A Girl's Game (A Hunger Games Fan Fiction)

Chapter 1: Two Sisters, Two Friends

Hello! Somehow I accidentally deleted this chapter, so I am posting it again. Here it is!

~Alexis

Glory

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I slowly wake up again, the sun too bright to open my eyes. I rub them and blink them open. Sitting right on top of me is a little 13 year old girl. She has freckles all along her face, shoulders and neck, and her golden blonde hair falls almost all the way down her back. The top half has big waves and the bottom half has wispy curls. Her skin is a peachy tone like her father's, and she clutches a spear in her hand. She smiles devilishly and I squeal, kicking my covers away and then launching myself out of bed.

I lay sprawled out on my bedroom floor. "Charm! You scared the heck out of me!" I grab a silky pillow off my bed and hit it across her head, smiling. She takes another and swings it at my stomach. We eventually get into an all-out fight, beating each other with pillows in every place possible.

Charm is my younger sister. She's 14 and I'm 17. We're best friends. Which is bad, because you never know if I might lose her. Lose her. Lose her. I repeat those words in my head, which have never been scarier. The Reaping is tomorrow, and something might happen. Something could happen. The smile fades from my face and I set my pillow down. I pat my bed for my sister to sit down. She giggles one last time and sits beside me.

With a serious face, I say, "You know, the Reaping is tomorrow." Charm's grin saddens.

"I know." She clasps her hand in mine and stares out the window with a blank face. She turns to me and her usual happy-face returns. "That's why we're going to have fun today!"

I smile softly. "Just like every year. Now go!" I shoo her out of my room so I can get dressed. I put on my short red dress with a white collar. I finger its soft pleats and think back to the time Mom made this for me. She owns a fabric shop which is right next door to my father's gem inspection shop. My mother made this just for me to wear to school, but I decide to wear it today. Charm and I consider the day before the Reaping to be a special occasion.

I tie my hair back with a ribbon cut from an old pillow of mine. It is a faded royal blue color and I have loved it since I was a small child. I have quite a few of these because of the plentiful fabric stock we have here in District 1, but this will always be my favorite. I slip my white boots on and head outside as soon as I can. I hate my house. All of its colors are gloomy and cloudy.

As I step outside, a cool breeze brushes against my face. It has been unusually chilly this summer. I don't really mind, but I greatly enjoy the usual warmth of this season.

I head towards my father's shop to say good morning. It is fairly far away from the small circle of houses our home is in. I walk along the dirt path outside of our private court to a long strip of shops on the left side of Main Street. I see lots of boys that go to my school. They all stop to say hello and chat with me. Well, I should probably say drool over me. I don't have time for their stupid pick-up lines so I tell them that I have to go and continue walking.

Finally, I reach the end of the street where Silverson's Gem Inspection Shop sits. Its a small wooden building that sits at the very end of the row of stores. I open the door and a little bell rings. I see my father with his complicated devices surrounding him, and I walk over. He looks up and smiles gleefully, his cloudy blue eyes twinkling. He stands up and gives me a warm hug. "Good morning my darling." He says.

"Hi Daddy. Is Charm in here?" I look around the front room.

"Oh yes," he says. "She's right over there." He motions to a corner of the room where my sister polishes a ruby. She sets it down on a huge pile of gleaming gems. I grin when I see her.