DISCLAIMER: I still do not own The Hunger Games, so stop asking me, jeez!

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"WHAT? How can this be?" I think to myself as I begin to walk to the stage. I feel tears beginning to form in my eyes, but I refuse to let the Capitol see them. I see Katniss in the crowd. She is paralyzed. She wants to move, to talk, to volunteer for me, but she can't. So I walk onto the stage, accepting that she won't won't be volunteering for me, but then again, I wouldn't let her volunteer for me anyway.

"There she is!" Effie squeals. "Primrose Everdeen! You are Primrose Everdeen, aren't you?" she asks me.

I hear myself responding, "Yes, Effie, I'm Primrose Everdeen." I spot a chair meant for the female tribute, and I sit down on it. I stare blankly at the crowd, not really looking at them, just thinking for the first time, the fate I'm condemned to. The fate of 22 others this year, the fate of more to come next year, the fate so many, too many, have already followed. Yes, I will die in the Hunger Games.

Effie's voice jolts me out of my self-pity. "And now, we will Reap our gentleman!" she says excitedly. Effie plunges her hand into the boy's Reaping bowl, the bowl of dread. I see her spindly hands probing the bowl, searching, searching for a name. I look into the crowd. All the boys from Seam are fidgeting uncomfortably. Most of them are dangerously skinny, a miracle that they are still alive with such little food. It could be any one of them, and they all know it.

Effie pulls out a little slip of paper, smaller than most of them, so small, that if tucked into a corner of the ball, it just might be forgotten. Silly boy. Doesn't he know that the first place Effie checks is the corner? She reads the slip of paper once to herself. Then, she clears her throat and says "Peeta Mellark."

The boy that walks up has blond, blond, blond hair, and striking blue eyes. He is of medium build, slightly on the short side, and is one of the few children that actualy look decently fed around here. His facial features, the light blond hair, the same blue eyes, are remarkably similar to mine. If Effie hadn't called out his last name, we could be siblings. I see Katniss in the crowd. She gasps. I can't figure out why. I mean, sure, this boy is handsome, but I don't think that Katniss really cares about that type of stuff. Maybe she knows him from school or something? If so, she's never mentioned him.

Peeta walks onto the stage unsmilingly, and sits down on the chair next to me. For a few seconds, the whole District 12 is sort in an awkward silence. Peeta and I say nothing, the crowd just stares at me, Katniss says nothing, and Effie stays silent. But not for long. "Well, District 12, these are your tributes!" Effie Trinket exclaims. Nobody claps, except this one drunken man by a side alley. Everyone stares at him, and he stops.

A short Capitol man runs up to the stage. I mean, a really short man. He must be at least 30, and he's shorter than me. He taps Effie's shoulder, and she leans down. He whispers something into her ear, and then the short man runs off. Effie Trinket straightens up.

"I almost forgot!" she exclaimed. "We need to introduce our past victors!"

In all of the Hunger Games, District 12 has only had to victors. The first one died of poison 5 years after her victory by a victor from District 1, and the second one is still alive. His name is Haymitch Abernathy, and he is a wreck. He is constantly drunk, and they say he had to hire a maid, because he's so dirty. But the rumour goes, when the maid he hired came over to his house, she quit the job after seeing how disgusting the house was. But that's just a story. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but everyone says it is.

"Our first victor was Beeza Swits," Effie announces. "She won in the 16 Hunger Games, at the age of 13. Unfortunately, 5 years later, a true tragedy occurred." I scoff a little at this. The Hunger Games isn't a "true tragedy"? "Beeza was visiting District 1, invited by 19-year-old victor named Handel. Everyone thought they made a lovely couple. Beautiful Beeza and Handsome Handel. But the reason Handel invited her turned out to be far more sinister than that. On the second night of Beeza's stay at his house, she was offered a glass of wine. And everyone knows how famous District 1's wine is, so she gratefully accepted the glass. She fell dead an hour later. Upon further investigation, Distrct 6 discovered that Handel had posioned the wine, and that he never intended for them to become a couple. Handel was jailed, and stayed there until his death 2 years ago," Effie tells the audience.

I shudder at the tale. "What brought Handel to do that to her?" I wonder to myself.

"Our next victor came along many years later," Effie begins. As dumb as she is, she is a decent story-teller, and I'm intersted to here Haymitch's past. "Haymitch Abernathy was Reaped during the second Quarter Quell. The Quell's twist this year? Doubling the amount of tributes. Haymitch's odds of survival were next to nothing: up against 47 other tributes just as desparate as him, and from the poorets District. True, at the time, he was a relatively healthy 18 year old, but nobody ever cosidered him to be the winner. Then, the tributes arrive in the Arena. Haymitch grabs a pack and a knife, getting his left knee and right arm badly injured. He runs out of the bloodbath, shaken up, but still very much got lucky with his pack which had first aid, a gallon of water, a light jacket, and some food. After a day or so, it becomes clear, that everything in the arena is poisonous. Haymitch Abernathy allies with Maylisee Donnor, also from District 12. Sadly, she was killed by mutant birds. And in the final battle, Haymitch conquered the other tribute after a long, bloody fight. So let's here it for... HAYMITCH ABERNATHY!" Effie says.

Haymitch comes up on the stage. he says a slurred hello, and then hugs Effie. I see her wrinkle her nose in disgust. Despite my dire situation, I let out a little giggle.

After Effie pries herself out of Haymitch's arms, he makes a very rude gesture to the camera then and says "I'm bettin' on this one!" while pointing to me. "What 'bout you?" he asks the camera, giving it the finger again. Ugh. I'd never embarass myself like that OR be that rude. The short Capitol man that I saw earlier pushes Haymitch away from the camera.

We're scheduled an hour to say goodbye to all our friends.

Peeta and I follow Effie to the Justice building wordlessly. When we enter the justice building, I can't help but gasp in awe. It must be the most beautiful place in District 12. I know that when my father died, the funeral was held in here, but I was only 6 or 7, and I don't really remember it much. But it is stunning. There ceiling is stained glass, and it has chandeliers with hundreds of burning candles. the carpet is a lush red, and is probably more comfortable than my bed. It seems like all of District 12's money must've been spent on this building. No wonder we're so poor.

Peeta and I are each ushered into two small seperate rooms. I sit on the velvet chair. There is also a couch, presumabely for the guests. The first to come in are Katniss, Mother, and Buttercup. Buttercup leaps from Mother's arms onto my lap, and begins purring loudly. I smile. My eyes are glistening with tears. So are Mother's and Katniss's. I think Buttercup can sense what's happening, because he let's out something between a moan and a sob.

I hug and kiss both of them, and say a final goodbye to Buttercup. I can't believe it. I can't believe this is what's happening to me. I'm far too young. Much too young.

Next Kaysen and Cici come. Cici embraces me into a big hug. She sniffles, and cries a lot. Kaysen is silent, but I can tell she's holding back tears. We say goodbye, and they are gone.

I wait alone for a few minutes.

A Capitol woman comes in, and rushes me onto a train. I see Katniss and my mother, and I wave goodbye. I see tears running down my mother's cheeks. She is broken. I know the she was cracked, when my father died, but now she is broken.

And I know what I must do to piece her back together. It must be done, at all costs. There is only one thing to do.

Win.

Chapter 2 finished! Keep on reviewing please! Notice that I said please! If you don't review, then the ghosts of Spunky and Pooky will haunt you. And you do NOT want to be haunted ny them, trust me! Lol. =^-.-^= Meow!