CHAPTER 1:
"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"
Willie Schuester goes to the bowl and starts shuffling the paper around. The anticipation and tension is thick in the air and I'm pretty sure the crowd was holding a collective breath. At last, the Capitol man picks out a piece of paper, and unfolds it.
"Johanna Santana L. Mason!"
His voice echoes across the vast expanse of people, and the shock was too great before I realized what exactly happened.
Well shit.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea, and I could feel a thousand eyes staring at me, excluding the ones watching from other districts.
I was just chosen as my District's female tribute.
Perfect.
I walked up the platform trying not to look nervous, looking everywhere and anywhere except at my parents' faces. Because I couldn't look into their eyes. I just couldn't.
"Congratulations!" our escort Willie Schuester said as soon as I stood in front of him. I rolled my eyes at him.
"Whatever." He smiled awkwardly then moved to the other bowl to pick the male tribute.
"Joseph Hart!"
A guy with long messy hair appeared. He was pretty tall, taller than me anyways, and he was thin and lanky. He was visibly trembling, and I really couldn't blame him. Being chosen as a tribute for the Games had that general effect on people.
"Congratulations!" Willie repeated, stretching forward his right hand as if to shake Joseph's. Joseph doesn't take it. He just looked downward, looking as if he was going to cry. Willie patted his shoulder, which was a failed attempt in trying to sympathize with the guy who was now standing next to me. Schuester turned, faced my District then smiled proudly.
"District Seven! Please welcome, your tributes!" Willie raised his arms, as if he was expecting people to applaud but no one did. I tried to contain the disappointment that felt heavy in my chest. 'What were you expecting Mason,' I mentally chided myself. 'They're not going to clap for you. You're not some sort of hero.'
But what they did next was even better than any applause. They raised their right arms and gave us the Farewell Salute.
A Farewell Salute was something that every district had. Every salute was unique, and was usually done only during times of great celebration or whenever a great hero died or lost.
To say that this surprised me would be the understatement of the year. The people of District 7 rarely did the farewell salute to their tributes. Why they chose to do it now was beyond me.
"Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor!" Willie repeated.
-.-.-.-.-
A peacemaker lead us to the Justice Building for our loved ones to say good-bye. I doubt my parents would go. We weren't that close. I looked up when I heard the door creak. To my surprise, it was them. I stood up, not really knowing what to do, but before i could even take a step in their direction my mother lunges forward and engulfs me in a tight hug.
It was something I never really imagined. My mother and I rarely talked. I barely felt that she cared about me, that she loved me. But here she was, sobbing onto my shoulder and embracing me as if she never wanted to let go. It took a few moments before I was able to hug her back.
"We should have done this a long time ago, Mother." My voice quivered, and I felt tears run down my cheeks. My mother chuckles a bit and she tries to smile, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "I'll hug you more often if you promise to come back Johanna." Her small smile slips away and she cries again. She turns to my father and he takes her into his arms, while she was still saying, "You have to come back Johanna. You have to."
I wipe my own tears away, just as I hear my father's booming voice "Johanna... I know that as parents we were really distant from you. Being an only child we should have given you more attention, but I guess we were just so afraid of being bad parents that we didn't even try to be good. Now you're being sent to a place where only the strongest survives, and the rest get killed, before we even got a chance to treat you right." There was a tremor in his voice that seemed so uncharacteristic that it threw me even more off-guard than I already was. "But I know you'll win. The same way you won in every fight, in every argument that you had as a child. Because you're strong Johanna. You're the strongest person I've ever seen. And I know this because you are my daughter. I know this the same way I know that you're going to come home to us."
A peacemaker comes in right at that moment, and I hug my parents one last time, while we said the I love you's that should have been said before. And as they leave, they give me one last look, one last smile which I try to return, and then they were gone.
I was alone again. The feeling of love and warmth that I felt moments ago was gone before I could even enjoy it.
-.-.-.-.-
Now we're in the train heading to the Capitol.
I was sitting down on the plush train seats, and I was drumming my hands on the table. I was trying to hold on to what would probably be the last memory of my parents, hoping that maybe it would give me enough courage to win just like they said.
Joseph, or Joe since that was what he told me to call him but whatever, was sitting across the table. His eyes were red, so I would probably be right to assume that he had been crying. He looked like he was fighting his tears again, struggling to make sure that his voice wouldn't break when he would speak. Finally, he seemed to have regained composure and asked me.
"So do you know what our mentor's going to be like?" I shrugged in response. Joe bit his lip.
"Surely you have some idea! You've been watching the previous games, right?" he insisted. I glared at him. He shrank back to his seat, and I smirked, satisfied that I can still scare people out of their wits with a simple glare. I was just about to tell him off when a woman with short blonde hair came in. She was wearing a red tracksuit and she had a critical stare.
"Get up you two," she said. Joe gulped and immediately obeyed. Our supposed mentor looked at him from top to bottom as if he was being inspected. She mumbled something about his skinny physique.
"Now you, sissy." I scoffed.
"Sissy? Is that the best you can come up with?" I challenged. Who was this lady? Okay she was our mentor, obviously, but what gave her the right to call me sissy, huh?
"I'm your mentor and I suggest you do as I say if you want to survive at least until we get to the Captiol. Now, get up." I rolled my eyes and did as she told me. She inspected me, just like how she did with Joe, and nodded.
"Good, good," she commented, while nodding her head in approval as if I just passed some sort of test.
