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Meet District 5's Terra and Javed!
Javed Grissol POV
I sit in my Grandfathers library in one of the more comfortable chairs, reading my third book of the week. It was on my favourite topic. The Old Age before the rebellion.
Don't you think it would be interesting, if life was still like that? If hierarchy hadn't consumed every single person's life to such an extent where people are caged in separate districts with their sole purpose is to do whatever their districts signed up for. I wonder what it were really like, there are barely any books in the whole of the country which have information on what it was like back then. This is the only one that I know of in District 5, and I'd read it exactly 17 times, scanning every page, taking in all the information on there.
My biggest dream is to travel, travel to another continent to see what the worlds like outside of this place, there has to be more, surely, the entire earth can't be as cruel as this? Maybe it is just like here was before the rebellion. Free will, proper schooling, a hopeful non dead end future? That would be the most incredible thing.
After approximately twenty seven minutes of reading I checked my watch, 7.05. I wonder if father or Ceecee will be up.
My family is me, my grandfather, my father and Ceecee, my twin sister, we've lived with grandfather since me and Ceecee were born as my mother died when giving birth. We're a close knit family, and Ceecee is my best- and only- friend.
I mean it's hard being only thirteen and possibly the most academically smart boy in the district, especially with my pale skin, neatly cut mousy hair and the massive framed glasses I have to wear. I get bullied, which isn't really a surprise, and people don't particularly want to be around me or be friends with me because they'd probably get bullied too.
Ceecee doesn't care about that, and people wouldn't bully her anyway, she's one of those people that are extremely nice till you hurt her or a friend, then she turns crazy, it's respectable and scary all at the same time.
I spend most of my time reading, fiction, non- fiction, you name it and the chances are I've read it, my grandfather owns supposedly the third biggest library in all the districts, except he tries and keeps it as secret as possible, you need a code to get into it that only our family know. I can understand why, the knowledge in here is unimaginable, I've been reading books out of here since I was four and I haven't even gotten a tenth of the way through them. Considering I read maybe six to eight books a week, depending on size and subject, that's a big library.
Reading is my lapse, it takes me somewhere away from here, it gives me knowledge that very few people in this district have. For example I know about geography, it's practically against the law to distribute any information that there's even more to the world than this place. Also the rebellion, people aren't supposed to talk about it, but I've ready many books on the rebellion itself. It's amazing some of the stuff you can read.
I read until I get to page 272, then put my bookmark in the book and leave it on the table, the time now is 9.03, and I have to get to the reaping soon, so for now I should stop reading I suppose. I get dressed in what I like to think of as my smartest clothes, but in reality it makes me look like more of a bookworm than usual. Then go to join my family in the kitchen as we sit and have our last meal before the reaping together. All of us eat in silence, which was the same as last year, that doesn't surprise me though, seeing as me or Ceecee could be picked, even if it's very unlikely as both of our names are only in twice, unlike many poor district children.
Terra Sykes POV
"Terra, get up!" I hear the whiney voice of my cousin Adrian from the other side of my door. I'm already up, I always am at this time, I've been up for a while, making finishing touches to the solar panels which I've spent the last week making, tomorrow I'll go out and sell them, hopefully get a good amount of money. If that happens I can add it to my savings and maybe I'll have enough to get out of this house finally.
It's not that I don't like this house. I live with my aunt, Mary, I mean, she can be scary strict at times but that was just how she was brought up, she's a really nice person when you don't go against her. My uncle, Jimmy, is out working a fair bit, and is quite irresponsive and gruff at times, but he has a good heart. These two I can put up with, it's when you have to live with Adrian, my ten year old spoiled brat of a cousin, which drives you crazy.
I live with my aunt and uncle as when I was a few months old, my parents were drafted off to be peacekeepers. I see them around occasionally but they don't always work in this district, I don't really know them, nor, as bad as it may seem, care for them. I don't have any hard feelings towards them for leaving me here, they had literally no money and when I came along it got even worse, so they needed to get money and they did that by signing up to peacekeeping. My aunt was middleclass, but had money, and was happy to welcome me into their home. For the first seven years it was a healthy place to grow up, until Adrian came along and controlled his parents manipulatively.
"I am up!" I shout at the door and Adrian stalks in. "What do you want?"
He sighs "You have to help me pick what outfit to wear to the reaping!"
"No, no I don't, why are you even going? You're too young to be reaped!" I roll my eyes. Okay, at this point I probably seem like a bit of a cold hearted person, but I'm honestly not! I just despise my cousin so much. I dislike spoiled people, alongside careers- who are also very spoilt, not too forget the capitol either! They're evil people who like nothing better than to kill people.
"Well, mummy told me I should go down and support you, trust me, I'm not best pleased either, I'd rather be doing anything else than something that involves helping you." He smiles and stomps out of the room. "Come help, now!" I probably should have mentioned that his feelings towards me are completely mutual. We just don't get along.
