Featuring an actual sentence from The Great Gatsby, a book I strongly dislike. I do not own Daisy Buchanan or Jay Gatsby.
They took an early train from 4 to 12. It was easier that way, less potentially snoopy people to see them together. Johanna was still easily recognized around the country, even with her long hair, even with her scars. Johanna Mason wasn't easily forgotten. And Gale wasn't exactly a nobody either.
Gale hadn't been expecting Johanna to nod off an hour into their trip.
His arm was tingly by hour two, but he didn't dare move it.
It was very hard to flip the pages of a book with only one free arm. He had developed a love of books over the past several years. He hadn't had much time to read for pleasure growing up, but he used a lot of his free time to read now. He never really read anything out loud though, he was a little embarrassed that he wasn't a very fluent reader. He had much more important things to worry about as a child than practicing his fluency and worrying about how it affected his grades. As an adult he was a good hunter, a good soldier, he was analytical and he was good at solving problems, reading well out loud wasn't a very high priority.
When Johanna had found out about it, she made him read things out loud to her. Something he hated at first, but grew better at slowly. He wasn't sure why she cared so much, but he was happy to appease her because it meant he got to see her smile.
The train was quiet. They were the only two in the car. Perhaps the best place for her to catch a nap and him to make a good dent in his book.
Johanna woke up around hour four.
"Hello there, Sleeping Beauty." Gale teased lightly as she stretched and he shook his arm out. "You put my arm to sleep."
Johanna scrunched up her face at the pet name and rolled her eyes, finishing by swatting his leg. She rubbed at her face, yawned and asked, "What are you reading?"
"An old book. Really old before Panem was Panem. It's called The Great Gatsby."
"Read it to me," Johanna said.
"I'm almost done. You sure you want me to read only the last two chapters to you? I can read another one from the beginning so you can follow the story at least."
"Just read it to me." Johanna replied, curling up on the seat, resting her head on her arm, attentive but relaxed.
"'When they met again, two days later, it was Gatsby who was breathless, who was, somehow, betrayed. Her porch was bright with the bought luxury of star-shine; the wicker of the settee squeaked fashionably as she turned toward him and he kissed her curious and lovely mouth. She had caught a cold, and it made her voice huskier and more charming than ever, and Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy...'" Read Gale.
He could sense Johanna's eyes on him, watching him read. He still could not understand why she liked to hear him read so much, but he didn't stop to ask.
There were a lot of things he didn't get about Johanna Mason, lots of things he still wanted to learn about. That would come in due time, he was sure. For right now, he would just read.