A.N Hey everyone!

I give you : The district 4 reaping! We officially have all our career tributes! 8 districts to go b3fore we can finally move on to training scores and interviews (hopefully soon!)

Anyways, enjoy the chapter and tell me what you thought!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games.

Coral Beache POV

"I just can't handle working with my mother anymore! I mean, she's always trying to get me to wear these stupid dresses and necklaces. Seriously, does she really think the people buying her fish really care what I'm wearing?"

I am sitting on the beach with my best friend Dory, just like any other morning. Just listening to the waves and the wind…and Dory's complaints about her mother. As much as she loves her mother Dory has always preferred working with her father, mostly because he embraces her tomboy style more. She tells me about it every morning and we always sit at this same spot on the beach. Typical morning.

Except it's not. Today is far from a typical morning. Today is Reaping day.

I'm not like other girls in my district. I don't train. The Games never really appealed much to me. I prefer to act and sing. My parents don't mind – in fact, they've always encouraged me to follow my dreams and believe in myself. Our district has less volunteers than districts 1 and 2, though.

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel? I mean, if you say it nicely I'm sure she won't be upset," I advise Dory.

She tosses her short choppy brown hair out of her eyes and looks over at me, shielding her dark eyes from the sun.

"Maybe. I don't know, I'll think about it…anyways, we should probably head over to your place. Reaping's in 45 minutes."

We both get up, brushing the sand off the back of our legs and begin walking to my house. Dory doesn't even have to get ready; she's wearing her shorts and tank top to the reaping, just like she always does. She knows better than to try and convince me to do the same. When we were twelve, that didn't go so well.

After ten minutes of walking, the house finally comes into view, grandiose and beautiful. Dory often teases me about the rich status of my family and says that if she weren't such a tomboy she'd rob my closet on a daily basis. I wouldn't even mind if she did…I have enough clothes.

I open the door to my house and call out a greeting to my family. The first person to emerge is my twin brother, Cory, leaning against the railing of the spiraled staircase.

"Hey Coral! What's up? Heard you were volunteering this year."

Typical Cory. He thinks this will upset me, since he knows I'm not one of those bloodthirsty Career girls. It doesn't faze me, though. I know exactly how to handle it.

"Haha, you are soo funny, Cory! Don't pretend like you weren't the one who was actually planning to volunteer," I respond with a smirk.

He grins back at me and runs up to his room, hyperactive as always. I roll my eyes and shake my head with a smile as I head up the stairs to my room, Dory in tow.

I can't help but sing my favorite song under my breath. Though she would never admit it, I know Dory loves listening to me sing.

Riley Reel POV

"Dude, I think I've got a big one!"

"Well, what are you waiting for! Reel her in, Reel!"

I roll my eyes at the bad joke, and begin vigorously reeling in my catch, silently praying it'll be bigger than my best friend Ben's. I'll never hear the end of it if it isn't.

After several seconds of struggling, and Ben mockingly cheering me on, I finally lift the fish out of the water.

Same size as Ben's. Same type of fish, too. I smirk at him.

"Looks like we've got a tie."

"Damn you, Reel! Next time I'll win!"

"Go ahead and try, Stanton."

We both share a chuckle before gathering all of our fish together, forgetting who caught which, and turn the boat around towards the shore, where I can vaguely see two girls getting up to leave the beach. Probably heading home to get ready for the reaping.

The reaping.

I think I want to volunteer this year. Yeah, I'm kinda young, but I think I'm ready. Besides, I want to make my father proud.

My father. My father, who wanted so desperately to be the mayor of District 4. My father, who failed in achieving his dream.

My father, who took his own life because of it. I was only four years old at the time, but the memory of it is still as clear as if it happened yesterday.

I shake my head, forcing the thoughts out of my mind before I could get another flashback. Those can get pretty nasty sometimes. I notice the side glance that Ben is giving me, no doubt knowing what's on my mind, but he knows better than to bring it up and turns away.

