Chapter 11: Counting Down, District One Reapings
Aura Ollar/Saimon Lyre
Aura Ollar
Something doesn't feel right. I can't quite tell what it is, but it's making me sick. Tinges of green surround the edge of my vision, like I'm trying to peer through a mildewy shower drain. I see pieces of trash and a pool of blood on what looks like cracked tiles, moss growing in between the cracks. People are shouting nearby. I can almost make out...
"Aura!" Someone nearby shouts, but I can't tell who. It's hard to hear, like my ears are filled with cotton.
"Aura! Come on!" The voice is shouting again. It sounds a bit like...
"Aura! Wake up! You're going to sleep through the Reapings if you're not careful!" My eyes flutter open. Strange, I thought they already were. The person is still yelling.
"Don't make me get Dad!" Finally, the haze surrounding my sleep head disappears, and I sit straight up in bed. Bed? Oh, that's right, I was sleeping. How late did I stay up last night?
"How late did you stay up last night? You're moving like a rock." Aureate says, her hands darting through the piles of clothes on my floor. She's halfway dressed, her golden hair bouncing as she continues to sift through my clothes.
"What...what are you doing..." I mumble sleepily. Aureate doesn't reply, getting back up from her place on my floor. I can see that my room's a mess. There are clothes absolutely everywhere. I didn't do that...did I?
"Do you mind?" Aureate asks, looking down at her wrist. I follow her gaze and I notice my hand clasped onto her arm.
"Oh...sorry."
"Aura. Wake up. Please. You're giving me a headache."
"Once you get out of my room." I mutter, leaning forward to get off of the bed. One of my sky-blue pillows lies on the floor in front of my feet, a small tear in the top left corner. I frown. My bedroom door shuts.
Aureate's left, I guess. I don't know why I'm so damn sleepy. I have a major headache, and...I guess I have a hangover. I grimace, remembering the alcohol I drank out of Dad's fridge after my mind refused to fall asleep. I'd stayed up until about one, thinking about what I would have to wear. I grinned, knowing that I had decided and that my wonderful outfit was hidden in my closet, just waiting for me to put it on.
I stumble out of my room and walk down the hallway towards the kitchen. My stomach feels like it's gnawing on itself, trying to fulfill my appetite before I make it to breakfast. The headache starts to kick in again and I almost fall down. My hand goes to the wall, and I try to steady myself.
"Breathe, Aura...breathe." I say to myself. I hear footsteps, and I turn to see Aurum coming up behind me.
"You know, Aura, talking to yourself is one of the first signs of insanity."
"Not funny, Aurum. What's for breakfast?"
"Pancakes, I think. Or waffles. Or French toast. Your pick, really."
I sigh, knowing that he's not going to give me a straight answer. I continue on my way to the kitchen, Aurum right behind me. I practically fall into a chair when I arrive, and Mom glances at me while she continues making waffles.
"Are you ready, honey? Prepared to volunteer?"
"Yes, mother. I just can't wait for the Games."
"I'm sure you can't. Have you seen your father? He left early this morning and I haven't seen him since."
"Ah, no. The last time I talked to him was late last night."
"What were you doing up that late? The night before the big day?"
"Well...I was preparing my outfit." Mom smiles at my response.
"Then you had better hurry up and eat so you can go put it on!" She puts a plate of waffles in the center of the table and sets out five plates, just in case Dad comes back. Aureate is nowhere to be seen, probably still back in her room, looking for clothes.
I don't really feel like eating, so I end up leaving the table and going back to my room before Mom can even ask me anything. I gaze at the wall opposite my bed, my Capitol poster barely hanging onto the wall with sticky tack. The closet lies right next to the poster, so I walk over and casually open the door, looking at the beautiful silver dress hanging on a hook.
"This is what I've been waiting for..." I smile, taking the dress off of the hook. Today is going to be a lot of fun.
Saimon Lyre
"Hey, Bonbon."
"Yo, Bonbon, what's up?"
"Chocolate Boy's gonna cry."
"Aww, is Bonbon gonna cry?"
"What a wimp."
"Shut it!" I yell, trying to ignore the voices in my head. Even when they're not around, my sisters' voices tease me to no end. It's no use trying to get away, because they'll always follow.
