Amber Miles' POV: (District Nine)
"What are you still doing in those clothes? Go get ready for the reaping, you foolish girl!" Madam Galvot, the head of the children's home yells, shooing me upstairs to the room I share with five other girls my age.
I change out of my dirty harvest clothes and into the nicest outfit I own; a pale blue skirt that's worn and fraying, and a plain white shirt. I slip on black flats that I only ever wear on reaping day, and brush through my tangled and matted brown hair.
"Come, it's time!" Madam Galvot calls from bellow.
I rush back down the stairs and out the front door of the children's home, following the large group of children led by the supervisors. This is my last reaping. If I can make it through the reaping this year I'll be safe and once I turn nineteen I won't be forced to live in the home anymore. I'll be given a job harvesting grain in the fields and be left to fend for myself, something I've been looking forward to for years.
We come to a brief stop as we reach the city square. The supervisors sign every child in to the reaping and leave us to stand with our age groups. I make my way to the eighteen year old section and stand beside two of the girls my age from the home. The mayor gets to his feet and give the same speech he always gives every year at the reaping, and then he introduces District Nine's escort: Lyra Danner.
Lyra steps forward, stopping in front of the large reaping bowl that's filled with the names of every twelve to eighteen year old in the District, several times over. Without hesitation, she begins to pull out slips of paper and call out the names of the unlucky twelve children.
"Germaine Senner!"
A boy with black hair that's slicked back steps forward from the twelve year old section.
"North Pinnock!"
A girl from the fifteen year old section with violently red hair makes her way to the platform and stands beside Germaine.
"Perrie Meddle!"
A sixteen year old girl with long brown hair gasps but takes her place on the platform nevertheless.
"Seth Country!"
A boy with short, messy blond hair and freckles leaves the thirteen year old section and stands beside his fellow tributes at the front of the square.
"Amber Miles!"
My eyes widen and I curse under my breath. I just had to make it through this last reaping, then I'd be free, but of course my name was drawn. With a sigh, I climb onto the platform and stand with my head held high and face clear of emotion. I think I see Madam Galvot smiling in the back of the crowd and resist the urge to scowl.
"Oatea Parker!"
A seventeen year old blonde girl makes her way onto the platform and stands beside me.
"Tress Tevers!"
A girl with long black hair whom I recognize to be one of my roommates from the home exits the eighteen year old section and climbs onto the platform.
"Krystal Country!"
The boy beside me winces as a girl with blonde hair and bright green eyes who must be his sister makes her way to stand in the line of tributes on the platform from the thirteen year old section.
"McClay Doll!"
A sixteen year old boy with brown hair and blue eyes joins us on the platform, looking as though he may cry.
"Damon Phillips!"
A boy with shaggy red hair makes his way from the seventeen year old section to the platform.
"Prod Brethem!"
A blond boy makes his way through the crowd and onto the platform, looking absolutely terrified.
"Travis Chevron!"
A boy from the eighteen year old section with short brown hair calmly makes his way to the platform.
"There you have it, your tributes from District Nine!" Lyra calls out. The crowd claps weakly in response and we (the tributes) are pulled into the Justice Building by peacekeepers and shoved into separate rooms.
The only person to visit me is Zara: a girl from the home who I'm somewhat friendly with.
"Amber!" She calls out as soon as she's let into the room. "I'm so sorry."
"I'm okay with it." I shrug, my eyes downcast. "It's better than being stuck in the home, at least I'll get to see the Capitol."
"Don't think like that, Amber." Zara says with sadness in her eyes. "I believe you can make it. Here, take this."
She hands me a frayed rope necklace with a crescent moon charm on it.
"For good luck." She explains.
"Thank you, Zara." I say softly. She pulls me into a hug before the peacekeepers pull her from the room.
No one else visits me for the remainder of the thirty minutes permitted to say goodbye. My mother died after I was born and my father couldn't bear to keep me, so I have no family to say goodbye to and Madam Galvot has always had a special hatred for me, so there's no reason for her to come either.
When the thirty minutes are up, the peacekeepers pull me from the room and I am shoved into a car along with three of my fellow tributes. A line of cars drive to the train station where we are pulled from the cars and into a crowd of cameras. Lyra leads the way onto the train and once all of the twelve tributes are on board the doors are shut tightly and the train starts to move incredibly fast, though you can barely feel it.
Lyra gives us all a tour of the train, showing us to our individual quarters, the dining car, and the lounge car, then leaves us to get somewhat settled. I sit in the room assigned to me and set the crescent moon necklace that Zara gave me on the bedside table, then walk to the lounge car to watch the recap of the last mini games and the reaping in District Twelve with Lyra and some of the other tributes.
AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me what you think of the new characters. The next chapter will focus on District Twelve and it will be published this Sunday. Remember to vote and comment suggestions and feedback. Thanks for reading!
KAMU SEDANG MEMBACA
100th Hunger Games
Fiksi Penggemar"Primrose Everdeen!" Effie called out, her bubbly voice bouncing off of the plain, grey town walls. Katniss Everdeen had no time to react, she was too stunned to do anything, and by the time the idea of volunteering even crossed her mind, it was to...