We eventually hit the dock and step out of the boat, each of us with an even number of fish in a bag.

"Well, I'm gonna head home to get ready. Meet you at the square?" Ben asks.

"Sure, I'll meet you there. See ya, Ben."

"Later, Riley."

I head over to my house in silence. My mom opens the door before I could knock. She was probably looking out the window, waiting for me to come back.

"Riley! Word on the street is you're volunteering this year…that true?"

I smile at her.

"Yup. I think this year is the big year!"

She grins at me and wraps me into a hug. I then hear her whisper in my ear, "Your father would be so proud of you."

I nod my head and decide to make a joke, like I always do when Dad is brought up.

"Of course he would. I'm just so amazing, remember?"

My mother laughs and shakes her head, rolling her eyes at me.

"Just go and get ready, would ya?"

I leave the doorway with a military salute for my mother and head up to my room, where I am faced with the difficult task of deciding what exactly it is that I want to wear to this thing.

I search through an array of differently styled shirts, pants and even suits before finally settling with a loose cotton sea green t-shirt and blue shorts. No reason to get all fancy, in my opinion. As long as you don't look like a complete slob.

I don't need a fancy outfit to prove to everyone that I can win these Games for my dad.

Coral Beache POV

I am tearing my closet apart trying to find something nice to wear. Everything in my closet seems too fancy, or too boring, or simply something I've already worn to past reapings. Dory, in the meantime, is reading the back summary of my favorite book which she has carelessly pulled out from my bookshelf. Which is piled with books upon books. Reading is another hobby of mine.

"Woah, this one sounds good, Coral! Can I borrow it?"

I sigh and turn away from the closet to look at Dory.

"Yes, of course, Dory! But do you mind helping me pick out an outfit for the reaping now? You're already borrowing, like, five of my books." I say with an apologetic smile.

Dory rolls her eyes at me and walks on over to stand beside me, eyes scanning the variety of clothing.

"Jesus, Coral, look at all this! You're telling me you can't come up with a simple outfit?"

"It's reaping day, Dory! I wanna look nice."

She sighs exasperatedly and shakes her head at me.

"Fine. Let me look through these. I know your style well enough by now, anyway."

She steps into the huge closet and begins looking through racks upon racks of clothes, eyes squinted in concentration as she looks each dress and shirt up and down.

Finally, she pulls something out.

"How about this?"

I examine the item of clothing in her hand carefully. It is a floral sundress that appears to be about knee length, more or less. I don't even remember buying it.

I love it. I can't believe I managed to miss it during my ten-minute outfit hunt.

"Wow, Dory! You do know my style! It's gorgeous!" I cry out in excitement.

I resist the urge to squeal, knowing that Dory will make fun of me, and hastily pull the dress on. I smooth it out, making sure it looks perfect before turning towards the full-length mirror beside my bed.

"I love it! I can't thank you enough, Dory!"

Dory smiles smugly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just hurry up and fix your hair or whatever. We need to be at the square in ten minutes."

I turn to the mirror and quickly twist my light brown side bangs back and brush my hair, leaving it loose to fall freely to my mid-back. As soon as I put the brush down, Dory taps me on the shoulder.

"Wear these with the dress." She says with a smirk, revealing my blue ballet flats from behind her back and handing them to me.

I smile at her gratefully before bending down to put them on.

"I may not give a shit about clothes and fashion," Dory admits, "but don't underestimate my sense of style."

Riley Reel POV

"Sam, come on! We can't be late for the reaping; your brother is volunteering, remember?"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!"

My mother sighs. Sam does this every year. As much as my brother enjoys training and sees my father's dying wish of having two victors as sons as important, he just doesn't have the passion for it that I have. Which is fine, I guess. He still plans to volunteer when he's somewhere between sixteen and eighteen which is what really matters.

"Sam, we're leaving!" my mother suddenly calls out.

