Hello again, and thank you for your kind reviews.
Let's try to keep them kind.
I apologize if these chapters so far are uninteresting; honestly, I'm trying to get through them too.
Also, I am not very proud of this chapter, so please no hate if you dislike it as well.
Scout Woods (15) District 6
Breakfast this morning is delicious.
There are so many choices. Eggs, toast, sausages, fruits, bacon, pancakes, cereal—everything you could ever desire for breakfast. It is hard to choose what to eat with so many choices, but I end up with three slices of bacon, a few eggs, a piece of toast, and pancakes, syrup and butter dribbled over the top of them. I would like to have eaten more, but I don't dare, knowing I would retch if I ate too much.
Today, we spend practically the entire day on the train. I don't know what I will do, and my district partner, Sebastian, has already set out on an adventure. He said something about going to see the different tributes, and he left an hour or so ago; I haven't seen him since.
I go to my room to change out of the white nightgown I have been wearing. I pick out some clothes—a green army jacket, white tank top, black tights, and sneakers—but decide I will take a shower first.
I turn on the water, and it's splendidly warm. I think I spend more time just standing in there, enjoying the water, than I do washing. Eventually, I do, however, wash the dirt from my skin and hair. The soap makes my skin smell like lavender, and the shampoo and conditioner makes my hair smell like night blooming jasmine.
I change into my clothes and look at my reflection in the mirror, and I realize that I have never been this clean in my life. I feel like a Capitol citizen, wearing their clothes and smelling like they must smell. My hair and skin are so pale, paler than usually without the dirt.
I shake my head, clearing my thoughts, and leave the washroom. I find myself sitting alone on a couch, staring out the window. It's very quiet, but not peaceful. The view outside is unfamiliar, there are so many buildings! I know we aren't at the Capitol, so this surprises me. I can faintly see people in the distance, walking. I can barely make it out, but I see their hair; mostly everyone's is blonde. I figure that this is District 1 which is the last stop.
The train begins to start up again, and almost the second after it does, Sebastian comes in. Is pale skin is clean like mine, and his longish blonde hair is combed, making him look like a Capitol citizen. He has this big, happy grin on his face, and I wonder what could possibly be so exciting. He skips over to me, grabs my upper arm, and pulls me to my feet.
"Scout, we're going to go watch the Reaping with the District 3 tributes!" He exclaims, still smiling. His green eyes are filled with joy.
I don't see what's so exciting about the District 3 tributes, or the Reaping, but I don't question as I follow him through the different rooms. We eventually end up in a room identical to ours. There are two tributes sitting on a couch watching TV, but as soon as we come in, all eyes are on us. The girl is still in her nightgown and looks around Sebastian's age. She has auburn hair, pretty hazel eyes, and pale skin as white as mine. I wonder if she is why he is so excited, but do not ask him in front of her.
The boy looks 17 or 18, and has black hair and eyes. His skin is fair and covered with cuts and bruises. His clothes aren't dirty, but look worn out and old, and he wears no shoes. I suspect that these clothes are his, and that he wore them to the Reaping.
"Scout, this is Autumn," he says, gesturing to her. She waves slightly, and smiles. "And this," he says; now pointing at the boy, "is Huckleberry." The boy grins and winks at me, but it isn't the way the boys wink at the other girls in my school. He seems sarcastic about it all; like a joke.
Sebastian and I sit down, and I somehow end up between him and Huckleberry. The Reapings begin, and I watch the District 1 tributes enter the stage, both smirking. I don't really watch District 2, and rather fascinate myself by looking out the window. I see we are passing a lake, but I don't see any animals, not even a bird.
I look back at the screen to see Autumn on the stage, crying. I turn to her now, to see her face red with embarrassment. I feel bad for her; she seems like a nice girl. Huckleberry enters the stage next, and he glares the entire time. Not necessarily at anything—or anyone—but he does glare, and for a split second I wonder why. Then, I realize that he has every reason to. He might as well be mad at the Capitol, I mean; they did practically pick him to die.
But he might not die; he might win for all I know. I don't know him, or anything about him—besides his name.
I look out the window again as two more districts pass by, and then it's time for District 6. I watch as they call my name and I enter the stage. I stand there, slightly swaying, as I stare off into the distance. It's strange seeing me and how I'm portrayed. They show a close up of my face, and there is no emotion there, which doesn't surprise me. My lips are tightly shut, and my eyes are cloudy, like I am day dreaming. Thinking back to it, I suppose I was, in a way.
