Chapter 3
After dinner, I was so tired, but I knew that there was no way I'd be able to sleep. Still, I tried. For hours I lay staring at the ceiling. At about 11:30, heard a knock on my door. I knew it couldn't be mom or dad, though I don't imagine they'd be able to sleep either. I slowly opened the door, unsure of whether I should or not. To my relief, I saw Liam standing in front of me. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?" I asked slightly hazy. "Nope. How could I?" he responded with a slight of fear in his voice. He came into my room, and sat on my bed. He looked around, taking it in. Then after a while, he flopped down on the bed, and closed his eyes. I sat beside him, until he pulled my braid so I was laying beside him. He turned on his side to face me, pulled the hair out of my face, and kissed me on the cheek. "What was that for?" I exclaimed, suddenly realizing that someone may have heard. I sat up abruptly, and Liam followed. "Just returning the favor." It took me a minute to process what he had said, but then I got it. "Nobody's watching, Liam." I whispered. "I know, I wouldn't do this if they were." Liam leaned into me, and kissed me. For REAL. For a moment, I pulled away, but then I kissed him back. For someone who has been my best friend most of my life, I'd never thought of him as anything more than that. A best friend. But now that we were on a train to death, I started to see a side of him I had never seen before. The cute, romantic side of him. I slept in Liam's arms that night. It seems that we could get a few hours of shut eye if we were together. We set the alarm clock for 5 am so that Liam could sneak back into his room before Effie came to wake us up. Nothing happened that night, we just lay there for hours, trying to sleep. To break the silence during those awake hours, I said to Liam, "Your dad, he was so nice to my mom. She maybe loved him, he maybe loved her. Then, she left him for my dad." Liam smiled at me. "I maybe love you." he said, "I maybe love you, too. And I promise, I won't leave you for a Mellark." Liam gave a small, quick laugh before kissing me on the forehead. "I know," he said. We fell asleep shortly, but then woke up an hour or so later, and were up for an hour. Then fell asleep, woke up. After being asleep for a consecutive 2 hours, we woke up to the sound of a soft alarm clock. Sigh. Liam left, and I tried to get a tiny bit of sleep. At 6:30, Effie was banging on the door, "Wake up! Wake up! It's a big day, yes a very big day!" I groaned, as I had only slept another half hour. My mom came into my room to really wake me up, and surprised me when she said "So, have fun with Liam last night?" The tone in her voice was mocking me. "Uh..." I started, unsure of wether or not to tell the truth. "I heard you two. You know I can't sleep through the night. I'm guessing neither can you. It's ok. Just don't tell your father." I was relieved that she wasn't mad. "Ok, thanks." What else should I say? I'm not good with this stuff. We had breakfast, another amazing meal, and were informed by Effie that the great chariot ride would be today. Great. Just what I need. Publicity. I turned on the Capitol news, only to find what these games were dubbed as. 'Battle of the Victors, The Next Generation: Rue vs Jacob.' I was revolted by this. I had met Jacob a few times, but even though I was not close with him, didn't mean that I was ok with killing him! It's Finnick and Annie's son! I figured out who to avoid, and I'm not even in the Capitol yet. All I can do is hope that Jacob wants to avoid me too. I went into my room for what may be one of the last times, and waited. I was soon greeted by my prep team, and they were far from normal. Alexander, Gadshill and Iris. My prep team. They plucked every hair from my body that wasn't on my head, scrubbed every imperfection away, and took me to "beauty base zero". That's what they call it. I was waiting for my stylist, who I was hoping would be a lot like mom had described Cinna, because I don't want an insane stylist. A young man walked in, probably about 27, give or take a year. "Hi, I'm James. I'm going to be your stylist. I'm very excited to be working with you, because my father left me plans for if ever I were to meet you." I looked at him, puzzled. "Your father?" He smiled. "Yes, my father. Cinna. Have you heard of him?" From there, all I could do was nod and stare at him in amazement. James was amazing. We talked for awhile, because he already had an exact plan in mind. Then he apologized for being so bold, and left. My mom came in shortly after, and asked me about the stupid look on my face. The only words I could make out were "Tha-tha-, that's.. Uh... That's um... Cinna's uh, son!" Mom clapped her hand around my mouth and told me to keep it down. As we approached the Capitol, people became more sensitive to the name 'Cinna' than they were at home. Finally, after a day and a half of pure torture on wheels, we pulled in to the Capitol station. I stepped out of the train, and wad instantly amazed. The air smelled so much sweeter here, the grass so much greener. We were taken into the justice building, where every district had their own floor. Mom and Dad got a little agitated being on that floor. Maybe because they had been there as tributes, twice. However, they did go to the games every year after that, so I don't get it. Actually, now that I think about it, it might have something to do with me being here.