Chapter two my name isn't Addison

Basil rushed up the stairs behind me. Mom looked just as she always did, her hair up in a messy bun, and her work uniform. It was a white skirt, a green sleeveless top that wrapped around her neck so it didn't fall down, and a flowy overcoat that went down to the floor, and the dagger. Around her belt was this beautiful silver dagger with a simple willow wood handle with a little dragon carved into it wrapping its body around the hilt. I think it was my dad's but Mom just used it to cut herbs. Such a waste in my opinion, I really wanted the dagger. "So Addison-" I cut Mom off "It's Addie…you know that" I started sharply but felt down. Nobody called me Addison anymore, it was really long and annoying, and the last time I'd been called that…Dad was still alive. I had tried telling Mom that but she never listened. "Are you nervous?" She asked, I sighed sitting down at the table "Not as much as Mir, she looked like she might have a heart attack" I mentioned. "Here," Mom passed me a few small sprigs of dried lavender that had been hanging from the kitchen cupboard where she hung all her dried herbs. "Helps with stress" We both said at once, I paused and scowled, taking the sprigs from her. It would help with all that stress, I knew that, but I hated getting help from Mom. "I'm going to head down to the plaza…I'll see you once it's done" I told her "If you make it" I heard Mom mumble as I walked out the door. Me and Miriam met up at the plaza, I gave her the lavender "It'll help with all that stress you've bottled up" I told her. "Thanks" Miriam sighed, taking a long sniff of the lavender and putting it in her pocket. She looked pretty. There was a little butterfly clip in her hair, which she had straightened and her gray eye's sparkling in the sun, and she wore a white dress with a floral pattern in all sorts of shades of pink and red. I noticed she was wearing high heels, she always dressed the nicest in her age group. And sometimes nicer than quite a few girls in the age groups. "Basil's getting ready, he'll be meeting us soon. Ready?" I asked. Miriam took a few deep breaths "Yeah, we've got this don't we? There's a ten point five percent chance of me getting picked, twenty point six for you, and twenty point four percent for Basil, but if you or Basil gets picked, it gets bumped up to fifty point four for you and forty point eight for Basil" She told me. "You did the math?" I questioned "Yes, yes I did, now let's get going" Miriam dragged me to check in, holding my hand gently as she skipped along. Gods saying 'check in' sounds like a hotel, not some freaky sacrificial death game. The lady at the counter had a huge book which held the names and ages of every kid in the age group for the games. She was clearly bored, it was that same lady who had done it pretty much my whole life, Sady. "Hey Addie, sup Miriam" She smiled "Hey Sady" Miriam smiled back politely. "Are we the first ones again?" I asked "Yep, same as every year. I have to say it's either impressive or something you should go see a therapist about" Sady teased. I chuckled but Miriam looked rather annoyed "Can you just check us in?". Sady nodded crossing both our names off the list "Alright head out, you two both know where to go" She told us. Miriam let go of my hand, skipping off to her age group. I…missed her already, I didn't want to lose her to the games. Or Basil, as much as I could hate him, I didn't want to lose him. I knew Mom wouldn't be able to handle that, after Dad…we kind of needed Basil. We really needed all of us to work together, I didn't mind much since Miriam would sit out with me in the garden while I worked back there. I spaced out a tiny bit watching more people show up. Though I focused more on the little plants in the plaza, there were dandelions growing in between the cracks of the mosaic tiles. Fun fact, you can eat dandelions, or make them into tea which Mom always loved. She liked the smokey taste of dandelion root tea after you roast them over the fire, I prefer the sweeter taste of the leaves. So far everytime we tried to make some out of the leaves it tasted a little funny, we can never figure out what to pair with them. I heard the microphone screech as the lady up on the stage tested it, tapping on the side and trying to speak into it. I went to cover my ears, wincing and looking up at her.