"What are you yelling about, Saimon?" My mom asks me. I wave her off and go back to staring at my cereal bowl, filled with some kind of chocolate/wheat "healthy" mix that I'm expected to eat for breakfast every morning.
I can't help but continue to stare at the tons of boxes that surround my seat in the dining room. They are filled with all sorts of things that Cathy has bought with her Victor money. It pisses me off to no end, but it's not like there's anything I can do about it.
Cathy and Katherine are my sisters. They're twins, two years older than me and both with the same blonde-hair-dyed-pink and bright blue eyes. I'm seventeen, almost to the end of my volunteering years, and I might as well be the laughingstock of District 1.
My sisters get all the fame just because Cathy won the Games two years back, and nobody cares about their little brother with the golden amber eyes and the dirty blonde hair and the big nose that his sisters tease him about. I sigh, knowing my life is never going to get much better unless I win the Games. Which is exactly what I plan to do this year.
Everyone knows my family because of Cathy and my dad. William Lyre is a big (in both ways) chocolatier that is one of the Capitol's major chocolate suppliers. He's very nice, but isn't very fond of the Capitol on account of how it has turned my sisters into self-righteous whores. Then again, they were pretty much always that way.
"Honey, are you going to finish your cereal?"
"Oh...not really, mom." Aesha is my step-mom, and practically the only African American person in District 1 that I know. I don't know why I still call her mom, as she certainly isn't. I guess as a little kid I just needed someone to attach to.
"Saimon, if you're not going to eat, then you should just probably get ready for the Reapings." I nod, looking around for the tie that I put on the table earlier. I can't find it, so I end up looking under the table, and that's where I find it: crumpled and dirty.
"Crap..." I mutter. I hold the tie out to Aesha. "Mom, can you tie it for me?"
"Sure, Saimon." she smiles, taking the tie in her hands and expertly tying it around my neck, tight and secure. I suppose she's done this for Dad countless times, whenever he has a business meeting or the like. After she's done, Aesha nods and sends me on my way, telling me that she and my sisters will meet up with me later, after the Reapings. Little do they know...
I guess the only thing I have left to do is meet up with Connor.
Connor and I make an odd pair. Probably because he's one of the most popular people of District One, and frankly, I'm not. Nobody could ever guess that we would be friends. I've never had a girlfriend, and he's had about twenty. Our age is only a year apart, but it feels like he's much older than I am. I guess that's just because of the experiences that he's had.
A bunch of girls want him to volunteer this year, and I think he will, since it's his last year. It's unfortunate that it is, because I will beat him to the stage. I can't stand one more year of bullying and harassment. This is my only chance, and I'm going to take it.
I walk down the cleanly paved streets of District 1, towards "Lyre's Chocolate and Candy Shop," the lame name of Dad's business for the past ten years. I can't remember what he did before, but it must have not been very eventful. The door bell dings when I walk through the expensive glass door, my dress shoes rubbing on the woven brown door mat.
Dad looks up from his place at the front counter, waving at me with a grin on his chubby face.
"Hey, Dad. How's the store going this morning?"
"Good enough, I guess. Connor's in the back room, he'll be out in a second." I nod, knowing that Connor has worked for my dad for about the last few months. I wait a few moments until Connor walks through the back door.
"Saimon!" He grins, clapping me on the shoulder. I smile uneasily, knowing it's not going to be simple; what I'm about to tell him. He's going to kill me, and I guess that's why I've waited up until Reaping Day.
"Connor...how's the shop?"
"Well, it's doing fine. I gotta go soon, though, to prepare for the Reapings."
"Yeah, about that..." I say, and Connor looks at me strangely. He puts down his bag and looks me in the eyes.
"What, Saimon?"
"I'm going to volunteer this year." Oh, that was it. I had decided to do it quick, like ripping off a band-aid. It didn't seem to turn out too well. Dad glances up from the counter.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Connor asks, his face turning red from anger. "I've planned this for what, the last year and here you are saying you're going to prance up onto the stage and take my place? I don't think so, Chocolate Boy!" I cringe. Connor's never used that insult on me.
"Oh, shut up and get down off your horse, Mister High and Mighty. If you go in all cocky you'll end up like Marcus Lain." I bite my lip at the memory of the failed Career, at the memories of seeing his crying siblings carted down the street to the orphanage.
