Quell
Three
No one really works for the next three days. We're all too anxious. The adults in District 6, meaning everyone older than eighteen, are cooped up in the Justice Building, holding the tribute elections. When the day that the tributes are supposed to be announced arrives, we all get back in our good clothes and troop back to the square. We sign in and stand in our assigned places. And then Aphrodite Sunburst prances up to the podium.
"Ladies first!" she giggles. Mayor Ainsley hands her a pink envelope. Aphrodite Sunburst opens the envelope and pulls out a square of paper and all I can think is Oh God don't let it be Susa or Eloise or me, please not me, not me, not me, not me.
"Brenna Hale!"
My first though is, What? Someone has the same name as me?
Then Susa screams.
"Brenna! No!"
I forget how to breathe. It feels as if someone has punched me impossibly hard in my stomach.
"Brenna Hale? Come up here please!" Aphrodite Sunburst calls. Unconsciously, my legs propel me forward, up to the stage. Aphrodite beams at me, then takes a blue envelope from Mayor Ainsley and opens it up and pulls out a square of paper. I don't even have time to wish for anyone's safety before Aphrodite is reading out a name.
"Theo Bamarre!"
Theo Bamarre?
The odds are not in my favor today.
Theo stumbles up to the stage, his thin face very pale. Aphrodite asks for volunteers, but all I can hear is someone out in the crowd, crying.
"Grand! Ladies and gentlemen, the tributes of District 6!" Aphrodite Sunburst announces. The applause is half-hearted. Perhaps a quarter of the crowd is clapping. It dies off quickly. Like Theo and I will, I think bitterly, then wince. This is not a time for such thoughts. The mayor steps up and reads the Treaty of Treason, then motions for me and Theo to shake hands. We do so, and I give Theo's hand a reassuring squeeze. He smiles at me just a tiny bit.
We turn back to face the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays.
Then we are marched into the Justice Building by six white-clad Peacekeepers.
The doors shut behind us with a horrifying finality.
"Ladies first!" she giggles. Mayor Ainsley hands her a pink envelope. Aphrodite Sunburst opens the envelope and pulls out a square of paper and all I can think is Oh God don't let it be Susa or Eloise or me, please not me, not me, not me, not me.
"Brenna Hale!"
My first though is, What? Someone has the same name as me?
Then Susa screams.
"Brenna! No!"
I forget how to breathe. It feels as if someone has punched me impossibly hard in my stomach.
"Brenna Hale? Come up here please!" Aphrodite Sunburst calls. Unconsciously, my legs propel me forward, up to the stage. Aphrodite beams at me, then takes a blue envelope from Mayor Ainsley and opens it up and pulls out a square of paper. I don't even have time to wish for anyone's safety before Aphrodite is reading out a name.
"Theo Bamarre!"
Theo Bamarre?
The odds are not in my favor today.
Theo stumbles up to the stage, his thin face very pale. Aphrodite asks for volunteers, but all I can hear is someone out in the crowd, crying.
"Grand! Ladies and gentlemen, the tributes of District 6!" Aphrodite Sunburst announces. The applause is half-hearted. Perhaps a quarter of the crowd is clapping. It dies off quickly. Like Theo and I will, I think bitterly, then wince. This is not a time for such thoughts. The mayor steps up and reads the Treaty of Treason, then motions for me and Theo to shake hands. We do so, and I give Theo's hand a reassuring squeeze. He smiles at me just a tiny bit.
We turn back to face the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays.
Then we are marched into the Justice Building by six white-clad Peacekeepers.
The doors shut behind us with a horrifying finality.