Robbie Emmers- District Nine male (18)

It was one of those perfect spring days- not too hot where your throat got all dry and you got sweaty after a few hours, but not so cold your throat burned and your fingers hurt. Looking up at the sun, it looked like it would get a fair bit warmer around noon. Maybe warm enough to take my shirt off. I was never shy about that. I worked hard for this body. I deserved to share it. It was really for everyone's benefit, since they all got to see it.

"Ugh."

I looked over to see Spud looking down with wrinkles nose at a partially unearthed rock. You'd think after the first year we cleared the field there would be no rocks but somehow they kept coming back. Rocks don't move so I didn't get it. Maybe the spring floods washed them in. I don't remember seeing a head-sized rock floating down the creek though. Rocks don't even float?

"I got you, bro," I said as I came over to help. One of the few actually nice things about working in the fields was being with all my friends. Usually this week's work wasn't even that hard. We'd broken up the soil last week- my back still ached- and this week was mostly planting. Sprinkling corn seeds on the ground was almost zen. I always wondered which ones would die and which would germinate. Then when the fields were taller than me I'd wonder which came from which seed.

"You hit a rock?" Sunny stood up from where she'd been squatting to poke some seeds into the dirt.

"It's not too big," I said.

"Yeah, just as big as you," Spud said to her. Sunny wasn't a little person, or we wouldn't have joked (okay we probably would, but only if she'd been okay with it). She was just right in the edge. According to her she was half an inch above the cutoff for dwarfism. Bummer, since she would have qualified for some disability programs. Not many, because Panem, but every little bit helps.

"Har har," Sunny said.

"Bet I can get my side out before yours," I challenged the two of them as we stood in a triangle digging at the stone.

"That doesn't make any sense. We don't know what shape the rock is. Your side might be twice as deep," Spud said.

I shrugged. "I'm just built different."

Spud and Sunny didn't explicitly agree to the contest, but that didn't stop me from competing .in my head. Not that I needed to be recognized or anything, but I did get my side out first. Then I moved over and helped Sunny and Spud get theirs.

"Nice," Sunny said when the rock lay exposed on the dirt. "What kind do you think it is?"

She didn't really care. She just wanted to give Spud an opening. He was one of those nerdy kids who asked the teacher for homework. Me, I could get by in school, but I wasn't breaking my back. It was boring and what difference did it make anyway? There were no high-level jobs for people like me. I'd be a laborer like my parents and I'd have the same sparse but sufficient life. It was good enough for me.

"It's probably sandstone," Spud said. "There used to be a lot of sand mines around here."

He'd mentioned sand mines before but I'd always wondered if he was pulling our legs. Why would you need a sand mine? Just pick it up off the ground in Four or the other coastal states. That had to be easier than digging it out of a mine. Spud talked about "transportation issues" and "supply chains" and they sounded reasonable but I still thought it might be, as my blessed grandmother said, horse puckey.

"Well, let's get it to the cart," I said.

Spud waved for the cart drivers.

"No, no," I waved him off. "Don't worry about it." I hefted the rock up onto my shoulders. Sure, we could call the cart drivers over. They could take the rock and save us the effort. OR... I could lift the big rock and carry it over to them, allowing everyone to see how strong and cool I was. The sore arms would be a price well paid.

Amberlynne Hyde- District Nine female (15)

Glasses clinked, the tinny sound carrying over the murmuring conversations all around me. They were always fun to listen into. Just tonight I'd heard everything from "So of course the parrot messed all over the chiffon" to "She'll definitely leave if she finds out, and she'll want to take the candlesticks." RIch people problems- so alien yet so juicy. I glanced at the snack table and smiled when I saw two workers bringing out another tray of lobster puffs. This was a classy party. No empty tables.

Oh ho ho who's this?

It was never hard to tell the Capitolites from the upper-class Niners. No matter how rich they were, no matter how many "connections" they had in the Capitol, a Districter was never as stylish. Whatever style the rich Nines wore, the few Capitolites sprinkled among them always wore something just a little more developed from that. All that aside, though, I would have recognized Chimera Ilium anywhere. My job was to facilitate connections and create luxury. The Capitol escorts were my gods.

I sidled up to Chimera and stopped a few steps away, gasping and laying a hand on my cheek. "Is that a Maison Chenille?" I asked, looking at his blue brocade dress. "They are so hot right now."

Chimera's face would have lit up if he hadn't been already quite lit. All the same, I could see his excitement. "Yes!" he said, shaking a little with the force of his statement combined with the empty flute in his hand. "It's from the winter collection. Sneak peeks, you know." He smoothed out the sheath-cut skirt.

"A lot of Capitolites don't think to look in the Districts. They're really a hidden gem," I went on. No need to gush or flatter, but everyone loved to hear they had good taste. I could already tell Chimera was going to be my new best friend. He was a man of great taste... and great connections.

"Ooh, any suggestions?" Chimera asked.

"As a matter of fact..." Business was business but I could still do some charity work. "I know a designer who's completely undiscovered." I gave the words a mysterious tone. "Here's my card." I handed him my business card, tastefully ostentatious with some gold glitter and a translucent box around my name. It's not easy to stick out when all your associates are party planners. "Ask me about Kuniko Stem sometime. In private, so she stays exclusive."

"Great party," Chimera slurred as he took the card. "So you planned all this?"

"It's my calling," I said with joking modesty. "I suppose it doesn't measure up to Capitol parties."

"Oh, no no, it's good!" Chimera waved his hand. "District parties are different. There's a feeling in the air. A wildness."

Thanks, it's the crushing poverty, I discreetly kept to myself. I didn't really blame Chimera anyway. Even aside from the alcohol, he seemed like the type who was destined to be a trophy husband.

"You know, if you go into the Games, you'll see the Capitol up close!" Chimera said, like it was a grand opportunity. "I tell you what. If you ever end up in the Games, look me up. I'll show you what a Capitol party is like."

Is he... is he asking me to volunteer? Oh my gosh. What do I do? Can I say no? Like, CAN I say no? Should I? I'd make contacts. Probably get sponsors. Maybe I could wheedle them into faking my death and I'd be a Capitol party planner? No, what the heck was that, that was so stupid. That was a stupid idea. Okay, so refuse, but like, cute refuse.

"Oh, I should! I said enthusiastically. "Oh, I better not." I let my face fall. "My mom would be so mad if I volunteered." The old 'sorry Mom said I can't come over' play.

"Ohhh yeah that's right," Chimera agreed. "Yeah, moms are so important." He wiped at his eyes. "I love my mom so much."

"Thanks, though. And you never know, maybe it will still happen. Maybe I'll get Reaped!