Sebastian is looking at me now, not on the screen, but in real life. "How do you do that?" He asks suddenly, surprising me.
"Do what?" I question, raising an eyebrow and not liking what this is headed to.
"Act like a robot." He says with such a straight face that I grin.
"You mean like I have no emotions? I don't know how; I was just thinking while I was up there."
"Yeah, well, this morning you acted like you had no emotion, and when we came in here and sat down, the whole time you acted like you didn't feel anything."
I shrug, not realizing I did this a lot. I know I didn't smile that often, or laugh, or frown, but I never thought of what I did do.
"Maybe I don't know what I'm feeling; maybe my head hasn't quite figured it out that." I say, and then, to lighten to the mood, "at least I didn't act all scared and embarrassed like you." I smirk, and thrust my thumb at the screen.
It is a close-up of Sebastian's face, looking scared; his face bright red. I had seen it out of the corner of my eye, and had been waiting for the appropriate moment to tell him.
Sebastian turns his attention to the screen and flushes with embarrassment. Autumn giggles and elbows him in the ribs. He smiles at her, and rubs his head, even though he didn't get hit in the head.
I watch them and wonder what is going on, but before I can, bursts of laughter comes from behind the couch. It startles all of us, Autumn even screams, and we turn around to see 6 athletic-looking kids.
They stand up and walk to the back wall, facing us. The four of us stand up as well and lean against the couch, facing them. We all just stand there for a while, but eventually a boy who looks younger than the others—probably my age—snickers and shakes his head at us.
The boy looks strong; his sleeves of his shirt are rolled up, showing off his biceps. His hair and eyes are brown, like many of the District 2 citizens. His skin is tan, so I am guessing that he spends much of his time outside, probably training.
He takes a few steps forward until he is right in front of Sebastian, whose arms are crossed and eyes glaring at the older boy. The way this boy carries himself makes me believe that he is cocky. The way he is looking at Sebastian only goes further to prove my theory.
"You," he barks, jabbing a finger at Sebastian's chest, "are some cocky kid that's got no reason to be cocky 'cause you're a wimp. You think you're cool, don't you? Huh, kid? Don't you?" He laughs and then moves in front of Autumn.
"You are just some worthless girl that was chosen because they needed tributes for the Bloodbath. You're weak, ugly, and, well, you're a joke." He laughs even more at her.
Now he is standing in front of me. I am taller than both Autumn and Sebastian, and am the same height as him. I look at him eye to eye, and I know I can't be called anything worse than I have already been called. What he says won't hurt me, and there's no way that he thinks any worse of me than I do of myself.
"You are just some psycho girl that belongs in a madhouse. There's nothing really interesting about you." He snarls, looking very pleased with himself.
All I do in response is blink, which I suppose he wasn't trying for. Autumn and Sebastian had looked hurt after his insults, and I think that's what he was expecting me act like.
He searches my face, but finds nothing there. He then steps back and scans my body. I don't feel self-conscious, but I do think that it is strange and don't know why he is doing this. His friends (alliance members?) behind him are all laughing at Autumn and Sebastian, but I see them glancing over here once in a while, wondering what he is doing just like I am.
The Career boy takes a step forward, and grabs my wrist which is wrapped in the bandana. He begins to take the bandana off, and I don't really care. I don't care if he knows, or what he thinks. I don't care if everyone on this planet knew. The only reason I hide them is for my parents, who don't like looking at them.
Once the bandana is off, he scans the cuts and stares at me. His friends are back in their place behind him and our looking over his shoulder at my wrist.
The Career boy suddenly laughs and drops my wrist, throwing the bandana at me. I let it fall.
"Well, not only are you crazy, but you're suicidal too?! Why, you really are a freak!" He says between breaths and continues laughing.
Once he is done with his laughing fit, he moves on to Huckleberry who just raises his eyebrows at the boy. The Career opens his mouth to say something, but Huckleberry cuts him off.
"You make fun of kid by telling him he's cocky, when you're the arrogant one. You call a girl ugly who is already self-conscious, and then you make fun of another girl's scars who is broken inside." He murmurs, his face blank.
"You're point?" The Career says.
"I'm just excited to see what you have to say about me." He grins.
"Well, there's nothing much to say about you. You're poor, obviously," he snickers, gesturing to Huckleberry's clothes. "You live in District 3, but you've got to be one of the dumbest looking guys I've ever seen. You think you're such a hero, but you're not helping anyone."
"And you are?"
The Career looks shocked at this, and stammers a few inaudible words, but then gives up and leaves with the other Careers. I don't understand why he so suddenly leaves. It's not like what Huckleberry said was so offensive or confusing. I ponder the possibilities, but can't think of any reasonable answer.
