Defiance: The 13th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter Two

"Wake up! Wake up" Someone is poking me in the side.

I grunt and roll over. It's Jade. "How much longer till it starts?" I mumble.

"I don't know!" She snaps, "Just get up!"

I throw off the scratchy covers, and put my feet on the cold wood floor. I walk over to the old mirror with a crack on the side. I look terrible!

My hair is a matted mess, I have dirt all over my face, and a few drops of blood on my shirt from where I was skinning my rabbit.

I need to bathe, bad.

Jade skips over to me, "The tub is ready."

Without responding, I go to the tub, which is full of water. Of course it's not very warm. It's probably been sitting there for over an hour or two.

I undress and carefully step in. Even though it's cold, it's refreshing. I rub the dirt and grime off, and wash my hair. I feel much better when I'm done.

I wrap an old towel around me and quickly walk over to the old wardrobe that all of our clothes are stored in. I push Father's old jacket out of the way and finally reach the dress I wore last reaping. It is not the prettiest thing, but it is a dress.

I lay the green dress on the bed, and quickly put it on. Good thing it's just Jade and I in the house. I'm sure Rowan and Marsh are already in the square. Father is probably sitting outside under the small cherry tree. Mother said that cherry trees were her favorite tree.

I tie the white ribbon behind my back, and straighten out the white lacey bottom. I actually think that I look presentable, for once. My hair still looks horrible.

I decide to just leave it down; I don't have time to do anything fancy. I run my fingers through my golden curly hair and get out all the tangles.

"Annabeth! We have to go!" Jade yells.

I look at the watch Father usually wears. It says.... one o' clock!

We do have to go! I slip on some white shoes, and fly out the door. "Come on, Jade!"

I run down the steep dirt path that leads to town. Jade is pretty far behind me. I wonder if she's worried. This is her first reaping. I'm sure she'll be fine. I should be worried. My name is in there as many times as I could put them in. I'm only fourteen, but I entered for the terserrae eleven times. It's definitely worth it to get some grain and oil.

Unfortunately, I didn't see a large stone in the middle of the path. I go rolling down the large hill. I feel pebbles cutting in to me. I know my dress is ruined. I come to a halt, luckily it's at the bottom of the path.

Finally, Jade makes it down the steep hill. We only have about ten minutes to get there to register. "Jade, speed it up! We are going to be late!"

Her dark brown hair flows behind her back, and her pink flowered dress is flying in the wind. Another reason I hate her, she looks almost exactly like Mother.

She finally gets to the end of the path. I see her shaking , I don't know if she's nervous or tired.

I pat her on the back, "Go!"

We run through the abandoned streets. Normally, people would be out on the streets by now, but since today is a "holiday", they are probably already in the square.

The pebbles keep flying into my shoes, causing me to have to stop and pull them out. After what seems like an hour, we arrive at the square.

I look down at my feet, they are covered in dirt and mud. My once white shoes, are now an ugly shade of brown. I let out a sigh. My dress doesn't look much better. There's splashes of mud all over it. There's even a rip where the lace was, the lace definitely isn't there now.

My skin has dirt and blood spattered everywhere. I try to wipe it off with my hands, but it only smears. I sigh. I look horrible, not that I care. I'm not one for looks.

I don't want to know how my hair looks. I run my fingers through it as I walk over to the table where I will get I prick of blood taken. I arrive, and wait in the line. I think about what Spruce is doing right now. This is his fourth Reaping, he's probably not nervous like me. I just hope that it doesn't show.

I get to the front and I wince as a man with a curly black beard checks my blood. I watch him insert a small needle and draw a pinch of blood. He pulls it out and writes down my name and writes down a number.

"Next!" he calls.

At that, I hurry over to the thirteen year old section. I'm just glad we weren't late. We could have been whipped publicly if we were.

I stretch to see my two brothers standing in the very back, where the families stand. They're too old to be reaped, they are nineteen. Father stands next to them, he nods his head when he sees me.

I'm about to wave, but Mayor Worth steps on to the stage. He starts to begin his long speech that he says each year about how Panem came to be. Of course it's obvious that he doesn't want to, but it's not optional. If he doesn't, the Capitol could execute him for "starting a rebellion".

The square soon booms with the anthem of the Capitol. The huge screens show clips of how the twelve districts were defeated. I tense as they show how District Thirteen was completely obliterated. I despise the Capitol!

This clip is making the anger rise inside of me, anger and hatred. It's all Jade's fault! I hate her! I wish it was her, not Mother!

I let out a sigh of relief as the screens go black and Mayor Worth stands up again.

"Now, let's welcome, District Twelve's escort, Juniper Joseline!"

The Mayor is greeted by silence as Juniper bounces onto the stage.

"Welcome! Welcome, District Twelve!" She gushes.

I have to admit, Juniper is one of the most ugly creatures I have ever seen in my entire life. She's wearing this orange dress with see-through sleeves. She looks like mandarine orange, a rotten one. She has green hair, that's a huge poofy mess, it looks like a bush.

"Well, tough crowd!" She jokes.

I almost forgot, Capitol people try to be hilarious.

"Now, the time has come, to select the male and female tributes that will have the wonderful honor, of starring in... the Hunger Games!" Juniper announces in her stupid Capitol accent.

Yeah 'starring'! That's almost funny! Everyone knows that no person can 'star' in the games. You might have a moment of fame where you take down a strong tribute, but then you just get killed by someone stronger. Some fame.

My hands are shaking, I clutch them together so no one can see. My feet are sweating, and I struggle to breath. Come on, get it together! It's not like this is your first reaping!

"As usual, ladies first." Juniper shouts, her ugly dress blowing in the breeze.

She sticks her orange painted fingers into the glass reaping bowl. I pray it's not me, it can't be!

I look up at the sky, the clouds seem so beautiful. I wish I could just fly away, get away from everything. The games, the district, my life.

The clanging of Juniper's heels snaps me out of my thoughts. She clears her throat and steps up to the microphone.

My heart is beating in my chest, I'm sure everyone around me can hear it.

"The female tribute for District Twelve is... Jade Meadows!"