golden ticket // Tigs oneshot

”Antigone, would you mind staying behind a second, there is something I would like to discuss with you.” My biology teacher, Mrs. Barns, calls after me just as I am about to file out of her classroom. I quickly tell my friends to go ahead without me and I’ll just see them tomorrow. There was no point in waiting for me, they got to go home to their nice big houses whilst I had to make my way back to the slums. Complete opposite directions.

Mrs. Barns was one of the few people at the Milton Academy that I could tolerate. When I first arrived as a wide eyed hopeful twelve-year-old, she pushed for me to skip a few grades. Later on, she pushed for me to compete in academic competitions. Participate in the academy’s debate club, join the mathletes and later on even found my own club, future women in medicine. At times it felt like she wanted me to succeed more than I wanted it for myself.

”What’s up, Mrs. Barns?”

I pulled out a chair sitting myself down across from her with a warm smile. Our after-class talks always were a positive thing and when she laid out the pamphlets for district six’s medical school, my grin widened. The excitement on her face matched mine, we were silent for a few seconds because words were not needed in the moment. We both know that this was the moment I have been working towards since I could remember. All the nights in the Backwoods makeshift hospital, all the house calls, the years taking care of my mother and the memorizing of every single medical textbook I could get my hands on were finally going to pay off.

”Now, I know it is a longshot, however, they have just introduced a new scholarship program for low-income students across Panem. There are not many spots, actually there only is one fully funded spot, but if anyone has a real chance it is going to be you, Antigone.”

There it was. The political term for dirt poor. I knew that there had to be other scholarships out there, ones based on academic merit. I knew I could apply for those; I was top of my class despite having to work multiple jobs to help support my family. Why did it always have to come down to my families almost nonexistent income? It did not ever seem to matter just how clever I was, my merits were always accompanied by the fact that I am from one of the worst neighborhoods in the district. What was worse was everyone’s irrational fear of speaking it out loud.

”When’s the deadline?” , I asked taking the pamphlet. Even if I wished for there to be another way than to rely on my misfortune, both of us knew that Mrs. Barnes was correct. This was going to be my only option, there was no way of being able to afford it if I did not receive a full ride.

***

I held the letter in between my fingers and stared at it as I sat in a curled-up position in my bed.

”Just open it and see what it says! Or do you want your future to be stuck in a Schrödinger’s Cat situation forever?” my brother questioned from his bed. I pretended to ignore him, if I got invited to six for an interview, it would make the possibility all that much more real. It would make the possibility of having to leave Icarus, Mom, Mick, Baptist, Avalanche, Ruby…the list of family members I would leave behind could go on forever.

I dreamt of getting out almost every single day, there was nothing I wanted more, but there was always a but.

District nine, the backwoods, it was all I knew. There was comfort in our misery because it was consistent. Our lives the way we lived them, always fighting, always looking out for each other, that is all I knew. I would not be anywhere without the community, without our neighbors. How could I just easily leave that all behind for a better life. Did that not make me some kind of sell out? Or was I just too harsh on myself, too scared to believe that a girl like me, a girl from a place like this could ever deserve anything better.

I tossed the letter to my brother.

”You open it, I can’t.”

I bit down on my tongue as I watched my brother’s hands tear open the letter as he rolled his eyes. He just did not understand the amount of pressure I felt in that moment. The confliction that was so rooted in my brain that I almost wished for a rejection so I would not have to make the hard decision. I tried to guess the outcome from my brother’s expression, but his poker face was impeccable.

Seconds felt like eternities.

He held up a laminated piece of paper. He held up a visa. ”You are going to six! You did it , Tigs! You got an interview!”

I shrieked as tears of joy started to flood my eyes.

In that moment, the decision was crystal clear.



OOc: This takes place the year of the 93rd