Twelve

The Reaping.

I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear, sweat sticking to my forehead. Me and many other children in District Twelve lined up here every year, and waited to find out if they would be underground with maggots crawling in their ears the next year. The district was covered in a blanket of silence, the only sound the chirp of a bird or the cries of toddler's  tripping on the uneven stones in the pavement. Next to me is my best friend since birth, Primrose Everdeen. “Elle, it's going to be fine,” She smiles at me. She always manages to give me a smile, even in the worst of times. “I know...But they are picking the tributes from twelve year olds this year! There's only 600 or so of us, that's much more likely than last year,” I reply, because unlike Prim, I cannot stay happy when things spiral into darkness. Prim links her hand into mine. The warmth of her hand seems comforting, despite the heat radiating from the sun. We turn our heads, and see Effie Trinket CLUNKING her way onto the stage with her horrific high heels that have...prosthetic butterflies glued on? Her entire body is covered in makeup, and her dress matches her shoes. Effie dons a new outfit every year, and sometimes I think her outfits are more memorable then the game itself. “Welcome, welcome. Welcome to the 75th reaping of district twelve!” She says in her high accent. She has a fake smile plastered on like her makeup, but seeing our lack of reaction, she stops trying and her expression fades. “Lets start with the girls, shall we?” She clunks over to one of the glass fish tanks, filled not with water, but small slips of paper, folded tightly and sealed with a small bit of decorative tape. Nobody in twelve would put that much effort into a couple bits of paper, but I suppose the Capital is built different. It's easy to see how much less bits of paper are in the bowl comparing it to last year's, the cause being the fact that as celebration for The Hunger Games 75th anniversary, they changed the rules so that only twelve year olds, CHILDREN, can be reaped. Effie pulls a slip of paper out with two fingers, tears off the tape, and reads the name printed on it aloud. “Primrose Everdeen.” Every part of me is bubbling, every drop of blood boiling up against my skin, and I can feel anger flushing over my body. Before Prim takes a single step forward, Then, without a thought in my mind, I yell “I volunteer as tribute!” Everybody turns to me, and I repeat myself. “I volunteer.” Prim looks into my eyes, shock evident. “No, you cant...” She trails of, the rest of her sentence fading into mumbles. I gasp as a hand grips tightly into my arm, and I turn to see a peacekeeper. I volunteered, now I'm the tribute. I let him drag me up to the stage, and I see the entirety of the crowd staring at me. Even the somewhat heartless gamblers, who take bets on who's going to be reaped into the games and killed. Then, Prim does something unexpected. She puts three fingers to her lips, then raises her hand into the air. A custom reserved only for those who have earned respect, those who have done a deed so unbelievably good. The rest of the crowd follows in her footsteps, and this time, there is no whispers, or cries. Even the birds stopped chirping, as if they understand.Only silence. We communicate through our eyes. It feels like I've been standing up here forever, but then Effie breaks the silence. “What a great  suprise today here in twelve! Now, for the boys!” She dips her hand into the bowel, and calls out a name. “Edward Dahmer!” I don't recognise the name, or the boy who walks up to the stage. He's emotionless, but not in the way where you can feel they are hiding the fact that they want to break down crying. It's as if he really doesn't care. Weird. He's going to be killed, and he doesn't care? Whatever. I can't focus on that right now. The rest of the ceremony is blurry. Effie asks for volunteers for the boy, but nobody replies. Effie gives a quick speech, wishing us luck. And then we are whisked away into the Reaping building, and I'm locked in a room, sitting on a soft velvet couch, left to wonder in my thoughts. I know I have no family coming to see me, the foster parents I was housed with just didn't care that much about me, its the 200$ paycheck Mayor Undersee gives them every week that they want. Their probably disappointed that they have to find a new kid to make money of off. Suddenly, the doors open, hitting the wall. Prim, her sister Katniss, and her mother enter. Prim wraps her arms around me, and I return the favour. “Your gonna win, OK? I'm not taking no for an answer,” She sobs onto my shoulder. Her family hangs awkwardly around the door, but when Prim release me, Katniss comes over. “Hey, remember that time I took you and Prim into the woods to learn hunting? Well, you were pretty good with that knife, and decent with my bow and arrow. You can win, you have the skills. We believe in you.”Katniss looks into my eyes, with a small smile. I can tell she doesn't want to cry in front of Prim. I have no chance at winning. I try to return the smile, and then the doors open again. “Times up.” A Peacekeeper says, in a gruff voice. I'm pulled out the room, and I hear the footsteps of Prim and her family being escorted out by another Peacekeeper. Then, Im put in the back of a car. The other boy, Edward. There's still no hint of emotion on his face, its...creepy. I turn away, and look out the window. The parking lot is usually empty, because most can't afford cars. The roads usually only have trucks coming in to pick up coal, but today, Capitol issued cars fill the parking slots, coming to photograph and film the reaping. The front car door opens, and Effie Trinket gets in the passenger seat. “Now, off to the train station! Although it's more of a dump, the paint hasn't been replaced in years and there's too many cobwebs...” Effie complains about District Twelve's issues to the driver, but I tune out, preferring instead to look out the window. We jostle past the houses of the Seam, and Effie complains about the thick layer of dirt and grime on all the houses. “They really should clean this place up more, you would think they would do so considering the occasion,” Effie says, continuing her ramble. The driver just nods, not saying a thing. No longer distracted by the window, I turn to Edward, who seems distracted by...me?  “Well?” I roll me eyes. “Nothing,” He says, but doesn't look away. “Whatever,” I turn back to the window, but I'm still unsettled. I bite me lip, and I don't talk for the rest of the car ride.“ Here we are!” Effie says, and we leave the car. As we walk up the steps to the station, I take a quick look at Edward. He's still looking at me. I return my gaze to my feet, and board the train.