Chapter 1

The bell that signals the end of the day dings and people begin to exit the mines. I scan the faces of the workers but they have begun to blurt together. They share so many similarities; the soot covered skin, the tired eyes and the fatigue.

I begin to zone out when someone pulls me begin a corner. I stiffen out of defence until I see who's standing in front of me.

"Cliff! I told you to stop that!" I tell the miner, punching him in the arm.
He rubs the spot where my first hit him.

"You know, you hit a lot harder than you look like you could."
I cross my arms over my chest and raise an eyebrow.
"So you think I look weak?" He shakes his head.

"No, I think you look perfect." He leans in to kiss me but I push him back with a laugh.
"Not until you wash that coal dust off your face." Now it's his turn to laugh.

"At least I work. We can't all live off our parents." My smile fades and hurt takes its place. He quickly realizes what he's said and changes the subject.

"The water is out again at my house, can I use yours?"

I nod. "Yeah. My parents are out at some meeting in thirteen, they'll be back tonight. Just grab what you need from your house and come over. The door won't be locked " He smiles. When my brother and I are alone the door is never locked, we always keep it open to show that anyone in the poor parts of the district can come and get food or bathe if they need to, but my parents would never approve if they knew.

"Thanks." With this we part ways and I grin. I know his water works fine.

I walk down the gravel path that leads from the town to the small village I call home. The iron gate looms over me, daring me to enter one of the oldest areas in the district. The letters above the gate have been covered in moss and you can hardly read them anymore but the title has been imprinted in my mind:

'Victors Village'

I pass my uncles old house and stop briefly. He wasn't really my uncle, but he was a close friend with my parents so the title worked. He died when I was two, I never really knew him, but I do know he was an alcoholic. A sign is posted on the lawn;

'In Memory of Haymitch Abarnathy'

I shake my head and walk by. Most of the houses are eerily empty causing the dark wood and brick seems creepy and out of place. Some of the windows in uninhibited homes have broken, probably by animals or kids who snuck into the Victors Village. Only one other home is inhabited. One man won the games three years ago and lives two doors down with his girlfriend, we don't see him much but his girlfriend, Thalia comes by every now and again.

I climb the steps to my house and open the wooden door. I'm greeted by the smell of bread.

"Rye?" I call out to my brother after a brief moment he pops his head from around the corner of the kitchen.

"Hey Willow." He greets. I kick off my boots and walk over to him.

"You have flour on your face." I say as I walk by him.

"Have you been in Dad's baking stuff again?" I accuse him.

"Yeah. He told me I could while he and Mom were out. I wanted to show him how I figured out the bread." I smile. My brother and father are so much alike. They are both kind and gentle. My father taught Rye how to bake a long time ago but kept that activity strictly for when he was with Rye. Whenever he left, baking was off limits. I never understood why. But even in looks my brother and father are alike. They share sandy blonde hair, much unlike mine and my mothers. We both have brown hair, but mine is longer and lighter than hers.

"Well the bread sure smells good." I say walking over to the loaf sitting on the counter.

"Don't eat it. I need to get Dad's opinion when he gets back tonight." That was another thing that was forbidden. We could never ask our parents why they left so often. At least once a month they'd leave the district on some trip and wouldn't tell us why. I used to ask why but after never getting an answer, I gave up.

I pick up a few grapes from the bowl on the counter and turn to Rye.

"Cliff coming over soon." I announce. Rye grins.

"What?" I ask.

"Oh nothing." Even though my brother is sixteen, only two years younger than I, he still acts like he's twelve.

"It's not news that Cliff and I are dating. It's been years." Almost three years to the day to be exact. After his final reaping last year we decided it was safe to make public. I knew that even if I were probably immune to being reaped thanks to my parents' high roles in the government, he wouldn't be if he were associated with me.

I know the games are rigged, but I know my parents have the authority to grant Rye and I immunity.

The reaping tomorrow will be my final one. I turn nineteen in two months, so I won't be entered next year. Rye laughs just as the door opens.

"In the kitchen!" I call out and soon after, cliff walks in. He smiles and looks to Rye.

"Hey Rye, how's the bread?" He asks, nodding to the loaf. Rye looks at it briefly,

"Not bad. Didn't burn it for once." Cliff laughs and after a few minutes of light chatter, I show him to the bathroom and come back to the kitchen.

I grab an apple from the counter and bite into it, the sweet juice dances on my tongue and I think of the farmers who grew this in district 11. I hardly know anything about the other districts, just their specialties.

"You nervous for tomorrow?" Rye asks, referring to the upcoming reaping. I open my eyes and turn to see him sitting on one of the chairs by the table. He looks tired, but not quite enough to worry.

I shrug.

"Not really." I lie. He narrows his eyes at me.

"What?" I ask.

"You're lying. I can tell." I take another bite of my apple and reply without bothering to finish chewing.

"I'm actually not, are you?" he looks away. This worries me, even though he's two years younger, he's usually acting much older than I, much more serious. I put my apple down as I swallow the bite and cross the room to sit next to him.

"Hey," I say as I grab one of his hands. "You'll be fine. You don't take the Tessera and you're the son of two government officials, you're pretty much the safest person in the district." He looks up at me this time I really see how tired he is. He opens his mouth to say something but before he speaks I pull him into a hug.

"You'll be fine." I whisper into his hair, resting my chin atop his head.

'I hope.' I add in my head.

So this is my first fan fiction on this website, so everything is new to me. I've has this story in my head for awhile and decided to finally write it. Let me know what you think! I know the first chapter is always boring but it'll pick up soon, I promise!

Thanks!

-Alicia