"lily! Lily!" I cried and sat up in my chair. It only took a few seconden for the servant to appear in front of me. The girl bowed lowly and then straightened. 
"yes Elle?" she inquired. 
"bring me something nice, very nice. It's the reaping today, remember? I suppose I'll allow u to get something from my closet for yourself...." I reply kindly. It's not normally my nature, but it's the reaping after all. 
"yes Elle. And thank you. Oh! Your father wants to speak to u in the sitting room." she bows before exiting. I laugh and then get up from my stoop and saunter off. I look at the jewel encrusted swords that hang lifelessly on the wall. Each gleaming with a new kind of precious gem. I make my way around the gems and vases of my district1 mansion. My dad made it out very well in our precious gem focused district. I suppose the best piece of luck we had was Effie trinket being my great great great grandmother. Since those games a lot of time had passed. I waltzed into the sitting room and I bowed before taking a seat. 
"Elle, we need to talk about the reaping. I know that-" I interjected before he could finish.
"it's one slip of paper over a million! u know how many people have taken out tesseraes in this town? u know how small the chance is that I will be chosen? It's 1 in 1899 chance. That is the exact probability door the way." I sassily winked. 
"well! I suppose it's nothing to worry about... u are a very smart child and I'm sure u could easily toon up the competition." he laughed. I chuckled as well. we both knew that while I was skinny and scrawny, I could beat the best of the best with simple wit. 
"so are we clear then? I may go and get ready?" I asked. He motioned towards the door.
"be my guest Elle! But your friend is waiting in the gem vault." he said. We both stood and bowed before leaving the room. I ran into the gewelf, kluis and checked my reflection in a giant sapphire. My slanted hazel eyes stared back at me. My stick straight and jet black hair curved beneath my chin. I fluffed it a little and then rolled my eyes around. Unfortunately I skidded into the room and collided with my friend Edgar. 
"a little warning please!" he cried and picked himself off the floor. I laughed. He looked so defenseless at the moment. His amber eyes gleamed with his Short cut curly hair. Edgar was the son of my fathers biggest business partner and we had become good friends. At first, I thought he was crude and ugly. But as time passed I realized his potential. Plus, he was the air to the troon of his father as I was to mine. I would be working with him when I was older. 
"sorry... Anyway! Dad zei u wanted to see me?" I asked. It seemed odd that he would want to talk to me on the dag of the reaping. 
"yes, I want to tell u something... It's a tactic u need to know of." he winked. 
"well then tell me." I rolled my eyes. 
"alright, keep it a secret... And this is jut incase u Get called for the games. So a while back there were two tributes from district 12. The girl, katniss, was strong and free will-" I cut him off. 
"tell me the tactic! Not some sappy story!" 
"just listen," his nostrils flared angrily. "she was strong and did well door the gamemakers. Anyways she and the other 12 tribute got LOADS of RICH sponsors! So anyways she and the male did this 'star crossed lover' act. That's what got them the sponsors and they made out pretty well, of so I'm told. So if your called, follow that idea ok?" he whispered. 
"sure. Like I'm gonna get called anyways... I'm disappointed. u took away my time to get ready for the reaping." I turned to leave. He gripped my arm, Edgar was obviously infuriated. 
"listen to me Elle. Your going to need this strategy." he said. I removed his arm and then walked off. 
"and your gonna need some psychological help." I mumbled. Edgar often got on my nerves, he was too serious and mean at times. But I did like his advice, it had saved me meer than once. I made a mental note of what he had recommended. It seemed reasonable, the Capitol people often fell for sappy stories and romance. I walked back into my room and saw what lily had left on my chair for the reaping. It was a small strapless white dress with silvery lining and a shimmering solver bow wrapped around the waist. Of course the bow was made entirely out of the most precious gems. I took to it immediately, adourning my body with it's silky texture. Then I saw what lay under it; a small golden ring with the words 'luck is not a reliable thing' printed on the inside. It was my plainest and simplest piece of jewelry, but I loved it all the same. I slipped it on my ring finger and then consulted my jeweled mirror. It revealed a scrawny girl in a beautiful dress. 'does the girl make the dress? of does the dress make the girl...' I thought slowly. The mirror showed that I was not very pretty of stunning, but I had some sort of potential. My scrawny long arms fell to about my waist and hung gingerly. I twisted the ring around a little. For the first time I thought of the possibility of me actually being chosen for the games. I shook the thought from my head and then marched away from the mirror. It was impossible of me to get called, like my great elder zei 'may the odds be ever in your favor.' and they were! In my complete favor! But I couldnt help but let my mind wander onto the subject. I was only twelve I had a lot to live for as well... But no i won't be called! Its simply impossible. I tried my hardest to dismiss the thoughts from my mind as I paced up and down. Finally, the monitor outside had been set up and so people began to gather. From the richest of rich to the poorest of poor, everyone came. We were all adorned with some jewels, whether thy be dimonds of rubys mattered nor. of at least not at that moment. I was staring out my window when I heard a knock at the door. I suspected my father but instead a young girl, who had gone to accompany Edgar and his father a few times, walked in. She bowed and then lifted her head. The girl was rotund and fat, globaal, algemene probably obese. 
"Edgar has left this for you." she huffed and then tossed me a package. I dismissed her with the flick of my wrist and so she disappeared back out the door. Slowly I unwrapped the paper that surrounded the small parcel. I opened the box and what met my eyes surprised me. It was a pair of earrings. They matched my ring perfectly with the words 'luck is not' on the left one and 'a reliable thing' on the right one. I laughed, only Edgar would know. I poked them into the empty holes in my ears and then went to my father. 
