POV District 12 Zalnys En'beli

I tapped my feet impatiently. My mother would kill me, if she had seen how much my hair was messed up. But luckily, I had convinced her and my father go ahead of me. I wanted to knock on the door again, but I also knew it was the worse idea on the face of the planet...though I may be exaggerating, seeing all the other "great ideas". I tried tapping the door with my foot, and at first nothing. Then I heard several sets of feet heading towards the door.

I pressed myself against the house, so the door would swing in front of me, but barely in time before it swung open. After a few moments of silence, I thought I got off the hook. "Zalnys, we know that's you." I was wrong.

I tried saying nothing. But one of them stepped out, and looked immediately to my hiding spot. He peeled back the door, and gave an evil smile at me. "Hello, Zalnys," He sneered, his name rolling off his tongue.

"Artin, how are you? I haven't seen you in a while," I stuttered pathetically. He put a hand on my shoulder, leading me inside.

"Look guys, it's Zalnys!" He proclaimed. One of his brothers, Dilyh was waiting right for me in the doorway. His other, Rhaen, was farther back into their living room, with a big brown and white dog sitting at his feet. They were all a lot older than me - I think last year was their last Reaping even. I smiled, and got down to my knees. The big dog jogged over to me happily. Down on my knees, the dog was eye-level with me.

I gave them all a smile, and they returned it with their smirks. I realized that they were towering over me when I glanced up at Artin. My grin disappeared, and I got to my feet. "Boar must be excited for a new treat."

"I, I have absolutely no idea where you got that name from," I stuttered, trying to keep a smile on. I didn't want to be ganged up on.

The tightness in my chest disappeared once their mother walked in. We all watched her in the kitchen in silence until she turned to look at us. She glanced around at her sons, with a suspicious but kind look, and then her eyes settled on me. "Artin, Dilyh, Rhaen," She warned, and the three of them shared a glance, causing her to smile wider. "Leave your sister's boyfriend alone."

The tightness came right back when their father followed in. "Who's here?" He questioned, though he had a grin on his face that gave away that he had already heard what Mrs. Drysay had said.

"Not you too," She muttered, looking over her shoulder at him. "Adoss! Get out here before the boys hang Zalnys."

All three of her brothers took a step back when Adoss came running out, her brown hair bouncing around her. "What?" Her saw me, and ran up to hug me. The only reason her family wasn't giving me a heart attack was her and her mother sticking up for me. She grabbed my hand when she pulled away, and she gave me a look, though she had a playful smile. She could feel my hand sweating.

"Where's your family, Zalnys?" Mr. Drysay asked, stepping out from the kitchen.

"They left earlier - I got a late start this morning," I explained, my voice tense. I could feel my face making an expression like I was looking down the barrel of a gun.

Once Mrs. Drysay finished up, she led all of us out. Mr. Drysay followed, and then Artin and Dilyh indignantly cut in front of the two of us."Come on, Boar," Rhaen said, gently tugging on the fluffy dog's rope collar. I kept my fingers locked with Adoss, and Rhaen followed us out the door, closing it behind him. Eventually, Boar decided to start jogging, and Rhaen got ahead of us to keep up, leaving the two of us to trail behind.

"Why are you so scared of my family?" Adoss asked, seeing that they were out of range to hear her. I simply shrugged, grinding my teeth. She squeezed my hand, "Well, don't be, ok?"

"I'm not scared of your mother," I pointed out. "But how do you expect me to being ganged up four to one?"

She paused for a moment, before sighing. "My brothers are just obnoxious. And my dad...eh, he can be obnoxious too."

"Hardly," I scoffed.

She gave me a friendly glare. "Just don't give them a reason to kill you, and then they'll just have to deal."

I gave her a look right back. "You can't just go shrugging this off," I remarked. I gave a glance to them, before leaning closer and whispering, "I think being your boyfriend is enough of a reason."

She smiled at me, but then we were gripped by silence as we got to the Town Square. I spotted my parents, but I just grinded my teeth. My mother gently waved at me when she saw me, and I simply nodded. Adoss's family said their simple goodbye's too before leaving us to get in the line. I was right, her older brothers weren't in the Reaping anymore. I glanced at her as she watched them go, studying her face. I wanted to ask if it took any weight off her, knowing her brothers were safe now. But I kept my mouth shut. When she turned back to me, I looked away and lead her to the lines of kids, waiting to get signed into the possibility of death.

Her house was so busy, they seemed to have forgotten the plaguing Reaping coming up. Last year, before I had gotten the courage to ask out Adoss, my family spent the entire day with depressing cloud looming overhead. I remember having a crush on her for as long as I could remember, though we had only been friends for a few months before hand. I don't think I had ever told her.

