Chapter 1

How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?

Saw you hanging there

With your eyes looking down

And it's all wasted now

Every year since I turned 12 on reaping day, I woke up the exact same every morning. Today is no different. I get to experience the nightmare than annually haunted me yet again. My hair is matted and damp with sweat, falling out of my braids. My clothes are stuck to my skin, and my pulse is thudding in my ears. The nightmare is the same: I get reaped for the hunger games. I look around my room to avoid thinking about it for the moment, even though I know it will probably stay in mind for the next few hours. My room is cold and incredibly still.

My sister Katniss and her husband Gale are 21, and have made it past the age limit for getting reaped. I'm still not sure how, since they both had over 100 slips combined. Katniss and Gale both got so much tesserae so it added to the number of slips. Because they don't allow me to get any for the family, I have about 5 slips to my name. Rory has 12 because he snuck tesserae against Gale's wishes. Katniss and Gale both hunt to feed themselves, and Rory and I join them to hunt for our families. We refused to allow Gale and Katniss to continue to support us after getting married. After knowing the feeling of starvation well, I got over my fears of the woods and hunted animals, even though it causes guilt. I never got over my soft spot for animals, but I knew I may need the knowledge of hunting one day. I swallowed my fears and Katniss taught me how to use a bow (which I may or may not be better at than her), Gale taught me all about snares (which I may or may not be better at than him), and Rory taught me how to throw a knife.

Rory has been my best friend since Katniss and Gale became friends, even though I think we would have found each other without their help. We sat at lunch together since we're the same grade, and we were strictly friends, despite rumors of more than that. Our relationship was equivalent to that of a brother and sisters. We declared the rules of what would happen if one of us were to be reaped: do not interfere. We didn't want one of us to volunteer (if the other was reaped) and leave both our families without one more member.

Since it's Sunday, Katniss is off work (like all weekends) and Gale doesn't have to go in since its reaping day. Peeta Mellark is one of the nicest guys I know, and another of Katniss's best friends. When his mother passed (thank the lord), his dad passed the business on to Peeta, who was an expert baker. I know it sounds girly, but if you saw him you wouldn't think that. Peeta is blond haired and blue eyed, with a sharp jaw and masculine features. He's also extremely muscular from lifting bags of flour, and kneading dough. Peeta, his father, and Katniss are the only employees.

Gale is off work every Sunday, so that's the day we all hunt together. However, Rory and I hunt every other day.

Before I roll out of bed, I pull out my hair ties and braid my hair again. Katniss and I both wear our hair with classic braids (hers is only one, while mine has two). I get dressed in my hunting boots, dark green cargo pants, grey camisole, and black leather jacket that was my dads. The sun is just beginning to rise, so the sky is that dark gray color with enough light to guide me and allow me not to trip and fall on my ass. I check on my mother, since we had a rough night healing two male patients who were in a mining accident involving fire and an axe, and a cheating wife. Love triangle maybe? Don't ask. I sure as hell didn't. Working with my mother gives me extensive knowledge on healing the human body, and a head start on my dreams of being a doctor. Bonus.

Knowing my mother is asleep; I head towards the door to our meeting spot. We live in the Seam cause we're dirt poor, but we're better off than most due to my hunting. Rory and the Hawthorne's live across from us and Katniss and Gale live around the block. We all meet up in the meadow next to the "electric" fence. Which is complete bullshit since it hasn't actually been on in decades at least.

As I'm walking I start to think about the inevitable: if Rory or I were to get reaped. I know it's possible, even though I don't have many, but Rory very well could be with his 12. I agreed with Gale that he shouldn't take out tesserae, and even begged him not to, but he's stubborn and I understood why he did it. Thanks to his experience in the woods, his ridiculous amount of muscle, and his personality (like I said, stubborn), he'd have a good chance at winning. He's also handsome (even though we have a sibling-like relationship, I can still appreciate a pretty face) and well built, so he'd probably get plenty of sponsors. If I were to get reaped though, I probably wouldn't have as good of a chance at winning. Yes, I do have a wide range of skills in the woods, and healing abilities, but I am incredibly lean, with some muscles from tree climbing and running and such. I am short though, with a height of 4'11", but that can work as an advantage for hiding and running. Combined, my overall appearance will discount me as a threat. Sadly.

