24 Years, 24 Tributes

Chapter 10

Bree Maeberry POV

I looked around to make sure nobody was watching, then stuffed two cookies into my bag. I turned around and bumped straight into the storekeeper, Griffith Knotts.

"Bree, what are you doing?" he asked. He didn't seem very mad.

"Nothing! Just… looking around," I said with my eyes on the ground.

Griffith opened my bag and took the cookies out.

"Your brother put you up to this, didn't he?" he asked.

"Yeah," I admitted.

"Just shoo away, all right? And tell Nate if I catch you shoplifting again I'm having him arrested."

I cleared out of the store and met my brother in the village square.

"Well, did you get them?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"I got caught," I said.

"Aw Bree, you mess everything up," he groaned. "Come on, let's get to the Reaping."

I followed him to the Reaping center and settled in with the other girls. Spirits were a little higher among the children today, since last year District 10 got its first victor, Cornflower Fields. She won by hiding out until everyone else froze to death. It wasn't glamorous, but it worked.

Cornflower didn't leave the Victors' Village often. She was a little… odd. Some of the kids called her "Crazy Cornflower", and truth be told, they were right. In all the footage of her Games I could see her tapping things and repeating everything she said. The only time I saw her since she won was when her Victor parcels came and the kids got all sorts of treats. If people started cheering and trying to shake her hand she ducked back into her house, but until then she handed out stuff to the kids and even played with them a little. They didn't seem to notice how weird she was.

Our escort Fluvius whisked over to one of the bowls.

"Ladies first!" he said cheerily.

"Bree Maeberry!" he called.

I was so stunned I didn't realize what I was doing until I was already on the stage. I found Nate in the crowd and looked at him in shock. He stared back at me and he seemed genuinely sad. I guess he did love me after all.

Fluvius called another name. I didn't pretend that Nate would volunteer. We didn't want our parents losing two children.

"Jean Roberts!"

I was glad to have someone else onstage with me, but I wished it didn't have to be Jean. He was a nice, hardworking boy. He never hurt anyone.

Nate came backstage with my ma and pa to say goodbye.

"Don't let the other kids push you around. That's my job," he said with a smile.

"I'll do my best," I said. "I love you. And you, Ma and Pa."

Nate handed me a little plastic cow.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked. Nate just winked.

Guess I didn't mess everything up after all.

Jean Roberts POV

I couldn't count how many times my name was in the Reaping bowl. I didn't want to, either. All I knew was that no matter how hard things got, my little brothers would never have to take tesserae. I'd break every horse in the district first. I can take care of them.

I took my place in the Reaping Center and waited as Fluvius picked the girl. When I saw it was Bree, I knew our chances of winning just halved. If a Career told Bree to come over and check out his sword, she'd do it in a heartbeat. Maybe I'd think about allying with her for a while, just so she wouldn't completely shame District 10.

Fluvius continued on to the boys' bowl.

"Jean Roberts!" he called.

Crap, I thought. I put on a confident face and sauntered nonchalantly up to the stage. It could be worse. I wouldn't have volunteered- that was for idiots and lunatics- but I could do this. I was strong and solid. Those "Careers" didn't have anything on me.

Fluvius grabbed my hand. I shook him off.

"Lay off, pretty boy," I snarled. Fluvius looked like I'd killed his kitten.

I raised my hands alone and let the sparse cheering wash over me.

My mother and father came backstage, dragging my little sisters behind them.

"Who's gonna chase the monsters away if you're not here?" Suzie asked.

"Don't worry, they're too scared of me to come out again," I said. I turned to my parents.

"Don't worry about me. In a few weeks District 10 will have its first real Victor."

We had one Victor in twenty-four years, but she hardly counted. Just last year she won her Games by hiding like a sissy until everyone else died. She wasn't a Victor. She was just a survivor. I looked forward to showing District 10 what a real Victor was. I only wished I had someone who could actually be a useful mentor.

A couple orders of business:

1. A shiny new no-prize to anyone who sees how I referenced Bree's last name ;)

2. Cornflower Fields is the winner in my last fanfic, Tyger Tyger. She's also my avatar, which I warned the readers about before I started. I wrote that fic as a self-devised therapy for my obsessive-compulsive disorder and Asperger's, so she's basically a carbon copy of what I would be like in the Hunger Games world. That's why she won with so much luck. I don't have the skills to really win. Cornflower will pop up now and then, since writing about her really is therapeutic for me, but I'll keep the focus on the new characters.