"Mila Jade, oh what a sweet and peculiar name!" Exclaimed Effie. I felt like a caged animal. Everywhere I looked there were eyes peering back at me. All of them holding different emotions.
Pity.
Relief.
Some even happiness.
I felt sick.
"Now for the boy tribute!" Effie glamorously walked over to the second bowl of names and slowly reached in to build suspense. I couldn't believe how much of a show this was. Who in their right mind enjoyed watching a bunch of kids being sentenced to death.
"Peeta Mellark!" Peeta. The boy from the bakery. The only boy with the closest thing to a soul left in him. I knew who he was but I doubt he had much idea who I was. It broke my heart into a million tiny pieces seeing him slowly walk towards his inevitable death.
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The rest of the reaping was fuzzy. I don't remember saying much and I don't remember Peeta saying much either. What was there to say? Thank you all for coming to watch us get picked for our inescapable death!
Once the reaping was done, peacekeepers led Peeta and I behind the stage into separate rooms. The door burst open and Katniss' voice was quickly resonating throughout the whole room. "ARE YOU DUMB? WHY WOULD YOU EVER DO THAT?" Definitely not what I expected to hear. Primrose and her mother were shadowing Katniss with a look on their faces that mirrored the shock I felt. "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU. NEVER EVER. ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!" I must've looked really dumb just looking at her with my mouth hanging open. I wanted to say something but a boulder of tears quickly built in my throat and burst out of me with the speed of a forest fire.
Katniss hugged me. She hugged me so tight it felt like she might keep hugging me all the way into the arena. She was crying now. Very quietly. Anybody else would've thought she was perhaps just a little cold or maybe the dust of the room was getting to her but I recognized exactly what it was because I had seen it only once before.
~~~
There were news of an accident in the mines. A horrible explosion that killed all of the people working that day, including Mr.Everdeen. The district mourned them for about a day before returning to normal. We couldn't afford to lose any more time than that. Three days after the accident Katniss showed up outside my house soaked. I couldn't quite tell where the tears ended and the rain water began. She was going on and on about how she had ruined her favorite shirt and she wouldn't be able to wear it ever again. I consoled her and together we hung the shirt and waited for it to dry. We both knew the tears weren't for the shirt but neither of us mentioned it.
Katniss cried then because her dad was dead, and she cried now because I might as well be too.
~~~
As quickly as they came, the tears disappeared and she grabbed me by the shoulders roughly. "Listen to me really well okay? You have to win, there is no choice. Stay alive. Do what you have to do." Code for: kill as many kids as necessary. "We don't have a lot of time but you're smart I know you will be okay. Please be okay." Katniss hugged me again, but this time it was different.
It had the heaviness of goodbye.
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Author's note:
I really can't believe I am actually writing a story on here. It feels very alien to me. I see some people are already reading this to I wanted to give a few disclaimers!
1. This is a fanfiction. Although many details of course are taken from the original work, I take creative liberties so please don't expect the story to be word for word like the original books or movies.
2. I am a student!! I don't have a bunch of time to write but I will try my very best to get one chapter out per day! Adding the story to your library helps so you get notifications when I add anything new.
3. Lastly, please engage. Whether it be by commenting or voting I would love to know what people think of the story that I am building. This is a work constantly in progress so I am not past taking some inspo from comments (😉).
I hope you guys enjoy the story and take this journey with me!
YOU ARE READING
Until The Mockingjay Sings
Fanfiction" "A volunteer! Oh how exquisite, and in 12 of all districts."It had always seemed funny to me how extravagant and odd everyone from the capitol looked. Effie Trinket was no exception. If I was as easy to spot as a rose on an empty field, Effie was...
