The Famine Games

Chapter 2

That night, Grace and her family ate their last meal together in silence. Grace cherished every moment of it; there was not telling that she would ever get to experience this again.

The next morning, Grace woke up with a smile on her face. Only to realize that today was the day that she left her family, and home. She dressed in her favourite Toronto Raptors sweatshirt, green camouflage leggings, and let her curly brown hair fall down her shoulders. Just like in the book, she was allowed to take one personal item into the arena. Grace thought of many things she could bring. But right when she was about to leave, she knew exactly which one she wanted with her.

It was the silver bracelet Lauren had given her for her 12th birthday. It was a thin band, with the words "so long and goodnight" engraved on a rectangular charm. The bracelet reminded Grace to stay optimistic, and that things might turn out okay.

"Don't die, Grace. I don't know what I would do without you," Jacob, her little brother said.

Grace started to tear up. Shaking her head, she pulled Josh in for a hug.

"I'm not leaving anytime soon, buddy. I'll be back."

Pulling away from Josh, she hugged her mother and father, their worried faces not helping the stampede of elephants in her stomach. She opened the door, and took one last look. One last look at where she grew up in. One last image of where her childhood memories lie. Grace hoped she would be alive after the games to make more of them.

Grace met up with Lauren, Lucy, and Sparshita, and together, they walked to the train station where they would depart to Ottawa. That's where the games were held, in Canada's capital city.

They arrived at the station and boarded the train. As Grace sat down, Blair and Liam rushed to sit beside her.

"I beat you! I get to sit beside her! You lose, Hamilton!" Liam cheered. Grace rolled her eyes, while Blair laughed. He put his arm around Grace, and said,

"It doesn't matter. Grace loves me more anyways. Right Grace?"

Grace just shook her head. They were relentless. Sighing, she scooted over so that Liam and Blair were sitting on either side of her. The rest of the tributes had just arrived, taking their seats. Grace stood up to watch everyone settle in.

"Alright everyone, my name is Erica Pflug, and I will be leading you through The Famine Games!" she excitedly said. She had a tight smile on her face, but everyone could see that she was internally worried.

"After the 12 hour train ride, you will be distributed to different rooms for the night. Room mates are your own choice, and 4 people per room. Then tomorrow, you will all be appearing on the Dean McLeod show, for an interview. That will determine how many sponsors you receive, how generous said sponsors will be, etc."

"This sounds exactly like The Hunger Games now," Grace thought, as Liam's hand crept up her arm. Slapping his hand down, she took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Not that there was really any room to breathe; Liam and Blair had crowded her so tightly that she barely could move.

Everyone started nervously chattering after the announcement. Across from her seat, Grace spotted Matthew, Eagle and Xander talking about the latest video game. In front of her, Noah and James were heavily snoring. Everything seemed to be so normal. But it wasn't, because they weren't on the bus to school. They were on a train to go and fight for their lives.