When I'm close enough to see the meadow, Rory's figure is visible in the grass next to the wildflowers. His dark hair gives him away.

"Hey Prim. Want to kill some innocent animals?" He grins. Jackass. He knows I hate it.

"Oh sure, let me just set aside my morality, just give me about 60 years." I say sarcastically.

He laughs. Jackass.

"I don't want to. I have to. Today is reason enough." Even though I feel a tad guilty for being harsh (ok not at all guilty), at least he stops laughing. He opens his mouth to say something when we hear voices.

"…We shouldn't wait, we don't know what could happen. They deserve to know-" Katniss whispers harshly and not at all quietly to Gale. They may be in an argument (not exactly unusual) but they're holding hands.

"Not today. You know the added stress wouldn't help them at all-" Gale interrupts Katniss, but is then interrupted by Katniss when she elbows him and nods furiously and unsubtly in our direction.

A minute passes in silence.

"You see, I'm hoping that the 'they' you're speaking of isn't us, but what other 'they' is in your lives? You have no friends." I tease them, trying desperately to lighten the uncomfortable tension. It works.

"That's not true! I have Peeta and Gale." Katniss replies somewhat haughtily.

"Wow, two? I'm sorry, my mistake, I never knew you were such a social butterfly, Katniss." I say sarcastically. "Since you were talking to Gale, that leaves Peeta, and that isn't enough people to make a 'they', so spill." I fold my arms across my chest.

"Not now, Prim. We only have a few hours." Gale says somewhat harshly, scowling pointedly at Katniss.

"You two should never fight. It makes all of us miserable, and you just feel guilty about it later and we all have to be nauseous watching you two make up and be extremely gross. Save us the pain." Rory says with a roll of his eyes as he walks towards the fence. He holds up the fence for me, and I crawl under it with everyone following.

When we get deeper into the woods, we see the unnatural scattering of rocks that highlight where our hidden weapons are. We keep them in a log about 10 feet to the left. Katniss gave me my own bow for my 17th birthday, and Rory gave me a beautifully engraved knife as well. It's hilt has hand-engraved primroses weaving through it, and it's one of my most treasured possessions. I reach for my weapons first, but Rory beats me to it and hands me them with a soft smile that doesn't reach his eyes. Maybe he's as worried about me as I am of him. The thought both warms my heart and saddens me.

I trudge ahead of everyone else, separating myself from the others. Along the way, we pick up berries from the few bushes that offer them. While being in the bakery is Katniss's favorite place, this is mine. The trees, the plants, the flowers, the green, everything about it are what I love most. They're all unique and different in their own way.

We all separate not more than half a mile from each other, Gale checking his snares, Rory, Katniss and I looking for any signs of dinner. It's been a few months since we've seen any real useful game other than birds and squirrels, so I'm surprised when I see a turkey about 50 feet away. Quietly, I get closer for a better shot, until I'm about twenty feet away. Just as I pull back my arrow, another appears from a tree it was hiding behind. Turning my humanity switch off, I take a deep breath, and release it as I quickly shoot the first, and not a second later the process is repeated and the second is dead before it has a chance to realize what's happened. I look at the dead birds on the ground without a twinge of regret, reminding myself it's my family or them. I hit them both perfectly, one in it's eye and the other it's neck. Astounded that I found one turkey, let alone two, I realize that we won't have to hunt for the rest of the day.

Knowing I can't haul them both back myself, I shout everyone's name, which is something you shouldn't do unless it's an emergency because it scares away game. I hear the pounding of footsteps and turn just as I see everyone's furious expressions seeing I'm not in danger, as Gale shouts "Prim! What the-"

His sentence is choked off, as he sees what lies not two feet away.

"Oh, nothing's wrong," I sigh dramatically, reveling in their elated faces, "I just needed a little help carrying these two turkeys that will feed both our families for a month, back to the Seam." I point a thumb in the direction of the birds.

Before I'm finished, they're jogging towards my kills.

"Perfect shot, Prim" Katniss says, pulling the arrows out of the bodies.

