with the odds ever in their favorMy name is pulled from the reaping ball, and through my shock I find my way onto the stage. For a moment, my eyes find Katniss Everdeen. In a matter of minutes, she has gone from the girl I watched from afar to the girl I am going to die for, because no matter how I spin it, I will not return home. Everything that I do from now on must be to keep her alive, because she is the one girl who I cannot allow to die. I couldn’t allow it that day in the rain, and I cannot allow it now. If only her sister’s name had not been pulled. If only I was standing next to a girl I did not care for. Perhaps then I could cling to the hope of life. But no, her presence on this stage, her brave act in volunteering, has doomed me. Perhaps the odds are in her favour after all, because I am possibly the greatest weapon she can possess, because she does not care for me, and I am utterly, hopelessly committed to keeping her alive. A rare combination, that’s for sure. My death will not impact her, will not slow her down, and will not hinder her life when she returns home. My eyes find her friend in the crowd, Gale Hawthorne, and I make a silent promise to him that I will do his job for him, I will bring her home. Whatever it takes.