The sentence has barely escaped and my brother flies down the stairs attempting to put his left shoe on as he hops down the stairs.

"Gosh, Mom, I was just brushing my teeth! Unless you want me to show up at the reaping reeking of morning breath?

I can't help but chuckle at this while my mother simply rolls her eyes, telling my brother to "just move it before we end up being late."

The walk to the square passes by fairly quickly and before I know it we're waiting to be checked in, Ben having joined Sam and I in line.

"So, have you made up your mind yet, Riley? You gonna volunteer, or what?" Ben asks with a malicious grin on his face, obviously expecting me to say no.

I grin right back, possibly appearing even more condescending then Ben, and reply, "Yeah. As a matter of fact, I am, Benny boy!"

Ben face curls into a frown at the odd nickname before morphing into an expression of shock and surprise upon realizing what I just said.

"No way, man. You're actually gonna do it!"

"Yup," I reply, "I'm actually gonna do it. This year is the year."

My mind suddenly floods with all the memories I just finished forcing back into my mind an hour ago. My father's failed efforts to become mayor. The bloody mess my mother and I had found in the –

"I mean, why wouldn't I volunteer? I'll school those other tributes any day!"

The joke blurts out of me unconsciously as I attempt to smother the thoughts away with my humor, just like I always do. It not only helps me, but it fools everyone. Ben's oblivious laughter beside me is proof of this.

"Next!" the voices of two Capitol women shout at once. Ben and I each head over to a booth, leaving Sam to wait for the next one.

I hold out my hand wordlessly, and the woman pricks me with an apologetic smile. I don't even flinch.

"Thank you, you're free to go. Next!"

After dropping Sam off in the fourteen section, Ben and I head over to the sixteens, joking lightheartedly the entire time until the escort begins to speak.

As soon as she opens her mouth, my entire focus is centered on that stage. And it will stay that way until I am standing on it, ready to make my dad proud.

Coral Beache POV

The Capitol woman who checks me in is nicer than those I've had in the past. She has a pleasant smile on her face, and apologizes when she accidentally pricks me too hard, making me gasp in shock and pain. I just smile at her to show her I'm not upset and she bids me farewell with a friendly "Good luck out there!"

Apparently Dory wasn't so lucky.

"That bitch! I was just asking her the time and she literally stabbed my finger and told me to bring a watch next time!"

I can't help but burst out laughing at the horrified look on Dory's face. She's clutching a heavily bleeding finger close to her chest, proving her story to be the truth, and I hand her a tissue from my pocket.

"Here, use this to wipe the blood off. Apply pressure. Oh, and you probably don't wanna hear this right now, but the woman who checked me in smiled and wished me good luck."

I grin sheepishly at her, waiting for the outburst, but she simply rolls her eyes.

"Maybe you were right all these years. I should look nicer for the reaping. I might get treated better."

I giggle at this and we wait for Cory to be done checking in before heading – correction, running – over to the sixteen section, hurrying to catch up with my hyperactive twin as usual who's already getting restless.

"Come on, I wanna go home already. I've got other priorities, you know!"

"Cory, seriously, it won't take long. We'll be home in, like, a half hour and we won't need to come back for another year." I assure him with a chuckle.

He just mutters something about "wasting time" and "unimportant matters" and ignores me, eyes fixated on the escort who is taking her sweet time on the stage.

About a minute later, a freakishly deep, raspy voice echoes across the square, calling our attention. I cringe at the sound. I could never quite get used to that voice, even though its sounded like that for as long as I can remember.

"Let us begin," she says dramatically.

My brother snorts beside me, and I elbow him. All we need is for the escort to yell at us for laughing at her like she did to those thirteen-year-old boys last year. One of them ended up in tears amongst her rage.

The escort then makes her way to the female ball, without even uttering the classic "Ladies first!" line, and pulls out a slip hastily, wasting no time at all. I immediately begin scanning the crowd around me, wondering who will volunteer for the poor unfortunate soul who is reaped. Although, I didn't hear any rumors at all this year…

"Coral Beache!"

