Clearly me and slow updates are friends. It's been a crazy year, and more online school is somehow more tiring than anything.

~I've got myself, I've got my freedom

But I'm searching for my home

Cause I am hurting but not helpless~

Mary Grace Su (12), District 9

Mary Grace leaned towards the wall, carefully ducking between the other students. There was a trail of her usual bullies on her tail, and she didn't want to get stuck with them again. It was easy with her small frame that it made hiding and blending in quite easy.

But sometimes, her hiding failed, just like it did now. Soon, a crowd of four gathered around her, which made her fearful. It was her usual group of bullies. All four of them were ugly looking, and their intelligence suffered from it.

"Hey look, it's Mary Sue!" One of the bullies, Gerald-if she remembered correctly, taunted. Mary tried to turn away, to avoid looking at him, and hoping to avoid the situation. "Oh don't go. You're no fun if you do that."

He grabbed onto her arm, and she squirmed.

"So Mary Sue? Are you actually a Mary Sue or did your parents forget that they were having another child, so they just used something that would make everyone bully you for it?" He inquired.

"It's actually Su," She whispered, but she knew they weren't going to listen. There was no point in trying to argue her way out of this conversation, but they knew they were correct. She was born as Mary Grace, a plain simple name. Something that would be easily overlooked. It was just that her last name actually made it harder.

For as long as she remembered, the taunts were the same. It still hurt her the same and made her feel bad. It wasn't her fault that her parents named her Mary Grace, nor was it their fault that she had the last name Su, which reminded everyone of the dreaded mary sue. Mary Sues were too perfect, too unnatural and an easy target for one being named earily named close to one.

She soon felt the tears threatening to break, but she refused to let them see her cry. She didn't understand the reason why she was still not used to the bullying, to the taunts because of her name. She should have been used to it, but it still hurt her every time like the wound was still fresh.

Mary Grace blinked rapidly to clear away the tears. She remained silent while she waited until the bullies got bored of bullying her. Eventually, the school bullies got bored and left her alone. Mary Grace sighed to herself.

"It'll be alright… I'm fine," She whispered to herself. It was easier to say that she was fine than to admit the fact that she was lonely, she was hurt. And besides, everything happens for a reason.

The bell rang, Mary Grace scurried to class-grateful that she was close to her next class. Luckily, it turned out that it was art class, one of her favorite subjects. A place where she could get ignored if she was lucky, but the teacher there kept trying to get her out of her shell, and complimenting her artwork.

She took her seat at the back of the class. It only had two other people at the table, but they never really paid attention to her, which was the one thing that she liked. Mary Grace wasn't a huge fan of people talking to her especially since who knew what they said.

"Alright class, finish up your portraits and put them on the rack when you're done," The teacher said. Mary Grace took out her sketchbook and finished drawing the details of herself. It was a little hard trying to get her eyes right.

She always had a weakness of drawing eyes, especially self portraits. It was so hard trying to get the detail correct, and most times, she wondered if she was doing it right. If her work was actually good enough for it. If her art was actually good.

Mary Grace moved onto finding any details that she missed onto her page, before gently ripping the page out.

"Good job, Mary Grace… Have you considered entering the art show as I suggested?" The teacher asked, looking at her work.

Mary Grace kept her eyes on her page, and continued getting the details right before she responded quietly, "I don't know." I'm not really a fan of social interactions nor I don't think my art is perfect enough. She added silently in her head.

"Well think about it… I think it'll do you some good, and help people about the real you," The teacher said, before walking off and checking other students work.

As much as the art show appealed to her, she really didn't think her work was good enough. There was always something imperfect about it, some mistake that was obvious even from a distance. And she really doubt, people would actually want to see her work, and the attention. That was an easy thing to say no too.

I got a brand new attitude

And I'm gonna wear it tonight

I wanna get in trouble

I wanna start a fight~

Consus Carmone (15), District 9

Consus heard the repetitive argument from his parents. It was always the same argument over and over. He couldn't see why they couldn't just get a divorce already, because the fighting was getting really old and annoying.

"It's your fault… How can you do this!" His mother screamed at his father.

Rolling his eyes, Consus rolled off the bed and grabbed his new pair of shoes that has yet to get scuffed up or get dirty. It was one of the expensivest pairs of shoes they had, which was supposed to be good quality, but he'll know after he broke them in.

He walked out of his room and out the front door. HIs parents, ignoring him as he passed by, too caught up in their argument. Like usual.

It was fine. He had business to attend too, and didn't want his parents to pay attention to him. Now that he thought about it, even though they spoiled him-he never had the love from them, nor did they care when their marriage started going downhill. All they did was just give him money, whatever he wanted, a roof over his head and food and that was fine by him.

Consus walked over to the park which was only a five minute park. Most times now, no one really played at the playground due to where he and his goons were always at for a meeting place. Or it was a just place where they sat at for unsuspecting fools that wanted to get in the way.

"Did you bring the stuff?" He asked Jesse. Jesse was one of his goons that was really unintelligent and the main one who terrorized the children in giving them whatever they had.

