I pace up and down on the red, plush carpet, ignoring the marshmallowy-looking sofas backed up against the walls completely. How could I get any more unlucky? My fate was sealed the moment the woman read my name out. My parents will be devastated... and my last moments will be of pain and regret.

"Luna!!'

I whirled around, surprised to find my mother attacking me with a fierce hug. "My baby... my poor baby..." she whispered, her eyes watering as she clutched me to her. I was two inches taller than her now, but she had more strength than me. I stroked her hair comfortingly as she sobbed onto my silvery dress I wore for the Reaping. "I can't lose both my children!" she suddenly wailed, and her nails dug into my arms as she begged, "Please, Luna, you have to win. I don't care if you kill everyone else, you got spirit in you, make allies, I don't care, just win and survive!"

"Rebecca, honey," my dad murmured to her. Few people in my district had dads, but mine survived. He lost the use of his left leg, but otherwise alive. My brother was bombed, and my father was fighting alongside him, so the force of the bomb sent a paralyzing shock to his leg, and it worsened when he tried to save him. I used to blame him for not saving my dear brother, but now I have sense. It wasn't his fault at all. It was the Capitol's. My mom moved aside respectfully, and my dad pulled me in for a hug. "You do what your mother says, you hear me, Luna?" my dad whispered through my hair. His tone wasn't stern, but more like fear. Fear he'll lose his only child left. Fear his dear wife will turn against him again, but forever this time. Fear for everything that's feared.

I nod against his shirt, and he planted a kiss on top of my forehead before a man entered and said in a deep voice, "Mr. and Mrs. Waters, your time is up." When they refused to leave, he started to push them out himself. Mom started screaming and thrashing around, but Dad didn't resist as the man pushed them out the door they had came.

"Survive, Luna! Survive and win!" my mom yelled.

"I love you, sweetheart!" my dad added, wiping his eye before the doors bang close.

We board a train that would lead us to the Capitol. The lady from the Reaping hurries along, chirping for us to 'chop, chop.' I roll my eyes as I pull myself up the door, Iver following suit. "You will have a mentor that will give you everything you need to know about the Hunger Games, like rules and such," the heavily-makeup-ed woman twittered, pacing in a wide circle around the dinner table. Iver glanced at me, but I looked away. I was fulled to the brim with anger, and I couldn't bear making eye contact with anyone in fear of threatening them and pummeling them.

"Dinner will be served in four hours, so get yourself familiar, you know, explore the place," the Reaping lady directed, smiling with heavy red lips. You know, I get tired of calling her slang terms. What's her name?

I pause at the stairs, glancing at her as I inquire, "What's your name?"

She grinned, her eyes gleaming. "Miranda Trinket." I nod and without another word, I scale the stairs silently. I'm gonna be trapped in this train for a while, after all. The thought makes me queasy as a man directed me to my room.

"Iver?" I call softly, peeking into his room. I know, bad idea snooping in a dude's room. But I do things before my brain could process what I'm doing.

"Luna? Why are you here?" Iver sat up, his long black hair swaying slightly. I always liked how he kept his hair long. I take tha as an invite to step into his new room and gently close the door.

"Dinner's ready," I reply, but that wasn't why I came. I honestly don't know myself. "Look, I'm scared, okay?" I confessed, leaning against the wall and crossing my arms. "Call me a scaredy-cat. Go on, Iver."

"I'm not going to do that." He stood up, studying me carefully. "Besides, I'm scared, too, and I'm a man." I shrug. I saw fifty-year-old men shed tears at the Reaping. Why should I judge him? He smiled and looked out his window.

"I miss my family already," he commented, tapping a finger on the glass. "They always calm me down when I'm like this."

"My mom always brews me a comforting hot beverage and talks to me, since I love her voice, and my dad plays games with me," I say, gazing out the window as well. I don't know why I said that. I never shared what my family did before, nothing but fishing, but every family in Distict Four does that. He smiled, but our conversation was interrupted by Miranda's shrill voice shrieking;

"Dinner's ready!!"