Trigger Warnings: Biphobia

District 10 Reapings

~You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me~

Reese Crolique (14), District 10

Reese let her mind wander away from her as she played the ukulele to the rabbits, something that she enjoyed after her father taught her. She wondered what happened to everyone she used to know when she was still living in District 11. She missed Jasmine and her crazy family the most.

They had exchanged a few letters over the course of the year after she began settling into her new life in District 10. Those letters simply stopped after Reese got a letter from the late President Gemma Carstairs that, "You are simply not allowed to correspond with anyone from another district for the fear of another rebellion. Have a nice day." She still missed them, but she kept the very few letters that Jasmine sent to her. A tribute to her memory.

Reese could still remember what happened over the course of those years. According to her parents and her grandma, she was sent away when she was only a year old due to some family issues when Reese was simply a year old. All through the six years she befriended Jasmine during preschool when she had a hard time learning about her alphabet and numbers. Reese lived with them for a short time after her dear grandma died leaving her and her bunny alone, but luckily the Blanchard family didn't mind having another person living underneath the household even though the house was already packed with seven people living in it.

Reese could remember the day where she was sitting on the train alone, with her luggage right next to her, terrified. She knew she didn't really have to be afraid, but she felt like she was being adopted. Reese didn't know these people who claimed to be her parents; she wanted to go back home to the Blanchard family, maybe cheer up Jasmine, saying that she was here to stay and she wouldn't be going anywhere. It was terrifying safely to say, and she didn't like it. She felt homesick as she watched her district that she belonged to getting smaller and smaller before it disappeared.

"There you are!" her mom said, with worriment filling her tone. "I thought you went missing or something, you had your father and I worried sick." She said, scowling Reese.

"Sorry mom. I let my mind wander off of me; I was thinking about what happened when I was living back in District 11, back when Grandma and Destiny was still alive," Reese admitted, her blue eyes staring into her mother's green ones. Reese felt a small pit formed in her stomach as she remembered Destiny, her furry, white rabbit, who passed away only a few years back from old age. Destiny had been with her ever since she was a baby, so she missed her precious rabbit.

"Next time, tell one of us that you're here," her mother said, still showing at her.

"Yes, mom. I'll let you know the next time I go out with your permission."

The truth was, Reese just wanted to be alone and clear her worrying thoughts. She needed a small break away from people so that she could go and recover from how exhausting it felt like being surrounded by people. She doesn't mind it sometimes, but she needed to retreat alone to ease her constant worrying thoughts thinking that maybe one of her friends got hurt or something or that they wouldn't make a profit from their farms for the winter. Reese set her father's ukulele down right next to the fence post where the rabbits were currently eating broccoli or whatever fruit they were having tonight for supper.

"Good… Is anything bothering you?" her mom questioned.

"The usual. I just miss my old community, and I'm really worried that I'll probably fail that quiz coming up for school in the few days." Reese bit her lip, thinking about that quiz for Geometry that was coming up in a few days. She knew she didn't really have anything to worry about; she usually aced every single test she took, not because they were easy, but because she had a good memory that helped her in the long run.

"I know you're going to do good. I know you miss her. It just sucks that you're unable to contact her, have you really tried contacting the president to see if she would let you. From what I heard around the district, President Carstairs is doing a lot of things to help around the districts, unlike her mother leaving Panem in a strict state. Maybe she would open up the borders again, and we could take the trip to District 11 so that you could see her or send letters outside of the district?" Her mom suggested, which Reese smiled at her uplifting tone. Her mother usually wasn't like this, but Reese really wasn't going to complain about it. It was rare that Reese had a good, decent conversation with her mom.

"Mom, when did you and dad switch places? He's usually the one that's philosophical about these things, not you," said Reese playfully.

"Am I not allowed to make sure that my daughter is okay?"

"Yeah, good point."

They walked in silence right afterwards, and Reese considered her mom's points with a heavy thought. While Reese was curious about doing that, she knew she didn't really want to push the buttons. She would rather imagine in, but not take any action since the president could be like her mother, so what's the point? She was fine imaging it and she already created a scenario in her head.

Reese grinned happily when the mail came and she recognized Jasmine's scrawl immediately. It seemed that Reese's letter came through and Jasmine replied immediately as soon as she received it.

