Don't, it's not worth it." I raise my eyebrow to her and almost oblige. That is, until I hear one of their smart remarks.

"She's the one with the slutty father." It's that word that makes me walk straight up to her and smack her in the face.

"Don't you dare talk about my family. Ever." I can see how shocked she is by her eyes. I turn to rejoin my friend.

"You shouldn't have done that." She says. I shrug.

"You know I can't let something like that go." And she does. I know my father's reputation, I know it's not right. But nobody will talk about my family like that.

"I'll meet you at the square?" I say. She nods and goes into her house. I turn to walk towards my own, trying not to think about those girls from earlier.

I make it back to my house and see little Silk playing in the front yard. Out of all my half siblings, he is the only one to live with us. His mother's husband doesn't know he exists.

I give him a kiss on the forehead before entering the house. I go into my room, the first room on the left, and close the door behind me. I look at the picture of my mother on my nightstand and sigh. I wish she was still with us.

I spend some time finding a decent outfit and decide to go with a faded purple dress with black flats. I brush my hair out, wishing I didn't have to participate in the reapings. Wishing I was safe from it all.

I exit my house and walk to the reapings. As I sign in, I try to avoid looking at the faces of those around me.

I stand in the middle of the crowd and see last year's victor on stage, Lilac Suede. Her eyes always appear sad, rightfully so. Winning isn't an escape, some say death is more pleasant. It's certainly quicker.

The mayor begins the ceremony and the escort concludes it. She moves to the girls bowl, picks the top slip, and returns to the mic. You could hear a pin drop in the audience.

"Our female tribute, Lavender Byzantine!" I let out a quiet cry, but I compose myself when eyes start turning to me. The fear takes me over. Please, just be a dream. Please don't make me compete. Please.

Unfortunately, I never wake up from a dream. This is real. I am a tribute.

Carter Swenson, 16

I let the sewing machine move rhythmically with the guidance of my hands. I must finish this outfit before the reapings, it must be perfect.

The final stitch is made and I turn the machine off. I take the pants off of the machine and pull the fabric through the holes, so the right side is showing. I smile. Perfect.

The door opens behind me, making me turn to see who it could possibly be. I roll my eyes when I see the familiar face of Claire.

"Girl, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days." She laughs at my statement and flicks her hair over her shoulder.

"It would be my pleasure." She says with an attitude. I stick my tongue out at her and gather the matching top off the pile of clothes on the side.

"Be careful, I hear if you spend too much time making clothes you become a pair." She comments. I scoff.

"Has Nicola been getting in your head again? I told you she was a bad influence." She hits my arm and I laugh.

"You're an ass." Her smile tells me she's not serious. I wrap my arms around her and she pretends to be disgusted, but eventually hugs me back.

"Calling me disgusting, have you seen what you have on right now?" I put my hands on my hips. "Doesn't match, girl." She looks down at her brightly colored shorts and black tank top.

"I'm still waiting for you to make me that dress. When you give me that, maybe I'll put a little more effort in what a wear." In the distance I see our other two close friends, Jackson and Nicola.

"I'm good, Claire, but I'm not that good. You'll get it soon." I wink and walk over to the newcomers.

"What are you guys yelling about this time?" Nicola winks and I roll my eyes. She's extremely naive if she believes Claire is the one I'm interested in.

"Claire doesn't appreciate my how hard I work. She's such a tyrant." This comment receives only my second punch of the day. She's slacking today. Must be the fear of the reapings.

"Alright, everyone get off my property. I must become fabulous." I snap my fingers and I hear an audible eye from Claire. Jackson chuckles, his beautiful blue eyes moving to look at Nicola. Oh, what I'd give for him to look at me that way.

"See you at the reapings!" Nicola says as the two of them head back the way they came. Claire follows.

"Don't be late." She winks at me and I smile.

I exit my backyard and enter my main house. Despite the fact this has been my home for the past ten years, I will never forget the cold nights I spent on the orphanage floor. How lost I was, convinced I would never have a family to love me. Ever since Anaya Swenson saved me from that horrid life, I've never been happier.

"Hey sweetie." I hear my mother come from downstairs. "I didn't hear you get out of bed."

"I didn't want to wake you, just wanted to finish up my reaping outfit." I show her the completed clothes and she smiles.

"Well, go get dressed! I want to see what an incredible job you did." She's so great, I don't deserve her.

I run past her up the stairs and bolt into my room. I take off my old clothes and put on the brand new outfit I've created, a simple white button down and tight blue pants. I admire my work in the mirror and smile. I did great. I look great.

I run back downstairs, eager to show my mother. When she sees the completed outfit, she gasps.

"Oh honey, you're so damn talented." She hugs me tight and I hug her back. The bell rings, ruining the moment.

"Shall we?" I ask. She nods and we walk to the square together. We hug tightly before we separate for the event.

After I sign in I find my three friends in the crowd. Claire and I make jokes, doing our best to calm down. Jackson and Nicole stand stiffly together, holding hands tightly. I have to veer my eyes away from the hand holding to subside my jealousy.

Our escort bounces on stage and Claire giggles next to me. I take a deep breath, hoping he does not reap my best friend.

I calm slightly when the escort reads a name I don't recognize. Claire is safe another year, and I couldn't be happier.

I tense up again as the escort picks a name from the male's bowl.

"Our male tribute will be, Carter Swenson!" Claire wraps her arms tightly around me and I don't hesitate to hug back. I finally let her go and walk up to that stage. I am scared shitless, but I walk like I own the stage. I hope people buy it.

I get a good look at my district partner, a small fourteen year old girl. I sigh.

This is going to suck.

Let me know what you think of these two!

I'm considering writing another quarter quell, the 75th Hunger Games, would anybody be interested in submitting to it? I'm getting ahead of myself, haha