"Kayla! Hurry up! You don't want to be late for school!" Mom called from downstairs.

"Ugh!" I groaned, trying to cover my ears with my pillow.

I heard my door open and something start jumping on my bed. "Kaywa! Wake up!" My little brother, Sammy, said, still jumping.

"Okay, okay. I'm up." I said, grabbing Sammy by the feet, making him fall on my stomach. He giggled.

"Again!"

"I'm sorry Sam, but I can't. I have to get ready for school." I said, putting Sammy on the ground. "Now get out of here so I can get dressed."

"Okay!" Sammy said, a little to chipper. I rolled my eyes as I got out of bed and walked to my closet.

"No, no, no." I whispered to myself, going through my dresses. Every year at Jupiter Ascension High School, the juniors are forced to participate in this school district wide game called The Daring Games. Basically, the school chooses one boy and one girl from the juniors to go to this house with "tributes" from eleven other schools for a whole school year. If you get a dare, which usually has to do with getting someone out of the house, you can't tell anyone in the house. And if someone completes the dare, someone has to get voted out of the house. But if someone doesn't complete the dare, all of the tributes get a punishment. Basically, it's kinda like Big Brother and The Hunger Games all wrapped into one.

"This'll be fine." I said, grabbing a dress with music notes on it. "Not like I have much else."

"Hurry Kayla!" Mom called. I quickly grabbed a pair of tennis shoes, put my long blonde hair up in a ponytail, grabbed my breakfast, lunch, and school stuff while bolting out the door. My best friend, Sydney, was waiting for me, ebony hair in a tight bun, wearing an emoji dress with black heels.

"Classic Kayla." She muttered, stealing a piece of bacon from my breakfast.

"Really Syd?" I asked.

"You know bacon is my weakness!" Sydney complained.

"Last week you said it was chocolate! And the week before, ice cream!" I complained.

"I have a lot of weaknesses." Sydney said simply.

I rolled my eyes and handed her her own bag of bacon. "You're lucky I thought of you this morning."

"Thank you!" She responded, folding her hands under her face. Then she started singing. "It's getting hot in here-"

"No!" I screamed, noticing that Sammy was outside. "Sammy is to innocent to be hearing that!"

"Overprotective big sister mode!" Sydney said, slightly singing to the tune.

I rolled my eyes, getting into Sydney's car and letting her drive away.

"Are you nervous?" I asked Syd.

"Yeah. Since my older siblings did it, I only had to put in my name once. While you had to put it in sixteen times." Syd said, her voice shaking.

"Syd, I have a greater chance of being chosen than you do."

"I know, it's just, Mallory, Steve, and Ian said that it was the worst experience of their lives. They told me about some of the punishments, and I don't want to live that Kayla."

"I know. You'll be fine. I'm sure that won't happen to you."

"Thanks Kayla. Have I ever told you that you're like my sister?"

"Yes Sydney, only a few hundred times!" I said, chuckling.

"Thanks." Sydney said as we pulled up to school.

We walked into the school and sat down in the gym, next to Sydney. A few minutes later, all of our junior class swarmed into the gym. Dave Foster and Amy Gibson sat next to us.

"You guys nervous?" Dave asked.

"What do you think?" Sydney asked as Amy chuckled.

"Syd, you'll be fine. If anything, Kayla, Dave, and I have a better chance of being forced to do the Game than you do." Amy said, patting Sydney on the back.

Sydney smiled slightly. "Thanks Amy."

"Welcome."

"Hello everyone!" Said the announcer. No body knows her name, so we call her Effie Trinket, after the character from Hunger Games. "Welcome to the 74th Annual Daring Games. I'm going to pick one courageous man and woman to compete in this years games."

Effie walked over to the female bowl. "As always, ladies first." Effie put her hand in the bowl and picked out a name. Out of all the names in all of the school, she had to pick "Sydney Frost."

Sydney's eyes widened as she got up and was escorted by two guards. As I saw her walking, I realized that I couldn't let her do this.

"Sydney! Sydney!" I screamed as other guards held me back. "I volunteer!"

The guards let go of me as I walked forward. "I volunteer as tribute!" Yes, I know I went a little Hunger Games on everyone, but I didn't have a choice.

"Kayla, what are you doing?" Sydney asked, running up to me.

"I'm not letting you go in there." I said as Sydney ran up and hugged me.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Well, come up here." Effie said. I looked at Sydney as she mouthed 'Good luck'. I walked forward. "And what is your name dear?"

"Kayla."

"Full name please."

"Mikayla Olivia Frost. Anything else you want to know Oprah?" I asked, throwing in some attitude.

Some of my classmates laughed.

Effie seemed not to notice as she said "That must be your sister."

"Yes, she's my twin sister. Can't you just see the resemblance?" I asked as my class erupted into fits of laughter. It's actually just a coincidence that Sydney and I have the same last name. We, most certainly, are not related.

"And now to pick the boy." Effie said, walking over to the boy's bowl. She drew a name and read from the card. "Daniel Jackson."

Daniel's eyes got bigger as he walked on stage.

"And these are Jupiter Ascension High School's Tributes for The Daring Games!" Effie said a little to chipper. Nobody clapped. Everyone, including Sydney and Nick, Daniel's best friend, did the Mocking Jay call from the Hunger Games. Because to our school, we're like district twelve. To us, this isn't an honor, like it for schools like 5th Wave High or Sea of Monsters, to get chosen for the games. It's a suicide mission.