96th Reaping [District Five]

it felt like it had been years since i even thought about amrin. i wondered wherever she went she had been happy. there hadnt been too much news since the last time i had checked. we were told that she accepted a job in another district. six actually. she had to work under secrecy, so that meant that she wouldnt be communicating too much with the outside world. when she wrote, it always made me happy. it was an unexpected gift in a way. my parents thought i was crazy for holding onto hope that one day she would come home.

they never realized just how close we were.

she was the reason i studied as hard as i did. she always pushed me, because she knew i had the potential to rival her. it was never about being enemies with her, she just enjoyed the fact that someone else liked learning things like she did. the difference was, she had a photographic memory, and all i had was a good study habit. amrin knew things like how to make a battery out of a potato and how to build a fire with only a couple of sticks. i never really could apply the knowledge i learned, just absorb it.

that didnt mean that i was useless though.

i spent a lot of time at the library that amrin and i frequented. they thought i was silly for showing up most days when i already read almost all of the books that they had in their possession. the thing is, they were comforting to me at this point. sure, i could have stopped going, but then i felt like i would have been denying apart of myself that i didnt want to let go of.

i wasnt ready to grow up.

---

i came home with an old book about wind turbines that they told me was going to be thrown out soon. they werent even sure why they had added it to the collection. i didnt pay too much mind, it was something that i hadnt read yet. i always liked learning something new, even if it was info that i knew quite a bit about.

as i came through the living room, my parents had been sitting at the dining room table, both of them occupied with a puzzle that they had won in a raffle years ago. "azure, make sure you get some sleep tonight." my father said to me as i walked up to him and gave him a hug. "ill be fine dad. tomorrow is just another day." i looked to my mom and gave her a light smile, she looked worried, and i hated when she wore that expression on her face. "but its reaping day." her hand extends out and touches mine. "lets not think about that guys. lets just think about it like a regular day." i rub my moms hand for a second before letting go of my dad "amrin wouldnt have sweated it.". they both give me a look. "amrin had aged out of the reaping sweetie." they both shook their head. "sometimes you are a little too care free." my mother laughs as i offer a small grin. "i know, but thats why you love me.". they both shake their heads and we all laugh.

its a tender moment.

i tell them both not to wait up for me as i head into my room. i needed some time to just be by myself. after all, tomorrow was my last reaping, and the last thing that i wanted to think about was how sad it would be if i was reaped. amrin always told me that it was statistically impossible. that my family made ends meet, which meant that i didnt have to take any tessera. so by this time, i maybe only had my name in that bowl a couple times. some other kids, well, they werent as lucky. amrin went so far as to do the math, an equation plastered on an old white board that she had salvaged from an abandoned school that had closed its doors a long time ago. she even questioned why the building was still there, but then she realized that wasnt something that needed to be answered.

it did not matter.

anyway, i went to my closet to pull out the white board. i kept it after all these years, just to remind myself the very little chance that i had to be reaped tomorrow. it was comforting, but not as comforting as the book i was about to read. i pulled it close to me as i opened the first page. i flipped through a couple before stopping on a page to see something scribbled in the corner.

i sighed, hating to see a book be blemished like this. until i took a closer look at the writing and then looked at the white board.

it was amrin's.

i was a little confused for a moment, but once i realized that this might have been a book that amrin had read already, i felt a little more intrigued. i continued to flip through the pages, seeing more scribblings of amrin's, each one detailing some "cliff notes" about the page they were on. that was probably how amrin was able to remember things so easily. shed just think of the things she had written before.

i smiled for a moment, trying to figure out a way to keep this book from the library. i flipped another couple of pages to find another scribble, but this time, it seemed like it was a little more rushed. it also, didnt really make sense. things are not as they seem here. i was confused for a moment, thinking that this couldnt be amrins writing, but when i pulled the white board back up, it was.

a couple pages after, another weird message. another one died today. death? what was amrin talking about.

