Price of Rebellion (The Hunger Games)

Chapter One

"Emma! Wake up, you have fifteen minutes!" I hear my mom call. It's the first day of school today. I jump out of bed, and look at myself in the mirror. New school year, new me. I slip into my new outfit that I just bought for specifically today. It's a light blue tank top with white jean shorts. Cute, but grown up.  I brush my brown, soft hair as I look at myself in the mirror again and smile. I see my little sister walk in my room through the reflection in the mirror.

"Hey Em? Can I borrow a bracelet?" Hope asks me. Hope, my nine year old little sister, is almost a mini me.

"Of course," I say, handing her a bracelet. "Take this one, it matches your blue eyes."

"Emma!" I hear my mom call from the kitchen downstairs.

"Coming!" I say while running out of my room and down the steps, almost tripping over the last one.

"Hey sweetie, oh you look nice today." She says, handing me a plate with warm toast with butter on top, the usual.

"Well, I want to look good for the first day of school." I say while looking at the time. "Oh shoot, I'm running late. I'll take this to go."

"Oh yeah, after school can you pick up some sugar? I'm making a cake for Alex's birthday tomorrow."

"I almost forgot. Wow, he's turning twelve already? I'll also pick up a gift for him." I say, stuffing a sweatshirt in my backpack.

"Thanks, Dad will be home for dinner." She says, handing me twenty dollars for the sugar. "Have a good day, love you." My mom says, handing me my helmet.

"Love you too," I say while putting on my helmet and backpack, and I bump into my brother as I run to the door. "Alex, I'm leaving now. I'll meet you in front of the school after last period." I say to my brother, who runs right past me to get his shoes.

"Okay, see ya." He says. Alex is in a phase where he has to be 'cool' so I walk over to him and kiss him on the cheek with my lip gloss coated lips. He wipes it away and I smile. 

I leave the house and start biking to school. Reflecting back on my summer break, not much happened. I start to wonder where the kids in my grade went during break. I heard one girl went to district four with her family. The most fun I had was going to work with my dad.

I am almost three blocks away when I notice the planes. They aren't planes though, they are bigger than planes. They are also darker and bulkier than the usual planes. Something is wrong. I stop and get off my bike and take off my helmet. I hear people around me ask the same thing I am thinking. What are they? In the blink of an eye, the plane quickly passes over the school, and the school explodes.

The explosion is the loudest thing I've ever heard in my life. Everyone falls backwards, including me. I fall on my back, and I feel something scratch my arm. There is a ringing sound in my ears, and my eyes are filled with tears. I rub my eyes so I can see clearer, to see the streets are covered with debris and dust. The only thing you can see in the distance beyond the dust is the flames that used to be my school.

Coughing, I crawl over to a nearby tree and lean against it. It feels like my lungs are on fire. My heart beats fast and my head is aching, I can't comprehend what just happened. I look at my left arm, which has a huge cut on it. It's gushing blood heavily and everything sways around me.

Tears well up in my eyes, and I wipe them away. I moan as I quickly unzip my backpack and take out my sweatshirt. I wrap it around my arm to stop the bleeding. Everything starts getting fuzzy, and the tree can't even support me. I slide to the ground and roll on to my stomach. I cover my head with my backpack just before the school explodes again. There must have been another plane, or whatever that  thing was. But then it gets quiet, and the only thing I hear is my heartbeat.