District 4 female – Hazel Mayfly, 17
I slept in the next morning, and when I woke up I jumped when I saw Alexander beside me, his eyes open and a smile on his face.
"Oh, god, Alex," I said, laughing.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered to me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Thank you," I responded.
"You have any plans for today?" he asked me.
"What day is it?" I asked, yawning.
"Monday, I think."
"Monday!?" I repeated.
"Yeah?"
"What time is it?"
"Eleven o'clock, darling," he said.
"Eleven o'clock! Oh my god, Alexander, I have..." I scrambled out of the bed and pulled on the clothes I had been wearing the previous night.
"You have what?"
"School!" I cried.
"School?" he chuckled.
"Yes!" I said. "I've gotta..."
"Just stay with me," he said to me. "You don't need school, you're perfect."
"I – OK," I said. He said I was perfect. I wouldn't be perfect if I left him and went to school.
"Come here," he said, holding his arms out for me. Part of me wanted to ask if he was actually going to give me cash for all of the things I had stolen the previous day. But he certainly wouldn't consider me perfect if I did that. I was desperate for his love. For his compliments.
So I crawled back into the bed and rested my head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder.
"You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, Hazel."
I left Alexander's house that afternoon when he had to go to work, and I went to the town centre alone to place my vote on which tributes I wanted to go into the games. I'd already made up my mind, and most people had voted the day before, so it wasn't hard to get in and out swiftly. There was one woman there with a lovely-looking pendant around her neck, so I swiped it from her as I approached the voting table. I placed the two papers down, and aggressively wrote "Lily Highwater" on one of them and Sal Harris on the other paper, before shoving them into the two boxes for voting.
I hoped they would both go into those games and die.
I then made my way back to my own house, wishing I could just go to Alexander's house instead. His house was a lot nicer than mine, and of course, it didn't contain Wallis Mayfly sitting in it drinking himself silly.
He was there when I arrived home, but, to my surprise, he wasn't passed out. He was sitting up in his dusty, broken chair, and staring at me as I walked into the house.
"Where have you been?" he grunted at me.
"Voting for the tributes," I said.
"Where were you last night?"
"Just–" I paused. Did I really want him to know that I had a boyfriend? I probably would have talked about my relationship with him if he had been a normal father to me. So, I finished my sentence by saying, "At a friend's house."
"Why didn't you ask me for permission?" he asked.
"Er, maybe because you're never conscious and don't even try to be sober for me?" I said, my voice going bitter.
His expression went cold at that. "Fine then, Hazel. But don't come running to me when you leave without my permission and get kidnapped."
"OK, I won't," I snapped, before walking away from him.
*line break*
It wasn't long before the reaping day came around, and I was waking up early to get dressed in a lovely green dress, and a bit of make-up before dragging my dad away from his chair so we could go to the reaping.
"Why do I need to go?" he grumbled.
"It's a compulsory event, you know that," I said to him.
"I'm not getting up," he snapped at me.
"Whatever," I sighed, before turning away from him and making my way to the town centre.
Once I was there I found my way into the line where I had to stand and found myself right next to Lily Highwater.
"Oh, hey, Hazel," she said to me, smiling in that fake smile she did.
"What?" I snapped at her, and she sighed.
"I take it you're still stealing?" she asked, and I just shrugged at her.
"So what if I am?"
Lily shrugged. "Guess we'll find out today."
"Whatever," I said, as the escort walked onto the stage, waving at us all. Once she reached the microphone, she began talking to us all about random things, before looking down at her tablet.
"Ladies first!" she said, beaming. "The female tribute selected is... Hazel Mayfly."
I felt my stomach flip. Me? Was it really me? My eyes began to sting with the need to cry, but I took a deep breath as I began to walk up to the stage. I would not let them see me cry.
On my way up there, I snatched a bracelet from a little girl. Maybe I could get some money to spend in the Capitol. Or give the bracelet to people in exchange for them to sponsor me.
