Gale's Story (Hunger Games fanfiction)

The Hunger Games: Chapter 2

"Wear something pretty." I reply flatly. When I get home, my brothers and sister are already dressed. Even though they aren't part of the reaping yet, my mother is sure to dress them up. I think it gets her mind off whats about to happen.

"Hey Mom." I smile and give her a hug, my anger vanishing. Her grey eyes are full of sorrow, but the rest of her face is joyful.

"Hey. I set some of your father's old clothes on your bed." I'm surprised. She never usually touches my dad's stuff. As I'm walking to my section of the house, I ruffle my brother Rory's hair. He is eleven, so this is his last year of safety.

"Gale!" he whines. My other brother, Vick, snickers. "What are you laughing at?" At nine, Vick is much smaller than Rory. Then again, Jon is big for his age. As I shut the curtains that block my room from the rest of the house, the boys tussle around. I hear my mother scorn them.

On my bed, there's a faded blue dress shirt and black pants. I bathe and then put them on. Amazingly, the shirt still smells of my father. I come out, and can tell my mom wants to cry. She walks up to me and fixes the collar of the shirt. "You look just like him." she whispers. "So handsome." Mom's eyes are a vortex of mystery. No way of knowing what she's thinking. "We better go." she tells us.

My five year old sister, Posy, takes my mother's hand. We all walk to the square side by side. The square is the one pleasant place in District Twelve. There are lots of shops and usually it has a holiday feel. But not today. Banners with the Capitol's seal on them hang everywhere. Camera crews are on all the rooftops.

I, like every other teen, sign in and go to my area with all the other boys my age. Its separated by age and sex, oldest in the front, youngest in the back. Boys on one side, girls on the other. I spot Katniss' little sister with all the other twelve year olds, pale with fear. She wears a skirt and a blouse, with the back sticking out.

Mom and my siblings line up around the perimeter with all the other families. Others in the district talk amongst themselves, making bets on who will be the two unlucky teens.

Latecomers are directed to adjacent streets. The square is very large, but not large enough for all eight thousand people in District Twelve. They'll watch on television screens.

A temporary stage has been set up in front of the Justice Building. There's a podium, three chairs, and two glass balls, one for the girls and one for the boys. Madge's father, Mayor Undersee, and Effie Trinket, fresh from the Capitol and ready to announce our Tributes, take two of the seats. The third remains empty. The mayor dons a blue suit that would've cost at least a months worth of game. Effie has on a pink wig, a spring green suit, and the scariest grin I've seen on a human being.

As the clock strikes two, Mayor Undersee walks up to the podium and reads the exact same thing he reads every year. The history of the wondrous land of Panem. Long ago we were called North America. Natural disasters devastated and caused a war for survival. "The result was Panem." he exclaims. A glorious Capitol surrounded by thirteen districts.

But the districts rebelled against the Capitol, and lost terribly. One district, Thirteen, was wiped off the map. The Treaty of Treason was signed, and as to remember the Capiol's clutch on us, the Hunger Games was established. This part makes me sick and puts a fire in me everytime I hear it.

They steal two kids from each district and force them to fight to the death, while forcing us to watch. And the Capitol treats it like a big party! They shower the lone victor in riches,a nd reward their district in food while everyone else starves.

"It is both a time  for repentance and a time for thanks." the mayor says. I wonder if he actually believes it. Then he reads all of District Twelve's past victors. Only two. One is dead. The other, Haymitch Abernathy, is never sober. He walks wobbly onto stage, as if cued. He falls into the third chair and everyone knows he's drunk. The crowd applaud him, which confuses the drunkard. He gives Effie Trinket a big hug, which she hardly tries to stop. The mayor looks embarrassed as he introduces her.

Bright and bubbly, Effie goes behind the podium. "Happy Hunger Games!" she says in her thick accent. "And may the odds be ever in your favor!" Haymitch shifted the curls in her wig, and she adjusts them. She tells what an honor it is to be here, but I know she's lying. She's ready to get moved up to a better district, one with proper victors unlike Haymitch.

I catch Katniss' eye and give her a ghost of a smile. I know she's worried, about me, about her, about Prim. I hope I'm reassuring her its okay. But then I start thinking. So many times are our names in there. My face darkens and I turn away. Worry gnaws at my stomach.

"Ladies first!" Effie says when its time for the drawing. Her heels click over to the girl's ball. She reaches her hand in and pulls out a single slip of paper. Its silent in the square as she makes her way back to the podium. The whole time I'm thinking, Not Katniss. Not Katniss.

Effie unfolds the paper and reads the name clearly. It's not Katniss. But it is someone else I know. Someone very close to Katniss Everdeen.

It's Primrose Everdeen.