The 76th Hunger Games

Chapter 2

I feel like I've been punched in the chest. My brother looks at me with tears in his eyes. I look away, trying to stop my own tears. I know I shouldn't have put my name in the bowl so many times. Look what I've done! I've practically been given a death sentence! The people part, making me a path to walk down to get to the stage. They look at me with pity. I don't want their pity. I just want to run away. Run away and never look back. Crawl under a rock and die before I have to go into the arena, before I even have to leave my District. I wipe my tears away and walk past the people and onto the stage. "Hello young lady!" Fifi Coogle says. "You must be Jonette. How are you feeling today?" She asks. Terrible, Fifi. Get that through your head. I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE. I almost scream in her face. I take a deep breath. "Fine. I'm fine." I say. Fifi grins. "And now," She begins, "For the boys!" Fifi Coogle reaches her hand into the bowl and plucks a slip of paper.  For some reason she doesn't take nearly as long as she did to pick my name."Brian Larson!" She reads aloud. A brown haired boy, my age, maybe a year older, walks up to the stage and me and him shake hands. We lock eyes for a moment but I turn away. At least we have two things in common. We're both from District 8, and we're both tributes now. We drop our hands and sit down. "Alright, now, to The Justice Building we go!" Fifi says, and we are ushered into a room. I sit down on a worn leather loveseat just as my family bursts in. I am crying so much that the three minutes I have with them is blown away in my mind. I can barely remember the promises I make, how many times I tell them I love them. A Peacekeeper rushes them out and four come to take me to the train. Cameras train on my face until the moment I step into the lavish train. The lush red carpet is soft under my shoes, muffling my footsteps. Crystal chandeliers hang over glass-topped tables. Avoxes walk around, carrying silver trays with tall glasses of brightly-coloured drinks on them. I take in the velvet couches, the TV screen grafted into the wall. Fifi and two other people are sitting at a table. "Brian! Jonette! Come join us. We have dinner!" She coos.

     I sit in a chair beside Brian. Fifi sits across from us, and Cecelia and Woof are there as well. Our mentors are here to see what they have to work with this year. Woof is an elderly man and Cecelia looks to be around thirty or so, with long brown hair and kind eyes. "Well," Woof begins in a gruff voice, "These are the tributes from District 8 this year." Cecelia nudges him. "Be more polite." She scolds, and she turns to us with a look of sympathy. "Now please, eat something." She says, gesturing to the vast mounds of food. I get some rolls and fruit.The fruit is brightly coloured and oddly sweet. Brian gets the same exotic fruit and a bowl of what seems to be lamb stew. We start to eat. I make sure to use my manners so nobody is disgusted by me or whatever. "Let's, uh, watch the recaps." Woof says awkwardly. Something tells me he's shy around new people, even children like Brian and I. Fifi takes what Woof has said as an order, and grabs a small remote. She presses a button and the TV screen flashes to life.