Chapter 2: I Don't Belong Here
The girl with curly brown hair and a piercing stare arrives at Panem Orphanage that Sunday. The other orphans show her to her room and leave her to unpack her things.
Daphne gets to work unpacking her things. She hates everything about this place.
She takes the framed picture of her parents out of her bag and stares at it for a second.
"Mom, Dad… Don't you have anyone that can save me?!" she sniffles, "Anyone…"
Daphne puts the picture on the little dresser with her name on it.
"I don't want to go here. I want to go to Liberty High," she whispers. "I want to go home."
But Daphne knows that she'll never be in her true home again.
Every once in a while, one of the orphans comes to welcome Daphne in, but she'll never feel at home here.
Monday comes faster than Daphne would've liked. She doesn't want to go to Panem. She never will want to go to Panem. But, like everything the girl has had to go through, she knows that she needs to face it already.
So she gets up when she's called and sulks around to get ready. Daphne doesn't care about how she looks on her endeavors to get ready for the first day school, so she runs a brush through her hair and puts on a nice shirt and skinny jeans.
She walks out to the kitchen where Linus and Arrow are waiting for her.
"Hi Daphne," Linus says, trying to sound happy.
"Good morning," Arrow says quietly.
"Hey," she says with a frown.
"Hey, don't worry! You'll have a lot of fun today!" Linus tries but Daphne shakes her head.
"I'm going to survive. Nothing more, nothing less. Because that's what I've done lately."
"Well-"
Arrow elbows his friend.
"Li, give it up," he whispers.
He nods as they walk outside to catch the bus.
"Come on, Daphne. You can sit with us," Linus says, trying to smile.
"So, glee club's on all of our schedules, right?" Elijah asks. Nate and Santana both nod.
"Hey guys." Arrow says.
"Hi!" Elijah says.
"Heeey-" Nate stops short upon seeing the pretty girl.
"Guys, this is Daphne," Linus says.
"H-h-hi," Nate stammers out.
"You Ok?" Arrow asks, raising an eyebrow.
"F-F-Fine…" Nate mutters thoughtfully.
Arrow sits in a seat with Daphne and Linus sits in a seat by himself that's close to the others.
"Hey, um, Linus? I need to talk to you," Elijah says, "Later, though…"
"Oh? Um, Ok…"
Arrow glares at them.
"You Ok?" Daphne asks.
"Fine," Arrow says.
Clove wakes up that morning feeling a lot more positive. Athena feels better as well.
Both girls get their stuff together and go outside to get on the bus. They take a seat together near Nate.
"Hey Clove…" Athena whispers.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think it's pointless? Chasing him?"
"For you," she mutters.
"For both of us…" Athena says quietly.
"Why would you say that?" she asks.
"Because look at him. He's making googly eyes at that new chick!" Athena says.
"Well then we just automatically hate her," Clove mutters, "But he's the closest thing I have to Cato and I'm not giving up."
"Yes, but you just compared him to Cato!" Athena says.
"So?"
"So, my point is that you're still in love with Cato! And me with Theo!"
"You think?"
"I know it. Clove, I'm just saying, maybe we shouldn't rush the whole relationship thing."
"What if I feel ready?"
"What if you're lying?"
Clove glares. "So maybe I still am in love with Cato, but who cares!?"
"I think you care."
The girls sit the rest of the bus ride in silence.
Posy and Bonnie chat excitedly about their weekends and days at school.
Locke and Jason sit quietly in the back. Locke longs for his pocketwatch back and Jason longs to comfort him.
They arrive at the school and everyone walks to first period.
"Linus!" Elijah pulls his friend aside outside the school. The blonde boy's heart-rate picks up immediately. Yes, as much as he doesn't like to admit it, he's in love with Elijah.
"You know that battle we've been having all summer?"
"About…"
Elijah whispers to him, "About Nate. And I."
"Yeah…? What about it?"
