The 69th Hunger Games

Chapter 1

Reaping day. The only day that my older brother, Elias, wakes up before me. Usually he works in the textile factory, making Peacekeeper's uniforms, but today no one works. I always wake up before the sun rises and go to work. I'm the only one in all of District 8 who dances professionally in the Capitol.

I started at the age of 9, working in Madame Lourvoue's Costume Shoppe. Normally people don't hire at such a young age, but she made an exception for me, seeing as my parents both died six months earlier.

Sickness isn't abnormal in the districts, especially the lower ones and a horrible flu was going around 8. They never let it show they were sick. It wasn't until we got home from school that we even knew. I walked through the door, Mathus and Tomas screaming in their room. In the kitchen, my parents sat at the table, their skin pure white and their eyes staring off at some unknown point in the distance.

"Mom?" I shook her shoulder gently, but there was no response. I shook it harder, but still nothing. My heart began to race and I shook my dad, but they were gone. I ran in and picked up Tomas and Mathus, sitting them each on a hip and ran out the door to the factory. Elias was folding uniforms in the back. He took Mathus on his hip and we walked to the Justice Building.

We had to beg them not to put us in a community home. The only reason they didn't was because Elias had a job. But it wasn't nearly enough to take care of all four of us. The Captiol sent a package of grain and oil each month, but it was barely enough for a loaf of bread. We were starving and I needed to step up so I found a job.

Madame Lourvoue was an older lady with jet black hair that fell perfectly straight to her mid back. She made costumes for the Capitol for everything from small plays to The Hunger Games. The only other person who worked in the shoppe was her daughter, Helene, who was in her later 20s and had two kids of her own: Sean and Fransis. They were twins and one year younger than me, but I never really talked to them. They mostly stuck to themselves and no one really knew anything about them.

I worked mostly on hems and finishing details like buttons and zippers. I had to work all day, which meant I had to drop out of school, but we were finally getting by.

A couple months after I started working, Helene quit and I was promoted to seamstress which meant a slight raise in pay.

"I need you to come with me to the Capitol. There's a ballet opening and the lead dancer just got replaced." I nodded, not sure what ballet was.

We took the train into the Capitol, Madame Lourvoue walking fast through the streets. The ballet theatre was the most lavishly decorated place I'd ever seen. There were carvings of little men with wings made out of gold and two levels of seats made out of velvet.

We measured the new dancer, Madame taking notes in her book.

"I have a few more things to do. Why don't you wait backstage?" she smiled down at me. I smiled back, wandering backstage where dancers were warming up at barres.

The way their bodies moved so flawlessly and their legs reached heights I couldn't even imagine. They twirled and leapt through the air with ease and I knew I wanted to be just like them.

"Hey, what are you doing back here?" a tall woman with long blonde hair tied up in a bun and a black leotard and tights walked up to me. She smiled, her face soft and plain.

"I work with Madame Lourvoue."

"How old are you?" she gave me a knowing look.

"12." I lied, not wanting to get Madame in trouble.

"You're very pretty." she walked around me. "Tall, slender, long legs. Have you thought of being a dancer?" the question took me back.

"We don't really have dance classes in District 8." She smiled again.