My heart drops to my stomach and I'm frozen as I watch my sweet little sister, who only had her name in the bowl one time, slowly move through the crowd of twelve year old girls. This wasn't supposed to happen. The odds, for once, were truly supposed to be in her favor. I think I might be dreaming but when I look back to see my parents reaction, I know I'm not. My eyes lock with my mom's and I know she understands what I have to do.

I don't even hesitate, the panic taking over my entire body. I push through the bodies crowded around me to try to get to my sister before they can.

"No! Dani!" I scream her name, fighting against the peacekeeper trying to hold me back. "Let me go! I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" The words are out of my mouth before I could even consider what that means for me but I knew if I was in a clearer headspace I would have said those words sooner.

I push the peacekeeper off of me and everyone else is shocked at my outburst. I run to Dani who has tears streaming down her face.

"Go find Mom and Dad. Go!" I grip her shoulders to make sure she heard me. I shove her a little too hard towards the back of the crowd just as the peacekeepers catch up to me.

I don't allow myself to look back at her as I face the stage again. I square my shoulders, and look straight ahead as I'm guided towards the stairs. I catch Mr. Abernathy's eye on my way up and his expression is hollow, like he doesn't quite know what to feel. I'm sure mine is the same.

"I believe we have a volunteer! District twelve's first volunteer! Come on up, don't be shy," Effie claps her hands together, guiding me in front of the mic. I avoid looking at my parents and Dani. I don't want to break in front of the cameras. I don't want my pain to be their entertainment. Instead I stare out into the district. Far out in the distance, I can make out the trees in my woods. Would I ever be able to go back there again?

"What's your name, dear," Effie asks, guest urging for me to speak into the mic.

"Willow Mellark," I say, I'm as strong as a voice as I can muster.

"Well I bet my hat that was your sister?" Effied looks more and more excited.

"Yes."

"Wonderful! Let's give a hand to our first volunteer!" She starts clapping again but instead of following her lead, one of the adults in the back brings three fingers to his lips and holds his arm high in the air, a symbol of support in our district. Others follow and soon, everyone has their arms raised holding up their three fingers.

"Alright then," Effie clears her throat again as arms begin lowering. "Let's move on to the boys." She reaches into the left bowl now, pulling out the first name. "Sawyer Hawthorne."

I tighten my jaw to try to keep my face as expressionless as possible for the cameras. I didn't know what him being picked would mean for me. Would we somehow be reluctant allies or would our previous encounters make us easy targets for the other?

Sawyer looks like a lost boy, much younger than fifteen, and the crowd splits to make a narrow path for him. Neither of us dare to look at each other as he makes his way to the stage.

"Any volunteers for Sawyer?" Effie asks the crowd. I know Sawyer mentioned having siblings but they had all aged out. And even if he did, there's a good chance they wouldn't have volunteered to take his place. Familial relationships only go so far and being sent to your death seems to be a line nobody wants to cross.

Effie moves on to the final name, calling a merchant boy from the eighteen year old section. Hops Carndage. I've seen him in school sometimes as well. His parents run the grocers and he usually is there stocking the shelves. Now, his face is set into a hard frown, looking angry. If I was as close to freedom from the Hunger Games as he was, I might be too. Effie asks for volunteers but the crowd stays silent. She has us all shake hands with each other and I try to block everyone out as I do so. I don't want to make any relationships with anybody right now.

Mr. Abernathy chooses this moment to stand up and make his presence known. He holds a fist in the air, stumbling towards the mic. He opens his arms and leans in to give Effie a kiss on the cheek but she squeals, moving out of the way and he catches himself on the mic instead.

"Well isn't this year gonna be a doozy. I think we've got some spunk!" He turns, nodding to me, but trips on the stand of the mic as he does so, slipping off the stage and crashing onto the ground. He groans and the peacekeepers help him back up. Effie quickly tries to gain control of the situation.

"Happy Hunger Games!" She closes the ceremony and then we're being escorted into the Justice Building to say goodbye to our families.