The brunette looks around and whispers in his friend's ear, "Yeah. It's… It's a certain thing… I'm in love with him."
Linus's eyes grow. "You are!?"
"Sh! You can't tell anyone… Especially not him…"
"You have to tell him!"
"I…I will… I just need to find a good time to do so…"
"I can't believe it…" Linus says.
"Yeah, me neither," Elijah mutters, "But those beautiful blue eyes, adorable dirty blonde hair… He's the one for me…"
"Yeah," Linus mutters, trying his best to smile, "Yeah… You'll be cute together."
Then the two go to class, Linus smiling but broken.
"Dude!" Nate says, catching up to Elijah, "That Daphne girl. What do you think of her!?"
"She seems depressed," Elijah says honestly.
Nate rolls his eyes, "I know that. But I meant… She's kinda cute!"
Elijah rolls his eyes right back, "You're saying that you might like her…?"
Nate shrugs, "Hard to say now. I haven't even formally talked to her. Ever. But, I'm just saying… She seems special…."
"Yeah…" Elijah sys, "Totally… You…You'll be cute together."
Nate smiles, "You think!? Awesome!"
Then both boys go to first period.
Daphne walks around Panem and tries to find her way to her first period. After ditching Arrow and Linus bitterly, she walks to class.
A boy with olive green eyes and brown hair runs straight into her.
"Woah!" she stumbles.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" he snaps, looking up. Upon seeing her pretty face, Ben stammers.
"Daphne," she introduces, "Are you Ok?"
"I-I'm fine…" he mumbles.
"You sure?" she raises an eyebrow at his stuttering.
Ben nods, turning slightly pink.
"Do you know where room 225 is?" she asks.
"Yeah!" he says, "That's where I go first period too!"
She smiles, "Oh. Well then I guess I got lucky."
He smiles back, "Wow. Yeah, then…" he chuckles nervously, "I guess you did…"
The junior smiles at the orphaned senior and Daphne smiles back.
Wow… She's special… Ben thinks as he escorts her to their first period. But she'll never love a creep like me… he sighs sadly.
"You fine still?"
"Yeah," he says, "Just dandy."
"Yeah, same here," she mutters sadly.
"Here it is," Ben says, walking in.
"Nice," she whispers, following.
Rory and Prim walk to first period together.
"Prim, I'm gonna get good grades this year. I can just feel it!"
"I know you can do it, Rory!"
"Me too! You know, for once I'm feeling good about the year!"
"Well we'll just have to keep that up!" Prim says, poking Rory's cheek.
Her boyfriend grins, cheeks flushing slightly, "That means I just need you by my side."
"Aw, stop it!" she giggles.
"So, how does it look for orchestra chairs this year?" he teases.
"Shut up. I might get emotional about that, but I like to sit on the end!" Prim protests.
Rory laughs, "How do you know that wasn't genuine?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Because I think I know what my boyfriend sounds like when he's joking around," Prim says, flicking his arm.
"Ow. That hurt so much," he says sarcastically.
"Aw, yeah, yeah."
"Fine. Let me try again," Rory says. Then he puts on his trying-to-be-genuine face. "How are orchestra seats going to turn out?"
"Wow, Rory, I'm glad you asked!" Prim says, practically dying to tell someone, "Well Pandora switched to cello this year! So I think first chair is in good reach for me!" Prim says with a proud smile.
Her biggest competition: not only for orchestra but also for Rory: had gone from her worst enemy to her best friend through the course of last year.
"Wow," Rory says, "My little violisistis," he teases.
Prim smacks him lightly, "Say it right, for God's sake!"
They both laugh, walking into the classroom together.
First period drags.
Nate spends the period thinking of Daphne. Elijah zones out thinking of Nate's blue eyes. Then he snaps out of it, realizing that his best friend will never love him back. Linus spends his time drawing block letters that spell out ELIJAH on a page in the back of his notebook. But he realizes that Elijah will never love him back. And Arrow zones out and in, out and back in, dozing off to Linus's laugh, or smile, or even those big brown eyes.
