Chapter 2

                                    

                                          
When my mum finally came out of the room, she was followed by my two sisters, who were dressed in their reaping day dresses, their most presentable and expensive clothes - even though they were still cheap.
They had nervous looks on their faces, as they knew they must leave soon. Only Prim's hair was put up. My mum looked over at me, made a subtle face and said, "Katniss says that you have to do her hair."
She looked stressed, as she looked over her two daughters, and I almost felt sorry for her, but then I realised she had never looked at me that way. She had always only wanted daughters, and she made sure to act like it too. 
I made my way past the girls and into the bedroom, then sat on the bed. Katniss followed me, and I used my hands to motion the space between my legs, for her to sit down. I then offered her a pillow, which she took, put on the floor then sat down where I told her to. 
She handed me a hair tie and I then started the process of doing her hair. I did it slowly, to appreciate this time, as it only happened once a year - every reaping day. It was another one of our little traditions that we've had for years, since I had learnt to braid hair. Time went too fast as I finished her braid in what seemed like no time at all. 
My mother came into the room and told me that I should begin ready now, as there was not much time left before we had to leave, and she didn't want me to make a fool of her. I realised that I must've spent more time on hair than I originally thought, and I only had around 20 minutes to get dressed. It was more than enough time, and I was finished with 10 minutes to spare. 
I did not want to socialise with anyone before we had to go, so I spent the rest of the time staring at myself in the mirror. My face was tinged slightly red where I scrubbed the dirt off it, and my hair was wet where I tried to make it look at least somewhat presentable. I dressed in a clean t-shirt and normal trousers. I didn't feel the need to dress up, even if my mum disagreed. 
I heard my mum's voice call my name down the hall, meaning it was time to leave. It was still considered a little early, with 30 minutes before the ceremony started, but she didn't want any peacekeepers to come knocking on our door so she wanted to leave now. 
We joined the main street, and it seemed that other families from the seam had the same idea as us, so we followed them on our journey to the centre. It took us longer than most, as we lived on the outskirts of 12, in the poorest area. 
We arrived and split into our different lines, with me joining the male 18 year old line without a goodbye from my mum. I reached the front of the line and got my finger pricked by the Capitol worker. It didn't hurt as much as it used to, and I quickly moved on when the worker gave me the okay, and joined my line in the crowd.
It took a bit, but eventually everyone was checked in and ready for the ceremony to begin.
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The Capitol escort for district 12, Effie Trinket, walked out from the Justice Building and up to the microphone. She made sure to stand straight and look directly into the crowd before she said: "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be forever in your favour!" With a small smile on her face, like every year, she gestured toward the big screen and made us watch the video from the Capitol.
The video showed the rebellion of the people of the past, and used their political narrative as an excuse on why they had to destroy district 13. It was complete and utter bullshit if you asked me, so I just tuned it out. 
Before I knew it the video was over and it was time for the name selection - where everyone found out the two tributes from 12. Effie finished her small speech, and announced: "Like always, ladies first," and reached her hand into the bowl.