Heaven Burke

"She doesn't belong here! She belongs in a cage in District 14!"

- Jasmin, referring to Heaven

 is a female tribute from District 0. She's ready to prove her worth, and to prove that she's more than just a science experiment.

Backstory
Heaven's parents wanted the perfect child. A beautiful, smart, determined daughter. The perfect child for two scientists. And so, with the entire scientific knowledge of genes, reproduction, and traits at their finger tips, they went to work. They dissected their own DNA to find the characteristics they wanted. They took the proper steps to insure their "project" was safe, and then they let science do the rest. Unlike natural birth, Heaven wasn't grown in a womb. Instead, she was incubated in a "baby sized" tube inside a laboratory. Something Heaven would never know. After 9 months of incubation and being tended to by her excited to-be parents, Heaven was "born." From birth she was everything to her parents. Their most successful project, their beautiful daughter.

Heaven was raised without the knowledge of her origin. Her parents raised her letting her believe she had been conceived and birthed just like any other child. Heaven's quiet, straight to the point personality did not always exist. In her toddler years, all the way to her days of middle school, Heaven was a bright, happy, popular girl. She was always the center of attention. Always the top of her class, always the brightest, always a favorite to everyone. A girl, Jasmin, in Heaven's grade noticed this growing popularity, and along with a group of others, despised Heaven. This growing hate blossomed all the way into middle school. This is where all hell broke loose. Jasmin had heard her parents, colleagues of Heaven's parents, talking about a project Heaven's parents had done years ago. They had "created" the perfect child. And now Jasmin's parents were thinking of doing the same. But that part didn't matter to Jasmin. All that mattered was that she had ammunition against pretty, perfect Heaven.

Jasmin held onto this information until a year later. Their 8th grade promotion. Heaven was chosen to give a speech. Jasmin wasn't. And so she had to ruin Heaven's moment. As Heaven stepped up to the mic, dressed in a blue dress, Jasmin stopped her.

"Wait! Can I say just one thing before Heaven starts?"

No one saw the deception and darkness about to spew out. Heaven, being kind, agreed.

"Thanks." Jasmin rudely spit at Heaven.

Heaven instantly knew she had made a mistake.

"Heaven Burke has been a favorite since her baby years. Always loved, always looked up to. Always praised. But who couldn't praise a perfect, glorified science experiment."

Heaven, along with the crowd, looked puzzled, and worried. Only a very few knew of Heaven's origin. Her parents, Jasmin's parents, and a few other scientists who had worked in the lab where she had been created. Jasmin went on.

"She is from a bottle. A test tube child. Of course she's perfect. She was made to be that way. She doesn't have to work for anything! SHE'S NOTHING BUT A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT. A MUTT! She doesn't belong here! She belongs in a cage in District 14."

By now, Heaven was in tears. Her parents had left the audience to come get her. The rest of the audience was in shock. Confused by what they had just learned from an 8th grade girl. Heaven ran off the stage in tears, angry, embarrassed, and confused. Her parents calmed her down, she gave her speech, and then ran home. She hid in her room for a few hours, until her father knocked. After a good thirty minutes of begging, she finally unlocked her door, letting him in. He told her the story of her origin. Of how what Jasmin said was all true, and how it came to be. But instead of becoming angry at her parents for their deception, she became reclusive. She became quiet. She did things only for herself. Only things that her survival depended on. She became more involved in her personal knowledge and curiosity than making others happy or interacting with others.

Heaven was no longer the sweet angelic child her parents had wanted. She was now determined to prove her worth. Two years passed and everyone forgot about that chaotic day. Even Jasmin. But not Heaven. She would hold onto that memory. That feeling of shame. Of betrayal. She swore she'd never let it happen again. Heaven continued to expand her knowledge, striving for greatness. She even began to learn more about the wilderness around her and would often go on hikes to explore and study. She didn't know it at the time, but she'd be thankful for this knowledge later. Almost three years after the incident on Heaven's 8th grade promotion, the District gathered for the yearly reaping into the Hunger Games.

Thinking back on the day, all Heaven can remember is her name being called. No one volunteered. Some of the other kids, including Jasmin, smirked. No one cared. No one felt sorry. This only pushed Heaven further off the edge. She knew she had to come back victorious. It'd be the only way to prove to the rest of the District she had worth. That she wasn't just a pretty science project.