Maybe it doesn't look like it at first sight, but this is a fucking important chapter.
Have fun readingggg.
No ten minutes later a woman went towards the little food shop. I saw her opening the doors and immediately forced myself to get up. There was a black haze in front of my eyes when I got up, it felt like I was passing out. I just kept standing there till it faded away, it was probably because I just was tired.
That woman was probably someone who worked there, so I could finally get my food.
'I'm coming with you.' Cato said, standing up too.
Peeta and Katniss still sat down on the bench, probably they had to be alone for a while. Just to talk, to say important things which weren't said yet, and we didn't have to know everything. I was pretty sure that they had to tell each other a lot, especially about Gale. Indirectly he was almost the murderer in this case. It had to be weird when they would meet each other at school again. If not weird, it would be awkward or end up in a fight.
While we slowly walked towards the kiosk, I looked back at Katniss and Peeta. He was already looking my way, his eyes stitched around in a way like he didn't know what to do. Which actually was simple enough; just talk. But talking could be harder than I thought it was, there was probably a lot happened between then which I didn't knew about. They weren't my problems either, so I didn't have to fix them. Sometimes just nobody is able to help, and in this case I didn't know how to help.
'You two are early.' The dark brown haired woman behind the desk said. Probably around forty years, filling in this part time job. She probably sat here every day from 6, I didn't really knew why it started this early. If we were early now, then she had probably not much costumers in the morning. And it didn't pay that much either, to just stand selling tea and coffee in a fucking kiosk.
I shook my head to skip the thoughts about this woman's life. I quickly nodded after it, not that she would think that I disagreed, we actually were early, that was a fact.
'You too.' I said.
'Coffee, tea?' She gestured at the coffee machine.
'Why always the coffee or tea thing, while there are a lot more things standing there on the pricelist?' Cato asked. He was probably just stalling, giving them some more time to talk.
'Like hot chocolate.' I filled in.
'You've got coffee-people, and tea-people.' She said. 'Usually tea people are calmer than coffee people, who probably need the energy of it.'
'And who are more important, tea- or coffee-people?' I asked. If she had got more fun-facts about tea and coffee, she probably was able to answer this question.
'What is more important?' She asked me. 'The right wing of a bird, or the left wing?'
It left me silent for a few seconds, making her smile a bit. This brown haired, mid forty years old woman, which was selling tea and coffee in a kiosk for a minimum wage, was smarter than I thought.
But after a while I sighed. 'If they aren't equal, you literally fall down.'
'Exactly.' She nodded. 'Now, do you want tea of coffee?'
It was such a simple question, but for me it felt now like a decision depending on your life. Like I had to join the group of tea-people, which were calm. While the coffee-people made me think of these hard-working people in offices. Maybe there had to be a balance between them, and that would form the best economy situation. This woman left a confusion in my head like a fortune-teller would. And this all about the decision what I would like to drink; tea or coffee.
'Tea.' I answered after a while. She already noticed that I was thinking very long, but her pale blue eyes looked at Cato after I answered.
'Coffee.' He said. Maybe he just needed the energy, or maybe he wanted to answer the opposite as me. Which was weird, because we usually would answer the same thing because we almost thought the same. Coffee-people were in my head more like hard working people which were smart enough to work their job, while tea-people were smarter in thinking itself. I couldn't even imagine a Cato who would work on an office, actually.
'May I ask you why?' She asked him.
'Because she said tea.' He grinned.
I patted him on his arm. 'We're in balance.' I said, almost sounding like a totally focused on religion person, while I was actually thinking about fucking tea right now.
'You don't find couples who are in balance really often these days.' She shook her head.
'Are you a love expert or something.' I chuckled.
'I am a tea-expert. That's almost the same thing.' Whispered the woman.
'It's like a new way to judge people; depending on whether they like coffee or tea.' I said.
'I don't have something to do all day okay, selling coffee or tea. I would like to improve my judgements.' She shrugged. 'And if that machine isn't in balance between coffee or hot water, it just doesn't work anymore.'
'That awkward moment when you learn more from a coffee-machine than in a year at school.' Cato said.
'It would be more useful if school thought you all how to think instead of what to think.' She said, filling the two cups underneath the coffee-machine. 'School won't ever learn you a life lesson.'