"Was that an insult I heard? Coming from you? Saimon Lyre? Give it up, Saimon. Nobody's going to cheer for you if you jump up on that stage. Assuming you can beat me."
"That's what I want. I don't need support. I need to show them that I have no need for anyone. Including you. Prick." I sneer. Connor practically explodes.
"Of course you need us. You need your fake mom to nag you, and your stupid-ass sisters to bitch and tease you! Without William's money, you wouldn't even eat! Of course you need all of us. Especially me, to tell you that it is an ultimately stupid idea!"
"Shut up! Just shut up, shut up, shut up! You can't sway me, Connor! There's nothing you can do!"
"Oh, yeah, Chocolate Boy? We'll see about tha-"
"GET OUT OF MY SHOP!" I hear the booming voice of my father, and I spin to face him, at a loss for words. Then I realize that he's talking to Connor. Connor clenches his fists, but rather than argue with my dad, he picks up his bag and leaves. The doorbell dings as the glass door shuts closed.
Then Dad turns to face me.
"Don't do it, Saimon. For the love of God, don't volunteer. If you win, I don't need another arrogant child, and if you don't...I'm not going to say it. But please, Saimon, can you not volunteer? For me? For Aesha? For your family?" William is almost crying.
"Dad...yeah. I won't Dad. I promise." The fake promise of those lies taste bitter on my tongue. Without a further word, I turn and exit through the glass door. Sorry, Dad, but maybe you'll understand after I win.
Aura Ollar
"Hey, guys, what's up?" Aureate says, leaning on the door frame to my room. Aurum shrugs.
"I don't know. I've mainly been waiting for you so we can all make it to the town square together." He says, hopping up off of my bed. Aureate smiles.
"Well, why don't we get going, then?" With a curt goodbye to Mom, promising that I'll see her at the Reapings, I try to mentally prepare myself for what's going to happen. I'm just going to make a sprint for the stage, ignoring all of the shouts and screams of my fellow citizens, ignoring the other girls that will likely be making a rush for the stage. I try to clear my mind as I walk alongside Aureate and Aurum to the front of the tribute processing stand. I hate how they call it that. It's like we've already been selected. People of all ages and sizes mill around in their designated areas.
I'm the last in line behind Aureate and Aurum, and I daze into the crowd while they have their fingers pricked and are registered in the database. My hangover doesn't seem to go away, and I curse myself for drinking that alcohol last night.
They take my blood and the machine registers me as "Aura Ollar." I smile and make my way over to the sixteen-year-old area, and I notice that Aureate is already waiting for me.
"Hey, you ready?" She smiles. I grin.
"I hope so. The hangover's making me a bit off-kilter, but I'll be fine."
"Alright, but make sure your head's on straight when the mayor starts his speech." As soon as she says that, I glance up towards the stage and see Mayor Peach, with his rotund body and absurd last time, huffing and puffing as he helps set out chairs.
"When did he ever get so fat?" I ask, mystified. Aureate laughs.
"Pay attention, Aura."
"I am, sister mine." Aureate sticks her tongue out.
Mayor Peach flusters to regain his normal body temperature, although I doubt he's ever going to do it. Then the whole crowd shifts as our Escort walks on stage.
Her name is Janiy Erren, and she absolutely loves to show off her big, white teeth to anybody who is looking at her. Her hair is practically spray-painted silver, she's wearing silver contacts, her dress shimmers with silver, her heels are made of silver, and I can even spot the smudges of silver body paint on her elbows and shoulders and the like. What is up with the silver?
Batting her silver-painted eyelashes, Janiy walks forwards to take the microphone from the pudgy mayor. Then the show gets on the road.
Janiy talks about the events of the Dark Days, the events that we are required to learn in school and then we have to hear about them again every year at the Reapings. It's heart-wrenchingly boring, but nobody else seems to care. They're too busy talking amongst themselves.
"Why do I put up with this crap?" I whisper to Aureate.
"Because you have to in order to be a tribute." She smiles.
"Just wait until you turn eighteen. We'll be cheering you on." I wink. Aureate turns, trying to hide her smile.
"And now, it is finally time to choose our lucky two tributes from District One! Let's give them a round of applause shall we...oh dear..." Janiy mutters, apparently confused.