"The Reaping is over." Sebastian mumbles and then goes to sit at the dining table with Autumn.
I begin to walk over as well, but Huckleberry says my name so I turn around. He hands me the bandana, a smile on his face. I take it and we go to sit down as well. It isn't long before Axoxes bring food and drinks out.
I turn to see Huckleberry grinning at the food, and I can't help but smile. He has one of those smiles that are contagious, and he smiles a lot. I do not only smile at his grin, though, I also smile at how naive and carefree he is.
It's nice to see that people who can still enjoy every second of life, even when they only have a few days left to live.
Unless he wins, of course.
Huckleberry (Huck) Johnson (17) District 3
Dinner is rather incommodious for me. Flint an Autumn talk and laugh the whole time, acting like the events that had taken place right before never happened. Scout is quiet, and I don't think she says a word the whole time. This forces me to do the same; the only sound I make is when I chew or swallow, or the occasional sound of my fork hitting my plate.
I don't understand why the boy from 2 left. I would have guessed that he would have stayed longer with his posse; make the others feel even worse. I, for one, was not offended by his "insults". I couldn't tell at the time if Scout was offended or not—and I still don't know—but both Sebastian and Autumn looked upset.
We finish our lunch, and we are almost at the Capitol. I can see it actually, the buildings, all big and shiny, with about a million windows. They are so tall, taller than the tallest trees in District 3. They tower over the city, sending shadows across the road.
Scout and Sebastian leave soon, and only a few minutes later do we arrive in the Capitol. There are people dressed up in the brightest clothes I've ever seen waving at us. Their skin colors range from purple to grey—their hair even more so. Yet, there is something about them that doesn't feel quite right, other than the fact they look so strange.
The train goes through a dark tunnel and then we stop in what looks like a giant building. There are people all milling about caring various things. They go and come through doors and socialize every once in a while. Everyone seems in a hurry, and a few are standing by the side of the train.
The doors open, and the smell of perfume and cologne make me want to gag. A young woman with spiky green and orange hair grabs my arm and starts pulling me towards a door. I don't know if she is my stylist, or a part of my prep team, but when we reach the door, she pushes me through. She stays on the other side as she shuts it, and I hear her footsteps through the door as she walks away.
I am now facing three people. They all have different styles, but all are outrageous. I feel ostentatious, and know that I am standing in this room with them.
One of them, a lady with pin straight purple hair gestures to a table that I am supposedly suppose to lay on.
I walk to the table and lay down on it, wanting this to be over with. The three people don't waste a second, and immediately set to work, trying to make me look handsome for the Opening Ceremony. One of them pricks at my eyebrows as another powders my face like I am a girl, trying to make it paler.
The prick and prod at me for another half hour or so, and then they start with my hair and 'makeup'. One of them draws lines across my face, and then makes me remove my shirt so they can do the same to my chest and arms. One of them asks me if they can shave my head, which I quickly disagree to. Instead, she starts 'painting' lines in my hair.
Once they are done, they send me to Ottilie Wishhart, who I am guessing is my stylist. I enter another room and see the lady with the spiky hair. She lets me sit on a table as she fixes my 'makeup'. She then gives me a pair of black of black slacks and points me to another door so I can change.
When I come out, she claps in delight and hands me a pair of black dress shoes for me to change into. When I have them on, she gives me these strange blue glasses. When I put them on, everything looks blue, and it's annoying.
Ottilie turns off the lights, but something green still shines, like a nightlight. A mirror is suddenly in front of me, and I see the green glow is coming from me. The lines the lady had drawn on were green and they glowed in the dark. The blue glasses also somewhat lit up, but not very much.
Ottilie escorts me out of the room, through many halls and doors, and we finally end up at the chariots. She shows me which one is mine, and then she turns to leave. I walk over to the chariot and horse. Both are pitch black and silent.
I wait in the silence for what seems like forever until Autumn eventually shows up. Her face is identical to mine, and she wears a shimmering silver dress. We converse for a while, and then all the tributes are directed to stand in their chariots.
District 1 goes through the doors, and I'm sure the cheering causes an earthquake. I look back a couple chariots, and eventually find District 6. Scout and Sebastian are both dressed up in blue train conductor outfits, hats and all. They each where a red ascot as well, and their pale skin looks so out of place.
Our chariot starts to move, and I nearly fall off. I grip the front as we exit through the doors. Not many people cheer for us, but they do as soon as the District 4 tributes come out. After that, there is hardly any applause at all. This surprises me, since these were the people that picked the tributes in the first place.