eventually as i kept flipping pages, the messages started to become a word or two. something about help, and i think i know who it is. thats when i realized that there is a mystery behind this book that i did not know of. i got up out of bed and put the book on the desk. i pulled out a letter that i had recieved from amrin almost six months ago. i opened it and realized that the writing was almost similar, too similar. thats when i realized that it wasnt her writing. the way she dotted her i's were different.

i flipped through a couple more pages, but thats when i realized that there were no more messages written in margins. the last one saying if i dont make it out, you know why.

the thing is, i didnt know why. amrin was stil alive? right? i dont know why that is the first thing i jumped too, but a worried sigh and a nervous feeling is all i needed to convince me that i do not know the full story.

what the hell happened at the nox's.

the only way i was going to find out is if i found out myself.

---

i did not waste too much time on this, getting to bed only one hour later than usual. when i woke up, a dress had been laid out on my bed as well as a sealed letter. it was addressed to me. i opened it, reading it slowly before looking up at the mirror. tears streaming down my face as it revealed that there was in fact, more to the story about amrin. it wasnt signed, so i am not sure how it got in here, but i did not ask questions. i couldnt.

i needed to get through the reaping.

i slipped on the dress and put the letter in the pocket that i had sewn in myself. i walked out of my room and my parents had already been in the kitchen. last reaping day sweetie. i smiled as i looked at them longingly. "i know dad. i cant wait to put this behind me." i gave him a hug and then my mother right after. amrin though was still on my mind. "you know that book that i brought home yesterday?" i asked as i took a seat at the table. "what about it azure?" my mother asked nonchalantly as she placed a plate with some food on it. "what ever did happen to nox's estate after all the murders that took place." i asked as i took a couple bites of food. "youd have to ask the mayor about that." dad laughed, but i didnt. they didnt know.

i stood up and went back to my room for a moment, grabbing the book opening it to the very back. there i saw a little emblem at the bottom of the page. nx. nox. this book was from the nox estate.

i sighed and closed the book. a knock at the door meant that it was time for them to go.

i put the book on the desk and held onto the letter that i had received this morning. i was going to get to the bottom of this.

---

as i filed into the town square, there had been an awkward tension in the air. we werent given too much time to really sit in our own silence. my mouth might have not been open, but my brain was speaking in riddles quickly. when i saw mayor nox at the head of the stage, my hand formed into a fist.

he knows something that i dont.

i needed to try to get a private audience with him. the coded messages, the letter left on my dress, the fact that i havent heard anything from amrin in over six months? none of it made sense to me. the usual fanfare played, but it was all just background noise to me. i did not care what was going on around me, i was just focused on the fact that someone is lying to me about amrin.

i just wanted to see her again.

the escort moves to the microphone and tells everyone that they are going to start the process. i look at the bowl on the stage and realize that it is even bigger this year. there had been a ton of slips in there, and judging from the circumference, the odds of me being picked were slim to none.

i take a deep breath as i look up at the stage and lock eyes with mayor nox. my eyes furrow after, he is sitting there calmly, like he has nothing to lose. after the reaping i will get an audience with him. i watch as the escort moves to the bowl and pulls the first name.

lionel estrada.

nope. not me. good.

they all watch as peacekeepers move through the crowds. the escort swipes a second slip.

holden post.

not me again.

however, i am not elated. i am growing angrier by the moment as i watch mayor nox stand up as the children are being brought up on the stage. right as the first one makes it up, i see a peacekeeper tap on the mayors shoulder and i am dumbfounded. is he really going to leave right now?

no. i need answers.

what would amrin do in this situation?

i take a deep breath.

"live." i hear in my head. amrins voice is still clear as the sky was that day in my brain.

"i volunteer."

i dont even know why that left my mouth, but this would now garuntee me a chance to talk with mayor nox about whatever the hell happened that summer at his fathers manner.

the peacekeepers swarm in and they practically pull me to the stage. i do not know what is in store for me, but a microphone is shoved in my face. i am asked what my name is.

"azure delphine."

and i look mayor nox right in the eyes.