Victor

Chapter 1

I woke up and stretched. I hadn't slept this well since I got to District 12. Sometimes, I seriously think that the bed is stuffed with coals. I saw my "parents" walking around the kitchen with worried looks on their faces. They wanted me to call them my parents, but I seldom did. Then, I remembered what day it was.

"Guys, you know how unlikely it is for me to get picked. Every girl in the district is in it, and my name is only on one slip of paper in a thing of almost a hundred." We know the basics about what they were calling the reaping, but not many details. Then, I saw Rachel give Richard a sad, pleading look. He nodded and turned to me.

"Actually, you are in it four times." He said. My jaw dropped. I was fourteen, but it was the first Hunger Games, I think that was what it was called, so there was no other slips for them to double up.

"What! How did that happen! They couldn't double up, so how am I in there more than once?"

"They offered something so that if you put your name in an extra time, your family gets a year's worth of oil and wheat for one person. Since we have three people in our family, we did it three times for you." He had a small grin at the end, but I was furious.

"Okay, so, I am not even your daughter, and you put my name in extra times to get sent to the Capital for some sort of punishment that we don't even yet know what it is? And then you thought that I would be fine with it?" I yelled. They looked at each other, and I could tell that they were trying to keep calm.

"Eva, we don't want you to starve. Do you know how likely it is that you are picked? Just four slips in a container with probably hundreds." Richard almost yelled. I just turned on my heel and ran out of the house, into the wood, into a clearing I had found. Then, remembering I hadn't changed out of my night clothes, I ran even farther to an abandoned building I had found. It was right next to a lake, and I spent a lot of time here. I went in, and opened a chest I had made. It held some of my clothes, just incase something like this were to happen, or if I needed to run away. I changed quick, and turned around. I saw someone sitting at the edge of the lake.

"Hello Eva." The person said, without turning around. It was a boy, with dark hair, a smooth but deep voice. I already knew he had the typical grey eyes that most children in the Seam had.

"Hi Gabe. What brings you here this FINE morning?" I said the fine part very sarcastically, because today some of the kids would be taken to the Capitol for a punishment that we didn't really know what it was, just that it was some kind of fight. He turned around to face me.

"From the looks of it, better than you. What happened? Why did you run off before you even had the chance to change?" I told him the whole story, and he just nodded. He had a brother, but their family was able to buy food, as they had one of the few shops in town, so they made a lot more money then the people that worked at the coal mines.

We talked for awhile, and went swimming. Do you ever have that friend that you are so close to that their like a sibling? But you get along with them a lot better? And you can just talk to them, and you know they won't tell anyone? That is what Gabe is like to me. Then he remembered something.

"Eva, we need to go! I just remembered last night my parents were talking about how they were putting an electric fence up today. When you ran out I followed you, and I saw them starting on it! We have to get back before we get stuck out here. I know you aren't the happiest with your family right now, but we can't get stuck out here. We don't know what would happen if we got caught!" He started running. I followed him.

"They are NOT my family." I said. Gabe was the only one I had told about where I was really from. He just rolled his eyes.

When we got back, we saw that the fence was up, but not yet on. I quickly used my hands to dig a bit out from under the fence so we could slip under the fence. I let Gabe go first, and then slipped under it myself. As soon as I got out, I heard a click, and a soft buzz. I looked at Gabe.

"Just in time." We said in unison. We both started laughing then. Who knows, maybe this won't be as bad as I thought it would be.

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Later that day, I was sitting on the floor, and Rachel as doing my hair in a french braid that circled my head. I was dressed in the best outfit I had, which was a pale, coral dress with lace on the sleeves, and a pair of flats.

"Rachel, why? Why did you guys put my name in more times?" I asked. I had calmed down alot, so she was also calm when she answered. That is something I like about her. If you act upset to her, then she will act the same to you. Same with acting calm, annoyed, or basically any other emotion.

"Because, since you are not our daughter, we want to treat you the best we can. We knew how unlikely it would be for you to be chosen. We didn't want you to starve, and we wanted to have some of the money we would have used on food to provide other things for you. Since lots of families, and bigger families are doing it too, we thought that you would be fine." She said. I nodded as much as I could with her holding my hair.

About a half hour later, we were walking out of the house to the District square. Most of the District was there already. A Peace Keeper, I think that is what they are called, I am not sure since they are new since the end of the war a few months ago, escorted Richard and Rachel to one part of the square, and me to another. Where they took me was a roped in area with the rest of the fourteen year old girls.

After a few minutes, some Capital woman with a crazy, lime green, afro wig, a dress that looked like it was made of grass with bright pink flowers on it, way too much green and pink makeup on, and five inch heels walked on to the stage. She then started talking about the war, which I didn't care about, because I lived through it, before introducing the mayor, so he could read some sort of treaty thing. I zoned out for some, but then something he said caught my attention.

"Two tributes, one girl and one boy, from each of the remaining twelve districts, will be sent to an area, and will fight to the death, until only one person remains, for district pride, fame, and fortune. This will be a reminder to the districts of the war, and how it was their fault." That is what the punishment is. To get kids from your district taken away, and dying. When the mayor was done reading, he sat down, and the woman, I think her name was Tinkie, started talking about what happened when a person won the games. I just zoned out again.

"Let us begin. Ladies first, because how could we forget our manners." She walked over to a side of the stage with a huge fishbowl looking thing with a bunch of folded up pieces of paper in it. I then realized that there was also one on the other side of the stage. She reached in, swished her hand around in the bowl, and pulled out a piece of paper. She opened it up and read the name.

"Eva Holdings."

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Hi! So, quick Author's Note for this chapter. I just wanted to say that I don't really like the name I have for this book, so if you have any ideas, please comment it or message me. Thank you, and I will let you know if I chose someone's. Thanks again! ~HP