Chapter Text
When Joel woke up on reaping day he knew what to expect.
His name was the name that was going to be pulled from the jar.
It was inevitable considering that he was the grandchild of two victors.
He didn’t remember them since they had both died already but their win had loomed over him and his sister Gem their entire lives and they had been told to prepare for their entire lives.
He remembered 2 years ago when Gem's name had been pulled from the jar and the panic he had felt when it was.
His sister was going to be facing the fate they both would have to face at 12.
Luckily for her someone had volunteered in her place.
Pearl, a friend of theirs stepped up to take Gems place and had miraculously won at 13 breaking the record set by Finnick Odair, and his guilt about not being able to do anything had been relieved.
Now it was his turn.
Joel knew that he was finally at the intended age they wanted him at.
He had known what year he would be reaped since he had passed the first reaping he was in.
Looking around the room he noticed his few possessions on their shelf.
One of which was a signed card from the darling of the Capitol and the president's granddaughter Lizzie.
Grian had gotten on his case multiple times about why he kept it when the Capitol were evil and why he hadn’t just turned it into kindling for the fire like the rest of 12 had when they received them.
He didn’t want to admit out loud that he felt drawn to her and that was the reason he didn’t burn it.
Getting up he started to get ready for the reaping day ceremony.
After he got ready he walked across the hall towards Gems room to wake her up.
He thought about how they were lucky to live in the mansion in victor village.
Honestly they had been lucky that they weren't run out by peacekeepers when their grandparents had passed.
His only guess for why was because they had nowhere else to go.
When he approached Gem's door he loudly knocked on it until Gem, who looked quite tired opened the door
“Joel, why are you knocking on my door?”
“It’s reaping day”
Joel saw Gem become more alert
“Is it your year?”
“I can only assume so considering the fact I’m 16 now”
“I’ll be down in a minute”
after she said that she closed her door again and Joel went downstairs to prepare breakfast.
As he was preparing it he heard a knock on the door and opened it to find Pearl and Grian waiting outside
“You have room for two more people?” Pearl asked
“Yeah come on in”
he moved out of the way to let them in and then moved back to the kitchen to continue cooking breakfast.
As Joel was cooking he heard Gem come down the stairs and greet their guests.
He plated up the food and brought it into the dining room where they were waiting.
Things were silent for a moment as they at until Joel heard Grian speak up
“So are you ready for today”
Joel put on a smile and made himself appear confident before he responded
“I’ve been ready”
“He’s lying, he’s been nervous for weeks about this”
“Gem you didn’t need to expose me like that”
“I’m your sister, it's what I do.”
They sat and talked for a while until it was time to start heading over to the reaping area.
As they approached he, Grian and Gem went through the same ordeal of having their finger pricked so their blood could be used for signing them in for the game while Pearl went up to the stage to wait for the reaping to begin.
After a little while everyone had filed in and their district's escort, a man named Impulse who had gotten himself cosmetically altered to have horns walked out on to the stage and started to speak
“Welcome all of you to the year of the 122nd Hunger Games, now may the odds be ever in your favor. As always ladies first”
Joel watched as he walked over to the first of the two glass jars and fished around for a piece of paper before he drew one out and opened it
“our lady from district 12 is June Roades”
he saw a Seam girl he didn’t recognize walk up from the section of 14 year olds who was on the verge of tears step onto the stage and he couldn’t help but feel bad since she had little to no chance to win the game.
He watched as Impulse made the girl introduce herself before impulse spoke once again
“Now onto the boys”
Joel looked on as Impulse stuck his hand into the second jar and pulled out a piece of paper
“Our boy from District 12 is Joel Smallish”
He took a breath and started his walk to the stage.
As he walked he first made eye contact with Grian who subtly nodded and then he made eye contact with Gem who had started to cry and silently nodded to her.
He walked up the steps to the stage and looked over the district before he heard Impulse speak again
“Now you two shake hands”
he reached over and shook the girl's hand before he went back to standing where he was.
“Can we get a round of applause for our two district representatives June and Joel”
Joel watched silently as nobody cheered but rather gave him a 3 fingered salute, something they had done for his grandmother so long ago and he felt touched.
After a moment he felt a Peacekeeper grab his arm and lead him into a room in the Justice Building and he waited for a moment until he heard the door open and saw Gem and Grian enter.
For a few seconds it was quiet until they both moved to give him a hug
“Joel we’ve been preparing for this day, you can do it, you could win”
“Thanks Gem, I’ll try my best”
he turned to face Grian
“Will you look out for Gem while Pearl and I are away?”
“I will I promise”
“Thank you”
Suddenly they heard the door open and saw a Peacekeeper walk in
“Your time is up”
as they started to walk out Joel waved to them
“I’ll win. I promise”
Soon after he was reunited with Impulse and June and they got in a car which drove them to the train station.
Impulse was going on about the joys of the train ride but he wasn’t paying attention until they got to the station and moved to get on the train to the Capitol.
Stepping onto the train he mumbled “Into the unknown I go” and finished boarding the train that would lead to the Capitol and the Hunger Games