Chapter 2

Blake was just a little girl from district 4. She barely knew anything about life. Thankfully, she had older brothers to teach her and guide her through life. Her brothers, Glenn and Clay liked to tease Blake. They were not very nice to her when they were all little. Blake was only five years old when she first met her crush, Finnick Odair. Clay was 6 and Glenn was 8; they first met Finnick at school and decided to invite him over. Finnick was the same age as Clay at the time. Finnick came just before sunset. The Grey family lived on the beach, which gave them sand and water to play near. Finnick had just arrived at their house, their mother was very welcoming to Finnick.

"Thank you Mrs. Grey for letting me come over to play!" Finnick gave their mother a big smile.

"You are very welcome Finnick. Clay and Glenn should be outside in the backyard" Mrs. Grey walked into the kitchen to finish making dinner. Finnick's parents were really chill, they were okay with Finnick staying for dinner; he could even spend the night if he wanted too. Finnick ran through the living room and onto the back porch. He quickly spotted Clay playing in the sand with Glenn. They had crafted swords from sticks they had found on the side of the beach, this made Finnick super excited. He loved the idea of battle, Finnick often dreamt of being a peacekeeper or a soldier. He leaped off the porch and onto the wet sand.

He ran towards the two creative brothers "Hey guys! What kind of game are you playing?"

"We're playing The Hunger Games, we are the last two tributes left!" Glenn cheered. Glenn loved to battle and come up with games that dealt with killing. He came up with games that he knew he shouldn't play. Clay liked to follow Glenn, he looked up to him. Clay didn't realize what The Hunger Games was; their parents thought it was too morbid and inappropriate for the children. Glenn had caught wind of the games at school. Older kids explained the entire concept of it to him. Glenn was able to watch small clips of it on the television one late night.

"Woah! Can I play?" Finnick asked. Finnick was innocent like Clay, he didn't know what it was as well.

"Sure, let's find Finnick a weapon" they looked around the beach for a stick or log that they could use. Finally, they found a three pointed stick.

"Finnick could use that!" Clay exclaimed.

"What kind of weapon is that?" Finnick examined the stick with a lost face.

"It's a Trident, duh!" Glenn scoffed. He handed the confused blonde haired boy the trident like stick. They jogged back to the back of the house. Glenn instructed them to each go into a certain spot. They were now the points of a triangle.

"When I say go, you run to the middle and start to battle" Glenn's legs were now shoulder width apart, Clay and Finnick did the same. Glenn was just about to say go when little Blake jumped off the porch.

"Genn! Cay! Can I pay too?" Blake swayed back and forth, waiting for a response.

"No! You're a girl! You'll cry and get hurt! Boys only!" Clay hollered at her. This made Blake upset and determined.

"I won't cry! I can fight!" She held up her fists to show them. The boys laughed at her.

"Silly Blake, you don't understand! She's so dumb" Glenn teased. 

Blake furrowed her eyebrows, "That's not fair! I'm ony Five!" All the boys started to laugh at her, even Finnick this time.

"Blake can't even say her L's! What a baby, are you gonna cry now?" Glenn poked fun at. Blake teared up and then ran inside before they saw her cry. Little did they know, Blake had watched and heard Glenn talk about The Hunger Games. She was very smart for her age. She was able to remember things very easily. If you had said something last month, she would still remember it and be able to tell you now. She had been able to hear Glenn tell Clay about The Hunger Games; Blake was able to remember more than Clay at this point. Blake ran into the kitchen crying.

"Mommy, mommy!" Blake bawled into her mother's arms. Her tears drenched her mother's apron.

"Oh, Blake! What's wrong?" Mrs. Grey comforted her as Blake spoke.

"They-the boys'' Blake sniffed, "they won't et me pay with them." Blake cried again. Her mother wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"What game were they playing?" she asked.

"The Hunger Games" Blake clutched her mom's leg, weeping again. Mrs. Grey had a shocked and confused look on her face. She set Blake down on the sofa and walked out to the porch, witnessing Glenn standing over Clay with a sword made out of sticks.

"Boys! What do you think you're doing? This is inappropriate and unwelcoming to our guest! What kind of game is this, and why do you have weapons?" Mrs. Grey screeched.

"We're playing The Hunger Games, look at this sword Glenn made!" Clay got off the ground and ran to his mom to show her the stick. Mrs. Grey was disappointed in Glenn. How dare he teach two six-year-old boys this game! He even got Blake involved.

"Finnick and Clay, go inside and play. Glenn, you are in big trouble!" she scowled. The two boys ran inside, leaving Glenn and Mrs. Grey on the porch. Glenn could sense the anger in his mother's eyes.

"You taught two six-year-old boys a game that we forbade in this house for you to watch, even Blake now has heard you say it! You are setting a terrible influence on them! I didn't expect this from you, you know better! You are grounded, you hear me!" She slapped her son across the face. Glenn fell down and started to tear up by hearing his mother's words.

"But-but mom! They talked about it in school! Older kids told me about it. I thought it was okay" he tried to tell his mom. She shook her head.

"Now you know. Your father and I will talk to you about it when he gets home" She walked inside to continue cooking dinner. That was the day Glenn understood how crucial it was to keep the games a secret from his siblings till they could understand what the games truly meant.