A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. As you can tell from the chapter's title, this is where the first half of the Reaping takes place. Feel free to read and review - I encourage it! No hate please! Tell me what you thought and enjoy!

Chapter 4: The Reaping

Shortly after saying goodbye and good luck to Gale, I arrive back at my house. The Reaping starts in about an hour. I immediately notice that Prim is already dressed. She's wearing a white blouse and a gray skirt. I walk towards her and say, "Wow, you look beautiful, Prim! You don't even look your age! Are you sure this is your first Reaping?"

She smiles the same way Madge did earlier today; a scared smile. I try to think of something to say to make her laugh. I notice that the back of her blouse isn't quite tucked in, so I approach her and say, "You better tuck that tail in, Little Duck." As I tuck it in. Sure enough, she gives me her signature giggle.

After I'm ready in a blue dress that my mother picked out for me, Prim says, "Now you look beautiful, too!" My little sister honestly has a heart of gold.

"Thank you, Prim," I say in reply.

My mother quickly helps braid my hair, and then the three of us begin to make our way to the Justice Building, where the Reaping will take place. Ever since my father died in the mining accident, along with Gale's father, my life never really seems complete. I was much more like him than my mother, and I miss having that connection and relationship with him. Of course I love my mother, but it's just not the same. When my father died, she emotionally left Prim and myself. She's gotten better, and I don't blame her for doing that; my father and my mother were so in love with each other, that it seemed impossible for my mother to live without him. I hope I'll be able to find love like that one day...

Once we've arrived at the Justice Building, Prim and I wait in line to get our fingers pricked to confirm our official Panem citizenship. Prim hates the sight of blood, and I can see it in her eyes that she is dreading losing even the tiniest amount of blood. I tell her that it doesn't hurt one bit, and she seems to calm down. After our identification is confirmed, Prim goes to stand with the twelve-year-old females, and I go to stand with the sixteen-year-old females. Our eyes meet, and I blow a kiss to her. She pretends to catch it, and then she smiles to herself. I then catch someone else's eyes – Gale's. He gives me a smile, so I smile back, secretly praying that he doesn't get picked.

After everyone gets settled, The Reaping begins. I can see all kinds of Capitol people around, especially the Peacekeepers. They look like the type of people that you don't want to mess with. Everyone is quiet. Out of nowhere, Effie Trinket, District 12's escort, walks onto the stage and greets everyone in her strange Capitol accent. "Welcome, everyone, to the Reaping of the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games!" Her voice booms into the microphone with too much excitement for this event. "Before we begin, I'd like to introduce Haymitch Abernathy, District 12's mentor and lone Victor!" As if on cue, Haymitch stands up drunkenly from his place at the back of the stage and waves to everyone half-heartedly. Haymitch won the fiftieth Hunger Games, also known as the second Quarter Quell, and lives in the Victor's Village, all by himself, with no one but dozens of bottles of alcohol and liqueur to accompany him. Effie then shows us a clip that comes "all the way from the Capitol!" as she puts it. I pay little attention to it, but from what I saw, it's a clip explaining that putting teenagers at random and against their will into a death arena is right. After the clip finishes, Effie gives a long, and, quite frankly, boring speech that I don't listen to at all.

Pulling me out of my daydream about the Meadow and its beautiful flowers and promise of freedom, Effie announces "Ladies first." She walks dramatically across the stage to one of two of the large glass bowls that hold the names of all the females in District 12 that are between the ages of twelve to eighteen. There's not one eye that isn't on her. As she reaches into the bowl, I realize that whoever she picks will have to suffer in these Games, and, because the Games are televised for all of Panem to see, (viewing is mandatory), everyone will know what they're going through and will have to watch. The name of this girl will most likely die in a brutal death, becoming a person of only memories that people will talk about. There could be a volunteer, but District 12 isn't famous for having any. The only person I would volunteer for is Prim, and I know that she won't be picked because her name is only in the Reaping bowl once this year. I wouldn't volunteer for anyone else because my family needs me; they need me to hunt for them. They wouldn't survive long without me, and I couldn't bear to think of them dead.

My heart is racing so fast and so loud that I can practically hear it through my chest. I can see Effie's hand reach into the large bowl, her fingers wavering over the slips of paper until she finally finds one that she likes. She snatches it out of the bowl, and, for dramatic effect, slowly opens it up to reveal the name. She reads it, then walks back to the centre of the stage, where the microphone is, to recite it. She pauses before speaking, as if looking for her voice that she never lost, and says in her accent: "Madge Undersee."

...