Jarrett Gravois of District Five

I'm not horribly tall compared to the other boys my age, and I don't have the muscles that some of them do. I'm pretty average in that department I guess. I have wafty brown hair that almost looks auburn red in the sun, and my eyes nearly match, though they're about a shade lighter. The girls at the foster home tell me I have very kissible lips, I'm still collating data on what exactly that means though.

I make sure to keep all of the hair on my body shaved, it feels weird rubbing up against my shirt. I really don't have any freckles or moles or anything, though there is this one birthmark on my right leg. It's about the size of a dime and just makes a weird shape. I can't really explain it. I guess it's kind of a glomp. I do have a bit of a discoloration on my right knee cap where I bruised my leg really badly falling down the basement stairs when I was a lot younger.

I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty ignorant. I've lived a very sheltered life, under a rock you could say. Actually it was the basement of the house. Even though I don't know much about the world yet, I still want to learn. I may not have things figure out, yet. But I will. Make no mistake about that.

I try talking to the other kids at the foster home, but I guess I don't exactly have grade A conversational skills. I didn't see a lot of people growing up, so that doesn't surprise me. I'm kind of hoping that maybe as I hang out with everyone that will get better. The other kids at least seem willing to let me hang around with them. It kind of makes me feel bad when they tell me I'm weird. I mean, yeah, I know I'm weird. But my parents never let me out. They said it was to protect me, but I really don't understand that yet. I am starting to feel better about myself now though, almost starting to feel wanted, and like I belong.

I've been told that I'm immature, but I don't think I really am that immature. I mean, I'm just now learning some things the rest of the kids have known for years now, but I mean, it's not like I run around writing on the wall with the crayons or anything. I guess I just see the world through a childs eyes. Simple everyday things amaze me. I can't help it, I've never seen them before. Sometimes seeing a rainbow for the first time is an amazing thing, even if it is old news to the rest of the world. I liked it.

Some days I'm happy here, but some days I'm not. I think I do a pretty good job of taking care of myself, and as much as they try to be family sometimes, they're really not. I have often wondered what it would be like if I left, and chose to do things on my own. It's not hard to get a job in the oil fields around here. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to handle myself.

I knew you were going to ask me about this eventually. I'm going to start off by explaining my sister, Jessica. She was reaped as the female tribute for District Five in the 48th Hunger Games. I guess she got killed, and that upset my parents. They were quite young when Jessica was born, and so they agreed they'd try to have another child.

That's where I came from. Apparently, dad was a pretty influential with one of the oil drilling companies, and he had a little money. He paid the doctor to deliver me at home, and then paid for his secrecy as well. I never left the house growing up, rarely did I ever venture from the basement. I wasn't caged or anything like that, but I wasn't allowed to talk to any of the visitors or friends that came over. They said the government couldn't know that I existed, or that they would take me away. I didn't believe mom at the time, but I guess she was right.

Mom's friend Denise came over one day, and she caught me in the living room. Mom thought it would be okay to go ahead and let Denise in on the secret, since they'd been best friends since High School and all, but I guess it wasn't okay. Denise apparently went straight to one of the peacekeepers who she was friendly with, and told them about me.

I still remember that day. Like four hours after she left, the head peacekeeper himself was knocking down our front door and a team was storming the place. They grabbed me and pulled me outside the house. There was a gunshot sounding shortly afterward. They never told me exactly what the shot was, but I found out later. I guess my mom said the wrong thing and wouldn't cooperate.

They put dad in jail, and then he went through some sort of court preceedings. They chained him in the square and whipped him until he died. Dad was very tough though, they had to whip him for like twenty minutes before his ''cannon sounded''. There wasn't actually a cannon, that's just a common phrase around here.

I lived with an appointed family, a peacekeeper, for a few weeks before being put into the home I'm in now. It was weird. They weren't mean to me or anything, but they just live so differently than normal people do. I had a hard time adjusting.

I've also recently started going to school. I'm sorta smart when it comes to the core abilities like Math, mom taught me well growing up. But the people things like Home Economics and Athletics and things, I'm not so good at. We never made time for the fun stuff growing up. I'm catching on slowly though.

DALLAS, Cameron plays Jarrett Gravois