'School wasn't my cup of tea, uh- or coffee, anyways.' Cato said.
Probably according to their system.
I nodded.
She laughed, but then asked. 'Only the coffee and tea?'
I quickly grabbed a two pack of sandwiches from underneath the desk, in a cooling thing.
'You two can have it for free.'
I wanted to be nice, to have manners but I couldn't say no free things. I wasn't a good person, I really wasn't.
'Have a nice day.' I said, faking a smile. Cato grabbed the things, then we walked away. Suddenly I regret that we didn't gave her the money anyways.
'Well that was weird.' He said while we walked back to the place where Peeta and Katniss were sitting. I glanced over them, and noticed that they were hugging each other. The time saving thing apparently worked, in the beginning I couldn't say that they were going to fix their things. Never thought that this night would be so awful, but then does have a kind of happy ending.
'So that happens when you are busy with tea and coffee a little too much.' I mumbled. 'You go crazy about the decision between the both of them.'
'Same thing with sandwiches.' He shrugged, holding up the two pack. 'To eat or not to eat.'
I laughed
'You two have talked almost an half hour with that woman behind the desk.' Peeta said, then gestured at the shining black car in front of them. 'The taxi is waiting.'
'Oh.' I said, heading to the car. Never thought that just getting tea and a sandwich would take half an hour. I just went with the conversation like I couldn't control it. Go with the flow, they always said. I couldn't control my thoughts, it was weird.
'No eating in the taxi.' The chauffeur looked at the pack of sandwiches, but avoiding any eye contact with Cato. 'No drinking too.'
Someone might have had an bad morning, I thought. I simply nodded, then opened up the car door and sat on the seat. I shove myself into the middle, making place for Cato on the left, and whoever wanted to sit on the right. Which turned out to be Katniss. Peeta sat down next to the chauffeur, in front of Katniss.
The car smelled new, which actually made me nauseous. I never liked the smell of cars. The man kicked the gas pedal, and drove away quickly. I looked at Cato, who looked back at me. I gave him the typical what-the-fuck-is-going-on look, according to the reckless driving skills of this man. He just shrugged.
We drove in that car for like twenty minutes. We probably wandered further into the nowhere than I thought we were. I sneakily took sips of my tea before it got cold, and surprisingly after twenty minutes, it was still warm enough. Not much longer I drank the whole thing, and held the empty cup in my right hand, not dropping it. Then the chauffeur would notice. I laid my head on Cato's shoulder, because I was so damn tired. I closed my eyes for a while, and had the feeling that I was drifting away.
I didn't know how long I had kept them closed, but after a while I had to force them open. I only became more tired by drinking it for some reason, which didn't made sense at all. The first thing my eye caught was a white dossier in the back of the driver's seat, I only could read the title. 'Mission 4.'
It wasn't a number like 24 or 666, not very attention seeking. Still I wanted to know why there was a dossier reading mission four in a driver's seat. I acted like I wanted to tie my shoelaces, so I bow down. Every movement went slower and harder to make, I didn't know why but it just happened. Maybe because I was so tired. Though I didn't tie the shoelaces of my sneakers, I quietly grabbed the paper dossier.
I laid it down on Cato's lap instead of mine, the chauffeur would see it if I did that. Not that he would mind, I guess. But for me it wasn't normal to find a dossier with a mission on it, in the driver's seat of a taxi. Something wasn't right here. I immediately recognized that my heartbeat went faster when I turned the page.
Step 1. After Julia called you, wait for their call. Say it would take 45 minutes.
It took a while for it was clear to me, that these 45 minutes were the same time as the taxi had to arrive in.
I continued reading the next step. Whoever this dossier was from, would make it really, really easy.
Step 2. Make sure they sit in the following formation.
There was a plan underneath it, with the seats of the car. Peeta next to the driver, Katniss on the right, me in the middle, Cato on the left. Exactly how we were sitting right now, how did it even know our names? This was anything but right.
My heart skipped a beat when I read the next step.
Step 3. Crash the car into the blue bus, driving next to Panem High. Make it look an accident.
I told you it was important!
Though a lot about tea and coffee...
This dossier speaks for itself, right? Think twice now, what the heck is going on here?
And now I would like to ask all of you to review what you think is going on here. ;)
