glow ; the hunger games

Chapter Three

|Bellamy|

When me and Brooke get back, our mom is standing in the kitchen, fiddling with her fingers nervously. Marina isn't there.

"You only have twenty minutes to get ready!" She says worriedly. Brooke just grins at her.

"Relax, mom. We have ages." Brooke never worried about anything anymore.

Me and Brooke head upstairs, leaving our mom in the kitchen. We pass Marina on the way there, and she is wearing a blue dress that she got when she was thirteen. I have one just like it, and so does Brooke. We wear them every year.

Brooke goes into her bedroom, and I carry on walking to mine. Brooke always like wearing dresses much more than I did. I preferred denim shorts and t-shirt.

The dress is quite pretty, with soft blue material that falls to just above my knees.

My long, blonde hair is dry now, and I brush through it but leave it down. I look at myself in the mirror, my reflection having not changed since this morning, funnily enough, and leave my room.

Brooke is still in her room, so I push the door open and look around it. Brooke is standing my her mirror, applying glittery eyeshadow to her eyelids.

"Oh, hey Bella." She says, looking up. She really is very pretty. More than me.

I sit on the end of her bed, watching as she finishes putting eyeshadow on. I never really did like makeup, because it made me look fake. Brooke always laughed at me for saying this, though.

Once Brooke has finished, we head downstairs.

Marina is sitting at the kitchen counter, not looking at me. My mom looks at us awkwardly.

"Well, shall we go then?" She finally says, and me, Brooke and Marina nod.

In the town square there is a large stage, and ropes all around, sectioning each age group off. Me, Brooke and Marina line up, waiting to be checked. When it's my turn, the Peacekeeper pokes my finger with a needle, and on the screen behind him, it says Bellamy Bolt, Fifteen.

I go and stand with the other girls my age, three rows back, and watch as Marina walks to the front. Brooke is in the row behind me. There is a low buzz of worried whispers, and everyone gets into place.

At the side of the stage, there are about twenty chairs. The mayor sits on one. The District 4 escort, Kylie Sprocket, sits on another. The rest are filled with the previous victors.

At exactly 11o'clock, the mayor steps up from his chair and walks over to the microphone, He is a tall, balding man and has been the mayor of District 4 ever since I was young.

Its the same story every year. He talks about the history of Panem, and how it rose out the ashes of a place that used to be called North America. He lists every earthquake, tsunami, hurricane and fire that destroyed the land.

The result of this was Panem, a Capitol surrounded by thirteen districts. Then there was the rebellion against the Capitol. Twelve districts were defeated, one destroyed. The Treaty of Treason gave rules and laws so that there was peace. But, as a yearly reminder that the rebellion must never happen again, there came the Hunger Games.

Taking the kids from the districts and forcing them to kill one another is the Capitol's way of reminding us of how little power we have. Of how we are totally at their mercy.

Once the mayor has finished his speech, he reads out a list of all the victors from our district. This takes a few minutes, as there are quite a few.

Then he introduces Kylie Sprocket, our escort, who has puffy lavender hair, which is adorned with teacups. Her face is powder white, with blood red lipstick applied to her lips.

Once everyone is quiet, she totters over to the microphone in the center of the stage, her heels clicking against the floor.

"Hello, everyone, and what a pleasure it is to be here today!" She says brightly, her Capitol accent making her voice go up at the end of her sentence, like she's asking a question.

Its time for the drawing. Kylie Sprocket says it how she always does. "Ladies first! And may the odds be ever in your favour!"

She totters over to one off the large spheres filled with hundreds of names, all from the girls of district 4. Thirteen of them slips have Bellamy Bolt written on them.

Kylie puts her hand in, digs around a bit, then pulls one out. A quiet gasp echoes through the crowd as Kylie Sprocket hops back over the microphone, smooths the piece of paper out, and reads it aloud.

"Bellamy Bolt!"

I can remember once when I was younger, me, Brooke and Marina were swimming in a lake. I hadn't tied my head back, and it tangled in the seaweed at the bottom. I couldn't swim up for air, and was close to drowning when Brooke cut through the seaweed with a pen knife. I came up, gasping for air, trying to remember how to breathe, and this is how I feel now.

The crowd around me parts, so I walk slowly to the stage. I can see that Marina actually cares for once; it is clear on her face. She doesnt hate me like I thought she did. That makes me happier.

I step up onto the stage and Kylie Sprocket beckons me over with an overly fake smile. I walk over and stand next to her.

She totters over to the other sphere, this one filled with boys names. She reaches her hand in, and her long nails grab a slip of paper. She comes back over to the microphone and reads the slip.

"Wade Saylor."

No. It cant be him. I had never talked to him much, but the few times I ever did made me hate him. He wasn't horrible, or mean, like some of the other boys, but he's just annoying. Arrogant. Too full of himself. He once tried to cut my hair off with a pair of safety scissors, although that did inspire to cut Marina's hair.

He's grinning as walks up to the stage, as if this is something to be proud of. Like he's not being sent to his death. Or maybe it's a strategy that's clearly failing. I don't know.

He walks over and stands next to me; he's at least 5 inches taller than me. He has blonde hair like almost everyone who lives here, and blue-green eyes just like me. We could be cousins, but I could also be a cousin to anyone here. We all look similar.

Kaylie seems to be bouncing around the microphone. I've always thought she was a bit weird.

I look across the crowds of people, and find my eyes drifting to the front. I catch Marina's eye, and for the first time, she had pity for me.

"Happy Hunger Games!" Kylie say joyfully. "And may the odds be ever in your favour!"

The odds are not in my favour.