Chapter 3
My stomach is turning. I feel as if I'm about to pass out. I can't feel my legs. It's as if they turned into water and I can't walk. My vision is blurred from the tears forming in my eyes. But I can't cry now, I can't, because all of us, here in Two, are trained to stay strong and win.
"Where are you, dear?" Galea asks the crowd.
I take one step forward, and she spots me.
"Come on up!" she gestures. "Come on up!"
I walk on small steps, passing by everyone. People that I know from the Training Center give me looks of grief and sadness, and I shoot them back with a look of helplessness, which is what I feel exactly now. Helpless.
I walk all the way to the stage in small steps, and I stop at the point where I need to climb stairs. I look up, and see my new escort is waiting for me at the top. I take a quick glance at the stairs, hold the railing, and climb up very slowly.
Galea gets impatient. "Come, on dear!"
Once I'm at the top of the stairs, she grabs me by the shoulders and leads me to center stage. She grabs the microphone. "Alright! This is so exciting!" she stops jumping. "Now, are there any volunteers out there?" she asks.
Someone please. Please, please, please. Anyone. I hope.
After a moment, no one speaks. It's so quiet, I can hear the soft breeze whistling through the air. Galea waits for another minute for volunteers.
Anyone?
There's still silence. Great, I thought there were a lot more eighteen year olds in District Two who would volunteer.
"Well," Galea says. "It looks like, uh, what's your name dear?" she asks.
"Sevina—Clove. Clove Sevina." I stutter.
"Clove is our new tribute for the 74th Annual Hunger Games! Please give her a big hand for Clove's braveness!"
No one moves a muscle. I hear the wind whistle again.
After a moment, someone claps. I look to the direction of the noise and see him, Cato, clapping and smirking at me. Everyone follows him and claps too.
Galea notices this and cheers, "That's it! That's the spirit I'm looking for!"
People clap for another minute, and then stop.
"Now, for the boys." Galea continues.
She walks over to the boy's glass reaping ball. She moves her hand swiftly around, causing the mood to be intense. Every boy in the crowd, staring at the glass ball, hoping it's not them. I don't care about anyone, except for Caleb. He only entered his name once, which is good.
What if he does get reaped? Will anyone volunteer for him? Or will they just stand there and watch as he walks up the stage? If he does get reaped, I wouldn't want to kill him, of course. I want to keep him safe. So I make a rule where, if Caleb does get reaped, he's the one to go home, not me.
I stop thinking about it, because I know it's not going to happen. One slips, out of thousands. Just one slip. If you only have one slip, unlike the people who sign up for tesserae, your chances for getting reaped are very slim.
Galea picks one slip from the glass ball and holds it up. Every boy in the crowd looks tense and nervous. She steps toward the microphone, opens the slip, and reads aloud.
"Caleb Sevina!"