Leigh Canterbury- District 10 Tribute

Chapter 5

I feel like I can't breathe. My heart stops. I'm paralyzed. I can't see. I can't hear. I can't do anything. I just can't. Time seems to have stopped. This isn't happening. It's not. No. No. No. I wasn't called. This can't be happening to me.
I don't know long I stand there, frozen. Eventually, it's like everything speeds up. All of my senses come back. I can hear the escort calling, "Leigh Canterbury? Come on, dear." The crowd around me parts, and they all turn to stare at me. Lorelei lets go of my hand and looks at me with a blank expression, like she can't take it in. I look up to the stage, behind the escort. My father is sitting with a stony expression. He isn't allowed to show any emotion when the tributes are reaped.
  I force myself to take a step towards the stage. Then another. And another. I slowly walk up to the stage where the escort eagerly waits for me. I climb the stairs slowly and walk towards the escort. My father is almost directly behind me.
  "Just stand here," the escort gestures to a spot next to the bowl where she pulled my name from. I stand where she directed, and stare out at the crowd. My mother is staring intensely at me. She isn't crying, she must be trying to hold it together for me. I'm grateful. I feel like I'm on the verge of breaking down as it is. Bay is looking at me with fearful, tear-filled eyes. I look back at her and try to convey through my gaze that it'll be okay. She gives me a tiny nod.
  At this point, the escort has made her way over to the bowl containing the boys' names. She says, "And now for the gentlemen!" She puts her hand into the bowl and swishes it around a bit. Finally, her hand closes on a slip of paper, the slip that has the name of the boy that will go with me to the Hunger Games written on it. She pulls it out and unfolds it carefully.
  "Rowan Abner." A tall boy with an olive skin tone steps out of the crowd. His face remains expressionless. He walks at a normal pace, not acting like he is walking to his almost certain death. He climbs the stairs and stands next to the bowl where his name was drawn. I look to the crowd to try and spot his parents- it's not usually hard. The parents of the tributes are normally sobbing. I can't find anyone crying, though. His whole family must be very calm.
"Okay, you two," the escort addresses us. "Shake hands." Rowan extends his hand to me and I take it. We shake hands, and for a brief moment out eyes lock. His face remains mostly impassive, but I can see a glimmer of fear in his eyes. Once we shake hands, we step apart and turn our attention back to the crowd.
"Can we have a round of applause for out tributes?" the escort asks enthusiastically. She begins to clap loudly, looking to the crowd to join her. They do not join in. The people of District 10 do not look forward to losing two children to the Hunger Games, and we do not treat it as something to celebrate.
Once the escort realizes that no one is applauding, she stops clapping and says, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" The anthem of Panem begins to play, and everybody shuffles out of the town square. Rowan and I are escorted by Peacekeepers back down the stairs and into one of the small buildings surrounding the stage. I try to look back at my father, but the Peacekeeper is blocking my view. We are led to two separate rooms.
The room that I am led to is very simple. It doesn't have a window, just a wooden chair in the corner of the room. This must be the room that our families visit us one last time. I sit down and wait.