"Yep." He handed him a black duffel bag and Consus unzipped it. There lied about fifteen or twenty cans of spray paint, all different colors. He whistled at the amount of spray paints and knew it was going to be fun in disrupting the district.

"Good work… Let's go wreck some things," He said in a cold voice.

Him and his goons walked down to the Justice Town Hall and onto the side of the building. It was a risk especially being next to where the increase of peacekeepers and the mayor was at, but they wouldn't do anything too him. Nothing that would cost him a few hundred dollars to pay them off; say nothing and that's the way he liked it.

No one was able to stop them due to the amount of money his family had. It was easier to bribe them off, or make them fear him than let him get tossed into prison for causing havoc in the district.

He unzipped the duffel bag, and montioned of his goons to go have at it. He picked up a black can of spray paint and started writing the signature of their little gang on the bottom of their little mural.

"Hey what are you doing?" A peacekeeper demanded, his gun already pointing at them. Shit! His mind quickly rolled through how much cash he had left in his wallet. Probably like a few hundred, but his mom would give him the money without asking why he needed it. "That's it! You four are coming with me!"

He motioned the four with the backup to make sure neither of them would escape into the Justice Building and led them to the familiar path leading them to the Mayor. He kept his eyes down on the gray, stone floor.

The peacekeeper knocked on the door, and opened it to meet Mayor Lee. Mayor Lee was a thin, balding man who had a little bit of East Asian ancestry in his features. Having Asian ancestry or anything that was non-white was considered really rare in the district.

"Aah, Mr. Carmone, what brings you back here?" He inquired.

"Sir, I have these four spraypainting on the end side of the building, sir," The peacekeeper said.

"Well now that's a different story…" He hummed.

Consus dug his hand into his pocket to find his wallet. He pull it out, and grabbed a hundred dollars out of there.

"That should be enough sir," He said. He knew how much they wanted.

The Mayor took the money and counted it.

"Give me another hundred and we will keep it hush hush," He said. Consus handed him another hundred to keep him quiet. It was usually how it went. He got in trouble, he gave them cash to keep it hush hush and that was the end of the matter. It was easy since his parents always gave him money to shut him up, and didn't care where it went.

She's the first in line at the party

She's the first in line at the club

And she's got that body, always gotta flaunt it~

Artemesia Blanes, District 9 Escort

Artemesia frowned as she saw her outfit. It wasn't perfect enough, or there was something off about it. Ugh, she spent three hours trying to pick out her outfit and it wasn't good enough. Why was there something missing to this outfit?

There was no time to find another outfit, so she'd have to make do with it. Though, she still couldn't see why she was stuck in Nine, of all districts. She'd rather be in one, maybe two, four was pushing it. Unfortunately, she was stuck here until she ever produced a victor or she quit, one of the two.

Artemisia wasn't a huge fan of nine. There was nothing interesting in the district. Both of her tributes always seemed to die so quickly. There were a few moments where she thought her daddy's name to get her somewhere just like it used too. It just seemed that no one cared who her daddy was in the Districts or being an escort.

If they actually cared about her daddy's name, she'd probably be in District 1 maybe 2, where there was a higher chance that people would respect her. She wouldn't be stuck in nine, wondering which of the tributes would die quickly. It was really weird not seeing people care about her daddy.

In the Capitol, everyone knew her daddy was. They gave her a free pass during school, and did stuff that she wasn't supposed to. Here, it never mattered. The only thing they seem to care about was the fact that the reaping was basically a death sentence; wondering which male and female tribute would be chosen, and selected to die.

It would be nice to see some of the tributes make it far into the Games. Being both an escort and a Mentor was a hard job which she still wasn't used to. She never had to work much in her life, but this was still new to her. How can she still be someone that people looked up to her while she let everyone down?

It was hard. It was a challenge Artemisia knew she had to face. No one cared about her daddy, or how rich she was-one of the wealthiest people. Fourth in the Capitol if she remembered correctly, but that was beside the point.

Artemesia sighed, running her fingers in her violet hair-the same exact shade of her dress. Her dress still did not look right, but she supposed it was fine enough for this District: Plain and boring. Still, she wished that she wasn't in this district. Stupid rule aboutt the escorts not being able to transfer unless they produced a victor and even then, it wasn't a guarantee.

She had to "enjoy" whatever fun there was with District 9; starting with reaping the tributes. Maybe, there would be some decent ass tributes in this mix.

Artemesia walked out of the room and headed towards the giant, black doors to where the District was waiting. She smiled as much as she could, and made sure to put a bounce in her step as she walked. Thank goodness, she couldn't wear high heels. She'd rather wear flats than wear high heels anyday.

Artemesia couldn't understand how people were able to wear high heels all day without spraining their feet, or walking too slowly. She still thought people who did that were superheroes, because that was one of the few things she couldn't do under any circumstances. She liked the luck of her not breaking any bones, and wearing heels just screamed that it's a high possibility.

The exact reason why she was wearing violet flats instead. She tried wearing high heels when she was younger, but the feeling being taller than her normal 5'1 was strange. There was also a lot of wobbling and very slow walking of what she was used to. There were a lot lower chances of not breaking her ankle or spraining it while wearing flats.