The chariots eventually stop and we exit them, and walk over to an elevator. Autumn and I miss the first one, but are lucky enough to catch the second one with Scout and Sebastian. Autumn and him talk until we reach our floor, where Sebastian insists that we come over for dinner. Autumn smiles widely, and I absently agree. We agree that we will meet them in an hour or so after everyone has cleaned up and had a shower.
As soon as we step into our room—rooms more like it, or penthouse, either one would work—Avoxes quickly show us our rooms and then leave us be. I enter my bathroom and shower. The hot water feels nice, but the soap smells strange; like cologne or something. I find that so odd, that cologne would be a scent of soap.
I exit the shower and go back into my room, looking for something to wear. All of the clothes are bright and strange, but I somehow find a black shirt, jeans, and sneakers. I dress into them, and they feel so soft compared to my old rags.
They also seem very alien, and I leave the room before I can ponder about it too much. I watch TV for a while until Autumn finally comes out. She wears a black dress and about a pound of makeup. I have not the slightest idea why she is dressed so fancy, and ask her:
"Ummm, is there a reason—"
"No!" She snaps, appearing angry. "I just wanted to look nice."
I raise my eyebrows, but don't argue with her as we enter the elevator. We press the sixth floor button; red numbers appear above the doors, showing which floor we are on as we climb.
Eventually, we reach our destination and enter the room which is identical to ours. It's strange, as if we never left. The only difference is Scout and Sebastian are watching TV and Avoxes are milling about, setting up the dining table.
We go and sit on the couch with Sebastian and Scout, but Sebastian turns off the TV as soon as we do. Scout raises an eyebrow at Sebastian, and then at Autumn, and then at me.
"I guess we didn't get the memo that said there was a dress code." She tells me, and I notice that Sebastian is dressed up as well, in a white dress shirt and pants. His hair is combed back, and he smells of cologne.
Scout, on the other hand, is not dressed up. She wears dark jeans with neither socks nor shoes. Over them, she has on a grey tank top, and her white hair is still messy and tangled from the shower.
I grin at her comment and nod, looking between the two as well. It's quiet for a while, and the two kids blush, but Sebastian eventually breaks the silence.
"Say, who wants to play a game?" He asks no one in particular.
Autumn giggles and says yes, while Scout says no, and I say nothing. I guess Sebastian takes this as a yes, so he makes us all sit on the ground in a circle.
"What, are we playing duck duck goose?" I question, confused as the girls must be.
"N-o-o-o-o..." Sebastian smiles and chuckles.
"What are we playing?" Autumn asks, still smiling.
Since Autumn asks, Sebastian's tells us, "two truths and a lie!" He seems excited and so does Autumn.
I groan loudly, and Scout just sits there staring at Sebastian, but not looking very amused.
"The last time I played that, I was 5, and it was stupid then," I complain.
Sebastian glares at Scout and I, and hisses "fine, then you don't have to play, go watch TV."
You don't have to ask me twice, I think and sit back on the couch next to Scout. We watch a few shows as their game progresses and I start to watch.
"Okay..." Sebastian says, "which one is a lie?"
"That you have three brothers!" Autumn exclaims and he nods.
"Okay, my turn. Uh, one, I can't sing. Two, I have four cats. Three...uh... I–I can juggle."
"The third one."
"Nope, it's the first one, I can't sing."
"You can juggle?"
"Yeah"
The two of them go to the dining table and pick up three oranges. I nudge Scout in the ribs and point at Sebastian and Autumn. We watch as Autumn begins to juggle, and she isn't all that bad. She walks over so she is standing in front of us and continues on juggling. She suddenly drops one, then another, and then one hits a picture hanging on a wall. Autumn cries out and tries to grab it, but it falls to the ground and shatters. An Avox comes out and starts cleaning it up, trying to reassure Autumn without words that it's alright.
I know she must feel terrible, but I find it funny and I laugh. Autumn isn't too impressed and she starts to cry. This is so bizarre, and I don't understand. I hadn't said nor done anything mean, had I? Was laughing at her really all that bad? I don't care when people laugh at me, but maybe it's different with girls.
Sebastian tried to comfort her, and she stops crying right before dinner is served. Her makeup is smeared and running down her face, but no one says anything. Sebastian and her head to the table and sit down, Scout and I following right behind. We end up sitting next to each other, and she watches Autumn for a moment.