Crap. That's terrifying. I frantically look around again, hoping whoever was planning to volunteer is simply distracted, or trying to scare me, but its been too much time. I need to go.

I look at Cory and Dory beside me, both on the verge of tears. My parents in the crowd, in similar states.

Alright, Coral. Just do what you do best, I think to myself, Act. You're in a movie, a terrible movie about a girl who is reaped for the Games and survives! Get in character now.

I take a deep breath and start walking to the stage, a huge smile plastered on my face. I raise my chin, trying to look confident, and wink at a nearby camera that is following me as I walk.

The walk to the stage is quick, but I keep the act going, waving to the crowd with that ridiculous smile on my face.

The escort walks on over to the male ball without a glance in my direction, plunging one long-nailed hand deep to the very bottom of the bowl and pulling out a slip. She is just opening her mouth to say the name when –

"I volunteer!"

Riley Reel POV

I don't even give the escort a chance to read the name. I need to be first. There is no other option.

I make my way over to the stage, ignoring the glares of the eighteen-year-old who will never get to volunteer now because of me, and say my name into the microphone before she asks me to.

"I'm Riley Reel, and I am a Hunger Games addict!"

Lame, I know. But the memories were resurfacing and I couldn't risk having a breakdown, not here, not now. I'd rather look like a guy who makes lame jokes than a weakling. Besides, everyone's laughing, even the escort. She takes the mic back and says in her monstrous voice, "Good thing you're volunteering for them then. Show him some love, everyone!"

The crowd breaks into somewhat awkward applause and I spot Ben and Sam each laughing hysterically in their respective sections, while my mother is crying on the outskirts of the square. I've done well. I've made her proud.

Now, it's time to make my dad proud.

The girl beside me who was reaped is smiling widely, clapping with the others. It's clearly fake, but I must admit she's doing a good job at making it seem real. I can't help but think that she's pretty, with her brown hair and sea green eyes. She grins up at me as she shakes my hand and that is the last I see of her before I'm whisked away to the tribute room by the peacekeepers.

I'm immediately greeted by my mother and Sam. My mother is an absolute wreck. She wraps her arms around me and doesn't let go for a full minute, telling me over and over how proud she is of me and how proud dad must be too. When she finally lets go, slipping a string of fish scales into my handwhich used to belong to my father, Sam approaches me.

"So. You're obviously gonna win, so I thought we'd make a little deal." he proposes with a wicked grin on his face.

I narrow my eyes suspiciously. "And that is?"

"I get half your money!"

"What?! No! Why should you? You're volunteering in, like, two years anyway!"

"Yes, and then you'll get half of mine to make up for it. Please?" Sam pleads, all with that stupid grin on his face.

I smile back at him deviously. "Alright, Sam. We have a deal."

"Great! Now please win. Serously, I'll be heartbroken."

He says this casually, but I can see the real emotion underneath. I pat him on the shoulder.

"Don't worrt, I'll be home before you know it."

The peacekeepers come to get them then, leaving Ben in their place. The room is silent for a while before Ben speaks.

"So, uh, you planning on coming home or what?"

"Nope. Hate to break it to you, but this was all a suicide mission. Sorry you had to find out this way,"

Ben laughs for a second, but it's cut short. His face falls almost instantly.

"Seriously, though, please come back. Don't be one of those stupid Careers who thinks they've got it all in the bag. Watch your back, okay?"

I'm taken completely aback by this. Ben usually isn't this serious about anything. Even at my dad's funeral he managed to make me laugh a few times. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about me. I'll come back. I have a promise to keep."

Ben nods, knowing exactly what I'm talking about.

"Your dad is probably dancing in his grave right now. I'm sure he'd be really proud, Riley."

My eyes mist over for about half a second before I force them back, focusing on the less serious thing Ben started with.

