Amaya's POV
-District 2-
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrring!
I groaned and stuck my hand out, smacking down on my alarm clock. It fell silent. Groaning even more, I slid out of bed, to do my daily workout. Just because it was Reaping day didn't mean I shouldn't still be training. After all, I was only 17, so if I wasn't chosen this year, I might be next year. That meant extra training.
I slipped out of my pajamas, and put on my training clothes. As I was pulling my hair up into a tight ponytail, I glanced at the clock. 6:03 AM. I always train for 3 hours in the morning, which meant I should finish at about 9:00.
Quickly, I tied my tennis shoes and put on a watch, so I would know when to finish my workout.
I crept out my door and along the hallway, careful not to wake up my parents. The lazy bums always slept in until 7:00. I walked into the kitchen, where I ran into our family Avox.
"Can you get me an apple?" I asked.
She nodded. 30 seconds later, she handed me a washed apple on a napkin. I was about to take a bite when I noticed a small hole in it.
"EW!" I shrieked at her, "This apple has a hole in it! A worm's in here!"
The Avox shook her head frantically, as if to say No! There's no worm in there!
I threw the apple at the wall in disgust, watching it explode into pieces. Good, that meant more work for my Avox.
"Get me a fresh one," I snapped at her.
20 seconds later, a new, freshly washed apple was placed on top of the napkin in my hand.
"This is on the same napkin the old apple was on! It's dirty! Get me a new napkin!" I screeched.
The Avox took my napkin, and handed me a new one.
"The apple is still dirty!" I yelled.
The Avox looked like she wanted to smack me, as she snatched the apple from my hands, rewashed it, and gave it back to me.
"There we go," I said sweetly. I got a glare in return.
I walked out the door, munching on my apple. It was very juicy, delicious, and wormless. I smirked as I thought of my Avox frantically wiping up my smashed apple. She would have to clean it up before my parents woke up, otherwise she would be whipped.
I finished my apple, tossed the core over my shoulder, and began to jog towards the training center. The training center was about 5 miles away from my house. Every morning, to begin my workout, I would jog the first mile and then sprint as fast as I could the rest of the way. My record time for those last 4 miles was 10 minutes. I could run the first two miles in about 3 minutes, and the last two in about 3 and a half.
I was the best runner in my high school. I loved to brag about that. I checked my watch, which also kept track of how many miles I ran. 0.8…0.9…1!
I began to sprint, my arms pumping up and down, and my legs a blur. The fierce wind made my eyes water, so I blinked rapidly. I checked my watch, and watched the miles flash by. 4.5…4.6…4.7…4.8…
I could see the training building just a block or two away…
4.9…5!
I slowed down and came to a halt in front of the building, breathing heavily. I had barely broken a sweat though, running 5 miles was nothing. Walking up to the door of the building, I noticed it had a keypad next to it. I was supposed to know a password to get in there. They must've figured out I'd been here; I wasn't supposed to be using this building after all.
Great. There had to be some other way to get in. Maybe a back door? No…I'd never seen one here. A window? No…there were no windows. But wait, where did all the light come from then? There were no lights in the building, they thought it was a waste of energy. So that meant the light had to come from…the skylights.
I could sneak in through the skylights! Quickly, I grabbed the rope that was sitting under a bench outside the Training Center. I always put it there, and I usually used it in workouts that involved pulling weights around. Today, it would have a different purpose.
I wrapped the rope loosely around my arm and quickly began to scale the building. It was made out of brick, which meant lots of footholds. It was 2 stories tall, a very easy climb. I made it up in about 15 seconds.
I scrambled up onto the roof of the building, and saw a bunch of glass. The skylights. I hurried over to one section of the glass that was near the satellite dish on top of the building. I would have to use the satellite dish to tie my rope to, as I descended into the building.
There was a small lock over the latch on the skylight, which I quickly picked with a hairpin. I slowly raised the glass up, being careful not to smash it. Then I tied one end of the rope tightly around the satellite dish, and threw the other end down into the building. I tugged on it to test that it was secure, and then lowered myself down the hole.
My hands and feet tightly gripped the rope, and I began to inch down. Deciding that I was being a wimp to go this slow, I began to go faster, crossing my hands and feet over each other nimbly, until I reached the bottom.