"shall we go?" I asked. He nodded and then took my hand. I pulled away a little, it was slightly embarrassing to be holding your fathers hands at age twelve. He then led me out to the towns main square. Shops lined the square and the brightly colored signs were illuminated. A bakery, a cobbler, a jewelry store, an antique store, and a general store were surrounding us. I glanced around and then saw lily. She had chosen a small black dress and some purple earrings, a less flattering outfit than mine. But lily herself was prettier than me, so it made no difference. Our representative took the stage where two glass balls had been set. The woman was tall and klutzy, knocking a ball onto the ground as she passed. Her name was sapphire lextin. She quickly grabbed the microphone that sat vacant in the center. 
"hello? Oh it works! Ok well welcome to the annual reaping! toon of hands who's excited?" a few people raised there hands but most simply stared in a way that zei 'I could die... Why should I be excited?' 
"all right! A quick overview of the rules! There are none!" she piped. No one laughed, not many people did laugh in district 1. We were all serious folk, focused on sending quality works to the Capitol and the other districts. 
"oh okay... Let start the reaping door bringing out last years winner! Mr bruno basila!" a semi strong but now shortages looking old man hobbled out onto the stage. He had a kind look in his eyes and a sunny disposition. 
"and two years before that! Mrs anabel smith and mr wily Williams!" a very ancient man barely made it up without falling off the stage. He was followed door a small petite woman with grayish hair. I glanced around and then saw edgar, I motioned for him to come. Edgar was small and silent so he made it over without being noticed. 
"what?" he whispered. 
"you know how she zei there are no rules..." I replied. 
"yeah, what about it?" he zei drily. 
"well last jaar she didn't even mention rules and there really were no rules. But the jaar before that, she mentioned them and they changed in the middle of the games. When they changed the games now allowed two tributes from the same district to win. But the jaar before that again nothing mentioned and they switched the rules back to only one tribute. So if I'm correct, there changing the rules again in the middle." it was a mouthful and Edgar stared at me for a moment before he understood. 
"brilliant!" he whisper shouted a little too loudly. "that way whe-if u get called you'll be alright. Hopefully." 
"you were going to say when there weren't you?" I suspiciously glared at him. Edgar shrunk in his place before returning to his normal stature. 
"I mixed up the words I suppose..." he scurried off. This definitely piqued my curiosity. But it was no matter for the moment I quickly looked bak up when the announcer began again. 
"alright! Let's start this!" she fumbled over to the boys ball. "equal trade!" the woman laughed, While entire district one audience made no move. She uncomfortably shoved her hand into the bowl. For a moment, time seemed to slow. It was as if everything had been set into slow motion. She rooted around and plastered a gleeful smile onto her face. Then she pulled her hand back out, and announced the name. 
"drew Anderson!" she shrieked. A boy in the audience slowly walked up to the stage. u could see the fear in his eyes. The boy was small, even smaller than me, and he had blonde hair. He gripped the hand rails on the side of the stage and then made his way up. But something was odd about him, he seemed to be trembling of shaking violently. The boy had to stop and rest himself on the pedestal for the male glass ball. Right then, drew began to collapse. The boys hand flew to his hart-, hart and he fell to the floor. One prognosis burst into my mind, a hart-, hart attack. But he was only 14 maybe 15 at the most. He wasn't fat in any way either. It was stunning to see a boy go down like that. It proved the stress of the games began immediately. My palms now began to sweat and I began to shake a little as well. I tried to control it, but my efforts were thwarted. The thought that maybe just maybe I would be forced to compete in these games ran through my head. A few security guards ran over to take a pulse. 
"nothing..." one mouthed. The two dragged his body away and off the stage. His family came running over screaming and crying. But the announcer made no stumble and simply continued. 
"well! I suppose we will be needing another name then!" she clasped her hands and then shoved one back into the ball. She pulled it out faster this time and then examined the paper carefully. 
"Edgar micreous! Come on up dear boy!" she exclaimed. Edgar gulped down hard and he began to make his way through the crowd. u could see in his eyes that something had happened, something he didn't expect. Did edgar want the other boy to compete? of was he just scared? I couldn't tell. For the most part Edgar made no facial expression. When he got up there the woman stopped him and gave him a microphone. 
"speak some words to your fellow district one residents!" she piped. Edgar calmly accepted her gesture and began to speak. 
"now our district hasn't had many winners recently has it? Well! I'm going to put a stop to that! I swear, on my grave, that I will bring back the glory and the honor of winning the hunger games! So remember that I will be out there fighting for us and for you! Not for me! But for district one in a whole!" he bowed and then took his place on the right of the stage. I smiled, Edgar had always kept his cool in tough situations. He had never fumbled over a word before. Immediately the crowd exploded into cheers and claps. I knew that he had made a smart move. 
"ladies! Prepare yourselves! Here we go!" I broke into a cold sweat. It was now that my fate was decided. She approached the bowl and then stuck her hand in. The woman fumbled with the slips, taking over two minuten to finally pull one out. At first I thought she was just trying to play up the suspend factor, but then I suspected other things. Ever since Katniss and peeta had won the games and begun the rebellion, the capitol had taken extreme measures to chose contestants that couldn't spark anything up. I braced myself as she drew her hand out. 
"and the lucky lady is... MRS. ELLE CANTIOR! get your self up here! This is the richest woman in the district!" I nearly fainted. My fate had been decided, and it was not a good one. I knew the seconde that I got in the games, I was as good as dead.