Hey guys! I'm sooo sorry I haven't updated in a while! But here is chapter 38. I know I have been slacking a little bit, and I am not making any excuses. But I'm going to try to finish chapters quicker :) enjoy! Please review!
-iLoveTheMellarks
"Uh." Is all I could think of saying. Sean is completely ignoring what he just did. Since I'm apparently on my own with this, I decide to try to change the subject. "This water is really good." I say taking a big gulp.
"Wait, I just heard you say-"says Stella.
"No you didn't," I say. "You didn't hear anything."
"But you just said-"
"Nope." I interrupt. Sean just sits in his seat nonchalantly. Stella stares at me as if I just murdered someone right in front of her eyes.
"Capri, I'm not an idiot. I know what you said, and I'm not just going to forget I heard it." Stella whispers to me. She looks at Sean and then back at me. "Tell me what is going on. I know it has something to do with Colby."
"Well," says Sean. "What do you think is going on?"
"I think that you and Capri are crazy enough to actually attempt to break Colby out of the Capitol. But I hope to god that I'm wrong, because nobody in the right mind would think of doing such a thing." Stella says. She nailed it. Sean and I don't respond for what seems like minutes.
"That's basically the plan." I say. Stella raises her eye brows. "But you can not tell anyone."
"You are insane. You can't honestly think I will just let you go kill yourself and not tell anyone." she tells me.
"I won't die, just please promise me you won't tell anyone."
"Fine, I promise. But word of advice- don't talk about it in a room full of gossip spreading teenagers." she tells me. This plan isn't what I would call 'thought-through', but I trust Haymitch. After all, he is a victor. I nod and ask for a refill on my water.
"So do you at least have a well thought-out plan?" Stella asks, leaning on her hand. Sean and I look at each other and shake our heads.
"We are just going to wing it." says Sean. When it comes to something complicated with Sean, his motto is 'when in doubt, wing it'.
"This isn't a math test, Sean! You can't 'wing' a mission that could get you killed! You guys realize you might have to hurt and kill people, right?" Stella points out. I immediately answer with a 'no'.
"I refuse to kill anybody. If I wanted to do that, I would've sponsored and encouraged the Hunger Games. I'd rather die then live with the fact that I ended someone else's life. It would eat me alive." I tell her.
"But you attempted to kill several people in the games." says Sean.
"I guess I didn't realize how my life would be so much more different if I actually did commit the crime. The biggest crime a 13 year old should commit is stealing a friend's lip gloss." I say. "When Colby called me before…I wasn't going to pick up."
"How did he call you? Did you pick up? What did he say?" Stella asks questions one after another.
"I picked up. I wasn't going to though."
"Why not?" asks Sean.
"Because I knew if I picked up, and it was actually him on the phone, that it would give me hope. And once I have a lot of hope, it's dangerous. There is no going back now. Now that I have heard his voice, and I know he is okay, that gives me more of a reason to find him. And once I'm determined to find something, I'll do almost anything to succeed." I explain, hoping they understand.
"Including…kill?" asks Stella. I nod my head.
"If it's that important to me."
"Colby is important to you." says Sean.
"I know, that's the dangerous part." I tell them. "If things get out of hand, I don't know what I will do. And if I do end up killing someone, like I said before, I couldn't live with the guilt." We all sit in silence until Sean lightens up the mood.
"Yes." says Sean. I look at him confused because 'yes' doesn't have anything to do with the conversation.
"Yes, what?" I ask.
"Yes, I will dance with you." He repeats. Honestly, I thought that moment has and past, but I could use something to take my mind off of all this. I told myself I wouldn't talk about Colby, and then I end up exposing our plan to someone.
"Stella, wanna come?" I ask getting up out of my seat.
"Nah, you guys go ahead." she replies beginning to walk over to the snack table. "I'll meet up with you guys later." she says. I smile and start towards the dance floor. "Wait, Capri." she calls. I turn back around. "Try not to kill anyone!" she jokes. I laugh and we both smile then turn back around.
I step onto the lit up dance floor and turn to face Sean. Sweaty teenagers close in on us so we are forced to stand only 2 inches apart. We start swaying back and forth, rhythmically to the music.
"Ya know, Stella's right. We're gonna get killed if we wing it." I tell Sean quietly, keeping my voice down, even though the other kids couldn't possibly here me over the loud music and all the laughing and gossip. He shrugs looking around cautiously before replying.
