As soon as I heard my name, my heart stopped.

It felt like the world had frozen for a second before I snapped back to reality.

"Come on up here, don't be shy." Effie encouraged me. But I stood there, my mouth open and my eyes wide with fear.

"Go." Andrew whispered, pushing me forward. I slowly made my way up the stairs and onto the stage. From there, it looked like a ton of people were staring up at me.

"To Hailey Jones!" Effie yelled, holding my hand up in the air.

"Now, for the boys." Effie said, reaching into the second cup as she let go of my hand. Slowly, she took her time while choosing the name out of the cup. She smiled as she picked one, then cleared her throat and read the name.

"Logan Putter."

Instantly, I looked up, seeing him walk up the steps to the stage. I rolled my eyes as Logan flirtatiously winked and gestured towards the crowd. He's always been a show-off.

"To Logan Putter!" Effie shouted, holding up bis hand. After a moment, she let go and smiled at us. "Well? Shake hands, you two!"

Logan winked at me before holding out his hand. I reluctantly took it, purely for the entertainment of the crowd and not because I wanted to. I'm 15 and Logan is 16.

"Nice to meet you, babe." Logan said with a charming bad boy smile.

"We already know each other." I said quietly so the crowd wouldn't hear. I rolled my eyes as Logan chuckled.

"Just go with it, hun." Logan said with a smirk. "We'll be spending a LOT of time together the next few months." He winked. "You might just want to keep me around."

"God, don't remind me." I groaned.

"Alrighty, kids! Time to go to the Capitol!" Effie said with a big smile.

"Wait, I have to say goodbye to my family!" I gasped, jumping off of the stage and running towards Andrew.

"I love you." I whispered as I hugged him.

"Hailey, please don't die." Andrew said quietly. "I love you so much and I can't..." he was interrupted when the guards dragged me away from him. I stared at my mom and dad, not wanting to cause a riot by fighting against the guards. But the sad eyes of my parents brought tears to my eyes as well as theirs.

Before I knew what was happening, Andrew was screaming something to me.

"4 0 9 7 1!" Andrew shouted, trying to get past the guards. They quickly stopped him and dragged him out.

"HAILEY!" A voice screeched. I quickly shifted my view to see my best friend Katie running towards me.

"4 0 9 7 1 District 10!" Katie yelled, pushing past the guards as she sprinted up to me. She managed to make it there and hugged the life out of me.

"Don't die, please don't die." Katie whispered. "Please hide for the majority of the game and remember to..."

The guards grabbed her and dragged her away.

"DON'T GO FOR THE MIDDLE!" Katie shrieked before the guards threw her out.

Suddenly, I felt myself being escorted out by the guards. I gasped out of pure surprise and started walking.

"You're a bit of a troublemaker today, aren't ya?" Logan said with a smirk and a wink.

"Leave me alone." I said angrily as we walked. "Even you don't want to be here."

"Are you kidding? This is my dream!" Logan said with a laugh. "I'll be famous when I win, and I'll get eternal GLORY!"

"When you win?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! We can be allies, if you know what I mean." Logan said with a smirk. "We could even be... partners." He winked.

"Oh my God." I muttered.

Logan laughed. "What's going through your head right now, gorgeous?"

"I need to get away from this guy." I said, my eyes tearing up. This was how my life would be from now on. This was it.

"We're here!" Effie sang. "Now, meet the other contestants!"

We gathered around. Logan made sure to stand next to me. I rolled my eyes, but suddenly, I saw him.

"Oh God." I whispered.

I stared at him. Someone can really change in 3 months. Jeez, he looks SO HOT.

Why do all of the idiots have to be hot?

His eyes met mine and I blushed, but I glared at him to cover it up. He quickly looked down, his face turning red. I'm glad. He should be ashamed of himself.

"Robert." I muttered.