Hello people who will still read this, sorry it has been so long since I last updated. I have been very busy with school, and summer was the last time I was free. Before I start the story again, I would like everyone to know that my dream job is to become an author or director when I grow up, and feedback really helps. We do not have a lot of creative writing opportunities at school. With that, here is chapter 2.

I am completely frozen in my chair in the dark room. My mind races as I try to process what exactly what just happened outside. The thought of going to the Hunger Games always felt so surreal. It was one of those things that you never thought could happen to you, no matter how many times it happened to the people you were close to. The thought of me AND my sister being in the arena at the same time made me want to throw up. Only one of us can win. Would I turn on her? Would she turn on me? You watch enough Hunger Games to know that being in that arena for so many days can do terrible things to you. People have turned and killed allies with zero hesitation. I don't remember if there have ever been siblings in the arena, but if there was a time when that happened, it would probably be hard to forget.

The first people that come in to visit me are my friends, but I didn't want to see them. I wanted to see my parents, Max, Melanie. I wanted to go home and forget this day, or wake up and realize that it was all a dream. However, I know that if I ever got to go home again, it wouldn't be for a month, and it wouldn't be with Melanie.

My friends said nothing important to me. They did all the usual stuff we do, made a few jokes and kept assuring me I was gonna win. I had to keep a smile on my face during all of this. I don't want them to see my fear. After they had said enough, my friends leave the room in an awkward silence that has been present for a few moments. Suddenly, my parents walk in with my little brother.

"We aren't here to say goodbye," says my mom in her usual stern voice. I believe she was trying to be funny, but nobody was laughing. "He is." Max comes forward and leaps into my arms. There are tears streaming down his face. I want to cry too, but I won't show him.

"Please don't leave," he says after he stops his sobbing. I can feel my shirt getting a little wet from his crying.

"I…" I don't know what to say to him, so I pull a Mom and try to make a joke "I think your too big for me to be holding you." I gently place him on the ground. This doesn't seem to help the situation, as he starts sniffling again and hugs me.

"Listen," I decide to say, sitting down in my chair as he stands next to me. I take off his glasses and wipe his tears. "I have absolutely no desire to go, and if there was any way to get out of this I could." Max starts crying a little harder now. "Max, buddy. I need you to be strong. Knowing that you're at home being strong will help give me the strength to win." I thought this would help calm him.

"But if you win, what about Melanie?" He answers. Max is smart, he knows what is going on. Sometimes, I think he has a little too much understanding about what is going on for his age. I feel like he should be full of hope, as many little kids are, but instead he fears the world.

"Max, I don't know what will happen. All I can promise is that one of us will be home for you at the end of this," I say.

"I want both of you."

I get up from my chair and give him a hug and kiss on the head. "I wish it wasn't like this. I love you, buddy, and I want you to be strong." I turn around to look at my parents. "Can I talk to dad alone for a minute?"

"Of course," says Mom as she gives me a hug. "I will see you on the train." She takes Max's hand and takes him out of the room, as he begins to sob.

My dad comes over next to me. "What are you guys going to do with Max?" Is the first thing I ask him.

"Mrs. Soherlie is going to watch him. She came right up to us and offered when she learned that there would be nobody else home," he tells me.

We sit there in silence for a few seconds. I don't know what I wanted to talk to him privately for, but sometimes just being with him makes me feel stronger. My dad was the first winner for District 12 of the Hunger Games. He came from nothing, a long line of poor coal miners, and a father who drank himself to death. He was considered a miracle in our district, a savior. The next year, when Mom won a Quarter Quell, people across the country went crazy. When people heard of their marriage, they were known as the unstoppable couple, the ones who couldn't be defeated. They had plenty, from all the interviews and photoshoots they got, and from their combined yearly earnings from winning the Games.

So, when my brother got reaped, the media saw this as a phenomenon. He was the offspring of the unstoppable couple. It would be tough, but everyone still believed he had a great chance of winning, especially when he made it to the top eight, as most kids under 12 usually die early on. He would be the first eight-year-old, and youngest person ever, to win the games. Watching him get slaughtered on TV was heartbreaking for us, and even for the entire district. Nevertheless, I guess it still made good TV in the capital.

With Dylan's loss, my parents became known as the breakable couple. Very uncreative name, but I guess that's not the point of it. Anyway, they became known as this because for all the years they mentored together, District 12 never had a winner. Dylan was supposed to be the grand savior, the sign that the capital can't just take young children and put them with people up to 10 years older and 10 times stronger than them and get away with it. My parents never do interviews or photoshoots anymore, and they just always look sad.

Breakable.

I forgot why I wanted my dad in the room. Maybe just because I didn't want to see Max anymore and needed a subtle way to tell him to get out.

"Dad, I'm just really glad you're my mentor. I know I'll do good because of you," I say, breaking the long silence that had been there since I began my multiple thoughts.

Dad looked a little confused as to why this was so important for me to tell him in private, but he had a game once. He knows what it's like to be scared and confused. "Thanks Jake," he finally replies. "I'm gonna find a way for this all to work out." With that, he walks out of the room.

The great tributes of District 12 are no more. That was in the past, which has died down with the hope of a brighter future. I didn't want to come back here.

Melanie is going to win these games.