Coming from the District of transportation, one would expect their District to be overflowing with trains, automobiles, and planes. But it's with that assumption when they would be wrong. Just like any other District, whatever they create gets shipped off to the Capital, leaving nothing behind except for the faulty ones. The only people who get benefits as well as working transportation items would be anyone with any sort of relation to the mayor of District Six. Aside from that, the District of mobility lacks any other present source of transportation except for by foot.

For Calliope Miles, she gets benefits. As she adjusts her stunning diamond necklace around her neck with her delicate fingers, a wicked smile forms upon her pale pink lips. She fingers the necklace gently, her brown eyes inspecting it in the mirror before her. It's a simple necklace with a simple diamond. A sparkling, circular jewel hangs off of a thin silver chain. When Calliope first got this necklace, it was when her father first started to drift away from her family. To make up for his remarkable amount of absences, he would buy Calliope and her sisters, Dianne, Edna, and Harriet, expensive gifts for any random occasion. Over time, these acts corrupted her mind into thinking that no matter what the scenario, she would get a loophole or a special something to make up for it. This necklace was the first of many gifts she had received.

Calliope had just turned four when she first started seeing her father disappear without a word. Granted, he was the mayor, but a simple hello in the hallways would have been nice. It was a week after her official fourth birthday when he showed up and presented her a wrapped up box no bigger than her small hands. When she first pulled the box out from the pastel purple wrapping paper that encased it, she immediately opened the box in excitement. Inside the velvet case and atop a silk pillow rested a single diamond necklace on a silver chain. It was at that moment when Calliope realized just how much money that necklace cost. She may had only been four, no older than Harriet, but she fully understood the power she withheld in her tiny little fingers. By age six she fully mastered the art of fake crying and had a full array of precious stones and all the toys she wanted in her bedroom. All she had to do was become invisible and then, out of nowhere, throw some big tantrum, roll out a few fat fake tears, and she could get whatever she wanted.

But now, with her corrupted mind, she glares at the suddenly small necklace with disgust. Where did the shine go? Why were her eyes brighter than the precious stone that other residents of District Six would kill for? Grasping the chain with her porcelain fingers, she yanks hard and immediately hears a snap. Looking away from her reflection in the mirror, her gaze goes down to the now broken necklace that dangles between her enclosed fist.

"Cheap clasp. Breaks before I even started seriously pulling," her stiff voice says. She bites her lip as she looks around, trying to see if anyone saw the incident from afar. The coast is as clear as her emotions. Perfect.

"Father!" Calliope calls out in fake pain-stricken, heart-broken voice. She hears heavy footsteps coming from outside and nearing her bedroom door. Before the door opens, she takes a moment to start fake crying. As if on cue, the Mayor of District Six, Ford Miles, steps into the room, a slightly concerned look upon his aging face.

"Calliope? What's wrong?" he asks in a raspy, deep voice.

"Daddy, my necklace broke. I went to put in on when I noticed the clasp was broken. I think Dianne broke it when she was playing with Edna the other day. What do I do? I wanted to wear this to the Reaping and now I can't!" Tears continue to steadily fall down her soft cheeks and onto her lap as she dips her head low.

"Don't worry honey, I'll get you a new necklace, a better necklace. Just stop crying, please."

"O-Okay. Promise?"

"Of course. I'll get you a new one right now."

Once he left her room, Calliope wiped off and stray tears from her cheeks. Staring herself down in the mirror, she smirks. Fake crying always worked, and now she was getting a new necklace and her sisters would be off of her case for at least a week. While reapplying some mascara that was lost to the clear tears that were now dried up, she heard a knock.

"Calliope! Did you tell daddy we broke your necklace?" No question, that was her eleven year-old sister, Dianne. Tossing her straight red hair back over her shoulder, Calliope simply decides to turn as clear as the broken diamond upon her desk. Sometimes invisibility is the best remedy. Of course, crying is too.

But aren't they both clear anyways?

Carter Ford sat quietly on some still damp grass outside of his house. He looks up at the bright blue sky in wonder. Not a single cloud was in the sky that day and it looked truly beautiful. Had it been any other day, he would've relaxed and just taken it all in, but not today. Today he sits deep in thought, which is not an unusual occurrence for him, but today it is out of wonder and nerves. His name is inside the Reaping bowl about 32 times, so he has some good odds going for him to be chosen. For a split second he is jealous of his younger brother, Denver, because he has less of a chance of being picked than Carter, and really, all Carter wants to do is not be Reaped. But someone has to, and if it's him then he may be screwed. He'd be as screwed as the greasy screw he always carries around with him.