Ben glances at Daphne when she's not looking, feeling incredibly sorry for himself that he's such a freak.
Second and third period come and go, and soon Daphne has lunch. Earlier that day she got permission to go to the auditorium to eat and practice her song for glee club. The song would not only serve as a first impression but also an audition in the eyes of the orphan girl.
She takes a look at the lyric sheets and puts her CD in the player.
Ben, an office aid during third period, walks by the auditorium and hears a CD track playing. Seeing Daphne on stage causes him to take off running inside.
She hits the pause button. "Hi Ben," she says.
"Hey," he waves.
"What are you up to?"
"Practicing a song. It's supposed to be for a guy but I found a version for girls, too. Except it's a duet, so I have to sing the boy's part up an octave."
Ben blinks. "Do you need help!?" he asks, "Because I can help you! I mean, my singing voice isn't that great, but…"
"Do you sing here?"
"No way. I'm not that great, I told you."
"Oh. Well, sure. I'd love your help. Maybe we can try out together!"
"No. Never."
"Oh. Well, Ok…"
She passes him the lyric sheet and presses play on the CD player.
"You start," she whispers. Ben skims over the words and takes a breath.
"Well, um… When you were here before….
Couldn't look you in the eye.
You're just like an angel…
Your skin makes me cry…"
He stands up and joins her on stage.
You float like a feather….
In a beautiful world.
I wish I was special…
You're so very special!"
Both of them sing desperately, "But I'm a creep!
I'm a weirdo!
What the hell am I doing here!?
…I don't belong here…"
Daphne, amazed at Ben's exceptional singing voice, thinks of her parents and tears come to her eyes.
As for the school bully, he feels every single word of the song as he sings it. Ben's never been so openly vulnerable before. He feels like he's pouring his heart out to Daphne and she thinks of her parents, desperately wanting to be back home where she belongs.
"BUT I'M A CREEP!
I'M A WEIRDO!
WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE?!
I DON'T BELONG HERE!"
She practically screams it. Tears pour out of both their eyes.
Just around here, Tanner opens the door to the auditorium and looks inside.
What he sees shocks him.
Ben… The school bully… And he's so sad… Why!?
"HE'S…. RUNNIN' OUT THE DOOR!"
Daphne stomps a foot and clenches her teeth as she sings.
Ben growls out the words as loud as he can, releasing a hell of a lot of anger that he can't keep contained for any longer.
"SHE'S… RUNNIN' OUT…
She's run…
Run…
Run…
RUN!" and on this note Daphne uses her chest voice and belts, Ben trying to copy but getting a bit of a raspier tone.
Tanner continues to look in the doorway, still in shock of what he sees.
Ben… Crying!?
Daphne looks at the floor, tears in her voice so strong that she can barely hold a pitch.
"Whatever makes you happy…
Whatever you want…"
Ben stares at the floor as well, trying to blink the tears away.
"You're so very special…
I wish I was special…"
The junior takes both her hands in his and whispers the last chorus quietly but with good pitch,
"But I'm a creep…
I'm a weirdo…
What the hell am I doing here…?
…I don't belong here…"
And for the last one, Daphne doesn't bother to sing but says loudly with tears in her voice, "I don't belong here."
When the pit members and glee club arrive in the choral room seventh period, Tanner is still slightly in shock.
"You Ok?" Skeeter asks.
"Fine," Tanner says.
"You don't look like you mean it," Rue whispers.
"Just something that happened earlier," he mutters.
Locke and Jason wave to their friends.
Santana, a piccolo and also a drum major of the marching band, takes a seat by Elijah and Nate and looks up at the sophomores. Locke sulks and Jason comforts him.
"Are those two a thing?" Santana whispers to Elijah.
"Dunno," the still-hurting boy whispers.
So she calls up to them, "Hey Hollow!"
He looks down, "Huh?"
