| two — reaping day |
| district four, morning |

MAMA BRUSHES ADORA'S HAIR INTO TWO BRAIDS, her fingers pull the three strands into a tight braid that yanks Adora's head back towards her Mama.

There's a knock at the door and then Addicus is in the doorway, toying with the cuffs of his white shirt. He smiles at his younger sister in the mirror, a smile that looks like it doesn't belong on his face.

"Mama, have you seen my cufflinks? I can't find them," Addicus asks.

He watches Mama finish off the second braid, tying it with a blue bow. Adora pulls a few strands out from the front, easing the pain that the tightness causes. The residents of Four were all good knot tiers but Adora thinks Mama shouldn't use the same strength on Adora's hair that she does on rope.

"Have you asked your Dad?" Mama asks.

Addicus shakes his head, making a face at her. Adora knows what that face means — Dad is out on the porch, staring out and not saying a word. He had never adjusted to the lifestyle change that was thrust upon them when Addicus won The Hunger Games. He knew his son would come back a changed boy but Addicus had grown into a changed man, a man who lay awake at night or whenever he did lapse into sleep, would wake up in cold sweats, frantically breathing and crying out for his Mama.

Adora sits with him during the night, curled up like a cat at the bottom of his bed with her head on his shins. She knows he lies awake, staring at the ceiling and counting every paint mark. She hears him counting sometimes in multiples of three. Addicus has the same grounding technique as her, they both learned it from Mama. When Adora sleeps at the foot of her brother's bed, he doesn't call out for his Mama as much and Adora knows that Mama needs to sleep.

Mama disappears out of Adora's room and leaves Addicus and Adora alone.

"You alright, little one?" Addicus asks.

Adora nods and gives him a look that asks him the same question.

"I will be alright, I'm just a little tired," Addicus adjusts his tie.

Addicus never sleeps well the night before the Reaping.

"Where did you go last night?" Addicus asks, his voice quiet.

Adora's face falls, "To the bay. Please don't tell Mama."

"Who'd you go with?" Addicus already knows the answer but asks anyway.

"Finnick," Adora says.

A soft warmth hits Adora's cheeks as she blushes red. Addicus shakes his head, laughing. His laugh sounds soft, quiet enough that if the room were louder Adora would not have heard it at all.

"You need to be careful next time," Addicus says, "Did you not hear what happened down at the Harbour? There was a big fight and—"

Mama enters the room before Addicus can finish his sentence, cufflinks in hand. The conversation ends as quickly as it started.

They take a car down to the town square, a luxury offered to Victors from the Capitol. It was to keep them away from the rest of the crowd but this meant they had to let Adora out early, to have her join the queue just outside of the town square whilst they drive round back.

"May the Odds be ever in your favour, Adora."

Mags Flanagan, Addicus' Mentor and previous Victor of the 11th Hunger Games, pats Adora's hand before she clambers out of the car. Adora nods her head, a lump forming in her throat as she steps out onto the cobblestone.

"We'll see you out there, little one," Addicus smiles, "Remember to breathe."

"I will," Adora lies.

She has a terrible habit of not breathing when she's nervous.

"Take five breaths, Addie," Mama instructs, "Five breaths and then another five and keep doing it until it becomes natural and you forget you're even doing it."

Mama sees right through Adora's lies.

"Promise me, Addie," Mama gives her a look.

"I promise, Mama," she nods her head.

Adora closes the car door and it drives off. She joins the end of the queue and the sun is warm, it tickles the backs of her arms and neck. It's a comfort, to be gently kissed by the sun. If she were to be selected today, it is one of the things she would miss about Four.

"Hi Adora," a voice says, causing the girl to look over her shoulder.

Jax Peaceberry, a boy in her class at school. He has a thick head of curly brown curls and eyes that are the colour of chestnuts. He is tall, tan and thin, with hollowed cheeks and a sprinkling of freckles over his nose. Jax lives in The Harbour, and his Father is a fisherman.

"Hi Jax," Adora greets, giving him a tight-lipped smile.

