A/N- I'm planning on another somewhat boring chapter after this, and then I already have very exciting plans for the parts of the 74th Hunger Games that Susan Collins didn't happen to cover…I cannot wait. Well, please enjoy this chapter. Thank you so much. Please read and review.
That night on the train, after we're all done eating, we go to watch the Reapings, as always. The first Eleven Reapings fly by quickly, including our extremely unexceptional one. Neither Felix or I are excited about the two tributes from District Four. We actually drew straws to see who got which tribute, just because neither of them have a chance. One is a huge, hulking boy named Rowdy Trottel. I know this sounds stereotypical of big strong people, but he's just a stupid cow. The muscles are big enough, but I think the brain never quite fully formed.
Then, the other tribute, is a fifteen year old girl named Mia Marisco. She knows what she's doing, she's smart, and strong, but she simply is not ruthless. She isn't like Doc, who thought of not killing as a moral thing. With Mia, it just isn't her personality. She might have the ability to actually kill someone, but she'd freak out afterwards, probably because she feels so sorry for what she did, even though I'm not sure she'd really mean it. I know this, because she accidentally stepped on a grasshopper on the way to the justice building, and she had somewhat of a mini episode.
So, I'm disappointed. Not only that, but I'm scared. With every district that goes by, my already almost nonexistent hope shrinks even more. Districts One and Two have their usual strong tributes, but they're exempt from this, because they're too close to the Capitol. District 5 has a girl that looks like she may be a contender, but even though the look in her eyes is that of a strong tribute, it isn't that of an actual leader. I can see that she wouldn't be able to truly step up and lead the Districts. There's something about her that doesn't leave an imprint. Even I forget about her by the time they show the Reapings from District 8, and I marked her as dangerous.
The only other tributes from those first eleven districts that stand out in my mind are the two from Eleven. The girl from that district is just tiny, and I can't help but think about how horrible it's going to be to watch her die, especially since seeing a twelve year old get reaped reminds me of Daisy, who missed the reaping age by about two weeks.
Then, the guy tribute, sticks in my mind simply because of his size. He's from Eleven, so you have to know that he has to know about survival and plants and things, and then you factor in the fact that it looks like he's part of an experiment with human growth hormones, and he's kind of hard to forget. I mean, this guy is bigger than Rafe, and he's seven years younger, so that's pretty unbelievable.
So, by the time it's ready to see the annually pathetic tributes from Twelve, I'm concentrating on that big guy from Eleven, Thresh, a lot more. He doesn't like look he'd talk much, but a guy that size doesn't need to talk. The Districts would take one look at him, and they'd scramble to follow us so that he wouldn't come and eat them for breakfast. He's from District 11, too, which makes it even better. I know that Chaff and Chastity would be able to talk to him then.
"Oh, not another one," Mia mumbles sadly, and I glance up at the screen to see another tiny girl making her way up to the stage. She can't be any older than twelve either.
Then, all of the sudden, you can hear someone screaming in the previously silent town square.
"Prim! Prim!" Then another girl runs up the stairs to the stage and throws the little girl behind her back.
"I volunteer," she gasps. "I volunteer as a tribute." I actually gape. I've never, ever, seen someone from Twelve volunteer. This is different, too, that's obvious. This girl, she's not exactly huge herself, and she can't be more than fifteen, sixteen at the absolute most. She's skinny, too. Not emancipated like some tributes I've seen from there, but by no means can she be getting enough to eat. So why would she volunteer?
Their escort tells the girl that she has to wait, but the mayor just shakes his head and says that it doesn't matter. It wouldn't, either. No one volunteers from Twelve, so it's not like there's exactly going to be a line forming.
So, the girl starts to walk up to the stage, when the little girl clamps onto her legs and starts screaming.
"No Katniss! No! You can't go!" The older girl, Katniss, just glares down at the small girl.
"Prim, let go," she snaps. When Prim doesn't move, she grits her teeth. "Let go!" I just sit there and watch the whole thing in confusion.
I'm even more confused when another guy who looks a lot like Katniss's brother, walks over and peels Prim off of her. He whispers something in her ear, then tows the little girl away. The whole thing makes almost not sense to me, but I'm transfixed, nonetheless. I guess I probably should've figured out what was going on, but it's so unlike what the Games usually entail that I don't quite think straight.
