The First Hunger Games (On Hold)

Chapter 3

Lana and I enjoyed a peaceful dinner, seeing as Olin was knocked out. We laughed and joked, and Lana showed me a couple of tricks. When Olin would come to, I hoped he knew he was punched. I didn't want his 'alter-ego' to think I made out with him. Even the thought made me sick.

"Hey, Lana...." I started.

"Yes?"

"Can we watch the other Reapings? So I can see who the other Tributes are...?" I asked, a sort of weird tone in my voice.

"Of course!" She trilled. She clip clopped into her room and clip clopped back, and handed me a box filled with tapes.

"I was given these at the Train station." She said. I stared at the box like it had come from space. How did she get the tapes so quickly? The Capitol was wierd.

I sifted through the tapes, and found the one from 2. I put it in, and hit play.

"Welcome to the First Hunger Games Annual Reaping!" Cawed the lady. She was more repulsive than Lana looked... If that was possible.

"Now, before we begin, we have your District 2 Mayor, reading out the Treaty of the Treason!" Huh. That didn't happen with us. Maybe Lana forgot, or something.

As the Mayor read the Treaty of the Treason, his hollow eyes became deep with sorrow. He didn't want this for his District. When he finished, I could see tears welling in some of the children's eyes.

"Thank you for that Mr. Hacaract!" The woman cooed, and she took off her leather gloves.

"And now, it is time to choose the girl 

Tribute!" She called. She trotted to the big bowl filled with girls names, and it was so silent I could make out every detail of the rustling paper.

She took the slip over to the microphone, and opened it.

"Emaria Silverwoods!"

A pretty, blonde, slim girl walked up to the stage. She was a tough nut to crack. Obviously, she would have volunteered, I could see it in her face. But why? Why would you want to volunteer?

"Now, for the boys." The woman said. When she had the slip, she read it out clearly.

"Marcus Silverwoods!" So they were brother and sister. But, when I looked closer, they were twins. Same height, hair, eyes. Probably age, too.

They shook hands then marched away.

I was entranced. Twins. Crap.

I watched the rest of the tapes, and only a few other stood out in my mind. The cute boy from 4. The small, blonde girl from 7. The pair from 10. The 12 year old girl from 12. Huh. That would be the perfect time to volunteer. But I was only afraid of the pair from 2, they looked dangerous.

I heard movement behind me. I whipped up and turned to face the person. Ugh, Olin had woken up. His cheek was beautifully swollen, and so was part of his lip. 'Good job' I told my self in the head.

"Hey baby. We went a bit rough, didn't we?" He said, reaching for my face. I slapped his hand away. Ew, his alter-ego had changed the fact I punched him.

"No. I punched you, dim wit." I said. This guy was asking for it. I could hurt him so bad. But there were cameras here.

His eyes clouded over. He was hoping I believed him. I didn't, how could I forget the most beautiful moment of my life? I shoved him away from me, hearing the sound of the cameras train on me. I no longer cared about the Capitol, or President Bloody Snow. I hated his guts for this, but I knew I couldn't rebel against him. He would just kill me.

"Sweet, sweet Azairah. You can't hurt me." He grinned. I wanted to slap him, how dare he say my name? But I knew I couldn't. With the cameras trained on me, I couldn't hurt him. With my 

body.

"Go have kiss some other girl. I just don't want your man whore ways." His jaw dropped, and I was proud of myself. With that, I walked to my room, locked the door, and I lay on the velvet sheets, and my mind drifted into dream land.

In the morning, I woke up, satisfied with my sleep. I was still in my dress from the reaping, and my mother's necklace hung around my neck. My hair was a bit messy, so I brushed it down a little. I unlocked my door, took a deep breath and walked out.

Lana was sitting as far away from Olin at the table as she could, and Olin was looking confused. I sat next to Lana, not giving eye contact to Olin.

"Soon you will be with your stylists." Lana said. "They will dress you for the first Tribute parade. Be nice." As soon as she said 'Be nice' she looked at Olin. I suppressed a smile. I could see it, he was angry. He began spewing profanities that made Lana cry and I just ignored whatever junk came out of his mouth. I ate my breakfast in silence, silently laughing in my head. I didn't want Olin to have the satisfaction of attention. So I kept the laughing to myself. For once, I could enjoy a silent victory.

"We're here." Said Lana, her voice filled with relif. She couldn't wait to get off the train - and away from Olin.

I was glad, once we got off the train Peacekeepers escorted us to our stylist rooms. Olin was in the room next to me.

The stylists walked in, big grins, dyed faces, tattooed bodies, brightly coloured hair and piercings.

This was going to be a long night.