In Your Hands: The Thirtieth Hunger Games SYOT

Chapter 6

Skyler Dacher POV

Not everyone in the Districts is poor. My father is a professor and my mother is a doctor, so they go to the Capitol every now and then. One time they even got to bring me, Tyran, and Nicil with them. I was pretty little, so I don't remember much, but it was really colorful and I do remember eating syrupy ice.

Usually I'd be with my friends at a Reaping, but I arrived a few minutes late and they were rows ahead of me. As was always the case when I was alone, my thoughts started running wild. My eyes focused on Ambrosia's glitter ensemble. I wondered how they got that much glitter to stick to her, and how itchy she must be. Then I started to wonder how long it was going to take to wash that glitter out of her hair, and whether the water she showered in was glittery too. Lots of the other escorts I'd seen so far were wearing fur or animal prints. Ambrosia must not have heard about the new trend. Before I knew it, the Anthem was over and it was time for her to pick.

Five is always a mixed bag when it comes to Tributes. Last year it was Farlan and a girl who died in the Bloodbath. Farlan was an odd one. He turned out to be really good at fighting, and then he started talking crazy. The year before that, the girl from Five only had one hand, but she lived for two days. We don't have as many skills as most Tributes do, since we're the transportation District. We can drive when we're fourteen and all, but we can't fish or throw axes or anything useful like that.

Someone was nudging me insistently. My thoughts dissipated and I looked at the girl next to me.

"It's you!" she said. I was confused for a minute. Then I realized. Ambrosia called my name. A thousand thoughts competed for attention as I walked to the stage.

Am I going to die? Wow, that was unlucky. The parade will be fun. I wonder who the boy will be. I hope I get a pretty dress for the interview. Maybe a blue one with a frilly skirt and some white shoes. I hope it has shimmery beads.

I shrank in horror when I saw Gordon standing next to me. Of all the people in Five, why did it have to be him? Looking at him was like looking at death. Neither of us moved to take each other's hand, and Ambrosia didn't notice. It wasn't until I was sitting in the Justice Hall that all the thoughts except one winked out.

I'm going to die.

I had so many things to do still. I wanted to visit all the other Districts and go work in the Capitol. I had it all planned out. I was going to be a party planner. I loved meeting people and talking to them, and the Capitol loved parties. I couldn't die before any of that happened.

When my family came, I was all smiles. I told them how I was looking on the bright side. I told them I'd get to see the Capitol again and make lots of friends. They didn't buy it. Tyran and Nicil stared at nothing with horrible blank faces. Mom was whispering nonsense to Dad, who was wailing a noise I'd never heard a man make. Within minutes I was crying with them, and the Peacekeepers had to tear us apart.

After they were gone, I tried to think of a bright side. Even I couldn't dream one up.

Gordon Spokes POV

I didn't mean it when I first started. My parents were fighting again, and their screams tore into my ears. I lit one little match so I could look into the flame and watch it eat itself away. A little piece of it flew away and landed under the tourist train, which was being repaired. They must not have taken out the fuel tank, because that thing went up like a roman candle. Mom and Dad never argued again, and half my chest is nerveless flesh. I was seven years old when that happened, and I've never been a child since.

Something about seeing all that death changed me. At the orphanage, one of the ladies kept asking me why I was so closed and sullen. Then she went away, and people started looking at me funny. After losing my parents to the explosion and losing my freedom to the orphanage, it was like fear was the only thing I could control. Others followed her, from a little girl walking home alone to the classmate who smirked and unfolded an umbrella as I walked by. They all hated me. Maybe it was because of the burns, or because of the pain in my eyes, or their unproven suspicions. I hated them too. I never belonged here. The only place I could ever belong was with other people who weren't afraid to kill- the Capitolites.

A woman picked a name from a jar, and a girl walked onto the stage. I didn't know her. The woman selected another name and called for Dayvid Soyuz. When I volunteered, there was a sizeable reaction. When the others saw who it was that volunteered, silence dropped like a blanket. It pleased me to see the terror on their faces as I stood in front of them. Not a few looked relieved. If I wanted them later, I'd take them.

I didn't have anyone to see me off, and I enjoyed it. There would be no faux sadness and cheap declarations of friendship. I didn't need their tokens, either. I slid my hand under my shirt and felt the slender glass vial on a chain around my neck. Nobody had ever seen it, but if they did, all they'd see was a glass tube with a gummy brownish paste inside. They'd have no idea that it held twenty-three trophies. Soon there would be a lot more.

Gordon's POV seems short, but I think it has about the same amount of words as most of my POVs. He just doesn't have any dialogue to add to the line count.

Skyler has a token, but my notes have it as "small purple, with silver glitter", so it's something small and purple with silver glitter, but I'm not sure what.