I sigh and back away from my desk, slowly dragging myself out of my room, along the corridor and into his room. His room is giant in comparison to mine, this was Mary and Jimmy's room, but when he was four he demanded to have the biggest bedroom in the house and screamed and cried until he got exactly what he wanted, which was no different to the norm, really. He was standing in front of his cupboard holding up two suits, one in each hand. They both looked expensive and too smart for a snotty ten year old.
"The black one with the red tie." I groan, in truth, the other one probably would have suited him better, it was more casual, but if I could inflict some form of difficulty into his life it makes me feel that I can put up with him just that tad more.
"Alright, so the other one then." He says with a snooty grin. Darn this kid was smarter than I thought.
"Whatever, why did you even ask for my help?" I snap.
"I don't know, just wanted to make your life a little difficult this morning." He's still got that stupid grin on his face, if he were my age I'd hit it off…
I walk out of the room and down the stairs, and without saying a word to my aunt or uncle walk out, not that they'd be too worried. I walk over to the park opposite my house, and not too my surprise Dani and Sparrow were sat chatting. Dani was my best friend, we've been best friend since our first day of school, as we were sat next to each other in every class. Sparrow was my other friend, she's always smiling, even now, despite that it's reaping today.
"Hey guys, where's Alayna and Trish?" I ask, Alayna and Trish are my two other close friends, the five of us are some form of 'friendship circle' we're so tight knit and never keep secrets from each other. Every reaping day for seven years we've gathered at this park, chatted to pass the time then walked down to the city centre together, all whispering good lucks to each other as our capitol representative Lola Peartree draws a slip of paper from the ball, so far, none of us have ever been picked, we've been very lucky, but we still have two more reaping's to suffer through.
"They should be here soon, even you were late, we were worried that no one else was gonna come." Sparrow says with her dazzling smile, lying back on the grass as though nothing that may risk our lives is happening today. I don't see how she's so relaxed all the time, I honestly envy her for it at times, especially times like today.
"Ah sweet, what were you guys talking about?" I ask with interest, wanting something to take my mind off the reaping and off Adrian.
"How many times our names are going in this year," Dani says grimly, unlike Sparrow, she's just as tense about the reaping as I am. "Mines in ten, I had to get tesserae again this year, sales haven't been up." Dani's family owned a corner shop that sells supplies to the power plants dotted around the district, sometimes they get great sales and some years they don't, depends on the capitol and such.
"My names going in twelve, no biggy!" Sparrow sings,
"Mines in seven, unsurprisingly." I say, extremely grateful for my economic situation.
Eventually Trish and Alayna joined us and we made our way slowly down to the centre, laughing as much as we could. When we got there we all said good luck as Lola Peartree walks onto the stage…
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and what a wonderful morning it is." She says with a fake smile etched into her just as fake face. "As you are all aware, today is reaping, this means that one lucky boy and girl get to fight to the death, and represent their district doing so! Now, shall we get started!"
It wasn't a question, a statement. She walks over to the bowl of names and picks one out of the girl bowl.
"The lucky girl this year, is…"
Almost every girl in the district holds their breath, hoping against hope that it's not them.
"Terra Sykes!"
Shock, that's the main thing that I feel right now, I don't really know what to do, I feel myself taking step after step towards the stage. I look back once, not at my friends, but I spot out Adrian in the crowd, and whilst my Aunt and Uncle are looking grim, he's stood there smiling, genuinely too, not a fake, supportive smile but a giant stupid grins covering his spoilt face.
Javed Grissol POV
I don't know how anyone could not cry as they take their walk of death up to the stage, I mean, maybe they won't die, but there is a one in twenty four probability that they will survive, which, you know, is pretty slim.
I see the girl, Terra, walk up to the stage. I don't know her, but I've seen her around, she's too old for me to be in her year, so I never went to school with her. She has curly long golden brown hair that's tied back, with freckled, pale skin, not as pale as mine, but still paler the most. She looks shocked and hurt, but she doesn't seem terrified, nor is she crying.
"And now the boy to accompany her!" Lola sings, then takes a name from the glass bowl beside the girls one.
"Javed Grissol!" She shouts gleefully.
Nerves take over me and I'm trembling with fear. I feel seriously faint and almost fall to the ground, the only thing that stops me is two peacekeepers who hold me and half push and half drag me towards the stage, they shove me onto it and I fall.
I lay there crying, helplessly, I can hear other cries and look up to see my family are crying too. I sit up, still weeping, when Lola tries to comfort me, patting my shoulder, but this only makes me cry harder.
I'm only thirteen, I've got my whole life ahead of me, and me, and everyone else in the district know that I can't do it, I can't survive.
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