Once I was on the stage, the escort looked down at her tablet again to announce the male tribute. She announced the male tribute as Luderick Bellamy, the mayor's son. We shook hands, then were taken back into another room to say goodbye to anyone who cared to see us.
Alex came into the room then, looking me up and down in disbelief. I felt my eyes sting with tears as I walked towards him, wanting to just fall into his arms.
But, before I could, he stepped away from me. I looked up at him, confused. He always would take any excuse to touch me, and why would he not want to hug me now, knowing he may never see me again?
"Hazel," he said shortly, his voice strange. "I need to let you know something. I can't have you dying thinking that..."
"Thinking what?" I asked, my voice shaking a little.
"Thinking that I ever loved you," he said, with a blank expression.
I laughed quietly. "What do you mean?"
"Why do you think I was with you?" he asked me.
"For – because you love me. Because you think I'm beautiful and perfect and... and all the things you've said about me..." I said, trailing off.
Alex chuckled. "God, how else would I have gotten you to stay with me and keep me rich?"
I looked up at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Take for example the ring you stole the other day," he said, and I felt my stomach flip. "I got that off you for fifty dollars. Sold it for five grand."
"You used me," I said, my voice flat. "You scammed me so you could get free money."
"The sex was a bonus," he shrugged.
I felt tears forming in my life. All I'd ever wanted was validation and love from an attractive guy, so Alex had been everything I'd ever dreamed of. But here I was, discovering that none of it had been true. He'd used me. As the tears began to pour down my face, Alexander grabbed my wrist. I swiped it away, but my reflexes were slow due to my teary vision, and he managed to snatch the bracelet I'd stolen from me.
"Enjoy the games, Hazel," he said before leaving the goodbye room.
And I sank to the floor, sobbing.
District 4 male – Luderick Bellamy, 14
The morning after the Quarter Quell was announced, I was woken up by my father crying out in annoyance. I climbed out of bed straight away and rushed out to see what the problem was.
"More damn letters," he said in frustration. "From those damn people complaining about the damn building projects! I'm the damn mayor, not them!"
"Well... maybe you should stop destroying the beauty of their gorgeous district," I said.
"Seriously, Rick?" he groaned. "Not you too."
"Dad, we live in the only beautiful place in Panem. Don't take it to the dumps with these building projects, we'll end up as ugly as the Capitol," I said. "Plus, why do you want more of those crazy plastic people staying here anyway?"
"It will be worth it, Rick," he said. "We'll earn so much profit from it when it's done."
"Whatever," I grumbled, pouring myself a glass of juice. "Should we go vote for the tributes? It opened this morning."
"Yes, but everyone will be there this morning, Rick," my father said. "We'll do it tomorrow morning."
"But Dad, I want to interact with these people," I said. "They'll be my people soon. I know they already like me, but they'll like me more if I interact with them."
My father sighed. "Alright. You go this morning and interact with our people. Your mother and I will vote tomorrow."
"Alright," I said, then walked out to the area where everyone was submitting their votes for the tributes. I greeted a few random people, but they just gave me a small smile and then walked away.
I wrote down the guy Summer had hoped would volunteer, Delmar Aguado, as the male tribute, and for the female tribute, I wrote down the girl who I believed was the best girl in the Career Academy.
*line break*
On the day of the reaping, I wore the fanciest clothes I owned for such a special occasion and stood excitedly between Carpo and Anchor. We'd spent the last week since the voting and leading up to this day creating a huge poster for whoever was selected as the tributes, to encourage them to win the first Quarter Quell for District Four. I was now holding that poster behind my back as District Four's escort, a woman named Guinevere Cardiff, pulled out an electronic device to read off and tell us all who had been selected as tributes.
"Ladies first," she said, smiling. "The female tribute selected is... Hazel Mayfly."
Hazel Mayfly? I thought to myself. She's not a career! Why would they vote her in?
I rolled my eyes as the female tribute, who was a few years older than me, walked up to the stage.
"Alright..." said Guinevere. "Now, time for the boys. The male tribute is... Luderick Bellamy."