"You two a thing!?" Santana asks.
"NO!" they both say quickly, "Just friends!"
Santana breathes a sigh of relief.
"Why do you care?" Nate asks.
"Never said I did!" Santana says.
"Then why did you ask!?" Elijah challenges.
"Because-"
"Which one!?"
"Wh-what?!"
"WHICH ONE!?" Nate asks, shaking her, "Santana showing interest in the romantic affairs of one of them!"
"It's neither!" she says, "I hate people, you know that!"
"Sure," Elijah says, grinning.
Santana rolls her eyes at them.
But on the inside her heart beats faster.
Jason Hollow is single.
Daphne walks in the room sadly, with her head down.
"Hi Daphne!" Nate says, waving, but Daphne's attention is with someone else.
"Is that… Could it be… Is it…?"
A grin spreads across Daphne's face. "IT IS! LOCKE!"
He looks over, "Daphne!?"
He stands up and the girl runs to her childhood best friend, tackling him in a hug.
Daphne hugs Locke tightly and whispers, "W-wow… Y-you've really c-changed… Since you left…"
"What? You mean I got glasses, and I guess my voice got a little deeper…"
Daphne blushes, unwilling to mention that she was referring to the muscle he's gained since they last met.
"I missed you so bad!" she cries.
"And don't you worry, girl…" he whispers, "Because I know exactly what you're going through…."
She sniffles, "But you're living with Jason… You never had to go to an orphanage…"
Locke frowns, "True. But I've lost so much…"
Daphne likes the protective embrace of Locke. Nate looks on in disgust.
"Nate… You Ok?" Elijah asks.
"Fine," he says, even though he doesn't mean it.
"Ok, everyone! It's time to welcome our newest member to the glee club!"
Locke and Daphne take their seats.
"Everyone, meet Daphne!" Mr. Everdeen says.
Daphne gives a little wave, tears rolling down her face.
Skeeter taps his foot, unnerved. "Guys, do you mind if I sing something?"
Rue looks over. All attention goes to Skeeter.
"I believe that's up to Daphne. Would you like to go first?" he asks. The new girl shakes her head, squeaking slightly from tears, "No… It's fine…"
Skeeter gratefully takes the floor.
He clears his throat, "Ahem…. Ok, so, I heard about everything with Daphne and her Mom and Dad."
She lets out another squeak.
"And I'm… I'm really sorry. I mean, really, the news sent a pain through my heart, and it touched a really deep place within me. So last night, I prepared a little song just for her."
Rue lets out a tiny, "Aaaaww…."
Skeeter's electric blue eyes fill with tears. "Last year, my Dad drank too much. He went on a rampage… Shot my Mom… Shot himself…" A tear already rolls down his face.
Rue and Edward look sad particularly.
"I really depended on this song to get me through that. It was..." he takes a second to bury his face in his hands and recompose himself, "Oh God," he whispers tearily.
"Take your time," Rue whispers softly.
Skeeter nods, "Right… Well, um… This song was one that I listened to every day… It really carried me through. And it was a dream of mine for someone to actually sing it to me. So," he presses play, "I'm giving it to you. He sniffles before singing,
"When your day is long…
And the night… The night is yours alone.
When you're sure you've had enough…
Of this life… Well hang on.
Don't let yourself go!
'Cause everybody cries…
And everybody hurts… Sometimes…"
He pulls up a chair and sits in the middle of the room, looking around the crowd of high schoolers. Rue leans against Marvel's shoulder, tears pouring out of her brown eyes. She reflects to last year, when her best friend and the love of her life was about to kill himself.
"When your day is night alone…
Hold on…
If you feel like letting go…
Well…Hold on…
If you think you've had too much
Of this life…
Well hang on."
Marvel puts an arm around Rue, looking sadly at his Irish roommate Edward from across the room.
Kelley sadly rests his head on his brother's chest. The freshman reaches over and takes Posy's hand.
