The 68th Hunger Games

Chapter 1

Isabella Groves ~ District 7

I brushed through my chocolate brown, snarled hair with my fingers vacantly staring in my mirror. I moved along from my closet-sized room into my siblings' rooms, split in half by an old white curtain. And when I say closet-sized I mean it, my dad had put a candle holder and a mattress into a closet and said that this was the only way I could have a room separate from my weird 16 years old brothers and the rest of my family. I stepped out of my closet slowly, holding my ivory nightgown as I walked. The only reason I kept it was because it was my mom's. She always said that someday I'd be a good mother, I just hoped that it wouldn't be so soon, and I wouldn't be a 'mom' to my brothers and sisters. "Are any of you awake?" I asked. "I'm gonna have to wake you up anyway so if you're awake just sit up or whatever. I'm going to work in a half an hour so if you need anything ask me now because I CAN'T be late today." I stood up one hand on my hip in the doorway tapping my foot on the floor. "Anyone?"I raised my eyebrows, no one answered, yet no one was snoring.

They knew I couldn't be late today, they just didn't want me to go. I closed the wooden door behind me and slowly sat on the couch. I buried my face in my hands. There were nine of us living in this little wooden house we built when I was 7, on the outsides of town almost in the woods. At 17 you should be thinking of what boys in your grade are cute, how your teachers are so annoying, or how your so nervous about the Hunger Games this year, NOT about paying for food or how I'm going to keep my job and help my dad with the family at the same time. It was all sprung on me so fast, and I was sinking with the rest of my family.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I looked up. "Bella what time do we have to go to school?" my little brother Chase looked at me with his big brown eyes, desperately clinging to his hand sewn teddybear. I always loved how sweet he was, even though he was 8 he always was so sweet and cute and innocent. He acted way younger than he actually was, he was my little boy, and.....He was my favorite sibling.

"We don't have school today, the Reaping is in 6 hours. You should go back to sleep." I smiled slightly.

"I can't now." he said. "I'm hungry." he said. That was the sentence that I had to hear 30 times a day.

"Lemme see what we have." I nodded slightly and waked over to the dusty, falling-apart, wooden table in the middle of the room. "We've got an apple." I shrugged. Green or red?"

"Green please." he took the apple from my hands.

"When everyone wakes up tell them I'll be home one hour before the Reaping. We'll figure out everything else then." I hugged him and made my way back to my closet-space. I pulled an old cardboard box off of the shelf in the closet. The box was f of everything that I owned, most of it was clothes but there were a pair mof earrings and an old orange bear I take out when I'm depressed. I quickly got on my old hiking boots and my worn out work clothes. I had my mom's old clothes from when she was young... It was hard to forgot her when everything I've ever had has been hers first. I stepped out the door and step by step, walked my way to work.

Eden Neeme ~ District 1

I let go of the golden arrow, my eyes closed until I peeled them open when the arrow hit the distant target with a 'thwack'. "Good." I heard a clear voice call from the other side of the long gymnasium. I could see the head of my trainer, Dessa, coming up towards me. "Two inches from perfect." She said.

"A whole two inches? I got it down to one and a half yesterday." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Two inches is nothing to look over." Dessa called.

"I know." I said. "I just want to get better, not worse."

"Listen Eden, I wanna ask you something. Come here." She yelled and waited for me to catch up to her as she walked back to the target. "I want you to volunteer this year." She said quietly, looking down at her feet. Silence fell upon us both, neither of us said anything.

"Will you?" She finally said. "Look I talked it over with the others and they agreed that you're our best shot."

"But I don't want to."

"Why not?" She asked.

Because it's wrong. Because I can think of 100 people who are better and 200 that want it more than I do. Because there's one person who I know will hate me if I take it. And there's one person I want to stay for. "Because want to be older." Little lies for big reasons. "I'm 16, why not wait until I'm 18?" I asked. By then someone else would come along and I wouldn't have to go.

"Because you're ready now, and we want you to go now. Every girl here would be more than happy to volunteer Eden, you're the only one that's not. You should go home,think about it, I'm pretty sure that we'll be seeing you in the Victor's Village within the next month. You know, if you make the right decision." She walked away winking at me, her long blond French braid going string down her back. I walked out the dark doors of the gym, dropping the golden bow and running as fast as I could until I hit the pavement in front of his house.

I could feel the puddles of water on his front lawn seep into my leather boots, I banged on the door frantically, not knowing what to do. "Who the- Eden." He put his hand to the back of his neck. "My mom's home, and she's anxious today, what do you want?" He asked.

"Help." I said quietly. "I need your help."

"With... What ?" He asked he looked kind of flushed after I asked the question.

"Do you think... That if I..."

"If you what Eden? Just say it already."

"Do you think I'd win the Hunger Games? Happy I said it? I'm supposed to volunteer this year, do you think ill die? Do you think ill win and come back and me all jacked up on Capitol drugs? Will the last image you see of me be my lifeless corpse in a body bag? What the hell to you think? Okay Calluce was that fast enough?" I screamed at him. I looked my boyfriend right in the eyes, feeling the cool sweat on my chest grow colder in the wind.

"Okay Eden... I think it's just best if you maybe come inside."