I wait in the small room by myself, and I feel my hands trembling so hard, when I clasp them together, it won't stop. I think the gravity of the situation is starting to set in but I won't let myself break. Even if there aren't any cameras to watch me.

The door bursts opens slowly, and in comes my aunts and uncles. They all hug me, but nobody says anything. Aunt Delly bursts into tears and Uncle Rye tries to comfort her. Aunt Madge pulls something from her pocket and hands it to me. I look down at my palm to see the gold pin she's placed in my hand. I recognize the bird. It's a mockingjay.

"It was my Aunt's before she went into the games. I want you to have it," Aunt Madge tells me.

I know each tribute is allowed a token from their district to take into the arena with them. If I'm chosen, I hope they let me wear it. It reminds me of Mom.

I hold the pin out and Aunt Madge pins it onto my dress for me. Then she hugs me tight, as does everyone else. Nobody wishes me luck because they must know its pointless. Luck only gets you so far in the games.

Nana, Papa, and Grandpa come in next. Grandpa hands me a package of cookies. It's the same ones he used to give Dad and his siblings after their reaping ceremonies and the ones he's been giving us the last few years, only this year he gives me the entire bag, telling me I need them more. I don't know why that makes me laugh but it does and I slip them into my pocket for later.

Nana just reminds me that she loves me and Papa tells me that they'll take care of Mom and Dad and Dani. I think he knows I need that assurance and for that, I'm grateful.

Not even a minute after they leave, the door bursts open and a flash of blonde tackles me, clinging to my waist. Dani weeps into my chest and I shush her, telling her it'll be okay.

"You have to win. You have to try really really hard to win. You have to come back," she tells me.

"I'll try," I promise, but I don't do any more than that.

Mom rips me from Dani's grasp, crushing me to her. I can feel her tears hitting my neck and that's when I finally break down. She smells like the woods I'll probably never see again. She smells like home.

She starts ramblings off about every survival tactic she's ever taught me. Her voice is frantic and shaky as she does so. "You have to find water. And remember what Papa and I taught you about plants. Be careful of the poisonous ones. And if you can't find a bow make one, you-"

"Katniss, calm down," Dad tries to place a hand on her shoulder but she whips around on him.

"Calm down? Peeta, my baby is being sent to fight to her death! Don't tell me to calm down…" The end of her sentence is quiet and she falls into his arms weeping. Dad is trying not to cry too but a tear escapes, running down his cheek. He opens his other arm for me and I run into them.

"My little songbird," his voice breaks in my ear. "You're going to be okay. You know how I know that? Because you're your mother's daughter. You are a survivor. If anyone can come out of this, it's you. Come back to us, okay? We'll be waiting for you to come home." He still smells like the cinnamon rolls from his morning and I burrow myself tighter into him, nodding against his shoulder.

Dad kisses the top of my head, caressing my cheek. "We love you so much, little songbird."

Mom hugs me again, grabbing my face with both hands. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," I tell the both of them as the peacekeepers open the door.

Dani refuses to let go until we're pulled apart my peacekeepers and she screams for me, Dad holding her back from trying to reach me. I have to turn away and I shut my eyes, trying to block out her pleasing voice. Instead, I try to wipe my eyes and make it look like I wasn't crying.

Peacekeepers lead me to the platform where the train from the Capitol is waiting. I've never left the district, and I've never had a reason to come to the station, so I've only ever seen the trains from far away as they approach the town. This one looks nicer than the other supply trains. Effie is waiting at the door with the other tributes. I'm the last one to arrive.

"Oh, you're all here! Now let's get going children! We have a long journey ahead of us!" She herds us into the train, leading through several cars, pointing out each of our sleeping compartments, before sliding open the door to the second to last car. It looks like a dining room with a long dark table in the center. The entire room was decorated so luxuriously, I was afraid to touch anything for fear that I might break it. But what was more impressive, and what seems to have caught my fellow tributes attention, was the amount of food piled onto the table. I think there was more food than any of us have eaten in our entire life combined.