Dear Reese,

What a surprise that you sent a letter after all these years? I wondered what happened to you, and my house was never the same without you. I thought you forgotten about me, but this letter proves that you haven't forgot about me. We're all fine, life has been somewhat normal after you left. My dad still wishes that he had a son, but he is happy of what we got. I made a few new friends-Robin and Flor while you were gone, but Robin sadly passed away and I feel like I didn't help him enough, before he decided to end his life after all his pain. Flor is a decent girl, she kinda reminds me of you on some aspects of her personality, but nothing can replace you.

I hope that I'll see you again.

Love,

Jasmine

Reese cracked a small smile at that, but she knew it wouldn't happen, but a girl can dream. She missed Jasmine, but she's content with her life right here. Reese had some pretty good friends here, but she did miss her childhood best friend.

She looked at the fair skin, blonde hair, green eyed mom for a brief second, before she let her focus somewhere else. They quickly arrived, and Reese opened the door of her house, with her mom in tow. She saw her Dad standing in the kitchen, cooking something in a silver pot on the stove. Whatever it was, she hoped it was good. Usually, it was, so she had nothing to worry about.

"Hi dad," said Reese.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah… Just wanted to be alone for a bit to clear out my thoughts."

"Oh… Your friend, Jergen, is here. She said that you two were going to get something to eat with your friends," he said.

Reese closed her eyes for a brief second. She forgot about that? Really? They made plans to eat together before going horseback riding to celebrate Phoena's birthday. Normally, she usually remembered things like that, but maybe Reese was finally cracking under the pressure.

"Reese! There you are!" Her friend, Jergen exclaimed. "Ginny had to send me to go get you since you didn't come on time. Usually, you do, and your mom had to go find you since you said you were going out."

"Crap, sorry about that. Let's go… Dad, I'll be back by seven o'clock, k?"

"Make sure you take your keys," her dad commented, which Reese grabbed her keys off the keychain and hugged her parents before heading out with Jergen.

~Open your eyes
And look outside
Find the reasons why
You've been rejected
And now you can't find
What you left behind~

Dov Blair (13), District 10

Dov scowled at Danuta from a distance. Even though, Danuta wouldn't notice him from the distance between them, there was still a chance. He was kinda jealous of her, but not much anymore ever since he was kicked out on the streets. It wasn't like he was jealous of her as a person, but how easy her childhood was and how her parents loved her, but casted out their son. Dov learned the hard way that there people who were accepting of who he is, and those who weren't.

"Boy! Get to work!" He winced at the loud sound, before Dove dared to look at his boss's brown eyes. His boss marched towards him, his hands on his hips as he stared down at Dov's tiny frame. Dov started to shake in fear as his boss started yelling at him. No. This couldn't have been happening again. Why did he have to start yelling at him?

Suddenly, he felt like he was little again. A boy who had everything he really ever wanted-a loving family, a good place, and friends, before he came out. Before his parents made his life miserable. They often blamed him for everything that went wrong in the household from little things, and made it so that Dov wouldn't forget anytime soon. That all he was, was a spawn from the devil himself. That he never should have been born in the first place.

"Please! Don't yell at me," Dov managed to squeak out in fear, while his watery brown eyes staring at his boss's taller frame. His boss raised his fist in which Dov cowered in fear, afraid that he might strike him, but the man simply touched his shoulder.

"I don't pay you to sit around and look at people, when you're supposed to clean up the animals' shit here… Now get to work, before I fire you," his boss threatened him before he walked away leaving Dov alone, cowering in fear.

Dov glanced back at his boss before he got to work, raking up the animals' crap. It was the only thing that really kept him alive in the first place. The jobs that he was really capable of doing at his age, and probably really reminded how worthless he really felt a lot. Maybe he was a mistake at times…

It was probably his fault that he got into this mess in the first place, but at the same time he hoped that his parents would have accepted him. He had a good relationship with his parents. They loved him and made him feel happy every day of his life. They always said that they would always support him no matter what he did. The one day that Dov told them that he was pansexual, was the day that everything changed for him. They looked at him like he was crazy or that this was some sort of disease that was contagious. Luckily, Dov didn't have the courage to tell them that he was also a demiboy or that would just make his life even more miserable and probably would have killed him in the first place.

