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The Reaping Ceremony
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Lynette stood silently behind her Aunt, back straight and hands clasped before her. She didn't understand why she had to be there for this part. Why wasn't she wasn't allowed to just wait on the train? It's not like she had anything to say or do during the Reaping Ceremony.
For some reason, the teen always had to stand on stage behind the District's Escort, silently waiting for the Reaping to pass.
So far, it was nothing like the District One reaping she was forced to attend the year prior. All the kids there were covered in muscle and shining with pride. They looked eager, some were even excited, all waiting for the names to be called so they could fight to volunteer.
Here, it was so much worse.
She was forced to look out into the sea of dirty-faced children, all hopelessly looking in her direction. The kids here were lanky and skinny—she could've sworn she even saw the outlines of a few ribs through some of their shirts and the edges of their hip bones cutting through the material of their tattered pants. The vacant looks in their eyes sent shivers down her spine, it was such a strange mix of emotions plastered on their faces. Equal parts helpless, terrified, and accepting.
It was like they knew they were going to die, and there was nothing they could do to change it. Some as young as 13, seeming as though they've already accepted the worst.
There was no hope here, no excitement, no pride, and no sound.
Just silence.
It was clear that no one would be fighting in masses, eager to volunteer here.
Lynn wished her Aunt would just cut through the speech. It made sense to fluff up the Reaping in the Career Districts, but here? It felt like the two of them stood on the stage—gleaming in jewels, draped in layers upon layers of fabric—vigorously rubbing salt into all of their wounds.
It seemed as if hours had passed before Effie finally walked back to the microphone, the first slip of paper in her hands.
No, not the first paper. The first tribute. The first person. The first child.
"Primrose Everdeen!"
And for a moment, everything was still. There was no movement in the crowd, not a sound to be heard. Alas, Lynette could've sworn that she had never been in a louder place.
The teen's heart shattered in her chest when the crowd parted, separating itself from a small blonde girl as if she were a deadly disease. In a way, she was, but she would be the only victim. She was so young and so, so small. There was no way she would last a second in the arena.
Then, a girl closer to her own age parted from the crowd. She screamed as she pushed against the Peacekeepers who dared try to restrain her. "No! I volunteer! I volunteer!" She shrieked shoving against the men dragging her away, standing tall and alone, "I volunteer as tribute."
If Lynnette's heart shattered before, now it felt like someone was stomping on all the pieces left, making it their mission to turn the shards into a fine powder. Her eyes stayed trained upon the two girls as her Aunt spoke.
She wanted to leap forward and rip the microphone away from the woman. Yes, a volunteer was usually exciting, but now? Now it was heartbreaking. A decision made from desperation, not pride.
She wanted to look away, but even then, it wouldn't do much help. Even if she closed her eyes, she would still be able to hear the young blonde's gut-wrenching screams as she was picked up and carried away.
'Yes Aunt Effie' she thought, 'a dramatic turn of events indeed, but must you really comment on it right now?'
The brunette was brought to the stage, clearly in shock as she stumbled over, tears collecting in her eyes but never spilling off the edge. She wouldn't let them, wouldn't let Prim, see her cry.
"Now what's your name dear?"
When the brunette finally spoke, it was a quarter of the volume Effie had been using. It was a small, broken whisper even when picked up and carried through the microphone, "Katniss Everdeen."
Lynn's eyes widened, tears gathering in her own eyes at the last name. The very same one as the young blonde.
"Oh! Well, I bet my hat that was your sister!"
'Aunt Effie!' she plead in her mind fighting to keep her own tears at bay, 'Yes! They were sisters! Now move on, please, please just move on.'
When she moved to the other glass bowl for the next name, Lynn stepped forward, bringing herself next to the brunette. She reached out, putting a hopefully comforting hand on the girl's elbow. Katniss jumped at the action, head whipping to face the pink-haired girl.
"I am so, so sorry," she whispered, eyes overrun with sympathy but not pity. Never pity, she hated when pity was directed at her, she would never force it on someone else, it was too ingenuine and cruel for a time like this, "I wish this didn't have to happen."
Katniss didn't respond. She barely nodded before turning her head back and looking out at the crowd she stood within just minutes before.
Lynette wasn't offended by the lack of response. Technically, she wasn't supposed to be speaking anyway—she just felt like she had to say something.
Soon, the male tribute—Peeta Mellark—was on the stage shaking hands with Katniss, the pink-haired teen's careful grip never lifting from the brunette's elbow.
She'd tried to remove it once a few moments ago but caught a tiny shake of the brunette's head in the absence of pressure. Katniss may not have known who the Capitol girl was, but the girl wasn't being rude to her or turning her nose up at her as she expected, so she would take any bit of comfort she could get—no matter how small—for now.
