Chapter 5: The Train Ride (Part 3)

I found a yellow shirt with a butterfly design and faded grey jeans. After getting changed and slipping back into my sandals, I walked out to the dining cart.

Orpheus was eating a plate of eggs and ham while Marcus was picking at some fruit and yogurt. Before I had even said good morning to the latter, he was talking to me.

"We will be arriving in the Capitol by noon. Nixon will not be joining us until then, as seeing he seems to be occupied, so I thought it'd be a great time for the three of us," he gestured to the three of us in the room, "to get to know each other." He took a deep breath after he had gotten all of that out. "Good morning, by the way. You look pretty today. Nice outfit for your debut in the Capitol."

Orpheus looked up at me and smiled. "He's finally right for once. You do look very pretty, Cleo." My mentor told me.

I sat down next to him, and he portioned out lavish breakfast foods for me. I thought about telling him that I just wanted eggs, but the food looked so good.

As we ate, Marcus began to grill us.

"What are your favorite colors?" He asked us.

"Emerald green," Orpheus responded.

I finished chewing my food. "Sapphire blue," I told him. "What's yours?"

Marcus's eyebrows rose for a moment. "I don't have one. I'm from the Capitol, remember? I only follow the trend." His eyes flashed to Orpheus.

That was the first clue that there had been a fight between them that I received.

"You have to have one." I told him.

"Tawny," he responded before taking a sip of orange juice. "Like tiger eye. Favorite thing to do?"

Orpheus glanced at me, then at Marcus. "My answer isn't exactly appropriate for all company present." He explained, relaxing in his chair.

I thought about that for a moment. What did I like to do? "I don't know. What about you?"

Marcus smiled, "talking to beautiful women, of course."

Orpheus glared at him; the kind of you're-taking-this-too-far glare. "Moving on…" he suggested.

"Mm? Oh, right. What shall I ask next?" Marcus mused out loud.

I picked more at my food, not really wanting to be part of this conversation. But I was stuck with these two for the next week or so before the Games actually started. Then it was probably good bye forever…

I blinked back a sudden tear.

"And then this—Cleo?" Marcus stopped mid-sentence. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Orpheus touched my arm. It was warm and comforting and I could smell that pine scent that was naturally his. I stared into his light green eyes.

"Are…" he shook his head, "Never mind..."

I looked away from both of them. "I'm going to go back to my room." I told them, getting up and walking back, away from them.

I walked into someone in the bedroom car hall. Not Nixon, and definitely not Marcus or Orpheus.

"Oh, sorry," I told the person.

They silently got up and walked away.

"Wait!" I turned around and pulled on her arm. "Are you ok?" I asked her.

Silence. She stared at me, and then Marcus came in from the dining car.

"Cleo, what are you doing with the Avox?" He asked me.

"The what?" I asked. What the hell is an Avox?

"She can't talk."

And here I'd been hoping that I wouldn't be the only girl. Back to square one…

I let go of her arm. "Oh, I'm sorry…I didn't know…" I said to the girl. She nodded, looking clearly embarrassed, and walked out.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. "Doing here, I mean; with me…In a hall, alone."

"I'm worried about you." He told me, reaching up and touching the corner of my eye with his fingertips. "I have a right to be. I mean, I'm your escort for the Games. I'm supposed to be with you most of the time. And I don't want you getting lost before we even get to the Capitol." He explained, lowering his hand.

"I'm just going to my bedroom." I told him.

"Who knows, maybe the sheets will try to strangle you." He joked. This whole conversation, he'd been leaning closer and closer to me. I could feel his heart beating slowly. I looked at him.

"What…are you trying to do?" I asked him.

He tucked hair behind my ear and pulled away. I breathed in, not knowing I hadn't been before then. "Nothing, little cub."

"Oh…alright then…" I almost had wanted him to kiss me. My stomach churned. Wrong feelings; he's from the Capitol. The idiot people, remember? They're just trend followers; sheep with a shepherd. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me close to him again, pressing my body against his.

His left hand tilted my head. He bent his head down…

I stared into his hazel eyes…so beautiful…

His lips came down on mine; just soft lips against each other. He pulled away, smiling. "Do you want more?" He asked me.

"N-no," I stuttered. I knew my voice sounded unsure. I was unsure. But I knew I couldn't let Marcus into my bubbled world. He was from the Capitol. I was from District 8. 8+0=8, that much I knew. So just '8' meant that together we were nothing. Nothing and just useless. We weren't right for each other. He had to know that. But did he care?

The door to the hall slid open. I saw Orpheus's silhouette and I pulled away from Marcus. Stupid Marcus, with his stupid smile and his stupidly beautiful eyes and his stupidly handsome face and build and why was I still thinking about him?

"Good, you're both in one place." Orpheus's voice didn't show that he noticed something was off. "The conductor said we'd be at the Capitol in fifteen minutes. It'd be best if you got your stuff together, Marcus, and woke up Nixon." He told the escort.

He glanced at me before responding. "Right, that'd be best…"

I walked by him and to Orpheus. The man was quick to put his arm around me.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Why did I feel like I had heard that question fifty times in the past three days?

"Yeah, I'm just…I feel like I'm wired, and all jittery. Is this normal?" I asked him, looking up into his eyes.

"I felt dread. And disgust." Orpheus told me, not bothering to sugarcoat. "Look, that's the 'beloved' Capitol." We had walked back into the dining hall and we were looking out of the train's windows.

"It's beautiful," I said out loud. Like a modern oasis, compared to District 8. Home was urban, and the Capitol was urban, but in a different way; modern and more high tech, but still mostly simplistic. Most buildings were bright colors, and it was beautiful.

Then I saw the Training Center. I knew it was the Training Center because it looked the same as it did on TV—twelve stories high, lots of windows, and a small garden on top.

It felt like a huge Oh my god factor.

"Despite everything, the Capitol is pretty impressive, eh?" Orpheus asked me.

"Impressive? This is amazing! This must be like how a slave would feel when they went to Ancient Greece or Rome. It's so beautiful…" I told him.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the window until we were at the train station. Somewhere along the way, Marcus and Nixon had come into the dining car.

"Home sweet home," Marcus said, glancing out the window.

Orpheus looked at him. "Sweet? Don't get me started." He told him.

Marcus, the clearly smaller man, looked over his shoulder. "Home is home. However I perceive it is my way, Orpheus. Frankly, I don't like your precious District 7." He responded before walking out of the train, Nixon following.

I saw anger flame in Orpheus's eyes for a moment. "Alright then; Cleo, it's time for you to see the Capitol in all of its hungry glory." He told me, taking my hand into his.

I took a deep breath as I walked out of the train.

Author's Note: Well, I hoped you liked the latest chapter! I'll hopefully get 6 up soon, but I'm working on my other stories as well, plus getting ready for the totally not useless State Tests and Finals, etc. Thanks for reading and please review!

~HolleringHawk65