Gale and Rory smile a little dazedly, nodding their agreements. Probably thinking about how amazing I am. Ha.

Now that we know for sure we don't have to hunt more because of me-oh and I guess Gale's three snare victims can somewhat count- we decide to walk back and head to the Hob. It takes an hour and a half to get there, with two hours to kill before the reaping.

We say hello to Greasy Sae, Darius, and Eli. Eli is Greasy Sae's grandson, and about a year older than me, and one of the most sought after boys in town because of his looks, next to Rory. He can make you laugh until your sides hurt and tears are slipping out of your eyes even when you're sad, and is one of the kindest people I know. He's tall, with larger muscles than Gale and Rory combined. If you didn't know his personality, which many people don't, he would be incredibly intimidating. He's a good judge of character, and doesn't trust many people, so he only shows his true colors to few people, myself included. He's really a big teddy bear, though. He uses his good looks to get girls, but they never last more than a day and Greasy Sae reprimands him for it. He's one of my best friends.

Sauntering over with a smile directed at me, he leans over in a bow, and takes my hand and kisses it, "Ah, the lovely Prim returns at last. It has been agonizing without you here to compliment me and fawn over me," he jokes, knowing that's the opposite of what I do.

Ignoring Rory's glare, I smile and curtsy and am about to respond to his outlandish observation, when I hear Greasy Sae reprimanding him with some very colorful words and threats to "leave the poor girl alone" or someone's face might get "boiled in stew".

With a laugh, I walk over to Greasy Sae, with Rory, Katniss, and Gale in tow, and say hello.

"Here, take some soup. It's my treat, today," she says.

Everyone is always generous on reaping day, and I say thanks and walk towards the old wicker chairs with Rory. We eat in silence as Katniss and Gale trade the extra game. Once we're finished, we head back home, and Katniss walks next to me.

"Here, a good luck charm for today," she says, handing over a pure gold mockingjay pin. I can only stare at the small fortune in shock.

"Katniss, I can't take this. Where did you even find this?"

"It was a gift from the mayor's daughter. Remember Madge? She gave it to me a few years ago on reaping day. It apparently worked."

Since I know she'll force me, I agree, "Thanks for this. I'm not keeping it though, so I'll give it back after."

She just shakes her head a little with a small smile, "Sure Prim."

"So what was it you and Gale were arguing about earlier?" I can't help but bring it up, since they only argue about important things. Her gunmetal gray eyes become guarded when she says, "It can wait until tonight, when you're home safe."

With that, I say goodbye to everyone since we're at my door, and trudge inside the house, heading off to look as decent as possible.

My mother is waiting for me with a lukewarm bath and a pretty floral blue dress that reaches my knees. My mom unbraids my hair, and brushes out the tangles. On reaping day, I always leave my hair down to dry in its long wavy curls.

It's still damp when we leave the house, hand in hand. We head across town in the direction of the Justice Building, and as we draw closer, I hear a squeak. I turn around surprised, and the squeak turns out to be Posy Hawthorne, shouting my name and running to me at full speed.

"Prim! Prim! Prim!" Her 11-year-old self has a giant smile as she reaches me, with the rest of the Hawthorne's trailing behind her.

I wrap in a giant hug, "Posy, stop growing! You're taller than I am," I lie, seeing as she's only about 4 feet tall. She giggles though, as expected.

"Am not! You're still taller! See?" She turns her back so it's against mine to compare the difference. "Right, Rory?" she asks the tall boy who is walking closer to us.

"You're right Pose, You're still a little midget," he smiles fondly at his baby sister, "you look nice, Prim."

Surprised by the compliment, and curious as to the faint red blush creeping up his neck, I say with a soft smile, "Thanks, Rory. You look nice too." And he does. He's wearing hand me down khaki pants and a blue linen dress shirt.

I turn to Posy, who has a doll in her hand made of twigs with leaves for hair, "What's her name?"

Posy looks confused, "whose name?"

"The doll, silly. Every doll needs a name." After I say this, I can tell she hasn't even considered it.

"Hmm… Rosemary. I shall name her Rosemary so Rosemary is her name," she says determinedly with a serious expression on her face, oblivious to everyone's failed attempts to contain their laughter.

