Scarlett's POV

String the thread. Pull towards you. Pull up, pull down. In the fabric, out the fabric. All my concentration was on fixing this one hole in my dress. It was a distraction from the events that were taking place today at least. Jonah had gone for one more hunt. Just in case he wouldn't be going on any more hunting trips. Also, his game from last night tasted disgusting by now.

I pricked myself with the sewing needle. Oh great, the last thing I needed was to be dizzy today of all days. I stood up and went to the bathroom quickly and covered the cut before I saw the blood. Hopefully it wouldn't bleed too much. I stuck a bandage on it quickly then I went back out. Jonah was waiting at the door, but he was empty handed. I frowned "Nothing, at all?"

He shook his head and bits of dirt fell from his blonde curls. "Even the animals know something's going on today." he took his muddy shoes off and went in the kitchen to eat what he caught yesterday. "You know you could be a little appreciative of what I caught yesterday, it'll still taste fine.."

I walked in and watched him take it out of the fridge and when I saw it I crinkled my nose "I am. It's just, rabbit isn't the best animal you could have found. Even you know that.."

He slammed the fridge door "Oh is that so? Well, I don't see you out there, avoiding peace keepers, electric fences and dehydration, all so we could eat!" he threw the food onto the table "if you don't like it, learn to hunt, and go out and get the food yourself!" he stalked out of the kitchen and went into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

What was his problem? I appreciated him... Didn't I? I stared at the food, and I gaged. Meat was just not my thing, and I'm NOT sorry if I don't like killing innocent animals. Sue me.

I came out of the kitchen and checked the time. The reaping was in an hour. One hour and this will all be over, and our lives could go on. No more hunger games. For us anyways. There would be a whole new batch of children getting their names In. The stress of your first year is overwhelming. I don't know how I survived it, but that was 7 years ago, and now it would soon be done. May the odds be ever in our favor...

I somehow managed to make my feet walk from the house to the town square, with Jonah at My side. All around us were swarms of teenagers dressed in their best outfits, each one looking worried, and muttering quietly "it will be okay.." we're a small community here in district 12. When the tributes are chosen, we're all usually affected In some way. When my brother was picked two years ago, our family was a mess. Right from the beginning, we knew he never had a chance and sure enough, he was killed in the blood bath the first day of the games. I watched as the girl from our own district slaughtered him and let him bleed to death without a second thought. She was killed that same day by a career.

Jonah felt me tense up. "You alright?" He knew that this day brought back many memories, not just of my brother, but of us, and the night a baby came into play. My mother was in too much of a mess to care, and my father told me to leave and find another district to raise a family in. I never had time to listen to his advice, because when my brother was killed they both took their lives, saying how they had nothing left to look forward to. Not even a grand daughter.

"yeah I'm fine.. Just trying to get through this.." before he said another word we felt the crowd stop and start to get in order. Boys on one side, girls on the other.

Jonah faced me "the two names will be drawn, then it will be over. We can go home and-" he was starting pushed away from me and before he let go of my hand he blurted out "Scarlet I love you!-" but I couldn't respond, and I was going with the crowd, and suddenly placed in between two girls my age.

That was the first time in two years he had said those words to me. I convinced myself he didn't love me anymore, because it made me feel a bit better that I had lost my feelings for him. I looked up as I watched the capitol representative giving the usual speech, but I tuned it out so I could think.

My stomach was twisting in knots, and I felt so stupid for thinking he would have done all that stuff for me if he didn't love me. I treated him horrible, and I used him as my personal food source. Everything he said was true and I didn't listen. Suddenly My thoughts were interrupted when Zinnia Pearlgate, the capitol rep put her hand in the bowl of names. She dug through the pile of paper slips then quickly flicked her wrist and grabbed a name. She held it up to the light and gave a huge smile "our first tribute is... Scarlett Holmes!" the crowd stayed silent, and if it weren't for all the cameras and people next to me, I would have thrown up...

Jonah's POV

"Our first tribute is... Scarlett Holmes!" my head snapped over to her, I could see her red hair easily among the crowd. As the peace keepers came to grab her, I waited for someone to volunteer. Surely everyone knew she was a young mother with no experience. But it stayed silent, only the wind and her soft quiet struggling grunts were heard.

My eyes followed her as she was thrown on stage and dropped like a rag doll. Come on.. Stand up... I thought. She looked so venerable up there. After a minute she finally managed to find her balance and she pulled herself up to a weak standing position. Her face looked strained. She was holding back tears clearly but they were bound to come any moment. Ether that, or she was holding back vomit. I don't know how she would do up there in front of everyone, but she kept her stance.

Suddenly they called the boys name. "Our second tribute is... Emerson Blackwood!" I turned as a boy in the row in front of me was grabbed. He had black hair, and looked to be about 16-17. He was somewhat muscular, and you could see his bones slightly in his face, and he also had a piercing in his lip. Weird kid. He was dropped on the stage the same way Scarlett was, but he got to his feet much faster, and he didn't look like he was going to cry. Still, he seemed weak.

"These are your two tributes for this years games! Give them a round of applause!" but only the people from the capitol clapped, and it died down the second it started. Everyone, including me, looked up at the two of them, and we were all thinking the same thing. 'We aren't winning this one..'