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Piper didn't mean to cry. In fact, she really didn't want to be crying.

But she was being sent to her death, so in a way, it was okay.

The train station was swarming with reporters, and their bug-like cameras which were trained on the faces of Piper Mellark and Katniss Everdeen, the girl who had been chosen alongside Piper to be sent to the arena. The difference was, Katniss has volunteered in place of her sister, Piper had simply been reaped.

The blonde girl had managed to stop her tears a while ago, however, she knew that her face was still red and puffy. She didn't care.

As she glanced over at Katniss, she found that the girl looked almost bored.

It made sense, though. Katniss was a very bright and skilled young girl. She was extremely talented with a bow (which was a weapon they would likely have in the arena), she was able to effectively get food for herself, and she was very pretty. These traits were commonly found among the tributes who won the games. Katniss didn't need to worry about anything.

Piper, on the other hand, did. There was absolutely no way she'd ever have a chance at winning. She wasn't a violent person at all, she didn't know a thing about survival, and she honestly couldn't believe she'd ever have the guts to kill another human being. This meant that she was going to be killed.

She had absolutely no idea what she was going to do.

This is what was running through Piper's head as she got on the train. She'd never been in a train before. Hell, she'd never even been in a car until today. But considering the circumstances, she didn't have time to stop and marvel at it all.

She was so lost in her own head, she didn't realize she had been led to another room inside the train until she heard the slurred voice of her very drunk mentor, Haymitch Albernathy call, "dinner's in an hour. I'm gonna take a nap," as he shut the door.

Piper blinked, and finally looked around at the room she was placed in.

She wandered around the room, taking her time as she explored the enormous bathroom that was attached.

Next to the ivory sink were an abundance of little bottles. Some were brightly colored, while others were dull. As she looked closer at the labels, she found they were all hand soap. She didn't know why one person needed so much soap.

She wandered back into the area of the room with a bed. Like in the bathroom, there was a mirror on the wall. This one, however, was much larger.

People in the Capitol must really like to look at themselves, Piper thought. In her house, they only had one mirror, and that was in their one bathroom. Piper, her parents, and her two brothers all had to take turns using it.

Glancing above the closed doorway, she found a clock.

The walls around the whole room were  a dull gray color. They reminded Piper of the color of the walls at her school.

Her school. With her friends. Who she would never see again.

Piper chewed on the inside of her cheek as she sat herself on the bed in the corner of the room. She bounced a bit, surprised at how soft the mattress was. She sat there, fidgeting with her hands.

Piper had had a lot of people visit her before they took her away. In addition to her family, she had a bunch of her classmates, neighbors, and customers from her family's bakery come to say goodbye. It was a very hard thing for her to do, saying goodbye to all of these people who'd played such a big part in her life.

She could feel her eyes begin to water again, and her chest begin to tighten, so she quickly stood up.

"Okay," she breathed out, not wanting to cry again, "now what?"

Her eyes landed on a dresser across the room, and she made her way over to it. Opening the drawers, she found many fine clothes that all fit her.

Digging through the drawer, Piper pulled out a light orange sweater and a pair of pants. Once she'd taken off her plain white dress and changed into the clothes, she crawled into the incredibly soft bed.

Between crying and her mind wandering, Piper lost track of time as she laid in the warm cocoon of the fluffy blankets. Here she could pretend like everything was normal. She could pretend like she wasn't about to be sent somewhere to be slaughtered by someone her age, and like she wasn't being sent there with the girl who she was in love with.

Eventually, Piper looked up at the clock on the wall, and realized she had ten minutes until supper.

She sat up, shivering a bit as the cold air hit her, despite wearing a sweater. She got out of the bed and walked over to the mirror, her eyes scanning her own face.

She grabbed the hairbrush lying on the vanity, and quickly brushed out her hair, taking out the handful of small tangles that had formed in her hair.

Once she finished, she peered at her own reflection. The puffiness under her blue eyes had almost fully disappeared. She took a step back, examining her whole face. Already, she had a look in her eyes that she didn't quite recognize.

Piper had grown up watching the games. And it was always a very sad thing to see, when tributes slowly turned from innocent children to blood thirsty monsters. In the end, you could never truly recognize them.

It always started with a single expression.

She wasn't going to be like that, she decided. She wasn't going to turn into one of those, because there's no point. She wasn't going to win. That was for sure. The only thing that came from being like that, is entertaining the Capitol. And Piper would be damned if she was going to spend the last few weeks of her life entertaining the same people who were sending her to her death any more than she already had to.

So, she offered herself a weak smile. It wasn't much, but she could see a bit of her old personality coming back. If she was going to be doing this, she was going to be herself.

She wiped her eyes one last time, and fixed her hair before walking out to the hallway.