"Autumn, why did you cry?" Scout asks her, and Autumn seems shocked at the question. She replays simply with:
"Because I'm sad."
"Why?"
"Because I feel bad for breaking the picture and because Huckleberry laughed at me."
"It was an accident, and I don't think he was trying to be rude."
Autumn looks at me, and I nod. She then smiles and giggles, and tells Scout that she was just being weird.
I shake my head and roll my eyes. Autumn obviously got the wrong impression. And now she was acting gaily. Her mood swings so much that I'm beginning to believe that she is bipolar. Not really, of course. It was a joke. Don't freak out.
Scout and I eat a delicious dinner—meat, potatoes, corn, bread, and soup—in silence again. After we are finished, dessert is brought out. I don't think I've ever seen so many kinds of pie before, or that I ever will again.
(A/N: Sorry if the part below seems irrelevant and cheesy, but... It's pi day! 3-14. That's when I'm writing this. (: for school, we had to remember at least 25 numbers of pi. I know 56. Here you go: 3.1415926535897932384626433832 7950288419716939937510582097 ... And I know those are right, and no I didn't look at anything.)
Chocolate, cherry, coconut cream, blackberry, pumpkin, apple, pecan, lemon meringue, custard, key lime, chocolate butterscotch, and huckleberry. I've never had huckleberry pie before, but since it's my namesake, I know I must have it. I take the whole pie, and put it in front of me, digging in. I see the others have done the same: Sebastian took the lemon meringue, Autumn took the coconut cream, and Scout took the chocolate butterscotch.
I see Scout smiling out of the corner of my eye, and I turn to her, raising an eyebrow. She snickers a little and says:
"One, you have pie all over your face–" I quickly wipe the pie that apparently is 'all over my face', off "–and two, you're eating huckleberry pie."
I know what she means, and I smile. A burst of laughter from the other side of the table makes us both jump and we look over to see that Autumn has whipped cream all over her face.
I want to talk to Scout more, but she is already stuffing her face with more pie. She eats fast, and a lot, and I wonder how much such a small girl could hold down. I start attacking my pie, too, savoring every bite. We don't get such delicacies in District 3. I'm sure my friends would be so jealous, if they were to look at me now. I wonder if this is being televised, and I start to grin as I eat.
I don't know how, but I finish the entire pie. I feel sick afterwards, but manage to hold it down—though; I have to hold my stomach for awhile. Scout too, looks sick. She doesn't excuse herself either, so we both just sit there in pain.
Without realizing it, we start a conversation... About our names.
"Oh, you're making fun of my name? You'rename's Scout." I argue.
"Yes, but at least I'm not named after a berry." She counters, and laughs.
It's a pleasant sound, "well, I suppose you're right. And, for the record I happen to like your name, thank you very much." I grin.
She grins back, "good, but I still am not a fan of yours. Though, I suppose it's not terrible. How about I call you something? What about Huck?"
I grin, and nod; agreeing. Huck seems like a normal-sounding name. Kind of sounds like Chuck, you know?
"Where's Sebastian and Autumn?" Scout suddenly asks, and I turn to see that they are no longer in their chairs across from us.
We get up and start walking around. I suggest calling their names, but Scout tells me that that's ridiculous because "they aren't dogs" and that "they can't be that far away".
I see that the door is open a crack leading to what I guess is Sebastian's room. I don't know if we should go in or not, but Scout says we should. We enter the room to see Autumn and Sebastian laughing and spraying whipped cream in each others' faces.
I tell Autumn that we should get back since it's getting late and there's training tomorrow. She tries to argue, but I stop her. Sebastian than tries to argue, but Scout stops him. Autumn finally agrees and we leave.
...
As I try to fall asleep, I can't. It's impossible. Tomorrow is training. The Careers will be there. I can't even begin to imagine what it will be like.
Alaska (Al) Twain (16) District 2
"The little girl
Just could not sleep
Because her thoughts
Were way too deep
Her mind had gone
Out for a stroll
And fallen down
A rabbit hole.
The end."
(A/N: I DO NOT own this. I found a picture on tumblr with the quote. I don't know what it's from, but it is NOT mine.)
That's what my mom used to sing to me. What a kind mother; reminding me of my schizophrenia. Thanks mom, love you too.
NEW CHARACTER ALERT! SHE'S GOING TO BE MAIN.
Whenever I have the writing in italics, the person is either thinking, daydreaming, dreaming, singing, or hallucinating.
3.1415926535897932384626433832 7950419716939937510582097
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NOTE: I'VE CHANGED ELIZABETH'S NAME TO ALASKA.