In all honesty, a screw isn't the safest thing to carry around, but he could be carrying much more dangerous things like a handgun or a knife. If you go into the Hunger Games you won't have a screw to carry around, you would just have whatever you can savage from the Cornucopia, he thinks to himself, But maybe I won't be Reaped, maybe I'll be safe another year. How good are my odds anyways? I'm sure there are other people in District Six with even worse odds.

Just then Carter found himself being crushed and rolling down the grass he was once sitting on. A heavy weight was on his back, the heels of someone's shoes digging into his wrist. He grunted out loud, not being afraid to show his pain and his weakness.

"Oh Carter, when will you ever grow some muscles?" Carter knew the voice. It was none other than his best friend Roy Aston.

"You don't grow muscles Roy," he growled, starting to feel pain from the new found weight on him.

"True, but you should work on getting some. It would get the attention of the ladies," Roy responded with a wink.

"That is literally the last thing I'm worrying about today. Now can you please get off of me?"

"Sure thing pal, you just should've said so originally," Roy smirked at his weaker friend. Carter rolled out from underneath Roy and brushed off any stray grass on his clothes and hair. This seemed to be his friendship with Roy nowadays. Roy would always seem to come out of nowhere and physically attack him, make some joke, and then act as if nothing happened. How Carter has had the will to stay with him after all these years has surprised him, but, outside of his family, he is all Carter has.

Carter, after finishing cleaning himself off from any stray grass or dirt, sat down once again. His muscles tensed up slightly and he barely paid attention to Roy sitting down next to him. The two sat in an unusual silence for a few moments, Carter staring off into the distance while Roy tried to decipher his best friend's feelings. It took him a few minutes, but as soon as he reached eureka, he couldn't help but spit it out.

"You're nervous aren't you?" he questioned the smaller boy.

Carter gave Roy a look of slight irritation before saying in a sarcastic tone,"And what makes you think that?"

"Don't use that tone with me Carter. C'mon, it's just Reaping Day! The odds of people like us being chosen are almost slim to none. No one hears of the middle class being chosen. Sure we also need tesserae, but not as badly. Seriously, how many times is your name in the jar? Fifteen? Twenty?" said Roy.

"My name is in there about 32 times," Carter replied after a moment of hesitation, "I've lost count at this point."

"Seriously? You're joking with me, you have to be." Roy practically exclaimed, but the look on Carter's face suggested otherwise. He took a deep breath, searching through his mind for the right words to say. Usually, he is good with this, but not right now. His best friend just struck him with his Reaping reality like a giant brick wall. Why he hadn't mentioned this before, he didn't know, but now wasn't the time to ask.

"I'm pretty screwed aren't I Roy?" Carter asked.

"Do you want the sugarcoated reply or the brutally honest reply?"

"Surprise me."

"You're screwed."

"Well aren't you encouraging today?"

Calliope Miles was wearing a flowing pastel pink dress that went down to her mid-thighs. Around her waist was a sparkling silver belt that matched the straps on the dress. It was one of her old personal favorite dresses. Now, she despised it with her life, but of all the dresses in her closet, it best complimented her new diamond necklace. This one was a huge step up from the one that she broke this morning. Instead of just one diamond, there were several that were connected together as the chain of the necklace. In selected areas, a few diamonds were strung together and hang off of the necklace. It was definitely an improvement from the poor excuse of a diamond necklace from this morning.

Tossing her red hair over her shoulder, Calliope stared straight ahead, a blank expression on her face. If there was anything else she was not too thrilled about besides her dress, it was the fact that she was shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of poor excuses for humans. Their clothes were torn, bland, dirty. These type of people shouldn't touch someone as beautiful as herself.

With a scowl on her face, Calliope turns to the girl next to her who looks utterly terrified at what the future held. She didn't notice her terror though, and said in a venomous voice,"Could you please stand a little farther away? You're practically breathing down my neck!"

The girl, already terrified enough, nodded her head hastily and scooted closer to the girl on her right, giving Calliope more space. Smirking with a sense of pride, Calliope turned her attention to the stage where the Reaping was about to happen.

A woman in a tight black dress with matching black gloves and a gold, puffy jacket over her arms strutted onto stage. Her pale skin seemed to be tinted pink due to the heat of that day. Clearly, the Capitol didn't understand the topic of heat or sweat. She tried to nonchalantly wipe her forehead from the beads of sweat the now adorned her head like a crown, but was unsuccessful. A man in an elegant black suit walked up to her, nudged her arm, and made a motion to move on. She nodded her head and gave an awkward smile to the crowd of teenagers before her.

