Defying the Odds (The 4th Quarter Quell) [The Hunger Games Fanfiction]

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Layla

I am tugged out of sleep by the familiar calls of my brother, waking me from my pleasant dream in the water.

“It’s time to get up,” he says, and I roll over in the bed before the drowsiness pulls at me, and I doze off.

Halfway asleep, he calls to me again.

“Layla, get up. It’s reaping day.”

Reaping day.     

My eyes flutter open, and a frown appears on my lips. The two dreaded words and the frightening images to follow replace the content of my dream and fill my thoughts with fear. I have nothing to worry about, though. If my name gets called, someone will volunteer for me. There is always a volunteer in District Four, especially for the Quarter Quell. Someone will want the glory more than me.

I mutter a few incomprehensible phrases about the reaping before sliding out of the tiny bed and crossing over to the mirror. I pull my blonde hair out of the bun and it tumbles down my shoulders in waves. While I watch myself in the mirror, I catch Luca’s eyes watching over me from the doorway.

“You know, we still have chores to run before we get ready.” He bends down and begins lacing his boots up, and then leans against the frame. “No one cares what you look like, Layla.”

I shoot him a glare before pulling my hair back into a bun, and rubbing my eyes to wake myself up.

“What are we doing today?” I ask him, and look at the piece of paper in his hand.

“First, we have to stop at the butcher’s to drop off the catch from last night, and then we have to visit the market. Mom wanted us to stop at Gran’s too.”

I nod, and wait for him to leave the room before changing into a thin pair of jeans and a plain white tee. I walk over to the doorway of my bedroom, grab my boots, and pull them on. It takes me less than a minute to tie them into perfection, and then I leave my room and join Luca at the door.

“Grab the last two bags from the cooler.” I move over to the cooler and pull it open. The two bags of fish in there are frozen and I load them onto my shoulders.

“Ready?” Luca asks.

“Yep. Is Lily still asleep?”

“No, mom took her out.”

I watch my brother for a moment and notice his green eyes sparkling in the light of the morning. I have the same eyes, but that is where our similarities stop. My light hair is strikingly different than his rich brown color and he is far more muscular than me.

We bring the fish to the butcher and trade it for some pig. It is quite a luxury, but I am sure that it will be worth it as we eat it tonight in the safety of our home. It is also a treat to celebrate Lily’s final year of not being in the reaping pool. We are all dreading her name going into the pool next year, because she will come to terms with what actually happens in the games; the realization that while bringing pride to her district is necessary, one cannot win the games without personal desire.

I have no personal desire to kill off twenty two other children for the sake of their lives and for my mental health.

We quickly make it back home to join my mother and sister for a quick breakfast. My father’s fishing hours are cut short today because of the reaping, and I will see him in the square before the tributes are reaped.

“Come on, get dressed,” my mother’s soft voice says. We go into my room and she helps me into a pretty mint green dress that stops at my knees. The straps pull on my shoulders and I feel my heart beating quickly. This is it. This is the nervousness of the reaping hitting me.