Also another difference in this is that Orion is the younger sibling as opposed to her brother. Ok... cool, enjoy!
I stand there, frozen in place. My heart is pounding in my chest and I can barely hear anything. He doesn't remember me. My old best friend has forgotten who I am.
"Rye?" Mum interrupts my thoughts. "You coming?" She holds open the door to the dining room and I force a smile. I follow her into the dining room and she sits at the end of the table, leaving the only free seat for me. The seat next to Finn. He flashes me a charming smile. My stomach flutters for a second and then drops at the thought that he doesn't know who I am. Like a young bird trying to fly but falling from the nest.
I quickly sit down, avoiding his eyes. Finnick turns to me.
"What happened to you, Rye?" he asks. "I thought you hated dresses and all things girly."
I give a shy smile. "You can blame this on Maddie Hawthorne," I say, gesturing to the dress.
"She definitely Madge's daughter," Annie giggles.
"Usually, she's in jeans and an extra-large lumberjack shirt," says Mum.
"Let's not forget the ever present Beanie," Dad adds.
"No outfit of mine would ever be complete without my skateboard, you both know that," I laugh, surprised at my newfound confidence.
A timer dings and Dad jumps out of his seat and runs into the kitchen. He returns, holding a pot in his oven mits. Large grins spread across Finnick and Annie's faces.
"Is that what I think it is?" Annie asks.
"You know it," Mum smiles.
Dad runs out into the kitchen and returns again holding a plate of cheese buns. He places the plate next to the pot and Finnick high fives him.
"I shot them this morning," Mum says proudly.
"I'm sorry, shot what?" Finn injects.
"The squirrels in the stew," Finnick answers, his mouthful of cheese bun.
"You shoot squirrels with a gun?" Finn asks Mum, completely dumbfounded.
"Bow and arrow, actually!" Finnick interrupts. I laugh as he begins to choke on the cheese bun and Annie mutters under her breath, "serves you right."
"I expect they were shot in the eye?" says Annie to Mum.
"Every time," Mum winks. We begin to ladle out the stew into everyone's bowls. Finnick bounces up and down in his chair from excitement of having the meal they used to eat as teens. When Dad finally hands him his bowl, his digs straight in. Annie rolls her eyes.
"So, Rye," Annie says. I look up from my bowl, a mouthful of stew dancing on my taste buds. "Do you take after your Mum or your Dad?"
I quickly swallow, and choke out an answer. "Both, actually. I shoot and bake."
"She's also an artist and sings like her mother," Dad adds. "She's just being modest. She writes her own songs and everything." My cheeks flush and Finn turns to me.
"Really? That's amazing. Do you play an instrument?" he asks.
"Guitar," I say quietly. He nods before turning back to his bowl of stew, looking slightly embarrassed by my short answer.
"And who does Damon take after?" Finnick chimes.
"Well… he's at University doing his Law Degree…" Mum says.
"He always hated working in the Bakery, is as tone deaf as his father, can't draw to save his life and if we handed him a bow, instead of shooting a squirrel, he'd end up shooting himself in the foot," Dad muses.
"I'm not really sure where we went wrong with him," Mum chuckles.
Our parents begin to talk but Finn and I stay quiet. I'm struggling to come up with something to say. It's not like I can just turn to him and say 'hey, remember when we used to be best friends? Those were good times.' I'd only look like an idiot. Our elbows bump and our silence become extremely awkward. I clear my throat and look at him. He turns to me, green eyes shining like emeralds. I almost forget what I'm going to say but I quickly spit out, "do you skate?"
He raises an eyebrow. "Skate?" I sigh, thinking that my last resort topic has now died.
"Y'know, skate? Skateboard?" He frowns and shakes his head slightly. All I can say is, "oh."
"I surf though," he says quickly, trying to save the conversation. "We lived right on the beach and I used to surf every morning. Have you ever surfed?"
I shake my head. "I've never been to District 4. I've never actually left 12 before."
He frowns. "Really?" I shrug. "Well, maybe you can… teach me to skate. Seeing as there's nowhere for me to surf here." His initial statement comes across more like a nervous question. I smile slightly and nod.
"Rye, Finn, do you two remember when you used to run riot in the Bakery, getting covered in flour?" Dad suddenly asks.
"Uh- what?" Finn asks back. My heart plummets and I stare at my bowl of stew.
"Or when we used to find them asleep in the tree house at three in the morning!" Finnick laughs.
