Cal's POV
It's been three months.
It's been three months since I moved to District 11 with my family.
It's been 3 months since I last saw Luke's perfect face.
My heart still aches at the thought of him.
Today was reaping day. All I wanted to do was to go to District 7 and curl up with Luke but I couldn't. I wondered how he was doing. Would he have moved on? Or would he hate the very thought of me?
I shifted in my bed to try and stop the springs from pressing into my back but my movement was in vain. Even more springs dug into back than before.
I hate this bed.
God, I hate this room.
It was cramped and always stunk like some animal had crawled into the wall and died, which was a high possibility because the room was full of holes.
'We'll have a better life in District 11 Calum, you'll see.'
Oh the irony.
We moved because my parents didn't have enough money to feed everyone the family so we were given two choices:
Slowly starve to death or move to a different District.
It was rare that people were allowed to move Districts. Usually you lived and died in the District you were born in, so if you were granted permission to move, it was a rather big deal.
Because District 11 was agriculture and farming, everyone linked it with having better food. That's probably why my parents chose to move, they thought we could have a better life here.
Oh were we wrong.
When we arrived we were given a tiny three roomed house that had a constant danger of collapsing to live in. Our old home was like a mansion in comparison. After a few days my parents, my sister Mali-Koa, and I were given work in the fields, harvesting crops under the heavy gaze of strict Peace-Keepers that would probably shoot us if we broke the rules.
It was exhausting, working under the hot sun with almost no breaks and the only thing that kept me from curling up and dying was that I was used to hard labour. Me, Luke and other teenagers used to cut down trees back in District 7. Dad would call it "Learning the trade early" while Mum would say, " It's child labour!"
I fucking hated this place.
I missed District 7, with it's sprawling forests and large trees you could stand under to stay out of the midday heat.
Whilst District 11 was full of fields growing crops, District 7 had acres of grass and wildlife.
There were also a lot of places where you could sneak of to for a quick kiss.
Suddenly someone knocked at my door.
"Calum? Are you ready?"
It was my mum.
I could picture her in my head. She was stood in her best clothes, her hands clasped in front of her with a worried expression on her face.
I almost scoffed at the thought. She didn't need to be worried for me, I wasn't some delicate flower that would burst into tears a any given moment. I was strong. At least that's what I told myself every morning.
"Cal?"
This time it was Mali-Koa.
With a sigh I got up from my stiff bed and opened the door. Mali-Koa had a shocked expression on her face but quickly masked it with a blank expression.
"Come on. Time to go."
I nodded at her words and was about to walk into the front room when she grabbed my arm and forced me to stop.
"What?" I snapped at her.
"You'll be alright, Cal. Luke will too."
I felt tears prick at my eyes.
"Promise?" It came out as a hoarse whisper.
"I promise." She reassured me.
I quickly pulled her into a hug before letting go and walking into the main room where our parents were. Mali-Koa was too old to be picked for The Hunger Games so everyone was there for me.
My mum gave me a kind smile, probably because I was out of my room before my dad spoke.
"Alright come on. We don't want to be late."
And with that we were ushered out of the tiny house.
------------------------------------------
When we finally got there, I saw Sam, one of the only people who aren't in my family I have actually talked to since I got here.
It was easy to spot him in the crowd. He was easily taller than all the other 17 year olds and had shoulder length brown hair.
He saw me and gestured with his hand for me to come and stand next to him which I did, plastering a fake smile on my face.
"Hey Sam."
"Hey dude. You nervous?"
Sam, despite his overall largeness, was a gentle giant. He was always polite and kind, whatever the situation. His older brother, Dean, won the Hunger Games a few years ago.
"Extremely. I'm also worried about someone back in 7."
"Oh that Luke guy you were talking about?"
"Yea, I'm really worried about him. If he gets picked he might have an anxiety attack and shit will happen."
After a few moments of nervous talking, we were interrupted by the announcer tapping the mic and getting everyone's attention.
"Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favour!"
After that I stopped listening to her incredibly high pitched voice as she finished the speech. I was too busy worrying about Luke and how he was coping.
"As usual, Ladies first!"
With that she plunged her hand into the ball containing all the girls names. After a moment of rummaging around, she brought out a slip of paper and read out the name.
"Hannah Smith."
A murmur of voices could be heard as a 13 year old girl slowly made her way towards the stage. Her face turned white with fear and she trembled. No one liked it when someone so young was picked.
All the slips with my name on them from the bowl in District 7 had been removed and placed in the bowl for District 11 when we moved. 14 slips of paper had my name on them.
"Now for the boys!" Said the announcer with far too much enthusiasm.
A small bead of sweat ran down my face and I wiped it away with my sleeve not knowing if it was caused by the heat of the day or from nerves.
"Calum Hood!"
My body froze in shock. Fuck. She just called my name. FUCK!
I turned my head and looked at Sam, who was staring at me with an unreadable expression.
Putting one foot in front of the other, I hesitantly made my way towards he stage. I was shaking so bad I couldn't think straight.
Looking over my shoulder when I reached the foot of the stage was my first mistake.
Everyone was staring at me with expressions that ranged from pity to horror to relief. It made me want to be sick.
I am strong.
I am strong.
I am strong.
I was repeating the words in my head over and over again, in a silent mantra as I headed up the stairs onto the stage.
"Come on up!"
The announcer had her hand extended towards me when I looked at her. Rage flooded through me and I pushed her hand away from me as I went to stand next to Hannah, who now looked as pale as a ghost.
My second mistake was glancing at the girl.
Hannah was staring right back at me, her hazel eyes wide with fear at the realisation that she would probably die in the games. It's the rules, Kill or be killed, and no one likes killing.
I tore my gaze away from her and stared at the buildings in the background, knowing if I tried looking for my family, it would kill me.
I prayed silently in my head.
'Please let them be alright. Please let Luke not get picked. Please. Please. Please.'
Before I knew what was happening we were being led by some Peace-Keepers off the stage and into the justice building across the court yard.
As we walked my body shook, fear flooding my body. I didn't know what was gonna happen to me but I knew one thing.
It was better me than Luke.
Im so sorry about not updating in ages so much shit has happened since I last did.
This is shit too but it's fun to write even though it probably won't get more that 20 reads or something. Oh well.
Anyway thanks guys, love you xx