There isn't supposed to be much talking in the queue to sign in but Jax has always been a rule-breaker. When he actually came to school, he never did any work but would instead make paper seashells at the back of the classroom. Adora had received one on more than one occasion, tucked into the corner of her desk in between her pencil case and her workbook.

Jax stares down at Adora, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He reaches up and gingerly swats a loose strand of Adora's hair out of her eyes. Her hair is warm from the morning sun, golden under its' glow, "Nice braids. Mommy do those for you?"

Adora furrows her brows, hurt.

"I mean... you've always got to look nice now, haven't you? We can't have the people from Victor's Village looking like scruffs," there's a tinge of jealousy in his voice, "I always thought you'd be exempt anyway."

"Exempt from what?" Adora asks, shuffling forward as the queue moves.

"The Hunger Games," Jax says, "But, I suppose it would break the Capitol's heart if Addicus Greencreek's little sister got her name selected. They'd love that for their show."

Adora's mouth dries and she turns away from Jax, folding her arms over her chest.

"Have I hurt your feelings now, Adora? Going to get Finnick?" Jax teases, pulling one of Adora's braids.

Adora swats his hand away and Jax laughs. He doesn't say anything else.

When Adora gets to the front of the queue, she's glad to lose Jax in the crowd and doesn't even bother looking for him again as she extends her hand forward to have her finger pricked. Sharp pinch and it's over and she's shuffled into the crowd, separated into two halves.

"Welcome! Welcome to the annual Reaping for the 65th Hunger Games," the Capitol citizen that had been sent cheers into the microphone, his ecstatic voice causes the microphone to feedback and Adora winces at the sound.

He plays the usual video that they are forced to watch. Punishment, war, victors. Adora doesn't like those words, they scare her.

"With that awful video over, it always makes me cry," the Capitol citizen wipes a very melodramatic tear from his eye, "Let's start with the girls."

He goes to the bowl and through its glass, Adora watches her brother. She remembers Mama's words and she takes five deep breaths. He reaches down into the bowl and plucks a name from the top and to the right-hand side.

"Ad—" Adora's heart stops beating, she watches the Capitol citizen's mouth form the sound of the D and clear his throat, finishing the name on the white card, "Adella Farforge!"

She lets out a sigh, her head bowing in shame at the relief she feels. She is safe for another year. Her eyes go up to the stage and straight to Addicus. He looks equally as relieved, his fingers are tapping a rhythm on the chair in three beats. Mags soothes his tapping by gripping his wrist with her hand. She gives him a look, Adora wonders what it means because it causes her brother's hand to go flat against the wood of the chair and cease its movement altogether.

"Come up here, sweetheart!" the Capitol citizen's voice floats into Adora's ears and she watches Adella go towards the stage. Her head is high, her nose pointing upwards and her brown ponytail swishing from side to side as she walks.

Adella shakes the Capitol citizen's hand and goes to sit in the empty seat next to Mags. Although her face is smug, Adora notices the shudderiness of her breath as her lungs move up and down. Nervous, Adora understands but she is still relieved it is not her up there.

"Now for the boys!"

He goes to the bowl on the right, hesitating briefly before plucking a name from the middle of the bowl. Adora's fingers bunch up her dress, the softness of the material hardens in her palms from how hard she holds it.

Jax, Jax, Jax, Jax, Jax.

The name forms itself in her brain before she can stop it. She looks at her shoes, embarrassed. She would never wish for anyone's name to be pulled from the Reaping bowl, not Jax, not anybody. There's a pang of guilt in her throat, the word sorry forming itself on her tongue but getting stuck halfway.

The microphone crackles and the Capitol citizen clears his throat before he reads, "Finnick Odair!"

No.

There's a murmur in the crowd and Adora's eyes follow the voices and Finnick emerges from the crowd. She frowns at the smugness of his face. The fear that resonated in her yesterday rears its' head again. Today, she is not filled with the fear that Finnick will not come home. She is filled with the fear that he will.