"You haven't even picked 'em yet!" A voice calls out from the male eighteen's section, and most of the assembled audience snickers. Peacekeepers set off for the source of the voice while Janiy composes herself.
"As usual...same as the last one hundred years, girls will be picked first." Janiy says abruptly, and totters on her heels over to the large glass bowls that contains all of the slips for the female residents of District One, ages twelve to eighteen. Janiy extravagantly lets her hand fall into the bowl, sifting around in the small slips of paper in a way that reminds me of Aureate sifting through my clothes this morning. Finally, she holds up a slip in front of her eyes, scrutinizing it with those silver contacts.
"Alyssa Chandleiye!" Janiy calls out, and a bored-looking girl just saunters out of the sixteen-year-old part of the girls' section. I brace myself, knowing what is coming next.
"Now, are there any volunteers?" I practically knock Aureate over as I plunge through the crowd, desperate to get to the front. I notice several over girls struggling, and I grin knowing I'm going to make it.
When I'm right in front of the stairs someone trips me, and I watch in horror as Jaewa, a girl I recognize from last year's History of Panem class, surges in front of me. As a last ditch effort I grab her ankle and she falls, her face smashing into the carefully-crafted wooden steps of the stage. She might have lost a tooth, but I don't care. I walk up next to Janiy, not even tired from my ordeal. Alyssa seems to breathe out a sigh of relief, but I can't tell.
"And your name is?" Janiy asks.
"Aura Ollar."
"Oh, how cute." Janiy smiles, and I almost cringe at her blinding white teeth. "Now, for the boys!" She announces. Alyssa leaves the stage and hurries back to her friends in the sixteens' section.
"Deek Staedus!" Nobody says anything, and then a small boy is pushed out of the fourteens' section, a worried look on his face. Before he even makes it to the stage, I hear shouts as a bunch of boys race to make it to the front of the stage.
Two boys are singled out as they come up in front of the steps. The one in front I recognize as Connor Fayme, the guy Aureate was wondering about, wondering if he would volunteer. It looked like he was. I didn't recognize the slightly smaller boy right behind him with the golden eyes, but right before Connor makes it to the stage, the smaller boy leaps on his back. Connor roars in anger and tries to swing him off. The smaller boy hangs on for a moment, but then Connor succeeds...throwing the boy onto the stage, much to my astonishment.
Connor's face just drops, all emotion draining out of it. He falls backwards on his behind, on the verge of crying like a little boy. The Peacekeepers come and drag him away, and the smaller boy in front of me stands up.
"Wow, so eager these days. What's your name, young man?" Janiy asks.
"Saimon Lyre." He replies, slowly standing up to his feet. The name sounds familiar, but I just can't quite put my finger on it. He's not as small as I thought he was, he's actually just a bit taller than me, although that's most likely because he's older than me as well. We shake hands as required, and I'm surprised to find his cold and clammy. Is he...nervous about something? I guess Connor will probably confront him, and that won't be easy. Just like that, Janiy turns and escorts us towards the back of the stage, just like she's supposed to do every year, and we enter the Town Hall.
My new life as a Hunger Games tribute has begun.
Saimon Lyre
I twiddle my thumbs endlessly, dreading the moments that are about to come. I know that I'll have to come face to face with Connor, and I know how mad he will be.
What I can't face is what my dad will have to say to me. He expected me to follow his instructions, not to run after Connor like a blind man and prove my sisters right, that I was selfish. Well, I wasn't selfish. I wasn't doing it for my old man, or my bitchy sisters, or my step-mom, or raging Connor. I was doing it for myself. I need to prove myself.
Even though Connor and William couldn't see it, I know that I am capable of winning these Games. Whatever is thrown at me by the Gamemakers, it's just a hurdle. Nothing will be able to stop me.
Anyways, I know the "multiple tributes live after two weeks" thing to be total bullshit. It's more likely that if there isn't only one tribute left, everyone dies. I know that's rather drastic, but I know that they wouldn't allow multiple victors again, not after the 74th Games.
So I'm prepared for the arena. Not as prepared as I will be after training, but I'm prepared.
I hear the door knock against the wall as someone enters. I barely have time to look up before someone's hand is at my throat and practically lifting me up out of my chair. Of course I immediately know that it's Connor.
"Why? Why'd you do it, Saimon?"
