AN: Gah, sorry it has taken me so painfully long to update. I'll try to update more frequently now, but I can't make any promises until school it over. Enjoy~

The hum of the District 8 crowd buzzed through the television. Chester hardly heard the noise. The large piece of paper in front of him was littered with design plans and it had his full attention.

"How does this sound?" the redheaded boy asked his father, who was sitting on the couch behind him. "There's a large box of water suspended over the garden. Attached to it is a rope that goes through the window and into the kitchen. You yank on the rope and the bucket spills over, watering the plants."

Chester's father considered this for a moment. "You still have to refill the bucket every day, which is arguably more work than watering the plants."

"Besides," his mother cut in. "Most plants don't like being watered on their leaves; they prefer to be watered very close to the ground. Now be quiet, the reaping is starting,"

Chewing on the end of his pencil, Chester reluctantly turned his attention to the television. In front of the crowd stood a short woman with wavy dark green hair and big light green eyes. "Hey there, District 8!" she cheered, bouncing up and down a couple of times. Her silver dress shimmered violently and her heels clicked wildly beneath her. "I'm Verdite Enestem, the escort for your District!"

A murmur of amusement trickled through the crowd before the spunky little woman continued. "Drum roll, please," she sang before reaching for the girls' names. No drum roll came, but Verdite didn't seem to be bothered by that.

"Your female tribute will be Faith Maru," she announced brightly.

"I prefer Newt," a girl from off of the screen called in a voice that wavered but once. The camera switched to show the face of a slim teenage girl with dark brown hair pulled back into a cascading ponytail. Her eyes were a brilliant green color that stood out strikingly from her pale skin.

"Newt Maru, everybody!" Verdite corrected as the reaped girl stood beside the escort. The girl blushed slightly, fiddling with the hem of her dark earthy brown dress. Verdite grinned at her.

Chester was back to work. "What about an above ground piping system that carries water from the pond to the garden? The pipes switch to a spongy material that snakes through the garden. When dry, it absorbs water and transfers it into the soil, but when wet it transfers water farther on. The pipe opens and closes with a remote control door."

"Where in Panem will you find a material that does that?" his father pointed out.

"Hush," his mother warned. "She's about to read out the name of the male tribute."

Chester fell silent, turning back to the television screen.

"Your male tribute will be Zephyr Raine," Verdite called out.

The camera moved away from her face, eventually closing in on a tall and muscular young man who had rather pale skin and short dark brown hair. His eyes were the darkest shade of green, giving him an image of terrifying attraction.

Once he reached the front of the crowd, Verdite flashed a huge smile at the District. "Don't forget to tune into the rest of the 238th Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

Now that the screen was dark and the reapings could no longer interrupt him, Chester turned back to his parents. "Okay," he said, "what if the pipe is rather large—nearly wide enough for me to fit inside—and below the surface of the lake. When the remote control door opens, a burst of water rockets through the pipe and explodes out into the garden, powerful enough to water every plant."

"That," his father said, "just might work. Now go on and get to bed so that you are well-rested for tomorrow's reaping.

Chester nodded quickly, sticking his pencil behind his ear and rolling up his plans. He got to his feet and headed off to bed, trying to focus on his latest invention rather than the impending reaping.

In a rich brown button-down shirt and dark jeans, Chester still shivered. He wasn't cold—the weather was rather agreeable—but he was nervous. Possibly scared. He combed his pale fingers through his short and curly red hair out of habit.

He was partially distracted from his feelings as a tall, elegant woman appeared before the crowd. Her hair was an eerily dark shade of green, broken by dazzling silver highlights that matched her tight dress. She had unusual blue eyes that entranced those who stared into them for too long.

"District 9," she acknowledged curtly. "I am Seraphinite Enestem, the escort for your District."

Chester watched as she bent over and selected a slip of paper from the mess of girls' names. He almost wished that the woman was more like Verdite, who believed in making a scene of things and creating fanfare. Seraphinite got straight to the point, and that only ignited Chester's worry even though there was a zero chance of his name being called from the slip she now held, seeing as he was male. Still, he held his breath.

"Your female tribute will be Thea Rhodes."

Instead of releasing the breath dying in his lungs, Chester only breathed in harder. Thea couldn't go to the games! She was…well, she was Thea! Delicate little Thea Rhodes. She stayed in the background, hardly ever saying a word to anyone. She wrote. If you saw Thea Rhodes, the probability that she was writing was immense. She wouldn't last one second after the Games began. She couldn't go.

Yet no one volunteered.

Chester swallowed as he watched Thea make her way towards Seraphinite. Her long, wavy chestnut-colored hair hid most of her olive-toned skin as she seemed to try and disappear. She was dressed elegantly in a modest dark blue dress. She looked quite pretty, but that was probably the least of her thoughts at the moment. As soon as she took her place beside the escort, Seraphinite chose a male tribute to fight to the death. She unfurled the paper.

It was then the Chester noticed he had been digging his fingernails into his palms. He observed the angry red welts, hardly hearing the deadly call.

"Your male tribute for the 238th Hunger Games will be Chester Vine."

Chester fitted his nails back into the marks on his hands. His throat was dry and his hands were stone cold. He swallowed painfully before taking his first step towards Thea and Seraphinite. His next steps came easier, as he realized he was much better off than Thea. He stood beside her as Seraphinite closed the reaping. Thea was trembling very slightly.

He wanted to say something, but words failed him. What could he say? "It'll be okay." Absolutely not. It wasn't going to be okay. "You'll be fine." As if. "No need to be scared." Ha. Ahahaha. Aha. Ha. Chester sifted through his mind, looking for something, anything he could say to Thea to make her feel better.

Finally, all he came up with was: "Hi."

Thea turned slowly to face him as the crowd began to disperse. She studied him with her hazel eyes. Chester noted awkwardly that even though they were both fourteen, she was taller than him. "Hi," she said quietly as Seraphinite turned to them.

"Your families are waiting inside," the escort informed them, pushing them in the direction of the open doors behind them. They walked through the doors held open by peacekeepers in a silence more potent than the one that had hung in the air as the crowd waited for the tributes to be reaped.

Chester watched Thea run off to her parents and her two identical little sisters before he allowed his parents to bury him in hugs.

"Don't let them beat you," his father choked, trying to hold back his tears and appear like a man. Chester's mother wrapped her arms around her son and said nothing, conveying her emotions through her actions. "You're smart," his father continued, pride slipping into his voice. "Don't forget that. You can outsmart them. I know you can."

A nod was all Chester could manage without bursting into tears himself. A peacekeeper swooped in and led his parents out, followed by another peacekeeper with Thea's family. Chester gave Thea a weak smile as Seraphinite towed them towards the train.

"Good luck," he told her gently, hoping to soothe the tears out of her eyes.