Elizabeth Hills, 16

District 1 Female

Tw: inappropriate relationship between a minor and an adult.

2 weeks before the reaping.

I hear the wisp of a flame starting, as he lights the cigarette sitting in my mouth. Before Rubio, I was never a smoker. The first time I tried it, my lungs burned, and coughs escaped from my mouth. But now after two months, my body has gotten used to the feeling of the nicotine.

As I sit in his lap, I glance around at the bookshelf in the corner of his office. Books about ancient mythology in some classy font I can't bear to read from this distance. Though I remember reading those books when I was younger, about gods and goddesses, living up in the clouds, ruling over the world.

I take a puff of the cigarette and smile. Being with Rubio makes me feel like I am a goddess. And he is fit to be a god himself. I gaze at his slicked-back black hair, and shimmery green eyes. I gently pull the cigarette out of his mouth, and give him a big kiss, straight on the lips. He lifts my chin up and stares straight into my soul, making me feel a bit intimidated.

"Elizabeth, the exam is tomorrow. I need to know if you've been studying."

I roll my eyes and pull away from him.

"Can we not talk about school?"

"Well I need to know, Elizabeth." He says sternly. "You're one of my best students. But your grades have been dropping like crazy."

I light myself another cigarette.

"I'm sorry. But yes, I've been studying. But can we just have a moment where you're not Mr. Westgate, my history teacher, and you're just Rubio?"

He brushes one of my golden curls away from my face, and gives me a serious look.

"We need to talk about that, Ms. Hills." He uses my last name, which lets me know his tone. "You're a smart girl, you know that this is against the rules."

I nod. It may be against the rules, but lines have to be crossed when it comes to love. And I love Rubio Westgate, regardless of if it's right or wrong.

"That means that we can't continue this. If the school finds out, we're both in trouble. And I have a wife and two sons. If they find out about this, it would hurt them so bad."

I snicker. "Yeah, no shit."

Rubio shakes his head again.

"This is not good for you, Elizabeth, this whole thing was a mistake. I should have rejected your advances right away."

I get up off him, and pace back and forth around the room.

"What about the plan you had of leaving your wife? I thought you loved me!"

"It never would've worked out. I'm sorry, Liz."

I leave the office, and slam the door on the way out. I run out of the house and into the woods surrounding it. I stare out at the moon, and at this point I'm no longer worried about my curfew set by my parents, I don't care about the alibi I have set for the questions they'll ask, I don't care about the smoke on my breath, or the mascara melting down my faces as my tears fall.

Selene Katsaros, 18

District 2 Female

Sasha and I walk through the doorway to the academy auditorium. We are apart of one of the first groups to arrive, which gives us the opportunity for front row seats. My parents glance at me from the other side of the row, and I ignore them.

It's my last year eligible for the Hunger Games, and despite my parents forcing me to train for six years, I have no hope of being chosen to volunteer next week. And that's okay. I don't care if my parents disown me if I don't get chosen, I was never interested in volunteering in the first place.

But today, I'm here for Sasha. My best friend has actually been training with all of her might for as long as I have, and I know winning the Hunger Games is a dream of hers. And I'm here to support her. I would be surprised if they didn't announce her name today, just because she is one of the strongest students at the academy, I can't see anyone else but her volunteering.

We sit down, and I take Sasha's hands.

"Good luck, girl! You deserve this after working so hard."

Sasha smiles. "Thank you for being my biggest support!" She then hugs me.

More people flood into the room, and I recognize some of my other classmates and friends. I get up to greet them, making sure Sasha has her purse on my seat to keep it reserved. Then finally, a microphone is placed at the center of the stage, and we all sit back down.

The dean of the academy, Aquila Arbore walks to the microphone. She is a large and stern-faced woman with dark skin and short hair. I know she is close with my parents, but besides that I have never interacted with her before. Though her typically serious face turns into a warming grin.

"Welcome, District 2 citizens, academy staff, families, and trainees. As you all know, the results of the private and public sessions have been released, and we have the results of our chosen volunteers for this year's hunger games!"

Everyone in the room then begins to clap. In order to be selected to volunteer, we go through a three part test of our skills, one of them being a hunger games simulation with fake weapons. During the simulation, I was one of the first ones out, but Sasha actually won, and it isn't too unusual to see the winner of the simulation get chosen to volunteer.

A large screen turns on behind Dean Arbore, and it is a short video showcasing all of the trainees this year and what their selected skill is. When I see my face, it shows my skill with a longsword, which is really the only weapon I feel like I have some mastery skills with.

The same thing goes with the male trainees, and after a few minutes of showcasing the hundreds of academy trainees, the announcement for the volunteers finally begins.

The whole process is somewhat like a mini-reaping: the dean will pull out an envelope and read the name of the volunteer the trainers chose for the year. That person will walk up to the stage, get their picture taken, and then their name and face will be put around in flyers across the district.

Dean Arbore pulls out a red envelope with a golden seal of Panem embedded on it. She grabs a white slip from inside, and smiles again at the audience.