A slight blush forming on the Hawthorne girl's cheeks, she takes Bonnie's hand as well. Bonnie listens to the words and feels a very powerful feeling that she's never felt before. Skeeter makes eye-contact with Daphne before starting again,
"Don't throw your hand!
Oh….. No."
He doesn't make an effort to wipe the tears coming from his eyes,
"Don't throw your hand!"
Skeeter closes his eyes for a second, focusing on sending a heart-to-heart message to Daphne.
"If you feel like you're alone…
No… no…no!
You're not alone!"
Daphne nods, a hand over her heart, tears streaming down her face as well.
Locke, who is usually emotionally stable and calm, has trouble holding on to it today. Thinking about Daphne's parents gone, combined with the loss of his parents, and the loss of his pocketwatch: the last physical memory that Locke had of his deceased father: is too much for the sophomore to handle.
"You Ok?" Jason asks, even though it's blatantly obvious that he's not.
"I… I need a second…" he buries his face in his hands.
"When you think you've had too much… Of this life… To hang on…"
Skeeter locks eyes with Tanner. The junior, still confused about Ben and starting to feel for him, has tears at his eyes and also takes the opportunity to bury his face.
"Well, everybody hurts….. Sometimes!
Everybody cries!
Everybody hurts… Sometimes!"
Elijah and Nate exchange a glance. Nate is confused as to why his best friend's eyes are glassy, but Elijah knows exactly what's bothering Nate.
Nate hates seeing Daphne with Locke.
But what he doesn't know is that Elijah hates seeing Nate look after Daphne.
Santana, the girl of stone, sits in her spot, practically emotionless. Not a very vulnerable or emotional person, Santana has trouble feeling the heart of Skeeter's song.
Athena thinks of her ex Theo and whimpers quietly, missing him now more than ever and burying her face in her knees. Prim wraps an arm around Bonnie sadly.
Rue starts to cry slightly louder. Her whimpers pick up in pitch and in volume.
This hurts Skeeter, even more, causing more tears to flow out of his eyes as he continues,
"And everybody hurts… Sometimes… So-"
He quickly switches off the CD player and sings by himself, a single voice in the room of sniffling, crying, and whimpering kids.
"Hold on.
Hold on.
Hold on…
If you think you've had too much…
Hold on…
If you think you've had too much…
Hold on…
Hold on…"
When Skeeter fades off the last note, the club sits in a sad silence for 20 seconds.
Skeeter looks around at the club. So many people huddled together. Crying alone. Being comforted by friends. And, once again, the power of music explodes right in front of him.
Then the glee club blinks, trying to feel good again, and everyone claps for him.
Daphne squeaks, jumping up and hugging him. Skeeter, after a delay, hugs her back.
"Thank you," she squeaks through her tears, "That song… It was absolutely perfect. And I'm sorry about your parents."
"I'm sorry, too," he whispers, "But it gets better."
"I believe that…" she whispers shakily, "I believe it now."
"Good. You'll be loved here," he says.
"Sure will… Skeeter, was it?"
He nods and she continues, "Well Skeeter, that is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. That was so heartfelt, and so sweet…. And, to be honest, it's probably the best thing anyone could've done to lessen the pain."
"I know what it's like," he mutters.
Then they release and Skeeter takes his seat back next to Rue. Locke still doesn't unbury his head. Tanner looks up. Rue cries into her boyfriend's shoulder silently, "Skeeter… That was beautiful…"
"Really beautiful," Bonnie adds, wiping her eyes.
Everyone else agrees.
Athena sighs, "This all just reminds me of Theo…"
"Don't worry," Marvel says quietly, "The wound will heal, I'm sure…"
Athena nods, wiping her eyes as well.
"Daphne… Do you want to go next?"
"Actually…" she says, voice shaking, "Can I maybe sing tomorrow?"
Mr. Everdeen nods, "Of course. We'll all be looking forward to it."
They silently share their feelings until the bell rings for the end of the day.
