Living in District 12 sucked. There is no better way to put it. It’s bad enough having to live in poverty but to top it all off there is the Hunger Games. And the best part? Today was the reaping. I wish we could just skip the damn thing but that’s not an option. It was a relief that my older brother, Darry, was now not eligible for the games. But there still was the ‘gang’ as we called it. We are a group of seven friends. I’m the youngest at fourteen but my age didn’t seem to bother anyone. My names Ponyboy Curtis by the way. My brothers are Darrel and Sodapop. The gang consists of my family, Dallas Winston, the scary, mean one, Johnny, the quiet shy one, Steve, the one that hates me and is my brothers bestfriend and Two-Bit, his real name is Keith but he’s a bit of a jokester. We gathered in the square and stood next to the rest of the gang. . Darry had to stand off to the side. I saw him look over at us, his eyes hollow. Everyone went quiet as this awful looking woman took the stage. Her shoes echoed against the stage as she walked over to a huge glass ball.
“Lady’s first!”, she said with a smile as she dipped her hand into the bowl. Her fingers danced around the folded pieces of paper until they found the name she wanted. She took the paper into her hand and walked back to the microphone.
“Hazel Miller!”, she roared into the microphone. And there walked the girl of my dreams, the girl I had had a crush on for my whole life. She had nothing but fear in her eyes as she walked to her doom. She joined the woman on the stage and stood to the side as she announced for the boys. Once again she walked over to the glass ball and picked a name. She approached the microphone and unfolded the piece if paper.
“Johnny Cade!”, she happily screamed. I looked over at Johnny, fear in his eyes as he took a step towards the stage. I grabbed his arm, not really sure what I was doing. Before I knew it something came over me and I found myself in front of Johnny.
“I volunteer!”, I screamed. What was coming over me? Johnny looked at me, tears in his eyes as he shook his head. I looked over at Soda who had blown up, tears pouring but there was nothing he could do. It was too late. I walked towards the stage and joined the woman.
“Looks like district 12 has its first volunteer!”, she announced.
“What’s your name”, she asked me.
“Ponyboy Curtis”, I muttered.
“Well that’s an interesting name. Now you two, shake hands”, she told us.
I shook hands with Hazel, seeing the pain and fear in her eyes as I was led into the Justice Building where the gang would come and say their goodbyes. First came Soda followed by Darry, Johnny, Dally, Steve and Two-Bit.
“What the hell were you thinkin!”, yelled Johnny, which took every one of guard considering he never talked.
“I-I don’t know. I couldn’t just watch you go”, I muttered as Johnny pulled me into a hug. Soda was bawling as he also hugged me. Darry shed a few silent tears, knowing he was going to lose another family member. Two-Bit was crying and shaking his head and even Dally had a few tears.
“You have to try and win this thing, Pony. You’re fast and strong. Try using your head. You’re smart. You have to try.”, said Darry as more tears fell down his face.
“It’s time to go”, the peacekeepers said as they came in for the gang.
“Win for me, Pony”, Johnny whispered as they were led out.