"Stop," I whisper, shutting my eyes.
"You were attached at the hip," say Mum.
"Sometimes literally," Annie laughs. "They'd tie themselves together in one apron!"
I chance a look up. Finn is looking at me with a confused look on his face. He leans over to me.
"What are they on about?" he whispers. "I have no idea what they're talking about."
Bile begins to rise in my throat as I stare at my bowl of stew, willing away tears. I push my bowl away from me.
"I've lost my appetite." I quickly stand and hurry from the room. The dining room has gone silent other than a few murmurs and I run up the stairs, straight into my room and out of the window.
My room faces the forest at the back of the house and has two windows. One facing the forest and one facing opposite a window in the house next door. In the window facing the woods, there is a large flat area where I usually write songs, draw or just sit alone when I need to get away from things. I sit down and pull my knees up to my chest, tucking my head down.
His expression is stuck in my head. The confusion in his eyes as they laughed about all the great times we used to have as kids. The frown on his face as he could remember. I guess I shouldn't blame him. District 4 was probably full of new faces and new memories that replaced the old ones. The ones of me.
I lift my head and stare out at the sunset. Its Dad's favourite time of day. The colours always seem to calm him, no matter how stressed he's been. In our art room, on the back wall, there is a large sunset painted on it. Dad would tell me that he can only paint when he's relaxed and this is the only way he can paint at any time of the day. Its stories like that that make me love my parents. They have so many stories. The story that's told the most is how they came together. But I've heard that one over a million times. Mum says there are still more stories to tell but now's not the right time to hear them.
Just thinking of that has calmed me. I wipe away the tears that fell unwillingly on my face and cross my legs. I still feel uncomfortable in the dress. I feel like a different person. Someone that I'm not.
There's a quiet knock that makes me jump. I spin my head to see Finn with his head leaning out the window.
"Room for one more?" I nod slightly and turn back to the sunset. The sun is almost all gone now and a feeling of emptiness settles in my chest. "Are you okay? You ran out of there so quick." I nod again, not trusting my voice to lie for me.
He settles next to me and watches me. I can see him out of the corner of my eye but refuse to look at him, knowing there are remnants of my tears on my cheeks.
"Is it something I did?"
And there it is. The one question I didn't want to hear. It wasn't something he did; it was what he didn't do. He didn't remember me.
"It doesn't matter," I mumble.
"It clearly does, Orion. I can see something made you upset."
He called me Orion. Not Rye. Not Riley (which is what he called me as children). Orion. Another pang of emotion floods my chest. But this time, it's not emptiness or abandonment; it's jealousy. I'm jealous that he doesn't remember but I do. Because he doesn't have to feel the way I do.
I let out a deep breath and kick a stone off the roof with the tip of my shoe. My vision begins to blur again and I look down.
"Orion, look at me." I shake my head and face the other way. "Look at me," he says firmly. He takes hold of my chin and softly turns my face to his. The tears flow over once I blink and his gaze holds mine.
"You don't remember," I whisper.
"Is that what you're upset about?" he asks. I don't respond. He lets out a large sigh. "Look, I'm sorry that I don't remember about when we used to play together as kids but-"
I let out a cold laugh, cutting him off suddenly. "Is that what you think? That we used to play together and that's all? Let me just get one thing straight; it was a whole lot more than just 'playing together'."
I turn away but he continues staring at me. "What do you mean 'a whole lot more'?"
"You were my only friend, Finn. My best friend. We'd do everything together. When you left, it broke my heart. So don't just tell me you're sorry for not remember we used to play together." I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. "I envy you, Finn. Not having to feel like this. I suppose you made tons of friends in 4, with your good looks and your incredible personality. It bet it took all of three hours to forget about me," I say quietly.
He stares at me, a shocked expression on his face. He doesn't say anything though. There's nothing he can say. We sit in silence for what seems like forever before there's a voice.
"Desert's being served," my Dad's voice cuts through the quiet. Finn takes one last look at me and climbs back through the window. I stare back out into the forest, the sky a dull orange glow. "You coming down for desert, Rye?"
"I'm not hungry," I answer quietly.
"Okay, Honey. Don't stay out here too long." I'm thankful my Dad knows when I need my space. He leaves my room and shuts my bedroom door. That's when the tears flow again.
Just want to say that this story will get more cheerful as it goes on... I'm not completely depressing
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