The Celebrity Hunger Games

Chapter 9: District 9

Tom Fletcher’s p.o.v

Coming from district 9 meant that we weren’t as well off as other districts. We weren’t as poor as districts 11 and 12, but we still had to find our food rather than it being delivered to our doorsteps, which is what I expect happens in districts 1 and 2. My parents had raised my sister Carrie and I to look out for each other, and to protect each other. When our father died, I taught her to hunt. She picked it up straight away, and now it was easier than ever. If we could only avoid the reaping, our lives would be fine.

“Do you think you’ll get picked?” Carrie asked me. Her curly blond hair and dark brown eyes were humbling to me; I could never lie to her. “I don’t know. I hope not” I said honestly. Being picked would be my worst nightmare; I wasn’t the toughest of guys. “Oh please, I bet you’d love to go to the Games and show off your special skills” she said, smiling with a hint of condescension. “Are you ok Carrie?” I asked her. She always got nervous when it came to the reapings. “I’m fine, never better” she said. “Do you want to talk?” I asked her. She rolled her eyes. “No thanks” she said, walking away from me. My mother always told me to look out for her. When our father had died she was only 4. I was 7 and could remember him a lot better than she could. Mum thought that this upset her, because she could no longer remember his face.

This would be the last time that Carrie and I would be in the reapings together. As I’m 18, it is my last year in the Games, and this would be the year that I would dread most. This was the most times that my name had ever been entered because I always took Tesserae to make sure that Carrie never had to.

Our host was called Lucy Hale. She had a really distinctive Capitol accent and it was hard not to make fun of her, Carrie and I mimicked her all the time, but never within earshot of anyone else. Around here, you never knew who might be watching you. “Welcome to the reapings. We are only as good as our tributes. Let’s see who they are!” she said, her voice getting higher and higher the more excited she got. She swirled her hand in the glass ball that contained the names of all the eligible males in the district. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. “Tom Fletcher” she called, filling my whole body with dread.

Carrie Fletcher’s p.o.v

“You’ll never be as good as Tom” my father said to me. “Daddy?” I questioned him, confused and hurt. “You’ll never make it, you’ll never be anything” he continued. I fell at his feet as he turned to leave me alone. “Don’t leave me” I said to him. He shrugged. “Why would I want to be here with you when I can go and find Tom?” he said, snarling nastily. “Dad!” I screamed. Then I felt a hard surface and surrounding me was my bedroom. “Damn, another dream” I whispered quietly to myself. I had been having these dreams more and more lately. It wasn’t always my dad, but it was always someone telling me that I’d never be as good as my older brother Tom. Ever since our father had died, Tom had been the one to teach me everything I know. But I always felt like I was in his shadow. Until I started training. Nobody in my family knew, but I was going to volunteer, I was going to win the Hunger Games.

“Do you want to talk?” Tom asked me. I rolled my eyes and muttered a no as I walked away. It annoyed me how pretentious he could be. I never wanted to speak to him again, let alone about the Games.

Our host was called Lucy Hale. She was the easiest person to mimic because of her Capitol accent, and in a simpler time, Tom and I used to have so much fun pretending to be her, and calling out random names for the reapings. Names of past winners or names of school friends. But never our own names. Neither of us ever wanted to admit how scared we were of the reapings, but we both knew how each other felt. Or at least, Tom thought he did. Sooner than later she was calling out the first male tribute. “Tom Fletcher” she said. “No!” I said out loud, but not for the reasons you’d think. I wasn’t scared for Tom’s safety; I was annoyed that he’s got what I wanted. I wanted to compete in the Games, and I wanted to win. Then I realised, what better way was there to prove that I was better than Tom? I could compete against him; I could beat him in the Games.

“And the female tribute is, Giovanna Falcone” The host said. I recognised her. She was a beautiful Italian girl with a big family. She was older than me and probably had her name in loads of times. Sometimes I’d catch Tom staring at her and I thought they would be an awesome couple. Maybe fate was trying to push them together by choosing them for the reapings, but I was about to come in the middle of that. “I want to volunteer” I shouted, making sure that I could be heard. I ignored Tom’s looks and walked up onto the stage. Giovanna looked at me gratefully as I pulled her into a hug. “You and my brother would have been perfect together” I whispered into her ear. She smiled at me. “I think so too” she said, and then she walked off the stage and left me there. “What is your name?” Lucy Hale asked me. Her accent almost caused me to laugh out loud, but this wasn’t the place or the time. “Carrie Fletcher” I said. “Are you two brother and sister?” she asked me. Again, whilst ignoring the urge to laugh, I nodded. Her eyes widened and she looked sad and confused. “You do realise one of you is going to die, right?” she questioned me. I nodded and smiled for the cameras. “Yep. And it’s not going to be me” I said. Although Tom pretended not to be listening I could tell that he heard. I didn’t care how he felt. All I cared about was the fact that I was in the Hunger Games. Finally.