Author's Note: Wow! You decided to read another chapter! Yay! I'm glad you like it so far. We have yet to get to the actual reaping, sorry, but we definitely see some of Alexis and Annie's personalities and we even meet Annie's parents and her cousin, Cassius Achille, soon to be an important character in the story, if you've read the summary. Reaping's next chapter, which will be up soon, I promise!

I do not own any rights to the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. This story is purely for my enjoyment and, hopefully, the enjoyment of others.

Chapter 2 - Certainty

Going fishing with Annie is something I definitely need to more often.

Annie turns out to be one of the best swimmers I know. I've always been pretty good, but I've never seen anyone hold their breath as long as she can. She and I spent most of the day diving for oysters, using the nets I made to get as many as possible in one trip. By the end of the day, we had more oysters than I could count, barely leaving enough space in our tiny sailboat, the Samphire, for Annie and me to sit, as we glided back to shore.

The Samphire was my family's most prized possession. We saved for it for months and months when I was twelve, selling everything we brought in. We would have starved to death, having nothing to eat but tesserae, if it weren't for the reef of samphire I found on the far side of the beach, which later gave the little sailboat its name.

As we glided back to shore, Annie and I organized our oysters, tying nets with smaller gaps so that we the oysters wouldn't fall out as we carried them into shore.

When Samphire was finally tied up at the docks for the day, we split up the shells into the two large nets we'd made, so we could each bring home half. I walked Annie over to the fishing shop, where her parents hopefully not tearing apart the village looking for her. We did leave a note, after all.

The familiar bells chimed as we walked in. Annie's parents were just setting up for dinner and waved us over. Good, they didn't seem worried.

As we came closer, I realized they weren't alone. Cassius was sitting at the far end of the table, serving himself some of the fish Annie has picked up that morning.

"Hey" he said, momentarily looking up from his food.

"Cassius!" Annie, still holding her oysters in the net, runs to hug him, resulting in him getting a good smack in the back by the oysters. Cassius laughs as he helps Annie pick up the shells of the few that broke on the ground. I walk over and grab the one oyster that somehow made it unharmed to the over side of the room and hand it to him.

"Hey, Cass"

"Lexie" he replies, using one of the many nicknames he and Brooke, my best friend, have collectively come up with. "Ready for reaping tomorrow?"

I shrug. "Sure am. Not like anything's going to happen."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, I've a little surprise planned out."

Annie's head snaps up at this comment. "But you aren't volunteering are you?" Annie's parents, his aunt and uncle nod in agreement, both wearing expressions of great concern.

He frowns, having evidently expected a better reaction then this. "I've been thinking about it. I mean, it's my last year, and I've been working towards this my whole life, I don't want to just throw it away. Coach says that I'm ready too!" He adds.

Annie's dad narrows his eyes, "And what if he's wrong, Cassius? He won't be the one dying will he?"

Cass' face begins to turn red with anger. "I believe him! He's been training tributes for years!"

"And how many of those tributes are alive now, Cassius?" Annie's dad shouts back, equally furious. "How many times was he right?"

Cass' eyes give him a look I've never seen him wear before, fury, mixed with maybe a bit of madness. It doesn't suit him. "What does that matter, Uncle? You've seen me train! I'm ready for whatever the Capitol throws at me! I'm volunteering tomorrow and there's nothing you can say that will change my mind!" Cassius storms out, slamming the front door as he goes, the clanking noise of the bells add to the chaos happening inside.

"Cassius!" Annie cries, running after him, her oysters a forgotten heap on the table. "Cassius, come back!"

I feel like I've intruded on something. Feeling the need to leave, I turn awkwardly to Annie's parents. Her mom comes over and hugs me.

"Good luck tomorrow, Alexis. Here, take some more oysters. Buy yourself a nice dress for tomorrow, the market should still be open. And could you go find Annie? I don't want her wandering around too much this time of night." I can tell from the look in her eyes it's taking all her energy not to cry right now. The last thing she needs to worry about is Annie. I nod, taking a quarter of Annie's oysters and leave.

I ran down the beach, to the spot where I was fairly certain I would find Annie. The far side of the beach, near the samphires.

Sure enough, she was sitting right in front of the reef, her brown hair a tangled mess from the day's fishing and the wind, and her green eyes staring out at the waters, as far as she could see, as if the murky depths of the ocean held the key to all her problems. I decided this was no time to lie, to tell her everything would be okay. Instead, I lift her up and say it as it is, as she would expect and hope for me to do.

"Annie. You heard Cass, there's nothing we can do to stop him. He's very brave, Annie, I think he can do it, if he wants to, which of course he does. Imagine what it'll be like when he gets back; no responsibilities, enough money for anything you want. Maybe you could buy your own boat." That gets her attention. Her sea green eyes, still shining with tears, look up at me. I continue, "He has been working for this for a long time, Annie. So it's only polite of us to show we support him by looking our very best tomorrow. Come on, your mom gave us some extra oysters to buy dresses." She cheers up at the idea of a treat, and we walk, hand in hand to the market.

Annie and I lucked out. A young woman, maybe in her twenties was just packing up when we walked over. Her stand was still covered in beautiful dresses, all rimmed in detailed embroidery. I found two matching dresses, one for each of us, and paid her. I think she felt bad for us, what with reaping tomorrow, because I've never bought anything but maybe a spool of rope for so cheap. I hand the smaller one to Annie.

"Here" I say, handing the smaller dress to Annie. "Now we'll match." She grins.

"Thanks, Alexis." she says, giving me a hug. "You're the best." Then she's running for home, probably hurrying to tell her parents she's okay.