"Well, bravo! That's the spirit of the Games!" gushes the escort, even though this whole thing is actually kind of depressing. You can see that those three, Katniss, Prim, and that guy, are close. I know what it's like to watch someone that you love go through the Games, and it isn't fun. Actually, it drove me almost as crazy as Annie. I find myself hoping that Katniss will be able to win, just for those two people.
"What's your name?" the escort asks Katniss, even though with the screaming and everything, I think that most people already have that figured out.
"Katniss Everdeen." I swallow a lump that finds its way into my throat. That was her sister who they called. She risked death so that her sister wouldn't have to go into the arena.
"That's twisted," I spit.
"Calm down," Felix says, but he doesn't know. He doesn't know that next year, my sister is going to be there, and I know that if we don't get the damn war started soon, that Daisy is going to get thrown into the Games too, just because she's my sister. Only I can't take her place.
"I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all the glory, do we? Come on everybody! Let's give a big round of applause to our newest tribute." I watch the crowd anxiously as the cameras pan out, no doubt wanting to get a view of the audience clapping. Then a small smile makes its way across my face as it becomes obvious that not a single one of them plans on listening to their escort. I can feel their disapproval, their hatred of the Capitol.
Then, everyone takes three fingers, puts them to their lips, then holds them out to Katniss. I don't know what it means, it's probably a District 12 custom, but it's obvious that it isn't anything celebratory. More like a good-bye maybe. I hear Mia start sniffling, and I put a hand on her shoulder.
"Why?" she asks softly.
"It just is," I whisper, even though I find myself praying that it won't be for much longer.
Then, with Mia's tears running down her face, and Felix shaking his head sadly, Haymitch comes tearing up to Katniss. His eyes are bloodshot and his skin seems to be sagging. He's in his natural state, which is, of course, shit faced drunk.
"Look at her. Look at this one!" he bellows, tossing an arm around her shoulders. She staggers a little under his weight, and the look on her face is priceless. It looks like she's ready to throw him off the stage. "I like her!" She cringes away from him. I can only imagine what his breath must smell like, being that close to her. I feel bad for her, truly I do. Yet, that's not enough to stop me from have to struggle not to laugh.
"Lots of…" he searches for a word, his eyes rolling back up into his head as he thinks. "Spunk," he finally spits out. "More than you." He almost falls off of her, then stumbles another couple feet closer to the edge of the stage. "More than you!" he hollers. I say a quick prayer for him to shut up, knowing that he's actually drunk enough to be yelling at the Capitol. Then, as he opens his mouth to continue, he sways dangerously for a second before losing his balance completely. He falls off the stage, knocking himself unconscious.
I'll admit, I laughed. I laughed my head off. That was the most entertaining thing that I've seen in years, and believe me, I've seen a lot.
Then their escort, trying to salvage the reaping, pipes up again, warbling about how exciting the Reaping is as she attempts to straighten her messed up clown wig, which is in danger of falling off.
She heads over to the boy's ball, grabs a piece of paper, and hurries back to the podium, most likely trying to get the boy's name off before Haymitch regains consciousness.
"Peeta Mellark," she calls. Then this brawny guy climbs onto the stage, and I force a disappointed smile on my face. He's big and strong, but it almost looks like he's trying not to cry. He has that same attitude that Mia does, and I know that there's no way he can survive long.
It's not like I should've been excited anyway. I guess the whole scene with Katniss and her sister, and then Haymitch, had me thinking that something special was going to happen. But it's just a boy. I guess it wouldn't matter if my clone walked up to the stage, though. With Haymitch as the mentor, they really don't stand much of a chance. They're from District 12 anyway, and none of them ever know how to survive in the Games.
I go back to thinking about Thresh, the whole scene from Twelve slowly fading from my mind.
"Well, now that that's over, we should all go to bed," Felix says, standing up. Rowdy grumbles something, then gets up and lumbers into the hallway, hopefully listening. Mia doesn't move.
"I'm going to have nightmares," she announces.
"Yeah? And? I have nightmares every night," I tell her. She shakes her head.
"Please, Finnick. I don't want to sleep."
"There's nothing to fear but fear itself," I say, then leave her there, hoping that she won't seriously stay up all night.
She doesn't. When I head to the kitchen to get something to eat an hour later, she's curled up in a little ball on the couch, sleeping. I consider moving her, but decide that she's fine where she is.
Instead, I go to be, wondering if Thresh is smart enough to lead a rebellion. Then I fall asleep, and my dreams turn back to Katniss and her younger sister. The last thing I remember is looking into Prim's sweet blue eyes and watching them turn green as I think of my own little sister.