The light that was streaming into the Training Center lit up all of the equipment; exercise bikes, treadmills, weight lifting stations, dummies to slash up with swords, the whole shebang. My favorite stations were the ones with the swords, bow and arrows, and spears.
First I went to the sword station. After about an hour of ripping off dummies heads, tearing open their stomachs, and cutting off their limbs, I went over to the bow and arrow station.
I had worked up a good sweat with the sword, so sweat was pouring down my face and back. Even more sweat started dripping off of me as I shot 500 dummies in the heart with my bow and arrows. I had fun with it, by tying myself upside down with the rope that was still hanging from the ceiling, and shooting the dummies that way. It was a challenge, especially since gravity was all wacky, but by the end I could shoot very well.
Now I moved on to the final station, spear throwing. I picked up my favorite blue spear, and whipped it at the nearest dummy. I watched it sink into the dummy's heart; it went so far in the tip was sticking out the dummy's back. I smiled, pulled it out, and went to work on the other dummies.
After an hour of that, it was 9:00. I threw out the wasted dummies, and put everything back exactly where it had been before. The water fountain looked very tempting, so I took a long drink before I left.
Now was the hard part. I grabbed the rope and shimmied up it. It was very hard on my arms, but they had taken worse before. As I got back on the roof, I shook out my shoulders and arms so they wouldn't cause me any pain later. I dragged the rope out, untied it from the satellite dish, and then wrapped it around my arm. Then I replaced the pane of glass, and locked up the latch.
Looking down off of the roof, I noticed that it wouldn't be too far to jump off of. I didn't want to strain my upper body too much with the climb down. Taking a deep breath, I ran, and jumped off the edge of the building.
Everything flew by in slow motion; my hair came out of its ponytail, and I tucked myself into a ball as the ground came closer. My feet hit the ground first, then, quickly, I tucked up even more and somersaulted about 5 times before I came to a stop.
I lied on the ground for a moment to check if I was ok. Slowly, I shook each limb. No pain came. I stood up gingerly. Still no pain. I felt a smile break across my face, as I realized, I could do this. If I can jump off a building without injuring myself, I could do anything. I could win the Games.
I might've volunteered this year if it wasn't for the fact that it was a Quarter Quell. I shouldn't look too eager, I thought as I replaced the rope and began to run home. I guess I'll just have to hope that I'm chosen.
The run home was the opposite of my run to the Training Center; I sprinted the first 4 miles, and then jogged the last one, until I finally slowed down to a walk.
My time on the way home was always about 15 seconds slower, which I hated. It made it look like I was weak. I wasn't weak; I could win the Games with my hands tied behind my back. That is, if I was Reaped. Knowing my luck, I wouldn't be.
I walked inside my house, greeting my parents with, "Hey."
"How was training?" Dad asked. He was the one who taught me how to sneak into the building in the first place; he had always wanted me to be Reaped.
"Great," I said. "I ran into a small snag though. The door was locked; they have this new keypad thingy. I just scaled the building and went in through the skylight."
"Atta girl," my dad said, grinning proudly.
"Nice job sweetie!" Mom congratulated me.
I was an only child, so they always wanted me to succeed. When I did, (which was often), they got overjoyed. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing though; their support led me to being the best athlete in my high school.
"Can you help me get ready?" I asked my mom.
"Of course," she said with a smile. She wanted me to be small and helpless, so she could teach me everything all over again. Whenever I got the chance, I asked her to help me; she loved it.
I walked to my room with my mom, and sat down on the bed.
My mom followed me in, clucked her tongue disapprovingly, and said, "You are so sweaty! Take a shower!"
I took a quick shower and dried off as fast as I could. Living in District 2 did have its advantages, they had these driers that could dry off your skin and hair instantly, plus all these wonderful scents you could bathe in; my signature was vanilla. It was almost as good as living in the Capitol.
I walked out into the room, in my bathrobe.
"Turn around," my mom said.
I spun around for her, as she watched me like a hawk.
"I say you should wear your light blue dress," my mom said.
She went into my closet and pulled out a beautiful light blue dress. The blue was almost a gray, which I loved. Gray was my favorite color, as it was the color of my eyes. It seemed like everybody chose their outfits to match their eyes, and I was no exception.
