Reapings

District Ten

Arrington "Ivy" Hart (16) D10F

Sinclair took one look at my drawing and burst into laughter.

To be honest, it was laughable. Why did I draw a man with the body of a pineapple and the face of a human with ears of a dog? It did not matter though; it was enough for me that it made my friend laugh.

"Man of your dreams, huh?" she asked teasingly with a wink. I felt myself going red and turned away, only to hear her giggle a bit.

"Please Sinclair, you know I am not interested in boys and all that stuff. I'm not old enough," I said, taking the drawing back from her.

"Relax," she said, "I was just joking."

"You know that joking with me is dangerous."

I didn't say that in a threatening way. Sinclair nodded in understanding and I trembled slightly. What if Ivy woke up now? Or worse still, during the Reapings…?

"Calm down," Sinclair said patiently, "And now let us ruin this picture."

I chuckled as she started drawing a moustache on the man's face. It looked really comical now and I grinned at Sinclair, who was looking at her handy work in admiration.

"Arrington," Sinclair said abruptly, looking away from the drawing, "You know Kelly? Our junior student who is always asking you about something or the other?"

"Of course I know her."

"Well, yes. Obviously."

"What about her?"

"Yeah well, she was looking for you yesterday after you left for home. Said she wants to be tutored by you."

"Really?! T-that's great!"

Teaching was a profession I loved, and one that I considered to be very noble. It commanded respect and the pay wasn't all that bad. I wanted to be a teacher after completing my education but why should I say no to a tuition offer? And Kelly was a nice girl after all…

"Let me braid your hair," she said and pushed me into my chair. She began working on my strawberry blond hair, making the most intricate braid that I could imagine. My hair looked good with my blue eyes. I was thin but not really weak. Something that Ivy could use.

Ivy… she was a part of me. It was sad, really. She did everything that I hated. I was suffering from multiple personality disorder. Sometimes, quite randomly I would… change. I was of conservative thoughts and liked helping people. Marriage, boys, dating- these were not my focus. But my other part, Ivy, was completely opposite. She was seductive and so rude. So rude. I hated that the most. She was always getting into fights, always being ungrateful, something I really disliked. And the problem was that we were the same.

It wasn't as if my parents did not try to help me. There was a psychiatrist and they paid him a lot of money but Ivy was so wild that she scared him. She actually attacked him. He gave up on me. Many came and left but nobody could get rid of Ivy.

Thinking of Ivy wasn't a good idea.

Oh it was a very good idea!

Arrington was too sweet. Her sweetness was annoying. Even as this idiot Sinclair worked on my braid, I slapped her hand away.

"Keep your filthy hand away from me!" I growled. How did Arrington put up with this girl anyway? She was so annoying!

Sinclair raised her brow at that.

"Sit down."

"No," I replied, working on the braid myself, "I want to meet Joey before the Reapings."

"You don't even know Joey," Sinclair grumbled.

"Doesn't matter," I replied, pulling out a really short dress from the closet. It was a shame that it was the only one in Arrington's closet, others were all too long and loose.

Sinclair grabbed my wrist and pushed me towards the chair.

"Get out, you idiot."

"You dared to call me an idiot?!" I bellowed angrily.

"Do you see anyone else here, Ivy?"

"Stop being so disrespectful!"

"I'll give you the same treatment that you give people."

"How does that Arrington put up with a scum like you?!"

"The same way she puts up with a scum like you," Sinclair retorted in that very patient yet aloof manner of hers.

"Get out of the way."

"Nah."

And then she went on a non-stop talking track. Picking up the first thing I could get, which was a bottle of perfume, I flung it at her. And being the irritating brat she is, she ducked without stopping her lecture and continued as if nothing had happened.

"I can't take this anymore!" I screamed and my shoulders slumped.

"Please, not again," I groaned. Ivy was horrible. Sinclair was the only one who could lecture her out of me. I shouldn't think of her much. My eyes fell on the dreadful dress again. Why would she want to wear that? It was so short!

"Arrington, get ready," Sinclair said with a smile. I nodded and stood up even as she left the room. Closing the door, I went to search the closet, hoping to find something less skimpy.

Reynard Ciervo (18) D10M

What puzzled me at the moment was that the girl with strawberry blond hair was going to the Reapings right then. There was still quite a lot of time left. She looked in a hurry and then another girl, a redhead, followed her. Maybe she was her friend, or maybe sister? It looked as if she was her friend. There were no similarities between them whatsoever.

"Reynard, we have to go and load a few of the trains," Oskar said as I saw him run towards me. I groaned internally. Work? On Reaping Day?

"Shouldn't we like, get ready?" I asked, looking at him in mild urgency. He rolled his eyes.

"We have some time."

I considered my options. I could out-rightly refuse but that would not end well. Or I could tag along with him and still stall work. I preferred the second option. Being polite was essential; after all I had observed that most people didn't take kindly to being told no.

"Come on then," I said and my friend smiled.

I followed Oskar, the two of us as silent as the dead of night. Silence was good, it helped me notice the habits of other people. It helped me think. Oskar agreed and knew when to stay quiet. He was my co-worker at the shipping yard, where we loaded the cartons of meat onto the trains for export. It was an okay job, I guess.

