Glee District 12

Kurt rolled up his sleeves before picking up the bucket of water and carrying it back to the small cabin-like house he shared with his father. He placed it on the table next to the basket filled with the small amount of bread he'd managed to gather for his father in the last few days, just in case.

Just in case he got reaped this year. He'd been lucky ever other year; usually it was someone else, occasionally a friend or someone he knew, but never him. That kind of thing didn't happen to people like him - average, poor, untalented and just trying to survive. It'd been just him and his father for as long as he could remember, since he'd been a little boy. His mom had died from a severe case of pneumonia and Burt had never really been the same since. There was a kind of sparkle in his eyes that he used to have when Kurt's mother was alive, an attitude and perspective on life that a person had only when they were in love. His parents were helplessly in love with each other, Kurt knew that, and he'd never seen a man love a woman more than his father had loved his mother.

But this was Kurt's last year in the reaping, and to be quite honest, he wasn't as worried as he knew he should be. The chances of him getting picked this year were slim, and next year he didn't have to worry about his name being called, and neither did Rachel. Rachel was Kurt's best friend; his only friend, really. Neither of them had any siblings and Rachel was on her own - her father dead and her mother an alcoholic somewhere in one of the other Districts. After changing into his reaping clothes and checking on Burt, Kurt made his way outside and down the street to the Border, where he knew Rachel would be waiting for him. She was wearing the same light blue dress and white apron that she wore for every reaping, her hair in two french braids that fell down her back and swung slightly when she walked.

"You clean up nicely," she said, linking her arm in his.

"So do you." Kurt smiled at her. They made their way to the square together in silence. Though the chances of their names being called were slim, there was still a dark kind of feeling and a bad twisting of knots in their stomachs that neither of them could help but notice. When they got to the square, Rachel turned and stopped in front of Kurt, sliding her hand down the arm she'd linked with her own and holding Kurt's hand in hers. She squeezed it slightly and opened her mouth but Kurt cut her off before she could start speaking.

"I'll see you after the Reaping," he told her, his eyes never leaving hers. He could see it if he looked hard enough, deep enough - the fear, the hatred, the anger in her eyes. She nodded once before pulling Kurt into a hug. He laced his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Rachel let go after a few seconds and turned away, walking off in the direction of the other young girls being led to the bottom of the stage. A few feet away, in the other direction, Kurt noticed the other boys lining up and stepped into line next to one of them he faintly recognized, a boy that lived a few streets away from him with his two brothers and a sister.

A few minutes later, after every eligible boy and girl from District 12 had been lined up next to each other in the square, a women from the Capitol appeared on stage, followed by two Peacekeepers on each side of her. She walked up to the microphone and began talking about honoring the Capitol and other nonsense that Kurt couldn't bring himself to care about. A quick 20 second video was shown on the big screens on each side of the stage. When it was over, the women tapped the mic before she started speaking again.

"Hello, hello. Welcome to the reaping of the 74th annual Hunger Games! I'll draw the names for the tributes, starting with ladies first. Good luck, everyone, and may the odds be ever in your favor!" It disgusted Kurt the way the lady from the Capitol could be so excited about something like the Games. But of course, that's all it was to the people in the Capitol - a game. The women walked over to the stool off to her left and reached her hand into the glass bowl on top. She pulled out a piece of white paper and walked back to the microphone, unfolding it carefully so as not to rip the paper before she read out the name scribbled on it in black ink. "Rachel Berry."

Kurt shook his head quickly and turned to his left where the girls had been standing together, his eyes searching frantically for Rachel in the crowd. He spotted her in the middle of the third row, noticed her black braids against her blue dress and his eyes met hers a second later. Even from far away he could see the way her eyes filled with tears instantly. When she realized no one was going to volunteer to take her place, Rachel turned her head to the floor and made her way up to the stage.

"And now for the gentlemen," the women said, making her way to the right of her in order to grab another tiny slip of paper. When she returned to the center of the stage, she unfolded the paper and read out the name. "Kurt Hummel."

Kurt snapped his head up quickly. No one in the crowd made a peep as he made his way through the crowd to the stage. He climbed the stairs and stood next to this women from the Capitol, this women who had just unintentionally changed his life forever and all he could think about was his father, who was probably watching the Reaping live from their living room.

"Let's hear it for the tributes of District 12!" The women spoke into the microwave, and the people in the crowd began to clap; not for the tributes but for the relief that was now flooding their bodies, the relief that neither Rachel nor Kurt could feel this year. Kurt couldn't help but laugh as he stood on stage and watched the rest of his district leave the square and return to the comfort of their homes and families. It wasn't really funny, nothing about the situation that he now found himself in was funny, but it was his last reaping. He'd been almost positive that he'd be safe this year, that after this morning he'd be able to return to his father and his life.

But now, standing on the stage with a Peacekeeper to his left and Rachel to his right, he realized that no, the odds were not in his favor. Not this year.


End file.

Glee, Drama, Romance