"Why did you do it? If you hadn't thrown me up onto the stage, I wouldn't have made it." This seems to enrage Connor further, and I feel like the luckiest man in the world for that fact that he isn't pummeling me in the face right now.
"It's just that...I can't stand to lose another friend. Not after Flare."
"Heartforth?" I wonder, my mind going back to last year's Games.
"Yeah. I kind of knew her by passing before the Games, but in the weeks leading up to them, I started talking more with her. She was sarcastic, and she could be cruel, but she was a Career. What can you expect?" Connor smiles. I can see that he's starting to mellow out. "But when she volunteered for the Games, expectant to win, boom. Another friend, gone. And now I'm probably going to lose another."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know exactly what, Saimon!" He hoarsely yells. "Just...don't die on me okay? I won't forgive you if you do. Or your sisters." I grin. "Good luck, Saimon."
"Alright, Connor." The Peacekeepers come and take Connor away before he can say anything else, and I know that I won't be seeing him for a long time.
Dad enters next, and I try to hide the look of shame on my face.
"Don't hide it, Saimon. I understand that in your mind, your act was justified, but I have to ask. Why? Why'd you do it?"
"Don't ask me the same questions as Connor..." I mumble, and Dad lifts my face up, his double chin slightly quivering.
"I mean it. What am I supposed to say to Aesha? That my only son just upped and went away to the Hunger Games, to have himself...to have himself a grand old time!" William is almost sobbing now, and I don't know what to do to comfort him. "Just come back...can you do that?" He asks. I nod, biting my lip.
"Here...I wasn't originally going to give it to you, but what the hell." William smiles, handing me a metal sign that I recognize from the chocolate shop.
"What..." I start, and then I groan when I see the word "Bonbons" emblazoned on the metal cover. "Thanks, Dad." I smile, trying not to laugh.
"Good luck. And if you meet your match in the arena...run. Stick with the Careers as long as you can."
"I'll see you in a few weeks, Dad."
"I hope so..." he trails off, and then leaves without the Peacekeepers' assistance. Not that I would call it assistance anyways, but they're doing their job.
I was hoping that I wouldn't have any more visitors, but I groan inwardly when Cathy and Katherine walk through the old wooden door, grins plastered on both of their faces.
"Aww, is little baby Bonbon growing up?" Cathy asks, patting my head. "Volunteering for the big, bad Hunger Games? Isn't that sweet!"
"Oh, can it, Cathy."
"That's not a very nice way to talk to your sister, Bonbon." Katherine waggles her finger. I shove her hand away.
"Why did you come? For any reason other than gloating?"
"Well, Katherine came to say goodbye. Which is why she's leaving now." Cathy grins. Katherine scoffs, but then Cathy pushes her out of the room and that's the last I see of her.
"I'm here because I'm going to be with you every step of the way, bro." I grind my teeth together at the nickname. "We'll be having lots of fun in the Capitol, and I bet you just can't wait. Don't worry, I'll actually try to mentor you. But don't blame me if you die in the arena." She leaves me sitting in the chair, leaving me mystified as to why she wasn't up on stage with the other mentors in the first place. I have little time to ponder my thoughts before the Peacekeepers roughly hoist me up from my chair and haul me across the room.
"Hey! I'm not a prisoner, you know." They reluctantly let go, and I walk to the exit for the train station, noticing Aura walking in front of me. The chocolate sign is clasped in my grip as I walk onto the platform, pausing a moment before I get on the train. Cameras are everywhere.
Tons of people are waving goodbye, some excited, some scared. I think back to Cathy's words. "We'll be having lots of fun in the Capitol."
And I realize, she's right.
The Capitol is going to be insanely fun.
Author's Note: To be honest, that is the longest chapter I have ever written in my life. Astonishing, huh? I might have a problem with a few tributes, so be on the lookout if any spots open. Hopefully their forms will be recovered, but who knows...Hey, isn't it great that I'm updating on a regular schedule? No more false promises? I hope the next chapter will be long, but we'll see when we get there.
Speaking of the next chapter, I just decided to tell my POV ideas to go to hell and that I'll grace every tribute with a Reapings POV, and that only after that I will reinstate my six tributes and one mentor ideas. In the meantime, have you guys thought about reviewing? It'll really help my self esteem. Anyways, see ya next chapter!