The name bounces in my skull. Hadley's grip on my hand tightened, cutting off my circulation. How could Hadley be picked? I know she has multiple names, more than I have, but I know seventeen and eighteen year olds with over 40 names in the ball. Hadley cannot survive the Games. I know this for a fact. She is suffering a disease that makes her body weaker than normal. She's even weaker than my mother, who is naturally weak. I know she can't survive.
"Hadley?" Kiani asks, looking into the crowd. Hadley lets go of my hand and walks up to the stage. She stands out, hobbling her way to Kiani. She also stood out for the right reasons. No one else in District 10 has her hair color. It was a perfect auburn, and it glistens in the sunlight. Her body is thin, but not too thin like people from the poorer part of 10.
Hadley just passes the Thirteen section when I find my feet shuffling to her. I call her name, and she turns around. Peacekeepers try to hold me back. My feet kick up dust and my nails dig into their arms. "Hadley! I..." Was I really going to say the word? "I...I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" The Peacekeepers let me go and Hadley wobbles to me.
"Well, we have a volunteer!" Kiani says, excitement seeping in her words. Hadley wraps her skinny arms around me, her height making me seem much shorter than I was. I hugged her tighter than I should, her ribs rubbed against my body.
"What are you doing?" Hadley asks in my ear.
"Saving you." I answer.
Her mouth opened, but the Peacekeepers pulled us apart. Their hands were placed on my lower back as they led me to the stage. I never liked the Peacekeepers. They always give me a look, a look of desire. I know which family I come from. The Caldwell family has owned the largest farm for over 90 years. The Caldwell's were as wealthy as the mayor, but not as wealthy as the Capitol.
Kiani beckons me to join her. The Peacekeepers handed me over and I was standing next to the woman who smelled of flowers. She smelled like a lily, I am dead serious. "Congratulations to District Ten's newest tribute. What's your name?"
A microphone is shoved in my face as I say, "Jada Caldwell." I see surprise on everyone's face. I see Jace's blue green eyes fill with tears. A Caldwell has never been in the Hunger Games before. I sneak a glance to my parents. My mother has hidden her face in her hands and my father was consoling her. Jetta seems to be holding her composure, not sure what I was doing on stage.
"You didn't her to steal the glory, now did you?" She doesn't wait for my response. "Let's give it up for our new tribute!" Don't clap for me. I don't deserve your claps. I am thinking and hoping they don't clap. No one does. I see Jace extend his middle three fingers to me. First Jace, then his friend, then the whole Twelve section does the same. It spread like a virus, and everyone extended their three middle fingers. By the look on Kiani's face, this is very rare.
No one has used the District 12 salute in many years. Actually, I think no one is allowed to use it because of its origin in 12. I know exactly why they did it to me. I'm a well-liked child from a well-liked family. No one wants to see me suffer, let alone my family. I choke back tears and hoped no tears would spill today.
Kiani shrugs off the salute and goes right back to the Reaping. "Now, it's time for the boys." She goes to the bowl with the boys names. She lingers over the bowl, just like she did with the girls. She grabbed a slip and quickly read the name. "Stiles Biggs."
Everyone turned to a tiny twelve year old, right in front of the stage. Oh, no. Not a twelve year old. This is one reason I completely hate the Hunger Games. Twelve years olds are just beginning their lives. Nothing is more painful to watch a young child die in the arena. Although, there was a Games where a twelve year old won. She was little enough to hide away and no one could find her. She is about twenty now and she lives in the Capitol. She originally lived in District 9.
Stiles had the look of the poorer part of District 10. He had curly light brown hair, dark eyes, and a thin body where you can see his ribs. His features were sunken in from extreme starvation. He could be mistaken to have the disease that Hadley has. I know I am not paired with him. I feel really bad for the person who actually is paired with him.
Kiani asks for volunteers, and no one stands up. I expected this. Friendships and family only go so far on Reaping day. What I did for Hadley is a complete sacrifice. I would have done it for Jetta, but I'll be twenty by the time she is eligible for the Reaping. That is, if I am alive after this.
"District Ten, I give you your tributes!" Kiani grabbed my right hand and Stiles' left hand and raised them in hers. "May the odds be ever in your favor." The anthem blared as we faced the cameras. This was going to be played all over Panem later today. Kiani led us into a room in the Justice Building. Here is where I wait for the hardest part before the Capitol.
My good-byes.