"Who do you think will be Reaped?"

I had no idea, to be honest. But looking at the trend of the past three years, it had to be someone younger than fifteen. It was sad, really. Those young children didn't really do very well, one of them died in the Bloodbath. But then again, trends changed. It could be annoying. One could spend a whole lot of time to figure out a pattern and then suddenly that pattern would change. Not that it would take a genius to realise that only the young ones were targeted since three years. It was quite evident.

"It can be anyone."

"I hope it's one of us."

I didn't reply. It could be one of us, of course. But I hadn't really taken any tesserae. So that lowered my chances. It was the same with Oskar.

Instinctively, I looked down on the ground, only to see a rope hanging a few centimetres above it. It was tied to the polls on either side of the road and I frowned. It was obviously done to trip someone. Looking behind, I saw a few younger children playing. There was one boy who looked as if he was searching for someone or something. So maybe whoever tied this rope wanted to trip that boy. It could be his friend.

Carefully, I walked over it. Unfortunately, Oskar didn't see it and fell face down. I heard a high-pitched laughter as a young boy came into view. Oskar glared at the boy and that shut him up. Shaking my head, I continued on my path when suddenly the bell rang. The Reapings would be soon. Walking slow had its perks, now there was no need to go to work.

"What about the cartons?" Oskar asked, the child now gone. After a pause of a few seconds, I replied, "We'll work after the Reapings. The cartons aren't going anywhere."

I did not have a chance to be Reaped, then why was I feeling so low? Why did I feel as if something bad was going to happen? As if, as if I was going to be Reaped? What if I was Reaped? Not trying to be negative, but I had to consider that. Maybe I could get an alliance. Maybe I could get sponsors. But what if I… died?

The thought was enough to stop me in my tracks. Oskar turned to look behind, his brows raised.

"Nothing," I said.

Death…it was a horrific thought. Enough to chill my blood. I didn't want to die. But if things could go according to my plans then I could win.

But sometimes, things didn't go according to plan. I was young, around two or three years old, when my parents separated. I was not old enough to be affected much but my elder brother, Adolph, he was mad at our parents. The separation made him bitter and as soon as he was old enough, he moved out of the house. It would have been nice to know my father. Maybe then Adolph wouldn't be so angry. Lack of father made me feel insecure sometimes, and I didn't like that.

"We are here," I muttered as we fell into the line of children getting their fingers pricked. It was not that long, only five people ahead of me. Looking around, I saw that most people had assembled there already. Oskar and I were the only eighteen-year-old boys there.

The Peacekeeper did not say anything and neither did I as I held my hand forward. I shut my eyes as he injected the needle and drew blood.

The two of us joined the eighteen year olds and we did not have to wait long for Glaze to come up on the stage.

Glaze was known throughout Panem for her unmatched enthusiasm. She was always excited. Or we thought she was always excited. Behind the makeup I could see how scared she was. Without a doubt, she did an impressive job of hiding it, but she was scared. Whenever she Reaped a tribute, a sadness seemed to reflect in her eyes. Maybe she wasn't that bad. But who knew?

"Arrington Hart! Darling, please come up! Give it up for Arrington Hart!"

"No!" a girl screamed. I turned to look at the same girl I had seen earlier. She was on trembling on the spot, shaking her head, a few tears in her eyes. Poor girl. Somebody prodded her from behind and she shook her head even more.

"Please! Please no! Don't do this!"

"Arrington, sweetheart, please come here! I promise I won't hurt you," Glaze said in a soothing voice but it was laced with excitement. With shaky steps, the girl started her long journey to the stage when that happened.

Arrington threw back her head and laughed. With a speed that nobody would have imagined suitable for a weeping girl like her, she ran onto the stage, a smirk on her face.

"Y-You want to say something?"

"I'll be back people. Ivy will win this game. Just watch!"

I narrowed my eyes. Was she acting or was she really that confident?

Arrington "Ivy" Hart (16) D10F

"Well said, girl!"

"Obviously. I am Ivy freaking Hart, the queen of fabulousness."

And I was. Who could deny that? And now that Sinclair wouldn't be with me in the arena. Nobody could bother me. I saw her in the crowd, a few tears in her eyes, her face all pale. In all honesty however, I would miss her.

"And now, please welcome the wonderful Reynard Ciervo!"

The cameras found him instantly. He was eighteen, with brown eyes and brown hair. Not much muscle. Quite tall. However, I didn't get how the cameras found tributes so easily? Were the Reapings rigged or something? Did these people already decide who they wanted to compete? It didn't matter.

Reynard seemed to be shocked. His face looked numb, as if he could not believe it. I could see his lower lip twitch slightly.

"Reynard, honey, we're waiting for you!" Glaze called out in that annoying way of hers.

Slowly, the boy started forward. He seemed to be in a trance, as if unable to understand what was happening. Glaze thrust the microphone towards him when he arrived on the stage but he didn't say anything.

I winked at him but was met with a rather cold look. It didn't matter, I would make him fall head over heels in no time.

"District Ten, your tributes! Arrington Hart and Reynard Ciervo!"

I am not sure what I did with them. I am not well and I think this was affected by that, sadly. Anyway, let me know your thoughts on them. I really like these characters and I enjoyed writing them.

Have a good day!