I briskly jog on the side of the street. I see the candy shop— Tsunami's Candy.

"Bye Chia. Good luck!" she yells and runs off.

Ding-a-ling!

The candy shop doors swing open and I fish into my pockets. Max and I don't have parents and not much of savings, so the only thing I could find was 3 dollars that I found on the sidewalk outside of the store. I slap the green papers onto the counter and ask, "What can I get with this?". The woman, Tsunami, nods her head and bends down. A minute later, she pops up again, only this time, she's holding a small plastic bag the size of a soup can filled with taffy. Tsunami hands the bag to me and grabs the money. She taps something on a device and hands be back a cold coin. I shake my head and grab a card off the shelf.

Handing her the 25 cents back, I slam the card down and say, "Dear Max, I love you. Stay in school. Be healthy. Good luck. I'm going to miss you! From, Chia,". She chortles and scribbles it down on the card. Tsunami sticks the card in the taffy bag and hands it to me. I thank her and head home.

**********************************************************************************************

At about 1:45, I arrive home and meet my family in the kitchen, cleaning up from breakfast.

I approach Savanna. She tucks her hair behind her ears and sighs.

"Okay guys. Let's go now to the reaping," Savanna sighs. We follow her to the square; Max starts to have a panic attack. I bend down and grasp his shoulders. My large, blue eyes find his green eyes. "Shh... Max... just stay with the rest of the 13 year old kids," I whisper to him. He wipes his tears and nods. I pat his back and he slowly marches toward the other 13 year old kids. Savanna is already in the back with all the other adults. I take a deep breath and walk toward the woman sitting at a small table. I know what to do and I hand her my finger. I don't even flinch— I'm trying to find Max. I see him, panicking as the man over there sticks the needle in his finger. I don't even notice that the woman says, "Chia Nights. Checks in. Clear," and then pushes me aside.

I zone out while the district mentor, Trina Mesa, shows us a repetitive and annoying video that everyone hates.

When its over, I have a sigh of relief as Max starts talking to another kid his age, knowing he is distracted. I refocus on myself.

    But it's too late.

    "Ladies first!" A woman, Trina sings. I hold my breath, and I can see Savanna's face going pale. Trina picks up a slit of paper. She doesn't open it, but she stares at it. After a minute, she shakes her head and drops it back into the bowl. Then she picks another one. This time, she opens the paper and reads the name out loud.

"Oh how lovely! Chia Nights!"

It's me.

IT'S ME!

I try to bury my face in my hands, but it doesn't work.

"Darling! Come on up sweetheart! Don't be scared!"

As I slowly wobble through the crowd of blank stares and shocked faces, I realize that this is District 2. Someone is ought to volunteer for me.

I gulp and slowly make my way up the stairs. Don't worry, I tell myself.

I stand still on the stage, frozen in fact, as Trina shoves the mic in my face.

"Honey, don't be scared!" She chirps.

If only she knew the pain. If only.

Some kid in the front calls out, "Look! A scaredy cat!"

I growl. Did I mention I have a temper?

My face turns red as I struggle and hold myself back.

I swallow my own saliva as I try to hold my voice steady. It's shaking as I force the words out through gritted teeth and tears pushed back in my eyes.

"I'm not scared."

Trina sighs and says, "Okay, any volunteers for this young woman?"

Surprisingly, everyone is as silent as a stone.

I'm confused for a second. I thought everyone loves to volunteer!

Then I remember. Most of the students that want to volunteer can't. Tomorrow is the academy test.

"Okay then. No volunteers. Awesome." Trina sarcastically announces.

I'm dizzy and the tears that I'm holding in are making my vision blurry.

    Emma, Max, and Savanna all have worried looks on their faces. I can't back down now.

I take a deep breath and try to swallow my fear, but the inside of me is churning like how mom would make buttermilk. The fear is too powerful. I try, I try hard, but I can't. As I feel the first tear trickle down my cheek, I immediately start to blink rapidly and proceed to wipe away the droplet nonchalantly. Trina pulls out a name very quickly from the boy's bowl and reads it aloud.

Max.

   It's official.

    I'm part of the games.

    And so is my brother.