When she said my name, I snorted to myself for a second, and then, after a few seconds, I was laughing out loud. It was kind of funny, but still, what sort of a sick joke was that?
"Alright, who's the actual tribute?" I asked after I was finished with my laughing.
"The actual tribute is Luderick Bellamy," said Guinevere. "I'm not kidding."
Yeah, right, I thought, looking around at the crowd for some sign that they were joking. All of their expressions were blank.
No, no, no, no, no, no... I thought to myself, shaking my head. They couldn't have voted for me. Why would they vote for me? I was the future mayor. I was the biggest supporter of this district. I had never said a word against anyone who lived in District Four.
I stumbled towards the stage. I couldn't go to the Hunger Games. Not only did that mean I had a twenty-three in twenty-four chance of dying, but that meant I had to go to the capitol. The fake, plasticky, stupid, ugly, Capitol. And I'd have to be around the other tributes, who were all from the other disgusting districts.
I had to be dreaming. There was no way this could be real. I had to be dreaming. I pinched myself and bit my lip but no, no, no, it wasn't a dream, and I was about to leave my beloved district, maybe even for good.
When I was on the stage, I looked out at the district. Some of them looked happy, some looked sad, and others refused to look at me. I couldn't believe this. These people who I'd loved so much. These people who had children in the games previously, who I'd cheered on with everything that I had. They'd all betrayed me.
No. I lived in a Career District. I wouldn't go to the games. I fell to my knees and faced Guinevere, gripping her foot, feeling tears coming into my eyes. It was the only time I ever greased up my hands touching someone from outside of District Four.
"Can the Careers volunteer for me?" I begged her.
"There are no volunteers this year," she said, and the beating rhythm of my heart came to a complete stop. There was no getting out of this.
I grabbed the stupid Capitol electronic device from her stupid Capitol hands and looked at it. It had my name written across it. Screaming in anger, I threw it to the floor, and it smashed into pieces.
"You fucking self-obsessed pig!" I screamed at Guinevere. "You hedonistic, ugly little Capotolite!"
I went to smack the stupid ugly fake makeup off her face, but the peacekeepers gripped onto my arms and dragged me off the stage and into the goodbye room, as I screamed out insults at Guinevere, even if it wasn't her fault that I'd been voted into the games.
Just a minute later, my mother and father came rushing into the goodbye room, their faces flushed with anger.
"Luderick Bellamy!" my mother cried; her voice shrill.
"What?" I snapped.
"What do you mean, 'what'?" my father snapped back. "You know the reapings will be on television for everyone to watch later tonight, don't you? Everyone in all of Panem will see your terrible behaviour, including the Capitol."
"So what?" I said. "The capitol is awful. They're the reason I'm going into these stupid death games! Because if you would just listen to this wonderful district, and stop changing it all for the stupid capitol, they wouldn't have been so mad at you to send me to the games! I hate you, Dad! I hate both of you! Get out!"
At that, my parents left, and Carpo, Gilda, Anchor, and Summer all came into the room to say goodbye to me. Gilda had tears streaming down her face.
"It'll be alright... you'll be alright," said Summer. "If there's water, you'll be one of the very few tributes who can swim."
"Smash those other districts," said Anchor. "Win it for Four."
"Just... cheer on Hazel," I said. "She and I will work together. One of us will do it for the district."
"Well... goodbye, Rick," said Carpo and all four of them hugged me tightly, with Gilda kissing me as well.
After they left, my brother, Salmo came in and wrapped his arms around me. We stayed like that for a long time, before he asked me if I could listen to his advice, and I nodded.
"Rick... I know you hate people from other districts, OK? But now that you're going into the games... you need to let that go. You need allies," he said.
"I have Hazel," I said.
"Just because she's in District Four doesn't mean she won't betray you," said Salmo. "I mean, look at all those people out there. They betrayed you. Plus, everyone knows that Hazel's a thief. So, when you try to find some other allies, instead of judging them straight away, try walking in their shoes."
"I – how?" I asked, but before Salmo could respond, the peacekeepers forced him to leave.
And I was alone.