In Your Hands: The Thirtieth Hunger Games SYOT

Chapter 13

Mary Sue Brooklyn POV

I despise everything about Twelve. There's the coal dust that always gets in my hair and smudges on my skin. The ignorant children coughing and scrapping in the streets for food. The dirtiness, the poorness, the ickiness... it was just disgusting. Luckily, I won't be here much longer.

I wasn't meant for this rathole. As soon as I graduate I'm going off to the Capitol. I'm going to be an escort, probably for One or maybe Three. I belong in beautiful dresses and jewels like our escort Demi. She was the only worthwhile thing in Twelve. She was a shining diamond amid the disgusting filth of my District. I couldn't wait to join her.

Demi looked as lovely as ever when she glided onto the stage. Her dress was made of layers and layers of nearly transparent colored tulle. The colors lay on each other like she was wearing an icy rainbow. It was the sort of dress I'll wear when I'm an escort. She dipped her slender hand into the bowl and held a slip aloft.

"Mary Sue Brooklyn!" she cried. You b***h!

I stormed to the stage, looked that strumpet right in the eye and slapped her. She fell back and landed in a pile of fabric. Two Peacekeepers grabbed my arms and held me while Demi gathered herself and stood by the other bowl. She looked over at me every few seconds as she picked the other slip. I stuck my tongue out at her and smirked at the hand-shaped smudge in her blush.

"Jamie Coal!" she announced. An ugly little boy smeared with dirt joined me. I wouldn't touch his nasty hand with a ten-foot pole, so Demi hurriedly announced us and ran offstage.

I don't know why Mom and Dad seemed so nervous when they came to see me. Mom was crying and Dad kept telling me not to get in over my head, like that was possible. Ashley wasn't much help either.

"Hey sis, try not to die," she said. I flipped her off. She was my sister and all, but sometimes she could be a pain in the butt. I told them I'd be fine and sent them off. Screw the Capitol for doing this and screw Demi for helping them. I'll just have to be a Victor instead of an escort.

Jamie Coal POV

Why didn't they have snacks at the Reaping center? It was the least they could do. I nibbled the inside of my cheek and pretended it was food. I wished they had chairs, too. It was hard to stay standing for so long. Matt was beside me, and Coal was a line ahead of us. We were almost too tired and hungry to be scared

There was quite a fuss when Mary Sue was reaped. I'd never heard of a Tribute slapping as escort, but I guess there wasn't much they could do about it. It wasn't like they could kill her. Matt and I laughed nervously while Demi got herself up. Anything to break the tension was welcome. For a minute there was silence, and then my name rang through the air. Immediately the center was filled with my screams, and when a tall man walked toward me, my body took over and I ran the other way. He grabbed my shirt and dragged me onstage as I tried to grab onto Matt. Mary Sue looked at me like I was a toad and I started to cry harder.

Matt and Coal were the first to come visit me. They looked really excited for something so horrible.

"Don't worry, Jamie! You'll be all right," Matt said.

"The others will think you're so little you're not a threat, and then they'll all kill each other," Coal said. I started to feel a little better. I often won when we raced or wrestled. Maybe I could do this.

Dad never came to see me. I knew I wasn't important to him, but I thought maybe just this one time he'd care. Usually I felt like I could do almost anything, but the most important person in my life didn't even believe in me. Was I really worth anything?

Mary Sue isn't actually much of a Mary Sue. Much the opposite...

Someone asked me if I took fanfic requests today. Naturally I was flattered and said I'd try. I was delighted when he asked me if I'd seen Godzilla, since I have seen all 28 multiple times and own a Godzilla action figure. Then he said he wanted a smut fic between the 12-year-old boy from the newest Godzilla and his mother... After checking to confirm that is way illegal, not that I'd do it anyway, he said "thanks for ruining my day." Truly I am a terrible person.