It took Piper a minute to realize she had no idea where she was going. The train was huge, and she hadn't even paying attention when Haymitch first lead her to her room. But somehow, she ended up in what seemed to be a dining room, but much larger than she could imagine.

The table was a smooth, polished wood, and the many dishes on the table seemed very breakable.

"Ah, Piper!" Effie Trinket exclaimed, standing up wen she saw the blonde girl, "right on time! Have a seat, while I go get Katniss."

"Alright," she offered Effie a small smile, sliding into one of the many seats at the table. As Effie left, Piper found herself alone with her thoughts once again.

She was tempted for a minute to begin eating without the others, but refrained from it. Her mother had always insisted on waiting for everybody to be present before anybody began eating.

She tapped her fingers on the smooth table, her eyes gliding over the polished walls. There was just so many elements on the train, it's like whenever Piper would look somewhere else, she'd see something completely new.

Piper's eyes flicked over to see Effie Trinket and Katniss enter the room. Her eyes immediately fell on Katniss, who was wearing a dark green shirt that looked amazing on her. She also recognized the Mockingjay pin that Katniss was wearing on the train station.

Her token.

Piper had completely forgotten to get a token.

"Where's Haymitch?" Effie Trinket asked, and Piper's attention shifted to her.

"Last time I saw him, he said he was going to take a nap," she responded honestly.

"Well, it's been an exhausting day," Effie Trinket said. Piper couldn't help but notice she seemed a bit relieved about Haymitch's absence. Considering his current state, Piper couldn't blame her.

Katniss sat in the empty seat next to Piper as more food was brought in. Apparently the food already on the table were appetizers.

The supper came in courses. Piper couldn't believe all the food that came out. There was everything from soups to salads, mashed potatoes, lamb chops, cheese, fruits, and chocolate cake. Throughout the meal, Effie Trinket kept reminding the girls to save space because there's more to come.

Piper was stuffing herself, since she'd never had food this good before, and she could see Katniss was doing the same. District 12 wasn't known for their food, and the girls had decided to take advantage of one of the few good things that came with being reaped.

"At least you two have decent manners," Effie commented as the girls were finishing their main course, "the pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion."

Piper frowned as she remembered the boy and girl from last year. They were from the Seam (the area of District 12 Katniss was from, which was considered the poorer part of the district), and she recalled that neither of them had ever had enough to eat. The fact that Effie had decided to bring up their lack of table manners didn't sit right with Piper.

Apparently, Katniss had thought the same thing. Piper noticed that Katniss made a point to eat the rest of the meal with her fingers, the wipe her hands on the tablecloth. She couldn't help but smile at Effie's expression as she pursed her lips tightly together at the other girl.

While Piper agreed with Katniss, she stuck with her fork.

Once she finished the meal, Piper was struggling a bit to keep the food down. Despite living in the better part of the district, Piper had never had this much food in one sitting.

Effie, however, seemed perfectly fine as she lead Katniss and Piper to another compartment. Once the girls were settled comfortably on the couch, she turned on the recap of the reapings across Panem. The Capitol schedules them throughout the day, so the people in the Capitol can watch the whole thing live from the safety of their own homes.

This was their chance to see who their competition was, and for Piper to see who her potential killer would be.

One by one, they watch the other reapings. Piper does her best to remember the names and faces of the other tributes, however somewhere around District 9, all of the tributes just blend together.

Finally, they show District 12. Piper watches from a different perspective as Katniss volunteers for her sister. Nobody could miss the desperation in her voices as she shoves her twelve year old sister behind her. She mounts the stage, and the commentators don't know what to say about the crowds refusal to clap for her. Then the silent salute happens. Haymitch falls off stage, which made the corners of Piper's mouth turn up. The small smile disappeared as she heard her name being called. The camera showed her stunned face as she realized what had just happened. But she shook it off, and quietly took her spot on stage next to Katniss. The two girls shake hands, and they cut to the anthem. That's when the program ends.

Effie Trinket was disgruntled about the state her wig was in, "Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot about televised behavior."

Piper laughed, surprising herself a bit, "He was drunk," she said, "He's drunk every year."

"Every day," Katniss added, a small smirk appearing on her face.

"Yes," Effie hissed, "How odd you two find it amusing. You know, your mentor is your lifeline to the world in these Games. The one who advises you, lines up your sponsors, and dictates the presentation of any gifts. Haymitch can well be the difference between your life and your death!"

As if on cue, Haymitch staggered into the compartment. "I miss supper?" he asked, in a slurred voice. And with that, he vomited all over the expensive carpet, and fell into the mess.

"So laugh away!" said Effie. She hopped around the pool of vomit and fled the room, leaving Piper and Katniss to deal with Haymitch.

a/n

i hope you all enjoyed this chapter !

so as yall may have noticed, this story now has an amazing cover, which was created by -lamntrix  !!
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