"Listen," he says. "we are leaving in 4 days. There's no time to formulate a well thought out plan and even if we did, the chances of nothing going wrong are very slim." I nod.
"Yeah I guess your right…" I answer. We continue dancing but I can tell Sean has something on his mind. "What's up?" I ask him.
"No it's just… your dancing." He says smiling.
"Yeah, and so are you." I tell him, not getting his point.
"Well, it was your rule." he says.
"Well, I sort of meant 'slow' dancing." I say and he laughs. I can feel eyes on the back of my neck and I see Sean nervously look over my shoulder. I glance at him and give him a curious look before I turn around. My breath catches as I take in the image of Ashley standing side by side with the two girls I hate most in the world. Tara and Alessia.
"Can I help you?" I ask as their freakish stare makes me uncomfortable.
"I just find it funny how you're dancing with Sean, and yet, aren't you still with Colby?" Ashley asks; thinking she's cool. Since when was dancing consider cheating?
"Ashley, I don't want to start a fight- so why don't you just walk away before either one of us does something we regret." I tell her. I'm trying to stay out of controversy for now; especially with my ex-bestfriend, the girl who punched me, and the girl who wants me to die.
"Ever heard of forgiving?" asks Ashley. "I'm sorry not everyone is as perfect as you. I made one mistake and you're holding it against me!" Ashley argues. I walk towards her so I can hear her better.
"It's not just that you left me on my last day- it's also that you've…changed." I tell her. She looks down as if she knows what I'm talking about.
"Changing and maturing are two different things." she says impudently. I roll my eyes and don't respond. I could tell her that being some-what snobby isn't a part of maturing; but I rather not start a fight. But somehow I feel like a fight has already begun, so I leave the dance floor.
"You can't run away from your problems anymore, Capri!" shouts Alessia turning me around. Before I could talk back, Alessia splashes ice cold fruit punch all over me. I bring my hair back into a pony tail to avoid getting wet. I feel the anger boiling inside of me as I am about to lose my temper. I figure that she just isn't worth it and I run outside the house into the hot summer night. Soon as I reach the street, I hear footsteps behind me and I know it's Sean and Stella. My tears are trying to fight back as I take a seat on the curb and bury my face in my dress. I hug my legs and pull them closer and closer to my chest. My light blue dress is now an ugly shade of red and purple.
"Are you okay?" asks Sean touching my shoulder. I look at him and shake my head.
"No! I wish my sentencing was never revoked! The capitol wasn't being nice to me by taking it away. They knew something like this would happen! They knew that my social life was ruined, no matter what!" I say, sniffling my nose. Stella takes a seat next to me and Sean follows.
"I think you should go back in there and tell Alessia off." says Stella.
"No. I'm done with them. They aren't worth my tears or anger. I'm just going to have a low profile my whole high school life." I tell her. "You guys don't need to hang out with me. I'm just bringing you down. Being friends with me is social suicide."
"That's not true. We're lucky to be your friend." Stella says leaning on my shoulder.
"Please, it's not about being lucky enough to be my friend," I say. "It's about being brave enough."
"What do you mean?" asks Sean.
"I mean- if you want to be my friend, then you've got to be pretty brave. Because it's like you're giving up everything for me." I say with a smile.
"That's not being brave, Capri. It's just being a good friend." Sean replies. "Are you sure you don't want to go back in?" asks Sean.
"No, no. You guys go ahead. I might come in, in a little while." I tell them.
"Are you positive you don't want us to stay?" asks Stella. I nod.
"Definitely. Really, it's fine." I tell them. They both smile and stand up. When I see that they both have gone back into the house, I open my phone.
There is no way I'm going back into that party. I call my mom but she doesn't pick up- she must be asleep. I call my dad but no answer- he must be asleep. I hesitate to call one person. Haymitch. Before I know it, I press send. Who knew, Haymitch would be there for me out of both my parents.
"Hello?" Haymitch grumbles. I can tell I woke him up.
"Haymitch? Were you asleep?" I ask.
"Yep. You woke me up. Now what do you want, kid?" he asks.
"can you come pick me up?" I ask. He grunts in exhaustion.
"Ugh, fine. Where are ya?"
"Um…district 4." I tell him. He chuckles.
"You expect me to come get you in district 4, and bring you home?" he asks. "Why can't you just take a train home?"
"Because I don't want to go home." I tell him.
"Then where are you looking to go at 10:00 at night?" he asks.
"The capitol." I tell him.