Chapter Text
Sapnap won't meet my eyes. His face is downcast; eyebrows pulled into the center of his forehead, lip pulled between his sparkling teeth.
"Neither of us took out tesserae this year, Sap. We won't get chosen." Sapnap sighs, running his hands through his hair to mask his irritation.
"Easy for you to say, Georgie. You'll have aged out of the reaping soon."
"Look, even if you get drawn, you know I wouldn't let you in the games." Sapnap snaps his eyes to meet mine.
"George, I swear to god, if they pull my name, you better not do a goddamn thing but keep your head down. "
"Sap, you can't ask me to do that."
"Well, tough shit, I am asking. Someone has to look out for my sisters."
"Shut the fuck up. That should be you, not me. I don't know shit about kids."
"Ah, but you know shit about making money. Treasonous black market codes sound familiar?" I blush, half in anger, half in embarrassment.
"I get coding, Sap. They're your sisters. You should be the one to stay if anything happens, which nothing will."
"Promise if I get my name drawn, you'll stay out of it." I scoff.
"Not promising that." Sapnap looks about ready to cry from frustration and stress. I decide to back off of the topic, opting to wrap my hands around his shoulders and lean into him. "It'll be okay, Nick. I promise." Sapnap laughs.
"Using full names, huh? Someone's serious." I roll my eyes, giving him a playful shove before standing up. I offer him a hand up. He smiles and takes it, and we set off to the town square. It's reaping day.
The town is near silent on the way into the center. Everyone must have already assembled.
We trod over the cracked pavement roads, keeping our heads down as the Peace Keepers drag stragglers out of their hiding places. I only tried hiding from the reaping one year. The scars on my back from the whip taught me not to pull that stunt again.
As far as I've heard, which is not much, District 5 isn't the worst in comparison to the others. The poverty rate is still staggering, but the city is old instead of run down. We could use new roads and buildings, but then again, couldn't every district? It's not super strict here, but harsh enough that getting caught with my codes would be an immediate sentence to being an Avox.
The codes are nothing special; fifty bucks will get rid of the tracking on capitol issue technology, enough for more daring criminals to steal and resell the stuff a few of the factories make. It's District Three's job to make the technology, but a few of the factories have suddenly started to open up here, along the edges of the city. I guess the demand eclipsed the supply.
A peacekeeper shoots us a glare through his helmet as if demanding that we get to the town square faster. Sapnap looks ready to bare his teeth, but I grasp his hand and pull him forward. The last thing I need today is to take care of Sap after he gets whipped for his attitude again.
He huffs but goes along without complaint. I can tell he's nervous about the reaping. I mean, who wouldn't be. Nobody from our district makes it far, except Techno, and he was a special kind of psycho. He's always in the crowd during the reaping, wearing that stupid fucking crown and growling at anyone who gets too close.
He's the first thing we see when we enter the packed town center, his crown glinting in the harsh sunlight. He makes eye contact with me, and his eyes look almost red. He's a pale imitation of the average capital freak, his ears pig-like, and his eyes a burgundy-scarlet color that can't be natural. He flashes me a grin, showing his fanged teeth. I suppress a shiver, dragging Sapnap to the check-in line.
A lady in white nods her head at me, and I let my hand slip from Sapnap's. I step forward, giving her my arm and trying not to panic. This feeling of being livestock on their way to be stunned and slaughtered is customary of reaping day. I try not to let my terror show. The lady reaches out a gloved hand, grasping my wrist in her iron grip. The periwinkle glove skewers me with a long tube, taking a bit of my blood for her to press onto a glass tablet. The tablet lets out an affirming beep.
"Go ahead, 17-year-old boys are in that quadrant." I try not to stumble on my way to my quadrant. I see Sapnap craning his head to look for me, already on the edge of the 16-year-olds section. I try to get as close as the peacekeepers will allow me. He looks at me, and I can see that eye contact helps him calm down.
"It's alright, Sapnap. We'll be fine." He gives me a shaky nod before turning his attention to the hanging screens in front of the justice building.
"War." After the first word from the President, I tune out the video. We've heard this propaganda a million times before. The war that wiped out District 13, the peace that came after, the hunger games that were punishment to the other districts. President Schlatt smiles, his mouth full of shark's teeth before the screen flashes the capital emblem and goes black.
B, the District 5 representative, steps out onto the stage. He looks distinctly alien, his face coal black and his eyes white orbs. He wears a strange cloak, highlighted with red lines and symbols. B would rather be anywhere but here, shy and soft looking. He steps up to the bowls, leaning his face into the microphone that stands in front of them.
"Okay, first, the girls." He places a claw-like hand into the glass bowl, fishing around before pulling out a small scrap of paper. "Maia." A girl with a soft bob of black hair steps forward, the crowd of girls parting for her. She walks confidently up to the podium, taking her place beside B. He shakes her hand, and she doesn't flinch at the shadowy quality of his skin.
I look over at Sapnap, and he's trembling. I want to tell him that it'll be fine again, but I honestly don't know if it will be. B reaches his hand into the boy's bowl, digging around a bit before producing another small slip of paper. "Nick." I freeze.