His parents stopped doing everything that they used to do that and always blamed him for everything that went wrong. Until one day, they found the courage to kick him out on the streets with very few belongings he managed to get, and he lived there ever since. He had to find jobs that would hire him during the evening mostly since school took most of the hours on the weekdays, and the fact that there was homework to do was tough.

"You almost done?" His boss asked, standing right next to the door. How many minutes that his boss had been standing there was beyond him, but it didn't really concern him. "It's almost five o'clock now."

Dov nodded. He only had a few more stalls to clean out and do the pens where the pigs and the goats were at. Though, hopefully he could finish it tomorrow if his boss allowed it. He usually liked to end his shifts around five o'clock that way he had time to scavenge around for food or eat whatever he saved from earlier and do homework before the moon came out, and fall asleep.

He had a backup plan at least in case things got into deep-shit, and that was going to an orphanage. He just didn't really want to burden anyone, and things weren't really that bad for him to go there. He had a decent lifestyle even if his living conditions were that idele. He gets food from the trash cans or leftover food from lunch or breakfast. The only thing that he wouldn't dare to do was steal.

There was no way in hell that he would ever want to do that again. He didn't want to feel the pain of the whip on his bare back, stinging and breaking the skin ever again. The first time Dov tried to do it, made him not to do it ever again. He got caught by a few peacekeepers, and they publicly whipped him as a sign of punishment. While he still had a few scars on his back, the event didn't really traumatize him too much besides it installed loyalty and obeying anything to any authorities, no matter if they were dumb. Dov didn't want to risk getting punished for disobeying authority.

"Finished," Dov said quietly, his fingers drumming his leg while he raked up the last bit of shit and put it into the bag. He wasn't sure if his boss heard him or not, but he didn't want to repeat himself again.

"Good. Once school gets done, you come straight here and clean up the pens. Okay?"

Dov nodded and set the rake down. He collected his faded bag that held all his school supplies and stuff that he needed and left without a word to find a nice play to sleep, where it somewhat kept him warm, had enough light and no one really noticed him sleeping on the streets. It was just another miserable day and there were days where Dov just wanted to sleep and not bother getting up again. He just couldn't do that to Renee, his best friend.

He just didn't have enough confidence to actually do something about it. Since it felt like he truly deserved this treatment, and that he wasn't worthy of having any nice things.

~I'm sick of people tellin' people I'm here 'cause of marketing dollars, oh
You think that everything is gonna blow just 'cause you market it harder? No
I got my hands in everything, now they out here tryna get to me~

Tobias Ryton-District 10 Escort

Tobias bit his bottom as he thought what he was going to do. He was just afraid that the Capitol would find out about his plan, and everything that he did was going to be ruined. What if he truly couldn't do this anymore? What if he'd just been arrogant in his skills that he was too blind to see that the Capitol probably caught on with what he had been doing in his apartment? Or if he left his apartment unprotected and someone walked in and saw what he did?

Breathe, Tobias reminded himself as he looked out the window where he saw a bunch of grey buildings that had no life to them whatsoever. It looked quite peaceful where it was possible that people could get away with things without having to risk the consequences. The district looked nice from what he could tell, besides that the district had quite dusty roads and a hint of shit coming from every direction. It just made this district disgusting to live in and probably not one of the best places to live, but probably easy to hide secrets.

Tobias still had no clue how he would sneak anyone out even if it was his own tributes. He knew time was ticking away, but he didn't really have any close people to actually trust when it came to the Capitol. All the rebels that resided in the Capitol were gone including his little brother, Maxwell, and his friends. He was the only one that was still alive, and now he had a job to do even if he was alone.

Tobias wanted Panem to back how it was originally with the democracy government and how people had rights before World War 3 happened. The war that America stopped existing since politicians and the presidents lied that the citizens would be safe, when in fact, they couldn't even save their own asses. It took many years of anarchy before a group called The Reestablishment with their leader, Nyx White, banded together and formed Panem. The remaining area of the land was divided up in thirteen districts. Panem had a lot of strict laws much harsher than the late President established, and people wanted change. A particular group called the Revolution essentially started the rebellion where people were either joining the group for a change, remaining neutral or siding with the Capitol. A war that innocents blood split on the streets.

