Hey everyone! Good news- I only have a few tributes left. For now, enjoy the reapings of District 2!
Aurora Fletcher, 18
The morning of the reapings, I wake up early and start practicing with my mace in my room, trying not to wake up my siblings, Daya or Duke. I grab a dummy from my closet and start whacking it. I even grab my horde of knives and throw it out to the wall, hitting the target almost every time.
A knock on the door interrupts me, and Duke walks in. Well, it doesn't entirely take me out, because I throw one right by his head. He glares at me, but I just Tee-hee.
He rolls his eyes. "Mom says to come down. They want to celebrate you." His voice gets all high-pitched and grumpy. Two years ago, he dreamed of becoming the district volunteer. He stayed up late training, learned all about spears and stuff about survival (why would Careers care about that?). Except one boy was better at everything. When they announced the volunteer chosen, Duke stayed in his room for days. Just goes to show that I am much better than he ever was. Talk about bitter. When he did leave his room, he never shut up about his missed opportunity. So, I suppose I started to train extra hard just to rub it in his face.
My sister, on the other hand, is ineligible for volunteering because of her seizures, not that she minds. She doesn't like the games anyways. When I win, I'll make sure she has the best treatment I can afford, even more than my family already can.
Downstairs, everything I could possibly want waits before me at the table. Benefits of my dad being the vice-mayor. He kisses my head and squeezes me. I go outside, where a crowd of classmates greets me, all trying to talk to their star. I look for Phoenix, my best friend and occasional lover, and Aven, my best guy friend and other lover. I mean, I've done that with a lot of my classmates, but those two in particular.
"We've been waiting forever!" Phoenix says, grabbing my hand. I grab it right back. Aven looks at me and winks, making my stomach flutter. We walk down to the center, and I am too busy talking to them that I almost get hit by a car walking by.
"And they picked her to volunteer! She doesn't even pay attention half the time. She'll die doing something stupid, just wait. It should have been me." Someone in the back aggressively whispers. Cami, the #2 in the class. Jealousy doesn't begin to describe it.
"Well," Phoenix turns around to defend me. "It's not. Get over it."
At the center, we see all of the previous victors on stage, including Brutus. Even seeing him makes me shiver. He's always so intense about everything. Even breathing. I've never seen him smile, not even when he won his games. It can't all be that deep, right?
Vanilla, the district escort, arrives on the stage, smiling down at all of us. She reaches her hand into the jar to call out a name.
"Cami Knight!" She screams. I nearly double over in laughter, as do most of the other girls in my section. Cami tries to rush up to the stage, but before she can, I scream "I VOLUNTEER!" Destroying her chances once and for all. I walk past her and stick out my tongue. I won't let her take this away from me.
The morning of the reapings, I wake up early and start practicing with my mace in my room, trying not to wake up my siblings, Daya or Duke. I grab a dummy from my closet and start whacking it. I even grab my horde of knives and throw it out to the wall, hitting the target almost every time.
A knock on the door interrupts me, and Duke walks in. Well, it doesn't entirely take me out, because I throw one right by his head. He glares at me, but I just Tee-hee.
He rolls his eyes. "Mom says to come down. They want to celebrate you." His voice gets all high-pitched and grumpy. Two years ago, he dreamed of becoming the district volunteer. He stayed up late training, learned all about spears and stuff about survival (why would Careers care about that?). Except one boy was better at everything. When they announced the volunteer chosen, Duke stayed in his room for days. Just goes to show that I am much better than he ever was. Talk about bitter. When he did leave his room, he never shut up about his missed opportunity. So, I suppose I started to train extra hard just to rub it in his face.
My sister, on the other hand, is ineligible for volunteering because of her seizures, not that she minds. She doesn't like the games anyways. When I win, I'll make sure she has the best treatment I can afford, even more than my family already can.
Downstairs, everything I could possibly want waits before me at the table. Benefits of my dad being the vice-mayor. He kisses my head and squeezes me. I go outside, where a crowd of classmates greets me, all trying to talk to their star. I look for Phoenix, my best friend and occasional lover, and Aven, my best guy friend and other lover. I mean, I've done that with a lot of my classmates, but those two in particular.
"We've been waiting forever!" Phoenix says, grabbing my hand. I grab it right back. Aven looks at me and winks, making my stomach flutter. We walk down to the center, and I am too busy talking to them that I almost get hit by a car walking by.
"And they picked her to volunteer! She doesn't even pay attention half the time. She'll die doing something stupid, just wait. It should have been me." Someone in the back aggressively whispers. Cami, the #2 in the class. Jealousy doesn't begin to describe it.
"Well," Phoenix turns around to defend me. "It's not. Get over it."
At the center, we see all of the previous victors on stage, including Brutus. Even seeing him makes me shiver. He's always so intense about everything. Even breathing. I've never seen him smile, not even when he won his games. It can't all be that deep, right?
Vanilla, the district escort, arrives on the stage, smiling down at all of us. She reaches her hand into the jar to call out a name.
"Cami Knight!" She screams. I nearly double over in laughter, as do most of the other girls in my section. Cami tries to rush up to the stage, but before she can, I scream "I VOLUNTEER!" Destroying her chances once and for all. I walk past her and stick out my tongue. I won't let her take this away from me.
Guy Rufus, 17
A few weeks earlier…
I was sitting in my room, reading a book about architecture. Next to the book, I had started to draw an idea I had for a building, taller than anything else in the district. Before I could add any more touches, my device went off. My friend Tobias was down at the Foundry, the popular mason area, and asked if I wanted to join him. I grabbed my coat and tried to sneak out of the house, hiding my books in a secret compartment in my desk.
As I walked down the steps, a light downstairs flickered on, and my mother was sitting there, staring right at me.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Do I lie? Will she believe me? Should I even try to speak.
"Don't bother, I know exactly what you're thinking. You will not go to that place," she said, spit pouring out of her mouth. "If you go anywhere at night, it's to the training center for extra practice. You're the volunteer this year, you need to have something to show for it."
"Mom, seriously? I've been training since I was 10. I have what it takes to win. Can't I have one night off for myself?"
That idea made her laugh. "You are good, but you need to be great. I've received some feedback from the trainers lately. You make jokes when you should be throwing spears, or pulling pranks on your classmates. Talking during important lessons. Stumbling over yourself during training! I won't allow it! So, what are you going to do now?"
I groaned and walked back upstairs, texting Tobias that I wouldn't. Again. I had made it out before, but faced severe consequences every time I returned. No breakfast for multiple days. Extra training sessions at the Academy. Not being allowed to leave the house. Normally, I'm calm, but my mom… she makes things difficult. I never wanted to be a Career in the first place. Murdering innocent kids… I couldn't bear it. My mom dreamed of it but lost her opportunity, and now, her dreams have fallen onto me.
As I sat in bed with my arms crossed, Dad came into my room. "I'm sorry, Guy, really. You know if it were up to me, you could go, but lately… " My dad has tried to talk her out of it multiple times, but it never worked.
I really had no choice. If I didn't volunteer, my mom would kick me out of the house, something she repeated to me frequently.
So, of course, the day of the reaping, I quietly raise my hands when Vanilla asks for a volunteer, picturing my mom staring at me with nothing but rage in her eyes. As I stand on the stage, I see Tobias staring at me and giving me a subtle nod, and I give him one back. Maybe if I win, we can actually spend time together.