A Secret Love - Cato x Reader

Chapter 3 - The Reaping

Y/n's pov

*Me and my family arrive at the hall of justice and the parents and other citizens of district 7 go to the back while the unlucky children ranging from 12 to 18 have to sign in to make sure all are acounted for and just hope and pray it's not their name pulled out. I feel Elsie's hand start to become a bit sweaty and slight shake. I crouch down to her height.*

"Hey Els, it's going to be okay. Your name is only in there once, there are loads of girls with their names in way more times than yours. You won't go in the games.....I promise." I say to her. *I pull out my necklace and show her, she lifts her arm to reveal the bracelet.*

"The butterfly, think of it as a sign of each other. Think about how it's me, protecting you. As long as you have the bracelet, you'll be safe." I say comforting her. *A small tear falls down her face, I wipe it away and hug her. I soon stand up to say a temporary goodbye to my parents. My dad hugs me while my mum hugs Elsie, and then my mum hugs me, and my dad hugs Elsie.*

"Rememeber y/n, we'll meet where we normally do after the reaping, just at the end of the path." My dad says to me. *After the reaping's I meet my family at the end of the path as right outside the hall of justice gets really crowded after the reaping, family's trying to find their children, happy they are free for that years reaping, while 2 family's try to accept the fact that their son or daughter is going into the hunger games. My parents go to where the citizens of 7 stand, and I grab Elsie's hand again and start to walk towards the several lines where you sign in.*

"Does it hurt?" Elsie asks me worriedly, even though she didn't specify, I knew what she meant.

"Only a little bit. They get the machine and prick your finger, it stings a bit at first but then goes away after, then your name, age and birthday will show up on the machine and then they will push your finger down onto the paper." I say to her trying to reassure her the signing in process isn't that bad. *Me and Elsie both separate to go to different lines. I wait in line looking into the crowd of singing in children, trying to find Izzy and Logan. I spot Izzy signing in at another line, and I see Logan already standing in the 18 year old boys section.*

"Finger." The person says aggressively. *I hold out my left hand, and the woman pushes the machine into my finger, my face scrunches up a bit due to the pain. My name, age, and birthday show up on the screen, and then she pushes my finger on the paper. I quickly walked off to go and stand next to Izzy as she was already in the line 17 year old girls section.*

"Hey!" I say to Izzy happily, although the joy doesn't quite react my face.

"Hi. Love the dress this year." Izzy says, looking at my black and f/c dress.

"Thanks, yours is nice too." I say to Lexi. *She is wearing a dark green knee-length dress with some knee-high brown boots. I look back towards the front. I see District 7's escort walk onto the stage, and wow, this is probably the nicest I've seen her during all of my reaping's.*

"She actually looks okay for once." I whisper to Izzy . *She is wearing a dark green shoulder-length curled wig, with her usal pale face with some green dark to light green eye shadow and green lipstick on and crazy spider like green mascarra on. She has a sage green skirt on and a matching blazer, jacket whatever you want to call the fancy capital stuff, on and a dark green shirt underneath, she has some dark green heels on. Yes, that is a lot, but for her, it's barely anything, I know all capital outfits are crazy colours, but her outfits are another level of crazy.*

"Yeah, it's surprising." Izzy replies.

"Welcome. Welcome, for those of you who do not know, I am Evangeline Kass district 7's escort. I am honoured to escort district 7 in the reaping for the 74th annual hunger games. We have a very, very, very special video from the capital just for you." Evangeline Kass district 7's escort says. *She presses a button and walks to the side of the stage. The video starts playi-. Izzy nudged me, I turn to her, and she points towards the back of the boys section. My eyes meet Logans.*

"War. Terrible war." Logan mouth to me and Izzy. *Me and Izzy start to laugh and get a few weird looks from girls nearby. The same video is played every year so by your last year you could of memorised the video and it look as though so has Evangeline. I see her mouthing the last line as she starts to walk back to the middle of the stage.*

"Is that not just wonderful!" Evangeline says happily. *No one laughs, claps, or even changes their expression. These stupid capital people, they think the games are fun and think the capital is all amazing and that lot, when in reality, it's not.*

"Now, let's start the reaping. As usual ladies first." Evangeline says, walking to the girl's bowl. *I grab Izzy's hand, and she instantly holds mine. I shut my eyes and keep mouthing to myself. "Please don't be me". I hear Evangeline's heels clank as shewalkss back to the microphone and unfolds the paper.*

"Elsie l/n." She announces. *I open my eyes instantly at the name. I see out of the corner of my eye Izzy's shoulders sink at the thought of her best friends little sister going into the hunger games. I see Elsie start to slowly move to the aisle separating the boys and girls. No, she can't go in, she can't she's only 12. She can't go in, she can't, she can't, she can't. I drop Izzy's hand and start to quickly push through the crowds of girls.*

"Elsie!" I shout Ahead. *Everyone's eyes turn to me. Two peacekeepers grab either one of my arms and are about to begin to pull me back, but I shake them of.*

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute." I shout. *I shake of the peacekeepers' hands and run to Elsie. She hugs me and starts to cry.*

"Shh. Shh, it's okay. It's okay." I say to her while stroking her hair. *I feel a light hand on my shoulder. I turn around to see Izzy.*

"Come on Els." She says to Elsie.

"NO!" She shouts shouts. *Elsie is suddenly pulled off me by Logan.*

"NO! Y/N! NO!" She shouts. *Izzy and Logan take her to the back to my parents. I feel two peacekeepers grabbing my arms and start to walk me up to the stage. I try to shake them off, but their hands don't budge. I walk up onto the stage, and Evangeline guides me to the left where the girls stand.*

"Hello dear! What is your name?" She asks a bit to enthusiastically.

"Y/n. Y/n l/n." I say to her. *I try to act as confident as I can, but deep down, I know she knows I'm not as confident as I appear. Thankfully, she walks back to the middle of the stage.*

"Now. For the gents." Evangeline say,  starting to walk to the boy's  bowl. *She hovers her hand above the collection of names. She reaches in and pulls out a slip of paper, walking back to the middle of the stage. Please don't be Logan, please don't be Logan, please don't be Logan, please do-.*

"Wallace Ly." Evangeline announces enthusiasticly. *I give a huge sigh of relief. At first, nothing happens, but then I see that the boys start to look at someone in the 17 year olds section. He slowly starts to walk out to the aisle. I'm not going to take in his appearances because, quite frankly, I don't want to get to know him. If I'm going to even try to win this, I need to know as little about the other tributes personal lives as possible. Peacekeepers stand around him and start to escort him to the stage. Evangeline guides him to the right.*

"The tributes from district 7 for the 74th hunger games. Y/n l/n and Wallace Ly." Evangeline announces enthusiasticly, looking at us both.

"Shake hands." Evangeline says to us both. *We turn to each other, and I slowly extend my hand he extends his, and we shake hands. I turn back to the front of the stage. The next thing I know is two peacekeepers grabbing both my arms, I quickly wip my head around and then start to walk with them.*

Don't forget, if I've made mistakes, feel free to correct me.

I hope you enjoyed!