"Dancing in his grave? Really?"

"Hey, I don't know, man. I just wanted to say your dad is proud of you!" he exclaims, the usual cheeriness back in his face.

I can hear the peacekeeper's footsteps approaching.

"See you, man."

"I better see you, or I'll spit on your grave, you know that right?" Ben responds.

I chuckle and nod my head, waving good bye to him as he leaves with the peacekeepers.

I lift my gaze to the ceiling, finally allowing the memories to fully make their way into my mind.

"I'll make you proud, dad. I promise."

Coral Beache POV

"You'll do fine, Coral. Just stay with the Careers, and you'll be fine."

I'm still under my movie impression, taking everything in with a smile, although my act is much weaker then it was before. My eyes are shiny and red, and my face is white as a sheet. I'll change that once the cameras come back, though.

My mother continues to reassure me while my father occasionally chimes in too.

"Besides, you're such a pretty girl. You can trick boys into thinking you're gonna kiss them and then shove a knife into his back like in those movies."

Cory bursts out laughing at my father's joke, while my mother rolls her sea green eyes, identical to mine. Almost everything about her is identical to me, actually. My father is the oddball, with his blond hair and blue eyes.

"Seriously, Coral, don't worry about a thing. I'll be sending you twin telepathy and protect you." Cory assures me.

I giggle and thank him. "Hey Cory, suddenly you don't have anything better to do, eh?'"

He makes a mockingly horrified face, "Of course not, Coral! Not at a time like this!"

He pauses then, listening. The peacekeepers.

"Damn it. Listen, Coral, be safe."

"We're all rooting for you, Coral!"

We group hug for a while until the peacekeepers force my family out of the room, practically having to pry my brother's claws off of me to do so.

I'm not alone for very long before Dory shows up, her eyes red-rimmed but apart from that looking decent.

"Coral. You need to come back. Seriousy, I don't know what I'd do without you. You're my best friend. Come home safe, alright?"

I nod my head, the smile slowly melting off my face. However, I refuse to cry. I canf afford to cry anymore, the cameras will be here in a minute. The movie I'm starring in isn't a tragedy. It's an adventure movie.

"I promise, Dory."

Silence comes over the room, then. Suddenly, Dory reaches into the pocket of her shorts.

"I've never told this to anyone before but –"

She pulls a small blue necklace out of her pocket.

"I keep this in my pocket at every reaping. For good luck."

My grin returns at the thought of Dory – tough, tomboyish Dory – carrying a lucky necklace in her pocket.

"Aww, that's so cute –"

"Tell anyone, and I'll gladly beat you with a stick." Dory reprimands sternly.

I raise my hands innocently and she places the necklace around my neck gently.

"It has obviously been helping me for the past five reapings. And now I want it to help you in the Games."

My eyes begin to water again. Dory has never been so open about her feelings with me before, and this act of caring gets me right in the heart. Before I even realize what I'm doing, I throw my arms around Dory's neck, crying into her shoulder.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

She rubs my back somewhat awkwardly, but it's comforting none the less.

"Hey, it matches your outfit anyway, right?"

She leaves the room several minutes later, and I wipe the tears away with the back of my hand. I fiddle with Dory's lucky necklace and think of all the advice my family gave me. I swear to them in my minf that I won't let them down. I'll come home.

I'll stick to the script and win those Games. I will not turn this action movie into a tragedy.

A/N

Well, there you have it! I know this took long, but I'll just admit it; I'm a slow writer. I had excuses for the other slow updates, but not this one. I'm just a perfectionist with my writing. Although, I will really try to be quicker because I want to start the next section of this story after the reapings as soon as possible! This story is nowhere near abandoned!

Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! I didn't get many reviews last chapter (not like I deserved any after my lateness), so I would appreciate it if people gave me their thoughts just to know if anyone has stuck with me after all this time. Reviews are love, people!

See you soon (hopefully!) xoxo