She smiled happily as she looked at the citizens of District 9. There were a lot of blank faces; she knew what they were thinking: who was the next two tributes to die.

"Hello, District 9! I'm Artemesia Blanes and once again, I'll be your escort for the 10th annual Hunger Games!" She exclaimed. "Let's get started why we have the Hunger Games instituted in the first place!"

The video blasted on. She tuned out most of it, because frankly, it was pointless. Artemisia was pretty sure no one actually paid attention to the video portion. She was tempted to roll her eyes, but refrained from doing so.

Soon, the video was over and Artemisia smiled before saying, "Glad that's over… The moment you've been waiting for. The tributes for this year's Hunger Games… As usual, ladies first!"

Artemesia placed her perfectly-manicured hand into the bowl before selecting a white piece of paper. She unfolded it and yelled out, "Mary Grace Su."

She wanted to giggle at the name, ignoring the Grace part. Mary Su? Really? She was wondering what her parents were thinking when they named her that. Did they just want her to get bullied because her name was Mary Su? She took a deep breath, smiled as bright as she could.

A tiny twelve-year-old walked out. She was wearing a plain black dress that went nicely with her Asian features. The poor thing was shaking and it was quite obvious that walking seemed to be really challenging for her. She paused at the stairway for a few moments before walking up slowly onto the stage.

She was shaking even as she got closer. Mary Grace refused to look at the audeience, and chose to look at her feet.

"How old are you?" Artemesia questioned.

"T-T-Twelve," She stammered, still looking down at the ground.

Artemesia cleared her throat and picked out another white slip in the opposite bowl and screamed, "Consus Cormone!"

A tall guy-probably around seventeen or eighteen walked calmly up the stage. He bore no emotion on his face, but he looked confident which was almost rare in the district.

"How old are you?" She questioned.

"Fifteen," he responded.

"Our two tributes-Mary Su and Consus Cormone!"

She guided the two tributes inside the Justice Building, and waited for them to say goodbye to their family and friends.

And now that we're done

I'm gonna show you tonight

I'm alright, I'm just fine~

Consus Cormone (15), District 9

Consus was still trying to comprehend what happened. Never did his years, did he think that he would get reaped for the Hunger Games. And unfortunately, it wasn't one of those things that he can just bribe and get off-that only worked with the district mainly and the peacekeepers.

He stood there in silence, trying to think of some way to win this. It was possible, and with the right connections, he might win.

The door swung open to reveal his three goonies-Jesse, Byron, and Cale. They all wore the same blank expressions with a stupid glint in their eyes. He took out his wallet and gave him fifty dollars each. It should be enough to keep them going and continue to terrorize the citizens. All three were idiots so he wasn't worried about them spending money willy nilly like that.

"Continue to terrorize people, and steal their wallets…" He told them. "Just don't be reckless."

They nodded and he was left alone. He soon wondered if his parents were actually going to get out of the argument, and actually come give him a goodbye. He doubted that as they never did pay attention.

The door opened again t reveal his parents bickering about who knows what. They bickered and bickered, only acknowledging his existence when the peacekeeper knocked on the door that their time was up.

They gave him a goodbye and that was it.

~Full of strength and scars

I'm out here in the darkness

Looking for a light to call home~

Mary Grace Su (12), District 9

Mary Grace stared at her shoes, looking at the scuff marks-anything just to keep her from panicking. She still couldn't believe that she was reaped, and the eyes that were on her. God, she wanted to curl up and hide under a rock as she probably made a fool of herself. She looked at her hands that were still shaking.

It was so quiet that she could probably hear a pin drop as she hoped that her family would actually remember that her mom actually had a middle child, that wasn't about her brother Joe. Or she actually had a daughter in the first place. Most times, her mom actually forgot that she had another child that didn't surround her two brothers.

A few minutes passed but she could hear the familiar voices of her mom doting on her younger brother, and praising her older brother, John for most likely, his straight A's like usual. She wished she had that kind of attention, but it scared her a lot. The eyes, and the thoughts that followed which was either positive or negative.

The door opened and there was her family. Her mom praised John, while doting on her younger brother because it looked like he got a cut on his arm, probably from playing football or something.

She stayed quietly, hoping that one of them actually noticed that there was someone in the room, who just got reaped into the games. But they didn't, not even when the peacekeeper knocked and said that their time was up. At least they showed up.

Mary Grace was left alone for who knows how long. The door opened to reveal a familiar blonde haired, pale skin girl-Perrine. They weren't friends at all.

"Hey good luck out there," She responded.

"Thanks," She whispered.

Perrine smiled and headed out and the silence in the room followed suit until her partner finished saying his goodbyes.

Long time no see. School work has been draining me a lot, but now because my school is not allowing my grade to come in because of the cases-maybe I'll have more time to write. I thought COVID would be nice, but I still haven't too much of writing time through really any of this. Anyways, I hope you're all safe and well. Drop a review down below and tell me what you think!