"Ah, ah yes... We are gathered here today to choose two lucky contenders in this year's annual Hunger Games! I'm sure you all are very excited and are all eager to be Reaped!" The woman adored in black was met with silence. "Moving forward! Let us take a moment to... reflect on our nation's history with a message from the President himself."

The silence continued throughout the video that they saw every year. Calliope rolled her eyes at how undesirable the video was. She could do a better job at creating and editing it the Capitol people. The woman in black strutted her way in her seven inch heels to the girl's Reaping Bowl. "How about ladies first, hmm?"

She reached her gloved hand into the bowl and plucked out the first piece of folded paper she touched. Moving back to the nearby microphone, she announced in her high Capitol voice, "Calliope Miles!"

Calliope freezes at the sound of her name. How could she possibly have been Reaped? This isn't how it's suppose to go! She's suppose to act pretty and live her normal sixteen year-old life. Being thrown into a battle to the death is definitely not on that list! Nonetheless, she forces her head up, tosses her hair over her shoulder, and starts walking to the stage. As she's walking, she bites her lip to stop the tears from falling that are forming in her eyes. The last thing she wants is to appear weak when so many people are watching her. Besides, no one sponsors a girl with running mascara, no matter beautiful she may be.

From the boy's section, Carter Ford stands tall amongst the crowd of his fellow seventeen year-olds in District Six. He recognizes the girl walking onstage, as does everyone else in the crowd. It's Calliope Miles, the bitchy mayor's daughter who is spoiled rotten and is dependent on everyone. She cries to get sympathy from others, she throws a tantrum when she doesn't get her way, and she thinks she owns the world she lives in. The girl is as clear as the diamonds that rest upon her neck.

Carter Ford pities the male tribute she is going to be sent into the Hunger Games with.

He just prays that it's not him.

As soon as Calliope is on stage, the woman in black smiles at the girl, clearly admiring the necklace the redhead wears. She shakes herself slightly out of the trance the necklace held on her and announces, "And now for the boys!"

Looks like she doesn't want to ask for any volunteers. Perhaps it's because she wants some fashion advice from Calliope. Carter ponders this for a moment. Maybe Calliope will bribe her way through the Games just so she can win and start a fashion line of some sort for the Capitol people. Carter nearly laughs out loud at his inner thoughts. In order for that to happen, she would need to win. That would be like saying Carter could win the Games, which is very unlikely.

Carter is pulled from his thoughts as soon as he hears his name being called. Being the quiet thinker that he was, he tends to zone out, such as right now. After inhaling the moment of shock in the air, he tries to slow his heart-rate by digging his nails into the palms of his hands. With each step, he takes a slow, steady breath. As long as he stays calm, he will be okay. For now, at least.

When he arrives onstage, all he can think about is how screwed his fate is. First it was all the times his name was in the bowl, then it was him being Reaped, and now his District partner is the District's least favored person that even he despises.

When the two are told to shake hands, Calliope holds out her hand, but not in the way one would to shake a hand. She held her hand out for hm to grab and kiss like a gentleman would. Carter gave her a strange look, his eyes diverting from her eyes to her hands then back to her eyes.

"You are about to touch the mayor's daughter. This is a great honor you don't get everyday." she whispers to him as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. In response, Carter shakes his head and decides to take the logical route, which is to just not shake her hand.

The two turn back to the audience, slight hatred and immense intensity filling the Reaping Center around them. As they stood there, waiting to be ushered to their rooms to say their Final Goodbyes, all Carter can think is that, although their future is dark, there's one thing crystal clear: they both are screwed.

So, after the long awaited District Six Reapings, I have finally completed the chapter! Super sorry for not updating sooner, I've been busy. Also, as a side note, I got a comment saying I don't give good enough reasonings as to why I never update, so here's a reason: My family has been in town and they constantly insist that we do things plus you add high school on top of that and a research paper on top of that... yeah I've been a little busy.

Sorry for not posting a new chapter, I wanted to edit this chapter before starting another one. Summer is approaching fast, and that holds plenty of writing opportunities, which I will gladly take advantage of. Until then, updates will be slow as usual. Just bear with me a little longer, these Reapings are halfway over!

Please keep commenting as well, I haven't been getting that many recently and I do appreciate your opinions on the characters, this story, and my writing. I'm open to support and criticism, so leave whatever you want in my comments.

Anyways, that's all I have right now, so I'm going to go now. Hopefully you'll hear from me soon!

Dura lex sed lex. ("The law is hard, but it is the law.")