WARNING: Like, this girl has a, like, like problem. Like, seriously, she, like, always says like. And she's like, this little teenage brat, so.....
Delany Dastra's (District 8) P.O.V:
My sister, Zoey, is, like, dead. She was Reaped for the fourteen-year-old Games and, like, drowned in the tsunami.
Honestly, I really just don't, like, care. I barely ever, like, saw her, I'm always hanging out and, like, having fun with my group of friends. I, like, don't miss her, because, as strange as it could sound to someone who is very close to their sibling, I, like, just didn't know her enough. I, like, don't even notice she's, like, gone.
I'm thinking of her now, though, as I wait anxiously for the hot escort Bow Tie to like, show up. Like, seriously, I want to see his face. Damn, I'll be, like, kind of happy if I'm Reaped, just to, like, spend time with him. He's like, the only cute Capitol guy in existence, and he's, like, my age, soooo....yeah.
He's like, late now. People are getting, like, restless. Whispers are being, like, whispered everywhere around me. I try to catch pieces of the other girl's gossip- I'm close enough to being in the popular crowd that I can normally catch some good bits. "Do you see Carlie today in that dress? Like, how is she so pretty!?" "OMG, I'm, like, so scared I'm going to get chosen! Like, aren't you?" "Ugh, my skirt just got dirt on it. So annoying!" "I hope, like, the guy tribute will be decently cool..." "Your hair, is like, flawless today!"
Bow Tie is, like, unbelievably late. This is just, like, unheard of, being this behind schedule. I sigh, rolling my eyes. I'm, like, so disappointed in him.
Almost as soon as I become fed up that he hasn't shown up to the Reaping, the doors of the Justice Building open, and out comes the escort.
Except, it's not, like, him. This person is normal Capitol poo. They're dressed completely in hot pink that is almost blinding in the light. Cotton candy colored hair poofs obnoxiously out from all sides of their head, and their skin has a pinkish hue to it. Eew.
And it's a woman. Come on. Like, seriously? I was expecting a hot guy, and this is what I get?!
"Hello there, my name is Lisa Lollilightningpop! I am the newest District 8 escort!" Lisa says, giggling like a four year old and blinking rapidly at us. "It is time to Reap a boy and a girl to be in the Hunger Games! Let's choose a girl first!" She smiles, tilting her head to the side. Lisa walks over to the girl's Reaping ball, and I scowl. I like, don't like this escort, like, at all. Then again, I had, like, high expectations.
"Carlie Wanger!" Lisa grins as she unfolds the paper and reads off the name of the tribute. Oh my god, Carlie! She's, like, the prettiest girl in existence! The popular girls were just saying how beautiful in the dress she has on today! I strain to see over the heads of the taller girls in front of me to see Carlie as she walks up. I can only see the back of her head- long, shiny red hair catching the sunlight perfectly. She turns around as she takes her place next to the new escort, twirling her cute, slightly thin little light blue dress with a pretty flowery print across it a bit. A wide, perfect smile decorates her shining face, Carlie's wide green eyes looking slightly sad at being chosen, but as astonishingly breathtaking as ever. Carlie does look absolutely stunning.
This is why all girls worship her.
Even Lisa pauses for a moment, caught in the beautiful girl's enchantment for a few seconds. She quickly shakes herself out of it as Carlie announces she's seventeen, and says, "Wow! Wonderful, let's, uh, select a male tribute to be partners with Carlie." The escort walks over to the second glass ball full of names and grabs one carelessly from the top of the pile of slips. "Codi Sarve!"
He's, like, a twelve year old. Poor, poor Carlie.
The kid shuffling forward is like, smaller than small. He's super skinny, like, the skinniest person I've ever seen, and he's limping. His black hair hangs in his face and it's hard to see his eyes- it's like, a curtain in front of his face. I narrow my eyebrows as I realize something unusual about this kid- he's got, or used to have, like, smallpox of some sort. I'm actually, like, surprised he's not dead. I remember that sickness, like, raging through our district a few years ago, and a lot of the young kids, like, perished. Codi must be one tough cookie to have survived.
The escort smiles at the crowd one last time as Codi takes his place beside her. "Our District 8 tributes- Carlie Wanger and Codi Sarve!"
I stand there for a bit, like, even after everyone has left, grinning like an idiot. I wasn't chosen for the Hunger Games.
As long as I'm safe next year, when I'm eighteen, I'm actually going to live the rest of my life.