The halls of Degrassi were completely empty because everyone was outside waiting for the moment. The stage and chairs were set up as if it were graduation all over again. But it wasn't even close to being graduation. It was something much worse. Something much darker. The students all sat down in their seats, anxiously awaiting their fate. At the start of a new school year, all schools must participate in the Hunger Games. Nervous eyes flickered back and forth to each other. But, everyone's attention quickly turned towards Mr. Simpson who tapped on the microphone to make sure it was working. A few students jumped at the sound. Since they were so lost in their own thoughts, the sound startled them. "Uh, hello Degrassi students." Mr. Simpson said into the microphone. He tried to sound cheerful, but it came out as if he were in pain. Mr. Simpson never liked this time of the year. But, it was required by law because of the Disciplinary Act of 2011. "Welcome to the 11th Annual Degrassi Hunger Games. Once a year, two students, one boy and one girl, are chosen from each grade to participate in the Degrassi Hunger Games. The 'tributes', or students, will be put into an arena in a secluded environment where you will all have to fight till death." Mr. Simpson paused to hear the gasps from the niners. "Every single move you make will be recorded. No matter where you are, the cameras will always find you. The person who wins, will get special treatment for their grade for the whole year. For example, better food and extra servings in the cafe, extensions on homework assignments. Things like that. Okay, so now that everything is settled, Ms. Dawes will do the honor of picking the names of the students."Ms. Dawes got up from her seat. You could obviously tell she didn't want to do it, but what else was she supposed to do? One wrong move and she would be fired for sure. Mr. Simpson handed Ms. Dawes the microphone and she nodded. In front of her was a long table that had four boxes, each with a number labeled 9-12. "Okay, our first female tribute from grade 9 will be…Tori Hilson.". Everyone stared at Tori, but she looked emotionless, almost as if she were bored. Tori made a noise that sounded like a mix between a grunt and a sigh before getting up onto the stage. "Our male tribute from grade 9 will be…Tristan Milligan.". You could see Tristan's eyes widen in disbelief. "NO!" Someone shouted from the crows. It was Owen. "You can't! I'll take his place!" Owen cried, running up to the stage. As much as Tristan and Owen fought, they were still family, and Owen had a job to protect his younger brother. "That's very nice of you Owen. But you know we don't allow volunteers until after it is asked.. Now please take your seat." Mr. Simpson said. Owen gave his brother a look before he went onto the stage. "Okay, now, our female tribute from grade 10 will be….Jessica Martello.". Jess got up from her seat. She tried to act calm like Tori did, but you could see the fear in her eyes. "The male tribute for grade 10 is….Randy Ecstra.". Randy started to cry. Not many people really knew who he was and now he was going to die a nobody. "Now onto grade 11. Our female tribute is…..Clare Edwards.". Clare started to panic. She knew that she could make a run for it if she really wanted to, but she would be risking a really long jail sentence, or worse, death. So Clare walked onto the stage. "Our male tribute is…..Adam Torres.". Adam looked up. Although he didn't want to do this, he was actually happy that they called him a "male". "Well at least one good thing came out of that." He thought to himself. Adam walked up onto the stage and stood next to Clare. They gave each other a quick glance before turning back to stare at the crowd. "And last, but certainly not least, are our grade 12 tributes. Our female tribute will be….Imogen Moreno.". Imogen smiled as if she won a trophy, completely opposite of what you would expect from a girl possibly facing death, but she skipped onto the stage and gave a tiny wave to Clare. "Finally, our male tribute is….. Elijah Goldsworthy.". Eli went onto the stage and stared down at the ground, not making eye contact with anyone up there. "So is anyone willing to take the place for any of these lucky tributes?" Mr. Simpson asked. Nobody got up except for Owen. "Okay, Tristan, you may take your seat." Mr. Simpson gestured to the empty seat by the other niners and Tristan walked off. Then, another person got up. "I, MO MASHKOUR, am willing to take the spot of Randy." Mo said, standing up and walking towards the stage. Randy thanked Mo and quickly went off stage. "Okay, so no more volunteers?" A short pause, as if anyone else wanted to volunteer. "Good, then let the games begin!" Mr. Simpson exclaimed. You could hear a huge sigh of relief sweep across the audience, knowing they were safe for one more year. All the tributes looked at each other, not really knowing how to react. The only people who decided to talk to each other were Mo and Imogen who were talking very excitedly. "This is gonna be so awesome!" Mo laughed. "I actually agree. The adrenaline is already running through me!" Imogen replied. Tori flashed them a disgusted glance and turned back around to face the other contestants. They all seemed too nervous to be doing anything right now. After the crowd died down, and when Mo and Imogen were finally done guessing who was going to die first (they both agreed it would be Jess or Clare), Mr. Simpson walked up to them and flashed an obviously fake smile. "I know you all must be really scared right now, but be strong and work hard in training. Try your best, don't give up, and you might just have a chance of winning. You all will be staying in a secluded area in Toronto and won't be able to contact any of your family or friends that aren't tributes. You will all practice extra hard and be judged on your skills the day before the Degrassi Hunger Games begin. Now you will all go home. Pack only essential items because we will provide clothes, food, toiletries, and anything else for you. Say goodbye to anyone you want, because after you get on that bus, it might be the last time you'll ever see them. Then, tomorrow morning, you will report back to this same spot. If choose not to show up though, then I will be forced to call the police and have all of your family and friends arrested until you return. Understand?" He told all of them. The tributes nodded in unison at Mr. Simpson's word. Just as he was about to exit the stage and enter his office for another day of work, he turned back around to add one more thing. "By the way, may the odds be ever in your favor.".