If I Lived
The Hunger Games
Prologue: part 1
Katia Maroi:
Today was the
day before Reaping Day. For the most unanticipated day of the
year, I wasn’t really worried. But this Hunger Games year
was special. Only one class was getting picked, rather than two
from each district. These kids were going to all be from district
thirteen. Since we lost the last rebellion, and once again
district 13 was a big part of it, the Capitol decided to have a
special Hunger Games just for us. A Friend killing a friend: How
much more entertaining could it get; sarcastically speaking of
course. This had to be one of the most twisted and hell-like
Hunger games ever played. But the reason I didn’t worry was
because there had to be 1,000 classes in district 13. I was sure
it wasn’t going to be us.
After school, I had to go straight to work at the flower shop
with my friends Nelb, Grae, Pan, Havana, and Berroe. I was the
arranger for the flowers, so my job was fun and easy. But there
was always something more interesting going on. Like when Pan
makes fun of Nelb and I have to bail Nelb out. We all knew Pan
didn’t mean anything by it, but words hurt
eventually.
“Hey
guys! Happy Hunger Games!” I cheer, mocking the
Peacekeepers.
“Happy Hunger Games!” they cheer back in the same
fashion; all but Grae, who just smiles. He usually keeps to
himself.
Grae was the most mysterious to me. He was tall and muscular for
fourteen. He had eyes that were like brown daggers. Grae’s
hair always reminded me of the color of gingerbread. He was pale
and freckly around his nose, too. I wonder what he thinks about
in all his silence.
“Katia, the Roberts need a floral arrangement made by the
end of the day. Make it say “Sorry for Your Loss” in
blue.” Berroe chimed. She was thin and fragile
looking, with big, dark eyes and short curly black hair. Her skin
was tan, while mine was a peachy shade.
“Why so out-of-the-blue?” I
asked, confused. Normally we get orders a week in
advance.
“Katia. Hunger Games. I guess
they’re gonna send it to the lucky school that has their
class killed.” Berroe answered bleakly.
“Are you guys worried?” Havana
questioned. Her hair was a honey brown shade, and she had light
blue eyes. Blue eyes weren’t very common here. There are
only about four/five kids in my school, Havana and I included. My
eyes were more of a sapphire shade though.
“Why? There are 2,389 classes in
district 13. We will be fine.” Nelb
sneered.
“You would know exactly how many,
Nelb” Pan scoffed. His dark brown, squinty eyes flaring.
Pan was husky and strong. His hair made me think of the color of
ebony. Berroe had a crush on him, but with how he treats Nelb I
can’t see why. But sometimes, Nelb does bring it upon
himself.
“Can it, Pan.” I said,
flashing him a look.
“Okay; sorry Nelby.” Pan
joked.
“It’s Nelb” Nelb
defended.
Nelb had less of a build then the other boys. He had walnut
colored hair and eyes a chestnut brown.
I went to work on my flowers. I decided to use white roses as a
background and then tiny blue ones for the words. The thorns no
longer hurt me, for my hands had grown used to the stabbing. As
I worked, I tried getting my mind off the reaping. What were
the odds? It would never happen, not to us. The odds were in
our favor. I’m assuming they are picking the class, and
then announcing each name tomorrow. And now that I think about
it, there are 26 people in our class, but there has to be 24 in
the game. So it couldn’t be us. It couldn’t be. I
had to keep reminding myself this throughout the
night.