After the rebellion ceased with the Capitol taking complete control, rebels that were found in the Capitol had been executed for treason. He could still remember the cries coming from Maxwell which made him feel sick of the Capitol's reasons. They never should have killed him. They would get what they would deserve someday in the future.

Tobias didn't care if he risked his neck every day trying to rebel against the Capitol. Taking one step at a time instead of rushing through and being reckless. He had to play this smart in order to succeed. Hopefully, he could get more rebels to join him, or maybe a game-maker to his cause. Tobias didn't want to see anymore innocent blood being spilled, and giving tributes PTSD for the rest of their lives after facing the horrors of the Hunger Games.

That was the main reason why he signed up to become an escort. He wanted to be in the innermost place to influence the others. While it would have been better if he was a game-maker, he couldn't afford the risk of being one. He game-makers would tell that he was the one that had messed up a lot of things, and besides being an escort meant that he could influence others decisions easily without leaving much of a trail.

Tobias looked at the round clock in the room and looked at the time. He had to be on stage in ten minutes, but it was better than standing around doing nothing instead. He looked at his appearance and smiled the biggest smile he could muster. While, Tobias wasn't pleased on doing this; he knew he had to do it.

He walked on stage, and he saw the bright, smiling faces which was exaggerating quite a bit. No one loved this day especially in the lower districts where they had no chance of winning against the careers, who had more of an experience with weapons.

"Welcome! I'm Tobias Ryton and I'll be your escort for this year's Hunger Games, which is going to be exciting once again!" He lied on the last part because it was not going to be exciting. It was going to be devastating watch twenty-three others who had family and friends back home, rooting for them to die, most likely in their own blood.

The video cued on and Tobias paid no mind to it until it was time to pick the female. He dipped his hand into the right bowl, and grabbed a white slip of paper. He opened it and read, "Reese Crolique!"

A young girl who walked out of the fourteen-year-old area had on a red and black flannel dark blue demins along with a checkered bandana on top of her hair. He could tell by the way she walked that she was afraid and probably was doomed from the start. He just hoped that he could get connections to save her. She looked so sweet and young. She probably had a lot of people waiting for her to get back home now.

"How old are you?" Tobias asked the girl-Reese once she got on stage.

"Fourteen," she whispered, before looking at her feet the rest of the time. Tobias paid no mind to it and dipped his hand into the left bowl. He picked one and read, "Dov Blair!" He really hoped that he pronounced that right. He said it like Dove, but he didn't know. Kids have weird names and weird pronunciations at times.

A guy who probably looked like he was only seven or eight at most, was dragged onto the stage with peacekeepers dragging him by his arms. They made him stand on the stage before the peacekeepers headed back to their assigned position. Tobias heard sniffling come from him and then, full on crying a second later. Poor guy.

"How old are you?" Tobias asked.

"T-T-Thirteen," He stammered. He wore a ratty old t-shirt that was long since faded and baggy jeans that was covered in dirt. He looked even more terrible, and Tobias just wanted to comfort him. "Y-You a-also m-mispronounced m-my name. It's Dov pronounced like Dom, but with a v. Not Dove."

He decided to continue on before Dove embarrassed himself a lot more. Tobias said, "Our tributes-Reese Crolique and Dov Blair!"

He then ushered both of them off stage and into the Justice building.

~Be strong, be strong now
Too many, too many problems
Don't know where she belongs
Where she belongs~

Dov Blair (13), District 10

Dov continued to cry in the room to say goodbye to anyone. He didn't expect anyone to come and visit him. He was a piece of shit of probably deserved this kind of treatment. Dov knew he had no chance of winning, and he didn't want to sugarcoat it to himself. He was weak and was only thirteen with barely any confidence left in him. He was broken and doomed from the start so what was the point in trying. No one loved him, nor did anyone actually care for him.

Dov looked up with tears still streaming down his most likely, tomato red face as he heard the door shut. He saw his only friend in the whole universe, Renee Payne. She had been wiping away a few tears from her eyes before she said, "Never thought I would see you here? What happened to the 'I won't take out much tesserae' promise?"