"I am pleased to announce Selene Katsaros as our female volunteer this year!"

My heart stops. And gasps are heard from everyone in the crowd. I look over at Sasha, and she looks more than just stunned. Heartbroken. I reach out for her, but she quickly leaves her seat and runs out of the room. I want to follow her, but I can't wherever the Dean looks at me directly and demands I come to the stage.

So I walk up to the stage, and fake a smile. There is absolutely no way in hell I just got chosen to volunteer. I watch my parents on the other side of the front row, both smiling, still in their peacekeeper uniforms. I already know they bribed the academy to choose me.

I could encourage Sasha to volunteer like she always intended, but that would ruin both of our reputations. Replacing a chosen volunteer without permission in District 2 is worse than dying in the Hunger Games. The district would hate on Sasha, and even if she won, she wouldn't get the fame she always wanted out of that.

As I stand onstage, the clapping begins again. I'm sure most people by now know what my parents did for this to happen, and now I just desperately want this to end so I can comfort Sasha.

The male's name is called, and I am not surprised. A fierce-looking muscular boy with blue eyes and a buzzcut walks up, and he is announced as Cain Masen. I've never really talked to him, but yesterday we had a brief interaction. But he has always been the strongest in our group, and his grip on me is firm while we shake hands.

I just wish this day was over.

Cain Masen, 18

District 2 Male

My biceps burn as I decapitate the last of the dummies in the training room. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and look around to see my friend Vulcan.

"Dude, you need to relax. You've done enough for today."

"Can you blame me for trying to get as much training in as possible before the academy closes tomorrow?" I say.

"You don't even know if you are getting chosen tomorrow."

But I do know that I am getting chosen. I've been taught not to be so arrogant, but I've been up in the ranks for a while now and all of the academy leaders respect me too.

Across the room, the only two people remaining are Selene Katsaros and Sasha Mason. Funnily enough, me and Sasha both have the same last name, but spelled differently. And coincidentally we are two of the top picks this year to volunteer. Mason is a common last name in 2, but there is a common superstition that those who hold our last name have lots of luck and courage.

I guess Sasha and her friend see our gaze, and soon enough, the two popular girls begin to walk our way. "Oh no" I thought.

Sasha greets us, and reaches out for a handshake. I oblige, and Sasha grins at me.

"So, it looks like we're going to be volunteering together!"

"You don't know that yet." Vulcan corrects her. He's always so literal about everything.

The girls giggle, and it's clear that the rankings this year are obvious, and Vulcan just feels a bit insecure that he doesn't even have a chance of getting chosen.

Sasha's friend, Selene, smiles at Vulcan and twirls her light-brown hair with her finger. She's not within the top ranked trainees, but I've seen her work with a katana before, and it's not bad.

"Well, good luck to you both." I say.

"And may the odds be ever in your favor!" Selene exclaims in a faux Capitol-accent.

The two girls leave the room giggling, and I can hear Selene loud enough to hear her gossiping about Vulcan.

"See?" He says after they leave. "She definitely likes me"

I elbow him in the arm teasingly "What, you gonna ask her out?"

"I'll ask her out, but you need to ask Sasha out too."

I shake my head.

"C'mon man, I see you blushing." He says.

"Knock it off Vulcan. You need to take this more seriously. We're gonna be in the Hunger Games together, there's no way we're going to date."

And that is true. I don't plan on volunteering to make friends, or girlfriends for that matter, I'm going in to bring back honor to my family. My brother Julius betrayed us and joined a rebel group. When I was 8 years old, they set fire to our village and my mother was killed. I escaped with burns on my arms and legs.

I don't want us to be known as the family whose son joined the rebels. I want us to be known as the family whose son is the victor of the Hunger Games.

I wear my mother's wedding ring on my neck attached to a string. It's the only thing I have left from her after our old house burned down. It's the only thing I have left to let her know I'm still fighting for my family, and I'm gonna win this.

Elizabeth Faceclaim: Penelope Haro

Selene Faceclaim: Kylie Twomey

Cain Faceclaim: Simon Rambo

Yay, so glad to have our career tributes all finished now! This chapter was incredibly fun to make as always! The tribute list is almost full, just waiting for two more submissions but yeah, I am already making plans for the storylines and death order. Also Elizabeth is an original tribute made by me (like Alberta and Namid), the District 1 Female was originally a submission but her creator couldn't come up with a backstory so I came up with my own tribute instead. All of the submitted tributes as well as the three original tributes who get povs (Elizabeth, Alberta, Namid) are guaranteed to survive the bloodbath, and will get the most attention in the story! Other tributes will be background characters but some may have relevance to the story.

Thank you so much to n3b for Selene and 03ibradley for Cain! Next up, we're exploring a tribute from District 3 as well as both tributes from District 8!

Questions:

1) Which of these three tributes were your favorite?

2) Do you think Elizabeth will volunteer or get reaped?

3) Do you think Sasha will forgive Selene?

4) Which career district would you rather live in? (1, 2, 4)

-xo, cassy