The Cost of being Victor

The Chosen One (Chapter 2) *revised*

             I couldn't process the fact I'd just been reaped. I just stood there, as still as a tree, as everybody moved out of my way, forming a path for me to get to the stage. I mean, my name was only in there like 2 or 3 times since I became eligible. The odds were completely in my favor yet I still got picked. It's not like I ever needed tessarae, either. I had always had enough food and when I didn't I used my skill with a trident to catch food myself. What made it easier was that I had no family to work for, as they had all died during peacekeeper raids. I started to think the Capitol made these games rigged but got snapped out of my thoughts when a two girl's voices sounded through the reaping square, literally one after the other. "I volunteer as tribute." That's what they'd said. I turned to see who they were and immediately recognized them to be Anne Ellis and Lydia Fuller. I hadn't really ever done anything for them, I'd just been their friend and helped them with homework and every once in a while in the combat academy. I'd never saved their lives. I never did anything for which they could repay me by volunteering. I bet they were scared to death (haha, funny joke there). Why were these girls willingly laying down their lives for me? Smart girls like them would know that when it came to it they wouldn't survive. They had families, large families for which to care for. Their siblings would cry and miss them when they ended up dead. I don't think they knew what they were getting themselves into.

          Everybody was kind of in a state of shock, as no other district had had 2 females volunteer as tribute for someone who was practically a stranger to them. Nobody knew what to do since it was always someone hand-picked by the mentors at the training academy. Even the escort, whose name I Iearned later was Miss Constantine Usoro, didn't know what to do. There was no specific page in the 'Book of Reapings for Capitol Citizens and Escorts' that said these two girls were to be punished for volunteering. It technically wasn't rebelling, and as far as I knew they hated the games so why volunteer to be in them?? 

          Miss Constantine struggled to get her words out... "I- uh, well... S-since a wonderful act of bravery like this has never been seen in our district, we shall have our lovely mayor, Mr. David Jackson, decide what to do next! Meanwhile, I ask all you young ladies and gentleman to please remain where you are until we can assess the situation!" Then the mayor got up to speak. "Um well, after some brief conversation with Capitol officials, we've decided the best way to assess the situation is to follow the steps of districts 1 and 2. We'll have Miss Macy Truth, Miss Anne Ellis, and Miss Lydia Fuller compete in a contest and have them show off a special skill that they deemed impressive to a panel of judges. In a way this will delay the games by a couple of days but whichever one of you young ladies becomes the district 4 female, you're giving your district hope. A hope which hasn't been experienced in over 50 years since Mags Flanagan won the 11th Hunger Games. She will also be a  judge and the mentor for District 4 this year." Woah, that was a lot to take in. All three of us were asked to sit with the Capitol people on stage while they selected a male tribute. We took our places as the reaping proceeded... 

          The escort got up again and went over to her microphone. I hated that microphone so much that I wanted to smack Miss Constantine with it. She was so full of herself. Ugh, disgusting. "Well, time to pick the courageous young man for the honour of representing District 4 in the 65th annual Hunger Games!" She said these last 2 words slowly and happily, as if  she wanted us to remember why we're here. With such audacity, Constantine pulled a name and broke open the tape on the slip, reading the name of the boy I'd had a crush on for 3 years, Anderson Jacobs. Almost immediately, as if on cue, Finnick said"I volunteer as tribute". 

          If you've not yet heard of him, he's this dumb guy who's in my class. He's also my best friend... The ladies describe him as being a very handsome 14 year old, muscular, athletic, tall with tan skin and bronze hair, and stunning sea-green eyes. I was very capable of surviving on my own, mind you, but my district wouldn't approve of me straying away from the handsome Finnick Odair and the career pack, if I was the District 4 female. Plus, he'd be sure to get lots of sponsors, so might as well stay with him, right? He really just wants to make sure everyone likes him so that way he wins the games... 

          Anyway, us 3 girls were then taken into our temporary rooms where we could think. Since three girls were competing for the spot, it was announced that the games would be delayed for two days and that we'd actually remain in the district until a female tribute was definitely chosen. Meanwhile we would spend the next day meeting important people like our mentor if we were chosen and the panel of judges. We'd also choose what we were going to do for the contest thing. As a bonus, we all would get to stuff our faces with all the food we wanted, just to get a taste of the Capitol's accommodations and have motivation to do our best and be selected as the female tribute. We were all really tired so we got into our beds and went to sleep. I was already planning what to show off. It would be something these people would never forget...