"Alright Fred Flintstone," she said looking at Joe. "Cheerio," she looked at me. "I'm your mentor, if you haven't figured that out yet, Sue Sylvester, at your service. From this day onward, at least until you die in the Hunger Games, you will do everything I say so you can 'stay alive' for as long as you can. Understood?" Joe bobbed his head up and down frantically, obviously scared of the woman. I simply stared.
"Right. Okay so you don't expect any of us to win, but you still want us to follow you. Which means we're going to die eventually, but as long as you get what you want, you don't really care," I answered, glaring at Sue who glared back at me. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up.
"I like you. You've got spunk. There's a small chance that you'll survive these Games. A very small chance at that, but a chance nevertheless." Then she turned to look at Joe. "As for you, you need to toughen up."
"I can't kill," he said softly. Sue frowned.
"Come again?"
"I can't kill people." I resisted the urge to slap my face at that.
"You know what, Barney Rubble, the Games is a very very brutal area. It's either you kill or be killed."
"Then I'll be killed! I'd rather die than take the life of another human being who has done no wrong!" he yelled then stormed away. Sue just shrugged.
"I guess it's just you and me, Sandbags. We start talking strategy tonight over dinner. I suggest you freshen up and relax as much as you can."
-.-.-.-.-
"So Joe the friendly caveman didn't show up, huh?" Sue asked. I muttered an incoherent 'yes' and went back to stuffing food in my mouth. Seriously, this food is really good. I mean, my family and I aren't really poor, per se, but I haven't tasted anything like this in my life.
I felt Sue's eyes on me, then she spoke up. "Hey easy there tiger. You'll get more of that later. As for now we have to talk about your strategy." I reluctantly brought the third lamb chop that I've eaten back down on my plate, and listened to my mentor attentively. This talk can cost me my life out there.
"Okay, how good are you with an axe?" I stared at her, stunned. Sue sighed. "Our district is the lumber district so I assume that you know how to use an axe." I looked down and thought about my life at District 7. Prior to the time in the Justice Building before I left for the Games, the only "bonding time" I had with my father was when he taught me how to use an axe.
"Well, I can cut down a tree in 3 swings. How's that?" I asked Sue.
"Hmmm... Good but not enough. You have to be able to throw it accurately, and wield it with such precision that your enemies won't even get a chance to defend themselves before you completely butcher them." I nodded. "As soon as the bell goes 'ding', run as fast as you can to the Cornucopia. If you can't get there first, don't even try. Head to the forest. I'm sure you'll feel at home there. The first thing you should find is water. Humans can go for several days without food but we can't last that long without water. Also, during your training sessions, try to make friends. It's the safest place to start an alliance since you're sure that no one can kill you there. Got it, Cheerio?" I nodded. Admittedly, despite Sue's attitude, she's got good points. Just then, Joe comes in.
"Okay Conan the Barbarian, ready to hear what I have to say to you?" Sue asked him. He just shrugged. "Stick with Red Riding Hood over here and you'll be fine." I just grunted and stared at my half-eaten lamb chop. Sue chuckled.
"Okay missy, you can eat now," she said. I immediately started wolfing down my food once again. "I suggest you start eating too," I heard Sue say to Joe. He sat down next to me and proceeded to eat.
-.-.-.-.-
As I lay down on my bed that night, I thought about everything that happened to me that day. Everything that happened in the reaping, in the Justice Building, in the train. 'Funny,' I realized. 'Was it only yesterday that I was helping my father in the forest? And I was having a decent dinner with my mother?' I laughed mirthlessly. I thought about the future that now seems so dark and finite; the future that now leads to certain death. And even if by some miracle I managed to stay alive and win, I had this haunting premonition, some sort of eerie sixth sense, that a part of me would die in the Games.
'New mission,' I told myself. 'Don't involve yourself with anyone in the Games.'
With that, I pulled the warm duvet over my tired, weary body and went to sleep.
-.-.-.-.-
"Today's lesson is about how to get sponsors," Sue began. Joe sighed and looked out the window. "I'm sure both of you know what sponsors are."
"Yeah, yeah. They send us stuff we need if they like us," I mumbled.
"Very good, sunshine. Now how to get them to like you. Normally, Capitol people dislike weaklings but if being weak is part of their strategy, then they'll love them since it means that they'll turn very brutal and violent near the end. Your training score also helps so show your skills before your training. I'll talk more about that once we reach the Capitol. Anyway, sponsors help keep you alive. They can make a big difference when you're out there in the arena and you're on the verge of life and death. But it still depends on how you present yourselves to them." Oh great. How do I make people like me? I looked over at Joe. He continued looking out the window, not caring about what Sue said. Then Willie, our district escort, entered.
"So how are District Seven's fine, young, tributes, hm?" he said. "Good luck in the Games! I'm sure you'll both do just fine! Oh and be careful with those seats! They're made of linen!" Then Willie left the train car.
"He's annoying," I said. I mean seriously, he seems to be so happy, excited even, about the Games! Oh well, I guess that's what you can expect from a person of the Capitol.
"You too, huh? Well, it's natural," Sue said. "Don't mind him that much and you'll be fine."
"I hope so."
A/N:
Okay, I know thsi chapter was short but... that's the point. The other chapters will be longer. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in Glee and neither do I own the characters and concepts of the Hunger Games. This co-authored with my dear friend Heya Morrivera. And yes that's not her real name (obviously) and neither is it her fanfic name since she forgot... I have no idea what. Well, whatever it is, she can't log in (Good job.) So there. Sue's Johanna/Santana's mentor. Reason why we made Johanna and Santana one and the same person... WE SERIOUSLY PICTURED NAYA RIVERA AS JOHANNA! D: A'right that's enough chit-chat for now. Please Review!