The 70th Hunger Games: A Little Love

Chapter One

Dear Diary,

I can't believe it.
I can't believe it.
I can't believe it.

I got a 74 on my biology test.

How?

My parents spend so much money to send me to private school, to educate me, so that I can move to the capital, or maybe to a better district, to become a school teacher. They'll never let me be a teacher if I can't pass biology my final year of high school.

Gosh, I let them down so much.

I guess I could start by talking about the morning I had yesterday, why I got that 74. My little brother, Alexander, one of the best people in the world, in my life, woke up sick. My family is relatively well off; both my brother and I attend private school, I am a competitive swimmer and Alex is a competitive soccer player. We have enough money that I can refrain from eating meat-a disgusting thought to me-and have a completely plant based diet. We celebrate the holidays, Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter, with large meals and a donation to Lake Street, one of the sections of town that are on the poorer end of district four. I haven't seen much besides the ocean and the buildings of district four, but one time, when I was little, before my brother was born, my dad was invited to the capital.

One of the victors, a career tribute from a rich district I presume, had moved to the capital. While touring the districts, he had some of my dads fish here in district four. He loved it so much that he invited my father, and the rest of the family, to cook for him in the capital one night. It was such an honor, and it is one of my best memories.

The bright lights, happy people, dancing and singing without a care in the world. I saw for the first time what a dog is—we only have cats as pets in district four—and I fell in love. But what I fell in love with most was the lack of anxiety. Back home, I'm always so worried about everything. In the capitol, I found it so easy to feel at ease, like everything was just going to come my way.

Ever since then, my fathers business had blown up. We get special orders from the capital. Those orders, honestly, cost more to ship than they make for us. But my father still sends them, in hopes that the capitol citizen will bestow gifts upon our family in return. And most times, they do. That's how my brother and I got our first year at private school paid for, a capitol citizen offered to sponsor us for a year. How lovely it must be, to have that money to spend on others around you.

But anyways, sorry, I got side-tracked. People don't really get sick here, so spread out in the districts and if they do, they don't do much about it. Medicine is expensive, even for people with money. My whole family one time got food poisoning from some kind of plant my mom and I grew, and we just had to deal with it. I don't know where he got this sickness, or how, if any of his friends from school had it, but he was just awful.

He couldn't keep down any food. He was hot. Then cold. Then hot again. He seemed so out of it, my father took the day off work as the head of a fishery to stay home with him.

And I was worrying all day. Like, all day. I couldn't focus on anything in front of me. All of my writing seemed to blur on the page, the teachers voice seemed to distort, the students whispers seemed to float around me. What? What were they saying? How was Alexander, my light, the glue that keeps my family together? I didn't know. And that bothered me.

All of a sudden, there's a test in front of me. Right. Focus.

I knew what it was on, I had studied a thousand times. School was what I was good at. School, and swimming. It's kind of a release for me, to get rid of all the stress from school on my swim team. But that was after school, this is now.

I looked around me.

Immah, in front of me, was scribbling furiously on the test. I glanced down at mine, and saw that it's multiple choice. Immah comes from a poorer family, but she's so intelligent, she wants to move to district three after school. And she has the work ethic too! She has the most gorgeous curly hair, I'm always complimenting the different ways she styles her afro, and the way she always matches her glasses to her outfit. Seriously, I'm so lucky to be her friend, I love her, and everyone, dearly.

Wait, right, the test. Not friends.

To my left, Fen is looking up at the ceiling, as if the answers would be there. He does that often. And every time he checks... they aren't. I feel bad for him, he's a nice guy.

To my right, Watter is filling in the circles slowly, intricately. I can almost see what they are writing, the bubbles are so distinct. They do this a lot, we have a mutual understanding to help each other out. But I could never cheat off of them, despite the fact that they're one of my closest friends, and I'm sure they've used me to cheat before.

It was time to get started, and I looked at the clock. What? There was only fifteen minutes left?

I was doomed. Doomed.

I worked as hard as I could, but my efforts were futile. I knew when I handed it in I did poorly. But I was expecting an 85, maybe an 80. Not a 74.

I left school in a hurry, informing Watter I would not be at swim practice. When they asked why, I mentioned that my brother was really sick. They nodded, and hurried me home.

When I got home, Alex seemed to be better. I mean, he was sleeping, in his bedroom, with the air blasting. But at least he was sleeping, right?

My mother said that she had prepared soup for everyone, because of how Alex was feeling. Now hear me out, my mom makes the best broccoli cheddar soup, and I adore it. But I just wasn't feeling hungry. I had a small bowl, but it's better we save the leftovers for when times get hard.

"The doctor came over" my father explains, "and said that Alex didn't have anything physically wrong with him. He suggested instead that it might be nerves from the upcoming reaping being his first"

I pause, comprehending what he said. And then my jaw drops, practically to the floor. "Shit"

Both of my parents look at me. I don't use vulgar language, ever. I kind of consider myself to be an emotional pacifist. I don't like to get involved in arguments, nor to hurt anyone, nor to shock people with my actions. I'm the girl who cries when a peacekeeper truck roles over a squirrel. I'm the girl who helps the kid with his math homework, no matter the time cost. That's just...who I am.

"What?" My mother asks, her eyes looking quizzically at me.

"The reaping. It's tomorrow."

Thank you for listening,
Annie