My mom turned away as I put the dress on. I was a simple dresser, and the dress reflected that. It was made out of chiffon; light and floaty, just how I like it. The dress was sleeveless, and had a high neckline. It gathered at my waist, and went down to the middle of my thighs. I put on a pair of blue/gray flats that matched the color of my dress. I never wore high heels, for I was fine with my average height.
"Now let's put your hair-"My mom began.
"In a ponytail," I said, cutting her off.
"Fine," my mom sighed.
I refused to put my hair in anything but a ponytail. If it wasn't in a ponytail, it was just down, nothing fancy. My hair was dark brown, and went down just below my shoulders.
I pulled my hair up into a ponytail. It was looser than the one I had in earlier; I always needed my hair out of my face for workouts.
"Headband?" my mom offered.
"Sure," I replied, just to make her happy. My mom liked to get really dressed up. I, obviously, didn't.
I allowed my mom to slip a black, shiny headband onto my head.
"Makeup?" she said.
"Absolutely not," was my answer.
"Okay," my mom said. "If you say so."
"Let's go," I said, pulling her out of my room.
My watch said it was already 11:00. We would need to hurry up. I half ran down the hallway to say goodbye to my dad.
"Sweetie, you look beautiful!" he said, looking me up and down.
"Thanks dad! I'm going out to the Reaping now! Bye!" I said, giving him a hug.
"Good luck!" He said, with a wink.
I turned around to face my mom.
"Bye mom," I said, giving her a hug too.
"Good luck, Amaya! I love you!" was her reply.
I grabbed a donut, and ran out the door. I joined a bunch of excited people that were also headed to the Reaping. Everybody was chattering excitedly about what the Quarter Quell might be this year, and asking their friends whether or not they should volunteer. I couldn't help but feel excited with them; I really wanted to be chosen.
I joined the section of 17 year old girls in front of the stage at the Justice Building. A lot of them were decked out in gobs of makeup, or wearing dresses made out of diamonds. Rolling my eyes at their taste in clothes, I waited excitedly until the video started. It was the same video they played every year; the one about Panem and why the Hunger Games was created. It was really boring, but I loved it.
After the video ended, our escort, Anastasia, walked out onto the stage. She was wearing a bright pink dress, loads of makeup, a light blue wig, and 10 inch heels. Her style looked a lot like those of the girls that were standing around me.
"Hello, hello! Hello everyone!" She said in her weird Capitol accent. "This year we have a Quarter Quell! Yes, and we have a special set of tributes!"
Anastasia pulled out a cream colored envelope with a red Capitol Seal stamped on it. She opened it up, and slowly read it, a smile growing on her face with each word she read. You're killing me Anastasia! What is it?!
"Oooh! This year we have all ladies as our tributes!" She said dramatically.
Disappointed sighs came from the 17 and 18 year old boys section, and all of the girls around me began to whisper excitedly.
"Let's get on with the Reaping!" Anastasia announced, obviously very excited.
She ran as fast as she could in her heels over to the glass bowl that contained only girls' names. I guess the one that had all the boys' names in it wouldn't be used this year.
"Blair Xanthe!" She announced.
The crowd parted and an 18 year old girl in a purple dress practically sprinted up onto the stage. What an eager beaver, I thought.
"Isn't she excited?" Anastasia joked to the crowd. "Any volun-"
"No! No one volunteer!" Blair shouted to the crowd, before anyone could.
"Yes. Eager too," Anastasia said. "Now for the other tribute!"
Please be me, please be me, please be me, I prayed.
"Amaya Aergader!"
I smiled and walked up to the stage calmly. I felt like running, like Blair had, but I, unlike her, knew how to control my emotions. You could be targeted if you looked too eager. But still, I couldn't believe my luck. I had actually been chosen! I had been hoping for this moment my entire life!
I went on to the stage and shook hands with Blair. She had blue eyes, was slightly taller than me, was very muscly, and had long brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. She had makeup on, but it was an amount that didn't make me gag.
"Any volunteers?" Anastasia asked.
I felt like shouting out to the crowd like Blair had, but I held it in. I just squeezed my eyes shut and hoped with all my heart that no one would volunteer. Silence. I opened one eye slightly and saw the crowd not moving. There were no volunteers!
There was a big smile on my face as Anastasia announced, "May I present to you, District 2 Quarter Quell representatives, Blair Xanthe and Amaya Aergader!"
The Reaping was over. I was going to the Games. My dream had come true.