Thanks for all of your reviews because I really kept them in mind while writing this chapter. The answer to the last question could be tying knots, making nets, swimming, or looking good for the sponsors.
The next day I head over to Annie's house so we can look for the plans to Jessica's dream wedding. I have decided to look at the bright side of my new plans. I will be able to spend more time with Annie.
Annie leads me upstairs to her attic. Attics are always the best places because you can see the ocean and the sunset from up there. We climb up the creaky wooden ladder and pull ourselves up into the wood paneled attic.
"I think it should be in one of these boxes. Maybe that one?" She says, pointing toward a box at the far corner of the room. I walk over and bring the box over to where we are sitting, near the edge so our feet dangle over onto the second floor. She lifts the lid and starts pulling out papers.
"It doesn't look like it. I think it could be on the other box marked with a three." I replace the box with the three box and we open this one to look through it. I look at Annie and the way that the sun hits her strawberry blonde hair so that it almost glistens. Her bright green eyes dart from side to side, looking for missing pieces of her childhood before it was ripped away by the hands of the Capitol. That snaps me back to life.
"Oh, I think this is it!" She pulls out an orange notebook and flips a couple pages. Her eyesbrows crush together in a worry and then passes the notebook to me.
"Read it, silently." She whispers. I begin to read:
"The duty has been done. He has been gotten rid of and surely, we have no major threats anymore here in District 4. I do seem curious about that boy, Finnick Odair, the one that your citizens treasure so dearly. He seems to be getting into some of our territory, ones that must not find. I promise you that I can try to lead him away, but I don't see what good it will do. He's going to figure out."
Then another one, dated later.
"If he has found it, tell him the truth. We don't want to get ourselves in anymore trouble. Just make sure he doesn't tell anyone else. We have the power here. But make sure nothing like this happens again or your bones will be the one in that cave. By the way, we are looking for someone really interesting to put in the games – a pretty girl, a powerful boy, or a sobbing backstory. Thoughts? Anything is possible. No one has to know of your civic duties."
The last one, dated a month after.
"After being around town and in the schoolyard, I can now tell you that I think I have found what you are looking for. Her name is Rosie and she is absolutely precious to all of those around here. Sweet girl, blonde curls, pink cheeks, looks exactly like a porcelain doll. I'm sure she would be a quality piece. Are we good?"
I turn the page, hoping for another letter, but none is there. While I was reading, Annie must've kept looking through the box and she now holds a pink notebook of the same style.
"This was it." She opens it to show me the pages filled with Annie's clean cursive detailing every last moment of what was to occur and how it should look.
I hear Annie's mom coming up the stairs and I motion to her to hide the letters. I shove them back in the box; right at the bottom underneath some of Annie's all A report cards. I motion for her to scoot closer to me and I press my lips against hers lightly just as her mother walks past.
"Get back to work, lovebirds!" She tells us, I think jokingly. She is underneath the ladder with her head craned upwards to look at us. She passes by and we break away at the same time. Annie looks nervous, instead of her normal calm eyes.
I reach down and pull up the ladder and shut the door to the second floor so that we can talk without any interruptions. When I look back at Annie, she has completely shut down and now stares into nothingness. I fold up the letters and put them in my pocket. I lightly slide the wedding plans out of her hand and put them right on top of the door so I don't forget to grab them on the way out.
I put the box back in its place nearby the wall. I walk over to the window and I can tell that is almost dark. I should be getting home. I walk back over to Annie, kiss her on the cheek, grab my papers, and head down the ladder. On my way out the door, I stop to talk to Annie's mom.
"Annie's in a faze right now. She's in the attic." I let her know.
"Okay. Did you find what you were looking for?" She asks.
"Yep. This should really help." I say, holding the papers up so she can see. Then, I let myself out the door and walked across the street back to my house.
When I walk in, I can smell my favorite dinner: pineapple glazed fish fillets. With my job in the bookstore, and my dad's recent purchase of a new crabbing boat, we have enough money to afford luxury foods. However, we don't eat this every day, only on special occasions. My mom comes into the kitchen and I ask her why she prepared such an elegant meal.
"Because, we should celebrate not only your victories but your failures."
Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! I wrote this at 11 pm last night but I just got the chance to publish this. This does count as a part of the contest. The question is:
Name the industries of the following three districts: 1, 4, and 7.
You must have all three industries in order to get the extra entry.