I stare out of the window of the stuffy classroom, there's not a great view but that's common in Twelve. I should be concentrating on the lesson but I don't see the point, there's only a few weeks of school left and since my father has got me a government job working in the Justice Building I don't need to prove my worth through good test scores.

I sigh lightly and let my mind wander to the changes I will see in my life once I graduate and start my new job. I will move out of my father's mansion and into the house I have been assigned to in town, it is common in Twelve to live with your parents until you marry, in town because you are training to take over the family business and in the Seam because it is easier to have as many salaries in one house as possible. Although it is uncommon, every person in the district is entitled to a housing assignment once they reach 18 and I jumped at the chance.

Most people would call me crazy for leaving the luxury of my father's home before I have to, with the two servants we have (hardly necessary with only three of us living there but my father likes to provide the work to people who may starve otherwise), lots of space, and my father providing almost anything I could want. But they don't know the truth, living in the mayor's house means you are always being watched, there is no privacy, either from the Capitol bugs or the Capitol 'guests' we are required to house from time to time. I do overhear information that is kept from most citizens of the district occasionally, through the thin walls of my father's office or the loose lips of drunken Capitolites but it's not worth staying for, it's not like I can do anything with the information and it just makes me angry most of the time.

My friend Katniss is one of the only people who understands my desire to leave, we are pretty sure that her home in the Victor's Village is bugged too but there is no escape for her. She will live there until she dies and Peeta will move in once the President decides to set them a wedding date. The lack of control she has over her life makes her envy me and my relative freedom so I've been sure to let her know that she will be welcome at my place whenever she needs a break.

I will soon have less but so much more, I'm sure I'm going to hate working for the Capitol but at least at the low level I will no longer have to associate with the people from there with their maddening ignorance. A 9 to 5 job is the best I could have ever hoped for in this district, the same hours as school has been so I will have the same amount of free time to spend on my hobbies, I can visit my mother, play my father's piano, and head into the woods with Katniss when she invites me. I will have my own money to spend and will not have to worry about being the prim and proper mayor's daughter. I will be able to be myself.

I drag myself to my feet as the bell rings and decide to head to a few shops before I go home, the arrangements are being made for the victory tour and the party to be held at our house so I want to avoid it as much as possible. Every reminder of the Hunger Games sends a chill through me, how I still have one reaping to survive. I am an adult, I will be working and living alone but I will still have to stand in the roped off square praying that my name is not called. Even though I have fewer slips than most I could still be chosen.

I distract myself from these thoughts by browsing in the small grocery shop before buying an apple to eat on the way home. It's a bit tart and that's exactly the way I like it. I arrive home to my father sitting in the kitchen reading a Capitol newspaper, I sit beside him and the butler brings me a cup of tea and a small plate of biscuits. As I begin to nibble at the snack my father folds the newspaper and smiles at me before asking "how was your day?"

"The usual" I reply, sipping at my tea. "Not many people are paying attention now we're so close to leaving for good. How was work?"

"Nothing major, just the victory tour preparations at the moment. Valerie's busy preparing the guest rooms now. I did bring something home with me though." He smiles and I lift an eyebrow in question.

He takes a roll from his bag and passes it over. "It's the plans of your house, I finally got word of which had been assigned to you."

"Wow" I say, looking over the plans, "it's really happening."

He picks his newspaper up as I examine the plans more closely, it looks larger than a lot of the houses in town, I guess the person in charge of the assignments saw my surname and wanted to keep my father sweet.

I excuse myself from the table and head upstairs to find Valerie, she has been showing me how to take care of household tasks now that I will be living alone. She's ironing the sheets for the guest rooms when I find her, a task that is only done for Capitol visitors so I don't need to learn. I sit with her instead and we chat about the planned party.

"It will be small again this year, with the focus been on One" I say carefully, I hate censoring myself in this house. What I want to say is "thank goodness it will be small, now the Katniss and Peeta buzz is wearing off most Capitolites will be unwilling to come to Twelve so we won't have to put up with as many."

"Yes, but we still have the usuals" Valerie replies, not looking up from her work.

I sigh noncommittally, some return every year, liking to support the underdog but they are the worst. They feel an ownership over everything in the district because of their meagre sponsorship for our tributes and it definitely shows in their interactions with me. I have learned to extract myself from the worst conversations with a giggle hiding my disgust and my father installed a lock on my bedroom door after a particularly bad year when an old man with purple hair and eyes tried to crawl into my bed. I was fourteen years old.

I check my watch and head downstairs knowing that dinner will be served any minute, I'll sit with my mother for a while later in the evening then head to bed.

The usual.