Dov had laughed before he said, "I didn't take out much tesserae… You better not grow while I'm gone. I'll miss teasing you about your shortness," he said, changing the topic to a cheerful one.

Renee had rolled her eyes at that before she responded, "That just makes me want to grow even more, if I ever get my growth spurt. It isn't really fair that you're taller than me while I feel like an ant with all this tall people."

"Hopefully."

"See you when you get back?" She said.

While Dov wanted to tell the truth that he wasn't going to return home alive, he couldn't break her heart like that, so he simply responded, "I'll try."

~And as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see, it's our destiny~

Reese Crolique (14), District 10

Reese bit her bottom lip as she waited for someone to arrive. She only had to wait a few seconds before her mom and dad shown up, both clutching each other for support. They probably never thought that they would see their only child reaped after just getting her back a few years ago. To be honest, Reese never expected to be reaped either. She just wanted to grow up and hope for the best without having to worry about getting reaped ever.

"You okay?" Her mom asked.

Reese smiled for a few seconds before she responded, "Not really. I never expected this to happen. I just want to go back home and not have to worry about this, but it's not exactly like I really planned for this. It's just ironic for this to happen."

Her mom had laughed gently before she wrapped her arms around Reese's body. Reese hugged her back, and leaned her head onto her mom's stomach, not wanting to move for a few. Her dad had smiled before he responded, "I really hope you have a plan, Reese. I'll do whatever I can to help you, but no promises. Get the audience on your side. That will help you in the long run."

Reese nodded. While she already knew that, it was better to hear it multiple times to remember his advice. She would do just that and try not to make many enemies along the way. "Remember, there's people rooting for you back home, don't forget that. We love you." He planted a kiss on her head, and her mom did soon after that. Reese smiled softly before the peacekeepers came in and kicked her parents out of the room. She was left alone for a few minutes before she heard a rowdy noise that she knew it was her friends coming to see her.

Ross, Ginny and Jergen entered first with Hayleth, Phoena and Icellia trailing behind them. They were laughing and cheerful, but Reese could tell that they were upset by this. They were a little quiet when normally their group is quite loud.

"Reese, how are you feeling?" Icellia asked worriedly.

"Alright I guess. I just wished this never happened… Ross, Ginny knock it off. You two arguing is really annoying, and I don't really want to here it right now," said Reese, noticing that her two friends Ginny and Ross were arguing on some silly topic that Reese didn't really want to know. She knew it was a friendly argument, but it was annoying. Honestly, both of them acted like little children at times when they got into silly arguments.

Ginny and Ross quit arguing once Reese said and she smiled proudly at them before she said, "Do I really want to know what you two are arguing about now?"

"I told Ross that his corny responses are childish," Ginny said, crossing her arms while looking at Ross.

"You shouldn't be talking," Ross pointed out.

"Enough, you two. Last time I checked we only had a few minutes of saying goodbyes and like an hour," Reese told them. "Hayleth, you're awfully quiet."

Hayleth smiled weakly before she said, "I'm just going to miss you, and hopefully you do your best."

"Same," Phoena said quietly. She probably didn't want anyone to hear that she was being nice, but Reese knew that was a lie. It was the fact that Phoena used to bully others for her pleasure before she changed her colors. "I'll make sure, I'll keep these two from ripping each other's throat out."

Hayleth laughed quietly from what Phoena said, but Reese paid no mind to it.

"I'm pretty sure, we're all going to miss her… Anyone want to get a burger or something?" Jergen said. Reese smiled a bit, before they were told to leave after they agreed on something. It was weird that Jergen cared about her figure, but she really loved to eat a lot.

After they had left, Reese was left alone.

It took me a month to update this. It would have taken me sooner, but I was swamped with projects left and right. I also had Reese's part written for about a week before I continued on, and took me a few days to write Dov. I had to include the pronunciation because I thought it would be funny and that was also my first thought was Dove before I read what the pronociation was. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hopefully the next one doesn't take to long. Let me know what you think!

The blog is finally completed. Here is the link: https : frozenalive-tenth-annual-hunger-games. blogspot 2018/ 12/ district-1-female-affluence-cardeza-age. html