"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor."
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Lynnette was able to slip away from the rest of the party, following a few Peacekeepers to the building where the tributes would say their farewells, rather than return to the train. She had something she wanted to do before she went back.
Currently, the pink-haired teen waited patiently by the door to Katniss's room. At the moment, the brunette was saying her goodbyes to her mother and sister. It wasn't Lynn's intention to listen in, she'd just happened to arrive after the two were already inside.
She turned her head, looking down the hall at the sudden sound of heavy footfall nearing her. The source of the commotion was a very tall, very aggressive, very angry-looking brown-haired boy.
Lynn sent him a polite, albeit confused smile as he approached, not quite sure what his intentions were. He returned her gesture with a glare, continuing his path up to the girl perched outside the heavy wooden door.
"What are you doing?" he spat, "Planning to cut her time? Force her out quicker? Waste the few minutes she's given to say goodbye to her whole life?"
Lynn crooked her head to the side, furrowing her brows in confusion, "No?" she spoke, "That's not my intention at all?" her tone lifting at the end, making her words more a question than a statement.
"Then why are you here?" he seethed, clenching his fingers in a white-knuckled grip at his sides.
"Because-" she glared, ready to return the boy's rude behavior tenfold, but was cut off by the door next to them opening suddenly. Out stumbled the tear-stained face of the blonde from earlier, forcefully shoved from the room by Peacekeepers, "I'm here to talk to her." She rushed, quickly challenging the boy's glare with one of her own, then breaking her attention away and to the guards.
"Hey!" she yelled, pushing the tall teen aside and running up to the white-clad men, "Let her go." She ordered them, "Don't handle her like that!"
The two men swiftly let go of the blonde when they saw the girl, muttering apologies as they did so. 'Good to know Dad working as a Gamemaker holds a little weight even out here'
The pink-haired girl crouched down on her knees before the blonde. She'd probably get some dust or dirt on the skirt, but that hardly mattered right now.
"Hello," she spoke softly, looking up at the girl, "It's Primrose right?"
The blonde nodded, sniffling before speaking in a shaking voice, "Y-yes ma'am. But everyone just c-calls me Prim."
She smiled in the most comforting way she could manage, "Well, it's very nice to meet you Prim. My name's Lynnette, but everyone just calls me Lynn." She spoke, miming the blonde's own sentence.
The younger girl responded with a nod, not quite sure what to say—or if she'd be able to say anything at all without crying.
"I just wanted to come and tell you," Lynn spoke, reaching up to wipe a few tears from Prim's cheeks with a soft pink handkerchief she pulled from a pocket, "that I will do everything I can to bring your sister back to you."
Prim's eyes widened, "R-really?" Lynn hummed, continuing to pat at the younger girl's reddened eyes and stained cheeks.
Prim's hand moved upwards, grabbing onto the teen's wrists desperately, causing her to stop dabbing at the tear marks. The two girls making eye contact before Prim began to speak again, "Y-you promise?"
Lynn straightened her back, a serious expression on her face. She brought a hand over her heart as she spoke, "I, Lynnette Rosewell, promise upon everything in Panem I hold near and dear, that I will do everything in my power to ensure that Miss Katniss Everdeen returns home to you, Primrose Everdeen."
The blonde looked hopeful, but still not completely sure. So, the teen removes her hand and brings it up between them with her little finger extended instead, a playful grin stretching across her lips, "I pinky swear."
Prim looked back and forth between her face and hand a few times before linking pinky fingers. A tiny smile graced her lips as she launched herself into the pink-haired teen's arms, "Thank you." she whispered, voice slightly muffled in the girl's shoulder, "Thank you so much."
Lynn nodded, gripping the blonde tightly before pulling away. She gripped the younger girl's hand, placing the satin pink fabric in her palm, "Hold onto that for me ok?"
Prim immediately tried to return the small square, afraid to even close her fingers over the small square, "But it's yours?" she spoke, fighting to place it back in the other girl's hand.
No matter how tiny it was, it seemed like it was more expensive than anything she owned. She didn't want to ruin it.
Lynnette only shook her head, clasping both her hands over Prim's once she successfully put the handkerchief back in her hold, "You can return it when we return." She smiled, "It's not nearly an equal trade, but it will do. In the meantime, you will be looking after something for me and I will be looking after something for you. We can exchange again once everything is over. Ok?"
Prim smiled nodding her head at the teen, moving forward to give her another hug, "Thank you."
"It's the least I can do Prim. I wish I could do more."
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Word Count: 1860