AN: Hello! Arcticmist's SYTO story has closed, so sorry about that, but I'm going on an updating spree this weekend so yay more chapters! Also feel free to go check out Arcticmist's story anyways, because it is fantastic! :D :D :D OKAY HERE UPDATES AND CRAP BYE!

24 hours later

I only manage to sleep in until 7:00 today, but my siblings are still snoring when I climb out of bed. I walk into the living room, where Mother is asleep on the couch, her hand resting inside Gabriel's crib. I tiptoe into the kitchen and look outside. The sun has just finished rising and the sky is orange. I'm not sure what to do with myself, so I go back into the bedroom to find Maryanna and Basil awake.

"Let's go watch the reapings,"Maryanna declares, and she pulls Basil into the living room, where I can hear the television on already. I don't like to watch the reapings, but Maryanna has a particular fondness for the different escorts.

I wake up Declan and Xaviar and help Mother make the breakfast. We bring in bowls of oatmeal and toast just as the second reaping rolls around. They call out a girl's name, but it's drowned out as a tall, strong and brown-haired girl runs up to the stage shrieking "I VOLUNTEER!" Her name is Clove. Her district partner runs up to volunteer so quickly that the escort barely has time to say the name. His name is Cato, and he looks like a killer. We watch the Districts 3, 4 and 5 reapings before Mother says "Alright, time to get ready." She looks very somber.

I help Basil and Maryanna get dressed and they run out to continue to watch the reapings. I am about to pull out my old brown pullover when Mother walks in. Her eyes are tired, but she holds out a sleeveless baby-blue dress with a white sash.

"This was my first reaping outfit, and now it's yours. Treat it well, little Rue," she says quietly, laying it out on my bed with a blue hair bow.

"Thanks," I reply. She leaves, and I put it on. It is soft, with a ruffle near the bottom, and falls to my knees. I tie my hair back with the bow and put on a pair of worn sandals.

It's a fight in the bathroom as everyone is trying to brush their teeth and do their hair at the same time in a tiny 5-foot by 4-foot area, excluding the toilet and sink. Somehow, we all make it outside.

"Wow, Rue, you look gorgeous," Maryanna says, staring at me.

"Thanks. You look pretty to, Maryanna "I say, tickling her. She giggles.

We walk quickly to a large courtyard in the middle of the small living commons. There is a stage set up in the corner. There are two chairs, a few cameras and a podium on it, along with the table holding up the two deadly glass balls. Our mayor and our escort come up onstage. Our escort is a short man with spiked up, electric blue hair. He seems extraordinarily happy on such a grim day. I hug each of my siblings and Mother.

"G—g—goodbye, Rue," Xaviar stutters.

"No, Xaviar," I reprimand sternly. "Not goodbye. Not—not yet. I will see you soon, no matter what."

I stand up and squeeze into the throng of anxious 12 year olds. I find my friend Shaunna and we grasp hands, no words big enough to wrap around such a momentous event.

Our mayor begins reading the customary speech and my eyes drift over the crowd. There is no chance of me being picked, I think. I only put in six tesserae, plus my slip. That isn't much, considering some people like Shaunna's older brother have to put in tesserae for the 8 people in her family, and he is sixteen. I won't get picked. I can't get picked. I—

"And now it is time to choose!" the blue-haired man announces. "Ladies first as always"

I grasp Shaunna's hand tighter, needing support. I think I might fall over.

The glass ball is spinning—spinning—spinning—

"And our lucky lady is—Rue Dahlia!" he yells, his voice unnaturally loud in the silent stadium.

Shaunna gasps. She turns to me, squeezes my hand one last time and says, choking back a sob, "Good luck, Rue." I release my grip and push through to the stage, biting my lower lip, willing myself not to cry. Not now, when thousands of people are watching. The blue haired man—his name, I learned, is Electrode—shakes my hand, then the mayor shakes my hand, then motions to the chairs. \ sit in one and risk a glance at my family. The silence is deafening. Tears are rolling down Mother and Amanda's cheeks; Declan is infuriated; Xaviar is frightened; and little Gabriel and Basil look thoroughly confused.

I barely listen as the boy is called. His name is Thresh Kafua, and he appears from the 15-year olds section.

Thresh makes his way to the stage. After the shaking of hands, I get a better look at him. I have seen him in the orchards before. He is tall, muscular, and strong, like my father. There was no way I could beat a boy like him! I stare, and then he sits down, and I turn away. Questions begin to flood my mind. Who will take care of my brothers and sisters? What will happen to my mother? And one of the most haunting:

What will become of me?