The Hunger Games

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Michael and Aspen sat in silence on a small bench, waiting for one of their names to be called for the one on one evaluations.

Aspen was scared, but she knew better than to let that show. She would be tested in front of the gamemakers, Charles' father being one of those people. She would have to do her best to impress.

"Aspen Blanchard." A robotic voice called from a speaker above Aspen and Michael.

She stared straight ahead and took a deep breath. Then, Aspen stood up and started walking to the door a few feet away.

"Blanchard." Michael said from behind her. She turned around to expect some type of remark, but Michael didn't say anything. Instead, he nodded.

Aspen didn't know what to say, so she decided to not say anything and nod in response. As she turned around and continued walking ahead, a gate opened up and let her through. It closed quickly behind her, and as she continued to walk, she saw an array of swords presented in front of her, gamemakers talking amongst themselves up above.

They didn't even look at her. She tried her best to focus on the swords, tracing her fingertips carefully on the sharp blades. When she saw one she liked that looked similar to the ones her father taught her with, she picked it up and approached the gamemakers.

"I'm Aspen Blanchard. District 3." She said, making sure to look at each of them. Charles told her to do this before she got started, and she trusted his advice.

She took a few steps back, unsure of what was supposed to happen next. Then, a woman dressed in an all gray suit, mask included, appeared from a room she didn't see before. Aspen looked down and saw a sword in her hand.

She finally put two and two together and realized this was the person she would have to duel. She looked over at the gamemakers, who were staring. The lady dressed in gray took that as her chance to strike. Since Aspen wasn't expecting it, she was caught off guard and the lady was able to take Aspen's sword quickly in the duel. She then cornered her and held her own sword to her neck.

Both duelers breathed heavily, staring at each other. Aspen was defeated, and the game makers in front of her couldn't hold in their laughter.

The lady put down her sword and walked back to the hidden room, the gamemakers going back to their casual conversations as they were before Aspen walked in. She shook her head. This wasn't going to end like this.

"Hey! Hey!" Pen called out. No one even glanced her.

She walked over, upset, and grabbed a smaller sword from the rack they supplied her. She threw it at the gamakers, it injecting a roasted turkey on their food table. It wasn't just the fact that they were ignoring her that upset her. It was all of the built up anger at Snow and the gamemakers and the fact that she was in the position she was in, the same one her dad was in before he died.

Everyone grew silent and looked at her in awe.

"Give me someone else to fight. I don't care who it is. I can do better." She said once she gained everyone's attention.

An old lady on the side snapped her fingers, anger in her eyes. This time, instead of a woman dressed in gray there was a man dressed in all black that came feircly from the same room. He had two swords in his hand and was breathing heavily.

Aspen walked over and grabbed a new, bigger sword. She then walked in front of the man, not bothering to look at the gamemakers this time.

"Bring it, bitch." She said.

The man huffed and lunged forward. Aspen gasped and used her sword to defend herself. The match went on for a while and was a close call. You could hear both Aspen and the man breathing loudly and their swords clashing together, the gamemakers watching with anticipation.

Once Aspen managed to knock one of the swords out of the guys hand, the rest of the match was uphill for her. She finished with her sword in front of his neck, much like the lady before him had done to her.

Unlike the lady in gray, however, the man in black had gloves on that matched his mask. He used the gloves to grab Aspen's sword by the blade and take it from her, tossing it on the ground and throwing a punch. She gasped again and stepped back, him continuing to throw punches she dodged.

This wasn't what she signed up for.

Pen had to think fast. When she duck on the last punch, she bent underneath the man and pulled his leg, knocking him on the floor. She then picked up his head and banged it on the ground underneath them, knocking him uncounsious.

She looked up at the gamemakers out of breath, and they stared with their mouths open. It was silent.

"Thank you for your participation and consideration." Aspen said sarcastically, putting her arms up and walking backwards out of the room.