Before I can respond, a loud horn blares through the speakers, crackling. Time to get in line. Posy gives me a hug, and whispers in my ear, "Good luck Primmy, I love you."

I smile my biggest smile, even though I feel like crying, "As I love you. See you at dinner, Pose," and rush off before I actually cry.

Rory meets me at the table and we get our fingers pricked and our names checked in, proving we're present.

"I hate needles," He says this while glaring at his finger.

I can't help but laugh at his whiny voice, "You're an extremely skilled hunter, 6'1", 17 years old, and scared of a little needle?"

He gives me a glare and nods. I roll my eyes, say good luck, and turn to give him a hug before we separate to our places in the crowd. He has an unidentifiable look in his eyes, and I can't place why it's familiar and don't have time to, when he leans in and kisses my cheek before disappearing into thin air. I'm frozen to my spot, and touch the place with a shaky hand where his lips met my skin, trying to think of what that meant. I know, to me, it was my best friend giving me a harmless good luck kiss. But since I don't know what his look meant, I'm clueless as to what it meant to him. Before embarrassing myself, I join the other girls in my age group.

Less than five minutes later Effie bounces elegantly onto the stage, dressed in some frilly, ruffled pink dress, with matching pink hair and makeup. Her clothes are ridiculous and obnoxious, in a "look at me! Look at me!" way, and all I can think is how her ensemble could feed District 12 for a month.

"Welcome, welcome! To the 74th annual Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor!" Her screeching voice is like nails on a chalkboard, and from everyone's faces, they all agree.

She turns toward the stage steps when Haymitch Abernathy walks up them, looking in desperate need of a shower. Knowing that if I were closer, he'd smell like liquor, I shake my head a little. When he sits down in his victor chair, I lock eyes with him. He waves to me with a grin that's reserved only for me (trust me, I know, he never smiles or grins or makes any positive facial expression to anyone other than me), and I wave back and smile.

Haymitch is the only living victor of District 12, and one of my closest friends. I met him when I was 14. I was in the Hob, trying to trade a squirrel to an old, gross, belligerent man. I told him my price, and he didn't agree. I told him to take it or leave it. He said no, but when I turned away, he grabbed my wrist and tried to take the squirrel from me. That's when Haymitch appeared and beat the man unconscious, right before I did. You see, Haymitch didn't know I'd been fully capable of handling it, and nobody would've guessed I could with the way I looked (skinny, lanky, and well, like a 14 year old girl). However, I appreciated it immensely. Especially when he bought my squirrel for way more than asking price and walked me home. Everybody avoids him, except for me. He was extremely sweet and loyal, but he was kind of like an onion. You know, lots of layers.

He had been through a lot in his life, with his games and his nonexistent family. He was like the father I never had. He nicknamed me "Rosie", which I loved, but allowed no one else to call me. I would often go to his house in the Victor's Village for no reason at all but his company. I am slowly trying to get him to wean off the alcohol, with various different concoctions, with no success. But I love him, drunk and all. Katniss doesn't approve. She believes he's a mean bitter drunk, and their scarce conversations consist of bickering and insults. She doesn't know him like I do, though. Nobody does. Like I said, onion.

"Ladies first!" Effie trills into the microphone, drawing my gaze away from Haymitch's worried eyes, and walks over to the bowl for the girls.

She pulls out a name and dramatically pauses, and out of the corner of my eye I see a head snap in my direction. I know its Rory when I look over at him and give him a small smile, hoping it doesn't look pained. He looks nervous, sweating bullets.

Suddenly he looks panicked. He looks at Effie, then back at me multiple times. I feel the smile drop from my face, wondering why he's looking like that. Did I miss something? Did Effie speak? The girls around me take a step back.

I turn and look at Effie as she repeats the one name I thought would never come from her lips.

"Primrose Everdeen!"

Oh. That's why Rory is looking at me funny. Why I hear a sob, which I know is Katniss. Why I hear a gasp, from my mother. Why I see Haymitch, with a look of worry and pity on his face. Why I, Primrose Everdeen, have to look as tough as possible.