We got in the same line, each of us refusing to let go of the others hand. As we got closer to the desk, I could feel her fingers start shaking. I turned back to her, and tears started pooling in her eyes. "I don't want to die," She mouthed. Maybe her family forced themselves to forget, seeing how scared she was. I squeezed her hand, though I was at a loss for words. She had always been the brave one - I was even scared of her family. Should I be scared? I turned away, my eyes drifting the ground as I thought things through. I couldn't find it in me to be scared - I didn't know why. It was a solemn, neutral event to me.

"Next," I stepped forward, pulling Adoss along with me, who was trying to dig her feet into the ground. I offered my free hand, and I felt like his eyes were burning into our locked hands. "Go on," He growled after he pricked my finger. I stepped away, but even when I let go, Adoss refused to. I looked at her, but she didn't meet my gaze, giving her free hand to the peacekeeper. "Go," He said, more angry. What had we done to him?

I led her towards the boys and girls, roped apart. I walked her to the fourteen-year-olds, finally forcing her to let go of me before I turned to the fifteen year-olds. I always had my birthday right before the Reaping. A happy event to distract my parents from what was coming up. As I slipped in with the other guys, I began to wonder if my parents were scared. Were Adoss's brothers scared, were her parents? I glanced around, taking all the other kids in. Some shifted back and forth on their feet, some played with their hands or hair, some paced in a tiny circle, some were just trying to hide their shaking hands, and some were tense or gritting their teeth. Was I the only one not scared?

The Anthem began to play, getting everyone to come to a stand still. Ranoy Catden, coming out in skin-tight black clothes, covered by a dark suit, took his place on stage. District 12's escort was considered to be eccentric, even in the Capitol. Always wore dark clothes and had dark hair. He had a lot of tattoos as well, which is why he usually wore sleeves and clothes that went up to his neck. But there was also a tattoo on his cheek, which he tried to cover by draping his hair over his face. He had a deep voice, which wasn't common among the Capitol.

He ran through his introduction and the Dark Days video, and I could almost feel a collective intake of breath as he continued, "First, we will pull a name for the ladies." He stumbled over to the bowl. He had kept a very straight, composed stature on the stage. I wondered if he was drunk or something, but it was hard to tell. He always had a slurred voice - another trait not common in the Capitol. Maybe he was just drunk every time I heard him. He grabbed a name rather quickly before he clopped back over to center stage. He resumed his original stance, and was able to open in very easily. I couldn't be more confused about his state. "Adoss Drysay."

All of my previous thoughts vanished. "Adoss?" I whispered to myself. "My...my Adoss?" When she stepped out of the crowd, ever bone in her back was clenched as she walked stiffly up, surrounded by peacekeepers. I received the eyes of several other kids. They had seen me with her. I pushed my way over to the edge, leaning over the rope, but staying inside the rope. She looked over her shoulder at me, tears collecting heavily in her eyes, but not spilling out onto her cheeks.

She took her spot up beside Ranoy, her view returning to me and locking there. "And now, we'll move onto the guys." I didn't pay him any attention when he swayed as he walked to the bowl, as he snatched a name out like they would swim away from him if he didn't act. I focused on Adoss.

"Be strong," I mouthed. Her eyes widened, panicking more. "Be strong."

She nodded gently, Ranoy returning to her side. "Zalnys En'beli." I froze. There had to be a mistake. They had the wrong Adoss, the wrong Zalnys. This was the wrong district, the wrong year, the wrong month, the wrong hour, anything. My mouth hung open, trying to find something.

The peacekeepers came over to me. "You Zalnys En'beli?" The front one asked. I looked at them, frozen, before nodding very slightly. But he saw it, forcing me to duck under the rope and pulling me along towards the stage. I could see tears shaking in her eyes as I got closer, but I shook my head at her. My mouth was still open, and my eyes were wide. Something wet dripped down my cheeks, and I lifted my fingers to my cheek. I was crying. I didn't realize it even.

The peacekeeper shoved me towards the stairs, and I stumbled up and over to Ranoy. Ranoy had a hand clamped on Adoss's shoulder, and she looked crippled for a moment, hunched over with her eyes shut tight, shaking. I could hear a tiny wail escaping her lips. Ranoy put his other hand on me, turning us toward eachother. I stretched my hand out to her, and Ranoy gave her a gentle shake. She opened her eyes, and followed my arm up to my face. She looked at me a moment, before pursing her lips. She took my hand, and then lifted her hand to my cheek, wiping away the tears. Her eyes burned red, and she squeezed my hand. Though she was broken, she had her determined fire burning in her eyes again.

She hadn't let go of my hand, and instead she pulled me in, kissing me. I could feel the eyes of every single person watching, either here or at a TV, burning into me. Ranoy cleared his throat, and Adoss pulled away. She finally let go of my hand, and it dropped to my side. It was stinging from the pressure she had put on it, and she was holding her hand, which made me realize how hard I was gripping her hand. She gave a sniff as Ranoy finished off, before turning us around and shoving us angrily into the Justice Building. We were crazy, but in truth, how much longer would we have to be crazy?

I finally realized why everyone else was so scared.