We all take a seat and before I've even grabbed my fork and knife, Etheria and Hops have started grabbing food. Sawyer looks surprised at the way they seem to try to inhale the food and I think he starts to understand that merchants and seam might not be so different after all.

I haven't even gotten a chance to grab anything yet when Mr. Abernathy stumbles in, a fresh bottle in his hand. "Here's the lucky lot!" He grins, slumping down into an empty chair. Etheria and Hops ignore him and continue eating.

"Children! Please try to remember your manners!" She looks horrified as she delicately places a single grape on her plate, cutting it in half with a knife and eating it with a fork. Her simple action reminds me how she has no idea the struggles the kids in twelve go through just to be able to eat and it irks me so much that instead of using my utensils, I follow Etheria and Hops lead. And grab a flaky roll, tearing it in two with my hands and shoving one half in my mouth. I think Sawyer catches on because soon, we're all shoveling food with our hands as I try to hide the smile on my face. I catch Mr. Abernathy's eye and he tips his bottle towards me, winking before taking a sip.

"So what do we need to know?" I ask him. I wipe my mouth on my arm just to watch Effie huff in frustrations

He waves me off, resting his head against his bottle. I scowl, reaching over and grabbing the alcohol, causing his head to thump against the wood. He's supposed to be our mentor and tell us everything we need to know to win. He shoots up in surprise, narrowing his eyes at me.

"You get this back when you tell us what we need to know."

"Fine," he grumbles, swiping one of the pastries from the table.

I get right to the point. "Only two of us are chosen for the games. So what happens to the other two?"

He raises a brow like he thinks I'm stupid for asking the question. "Well you don't get to go home, that's for sure. If you're lucky they'll let you stay at the Capitol as an Avox."

I've heard about Avoxs. They were more so a rumor in our district of what happens to traitors in the Capitol. They have their tongue cut off and are used as servants.

"And if we're not lucky?" I press.

Mr. Abernathy reaches back over and tries to swipe the bottle from my hand but I move it it if his reach. He looks just about ready to be done with me but I don't give in.

"Sweetheart, the only way you're going home is if you win the games."

His words fall over the room, weighing us down. We all stop eating and look around at each other, for the first time considering one another as competition.

"Pass me the butter, will you boy?" He points towards Sawyer who wordlessly does as he's told. Mr. Abernathy reached over again but this time I'm so distracted that I let him take the bottle from me.

"Look, I don't even know what they have planned for you myself until we get to the actual training for the games so I would worry about getting voted in first," he tells us, going back to his food.

I'm not hungry anymore, the small amount I ate was much too rich compared to what I'm used to. I'm already starting to feel a little gross and just want to drink enough water to flush it out.

"So what do we do now?" I ask Effie, pushing my plate away from me. I should warn Etheria and Hops to stop or they'll be sick very soon. Sawyer seems to be a little smarter, taking his time in between bites.

"You're free to explore the train, my dears. If you need anything, you can just ask any of the servants," Effie explains. "We have about a day before we reach the Capitol."

I nod, excusing myself from the table. My chair pushes back with a loud screech and I'm aware of everyone watching me. I'm so overwhelmed by everything that I just want to be away from everything. I make a beeline for the compartment that Effie said was mine and strip out of my dress. It still smells like my bedroom, sort of like bread dough and charcoal. I don't even bother putting on anything else and just dive under the covers, clutching my dress to me.

It's still fairly bright out but the sun is starting to set. I wonder what my family is doing right now. Are they eating dinner? Has Dani stopped crying? I don't think she'll be able to sleep in our room alone. She's never spent a night by herself before. Maybe she'll sleep in our parents' bed tonight. I breathe in the scent of home, trying to imagine my mom singing me to sleep, or trying to recall a story my dad would tell me about his childhood and soon I find myself drifting off into a dreamless sleep.