Braid
Haymitch and Maysilee
Her motion sickness only made the ride worse. Not only was I trapped on a 250 mph train with pompous capitol asses, but also some of the stupidest members of district 12. Maysilee was the only one that didn't make me want to take a steak knife to the heart. I knew her from grade-school, not that we'd talked much but she was nice, and she was pretty.
We sat in the living room, the hunger games from the first quarter quell playing in the background. Faintly I heard the screams of dying tributes play behind me but my immediate attention was being paid to Maysilee's ultimately boring story about her Mockingjay pin. Sure rebellion against the Capitol in small ways such as her pin were fine, but if anything was going to make a difference it bloody well better make them fools. Maysilee once again stood up to run to the bathroom. I don't know why she kept coming back when she was obviously uncomfortable riding on the train and would rather be in the privacy of her own room, but some small, arrogant part of me knew it was because she enjoyed my company.
Just as Maysilee returned to the room Jack, the other girl tribute let out a fierce yell, sounding almost like a growl. I turned to her, watching as she stole timid Brendan's lunch. I rolled my eyes, knowing both of them would be gone within the bloodbath. Our mentor wouldn't be able to save either of them. Maysilee on the other hand, she was clever, almost as clever as me. My arrogance would probably get my killed, but at least I'd go out with a bang because that's the best you can hope for in these games. Maysilee sat down next to me again, resuming her story and nervously twirling her hair. Only half of my mind was paying attention to her, but I was genuinely interested. It was just how I was. Ever since I was a kid I was the one with too much on their mind.
Jack thrashed her footstool away and stalked off to her room where she would undoubtedly spend the rest of the day, probably savagely building up a little bit of body fat. For someone so brutal you'd think she'd be better at fighting for food rather than fading away in the Seam. I on the other hand had that whole clever thing going for me and both Brendan and Maysilee were privileged enough to be high class District 12. Brendan slowly stood up and escaped to his room with a handful of the tapes we'd been watching. Once he'd left the room I waited, counting in my head. One. Two. Three. Then I put a finger to Maysilee's lips. She stopped and pulled her head back in surprise. I shook my head at her then once I'd decided they were gone I finally spoke to her.
"Penny for your thoughts," I said under my breath. She smiled and blinked once for a very long time.
"Honestly?" she whispered, drawing my face in closer to hear. "I'm scared. I wish my sister was here, but I think I'm more ready than the others believe. You know, its kind of silly now that I think of it, but whenever we were worried my sister and I would braid each other's hair," she giggled. It was a pretty sound, like rain on windowpanes. I nodded.
"That's not silly," I negated her. "I don't have much of a family. My mom died when she had me and my dad's a drunk," I began, unaware of why I was sharing any of this with her. I saw her face fall, she'd never realized how hard we had it in the Seam. I shrugged attempting to lighten the mood, "So needless to say I never had anyone to braid my hair."
She laughed out loud. The sound almost gave me chills. I'd never heard a sound like that before. She smiled warmly at me. I knew she understood. I patted the spot on the couch next to me. Maysilee thought about it for a moment and I watched her emotions cross over her face. She pounced from the footstool to the spot and looked at me with curiosity. I brushed her hair from her shoulder. And rolled it in my hands.
"May I?" I inquired. She blushed a peachy pink and nodded nervously. I took her silky blonde hair in my hands and attempted to separate it into three parts. I'd seen girls do it before, couldn't be that hard. After a couple minutes of wrestling with her hair it ended up in a large knot of sorts, but even still she sighed when I finished as if it made her feel better. I ran my fingers up and down her scalp reassuringly, knowing all too well I was letting her through my hard exterior and that it would only hurt me in the end. As she curled up beside me though I didn't care about the outcome because the here and now was what was so nice. She nuzzled into my chest breathing slowly and restfully.
"Thank you Haymitch. You know, its not true, what they say about you," she sighed wistfully.
"Oh no?" I asked. "What do they say about me?"
She giggled again. "They say you're dangerous. Someone told me that you stole the head peacekeeper's badge and made him search for it for days. They tell me that you're a bad boy and that I better not involve myself with you, but they're wrong… you're none of those things."
"None? I can be dangerous," I reassured.
"Oh, I'm sure," she said as she tickled the flesh of my hip. I squirmed away from her before settling back close to her. I leaned down and kissed the top of her knotted hair and felt her shiver beneath me. We sat like that for a long time. Jack came back in the room and at the sight of us she scoffed and left again, deciding that food wasn't that important. After I was sure that Maysilee had fallen asleep I pulled a blanket over her. Not even fifteen minutes later she stirred. I looked down at her and smiled, a real genuine, rare Abernathy smile. She rubbed her eyes and in her groggy voice she spoke words of utter truth.
"Haymitch," she whispered, my name sounding almost nice as she said it. "Its too bad things are the way they are. I would have really liked to get to know you."