Jerome Kaegan, 18
District 1 Male Tribute

"This was a lovely night," Jerome hummed as he and Ian leaned up against each other. They were sitting together in the background of Jerome's uncle's house, rocking back and forth on a wooden swing. Their fingers were interlocked, and Jerome didn't want to let go.

Ian let out a dramatic sigh. "I wish every moment could be this special."

"It wouldn't be special if they were all the same."

"If you stayed, then they would be."

Jerome didn't respond. Ian looked up at him fearfully. "Babe, are you really gonna go through on this?"

"I don't think I have any other choice."

"But I'm scared. What if something bad happens?"

Jerome kissed Ian's forehead. "I think I could do it. We need the money. There's simply no other option. Drachma is ruining my family; he's squandering the Kaegan fortune and name, and nobody wants to help me get it back."

"Well, you can't blame me for worrying about you. Jerome, you could die."

Jerome took Ian's hands into his, staring his boyfriend directly in the eye. "It's a risk that I'm willing to take. Think of all the riches I'll win. We could build a life together! Have our own place, never have to work again, maybe even start a family. We'll never have to be apart."

He stood up and got down on one knee in front of Ian. Jerome's fingers grabbed a small velvet box, and he knew that now was as perfect of a moment as he was going to get. If not now, then when?

He opened the box. "Ian Duke, will you make me the happiest man alive and take the honour of someday being my husband?"

"Yes!" Ian tackled him into a hug, planting dozens of wet kisses all over Jerome's face. "Yes, I will marry you!"

Cove Stratton, 18
District 4 Male Tribute

"Good morning, Cove-" And that was as far as Aunt Pearl got before she was rudely interrupted by Lanta nearly tugging part of her dress off. "Lanta! Hey! What are you doing?"

"I want breakfast now, Mommy!"

"Dear, I was trying to talk to your cousin. And I am making breakfast."

"I got her, Aunt Pearl." Cove scooped up Lanta into his arms. "Lanta! Are you making trouble again?"

"No! I no make trouble! I'm a good girl!"

"Yes, of course you are. Why don't we go play while Aunt Pearl cooks breakfast?"

Cove carried his cousin over to the living room, where plenty of toys were scattered all about. Lanta picked up one doll to play with, then gave Cove another doll that she wanted him to use.

Cove regarded the doll sadly. These were a custom gift his father commissioned for Lanta before she was born: dolls made in the image of the Stratton family. The one he was holding was of his late older brother, Koi.

He still wasn't even sure how it had happened. There weren't even bodies to recover. Just a neighbour waking him and his mother up in the early hours of the morning to bring news of the deaths of two Strattons. All Cove could think about at the time was how he would've been among the dead, another victim of District 4's brutal rebellion, had his mother not put her foot down and made him stay home. He still didn't know how he was supposed to feel about that. Relief? Guilt? Anger? None of the above?

"Cove." Lanta was calling him. "Cove! Play now!"

Cove turned back to her. "Yes. We can play now. What are we playing?"

"House."

Cove nodded. "Sounds great! I love playing house!"

And so the two of them played.

Kassidi Traius, 14
District 6 Female Tribute

The shrill bell rang out through the classroom, signalling the end of the school day. And Kassidi was glad for it. She had a babysitting job for her neighbours this afternoon, and she was excited. The Yangs had the cutest kids ever! She loved spending time with them.

First things first, she had to go meet up with her brother. Kassidi's parents mandated that the two Traius siblings walked home together from school everyday. Brennan was at that age where he was embarrassed by the thought of his friends knowing he walked with his older sister, but Kassidi didn't mind. She got why her parents made that rule. This part of Six could be a little rougher at times. They just wanted their kids to stay safe.

Once they got home, Kassidi skipped over next door and knocked. Mrs. Yang greeted her as she opened it. "Kassidi! You're right on time!"

"Hi, Mrs. Yang! Are the kids ready for me?"

"Oh, are they ever! They've been asking about you all day."

Mercedes and Kia Yang came running downstairs and latched into Kassidi in tight hugs before she even had a chance to take her shoes off. Next thing Kassidi knew, she was being dragged into the kitchen. Mrs. Yang waved goodbye as she headed off.

From there, the routine was pretty simple. Kassidi had it all down pat: she would make the two kids a quick snack, before everyone would get started on their homework. Today's snack was apple slices with peanut butter, and today's homework was math. Kassidi worked on her own papers, occasionally pausing to help one of the girls with a tougher equation.

Soon, the apple slices were eaten and the homework was completed. Kassidi took a brief moment to stretch. "Alright! What else should we do today?"

Twiglet Thompson, 13
District 7 Male Tribute

Normally, Twiglet knew he had to get out of bed at some point. And usually he did, if only because he wanted a chance to actually eat some breakfast before it was gobbled down by the other kids. But today, he wanted to stay in bed.

It was Reaping Day. And the District 7 Community Home was especially tense. Nobody knew what to expect, but it didn't sound good in the slightest. And if you lived in the Community Home, you knew a thing or two about things not being good. Twiglet was very well accustomed to that.

So while other kids got up and got ready, Twiglet pulled his blanket over his head and tried to bury himself as deep as he could into his bed.

"Dude." Jamboree began shaking him. "You gotta get up. Don't you want breakfast?"

"I'm scared."

"Everyone's scared. But we're awake anyways. They say if you don't go to the Reaping, you get whipped or something."

Twiglet's heart stopped. "W-whipped!?"

"Well…that's what Astor said."

"I don't like Astor. He's mean."

"Yeah, but you don't wanna get in trouble. So you gotta get out of bed."

That was true. Slowly, Twiglet pulled the blanket off him, climbed out of bed, and got dressed. He hurried into his clothing, never a big fan of changing with so many bodies in one room. Jamboree rolled his eyes. Everyone was used to it by now.

Once Twiglet had his shoes on, Jamboree grabbed his hand and dragged him downstairs. Twiglet's stomach was all knotted and he felt like he was going to throw up. He could barely eat any of his breakfast. He ended up giving it to Jamboree.

He couldn't really explain why, but he had the strangest of intuitions that today was going to go terribly, terribly wrong.