Chapter 12
It's been four days already. My tribute found a water source, was almost killed by fire, and puked. A lot.
Apollo really decided to go to design school. Before he left to apply, he told me that seeing District 12's clothing items restored hope in him. So, a slightly depressed Aemelia and I are the only ones at home. My maid always get sad when she stays at men's houses. She just sits on the couch next to me and watches the Games. After soaking her burns, the pack comes after her. Of course, she climbs up a tree. I kind of expected that.
"Aemelia I'm bored," I whine, purposely falling on her. She pushes me off.
"How can you be bored? These are the Hunger Games. Things you love. Violence, blood, and hot guys," she says. I chuckle. Idea, I could work on some of my artwork. I run upstairs to get my laptop off my bed, when I see Prince lying on my bed like an angel. So cute, I have to disturb him. Instead of taking my laptop downstairs, I scoop up Prince and bring him into the den. My tribute is holding a quiver of arrows above Glimmer's head, about eighty feet in the air.
"I'm going to take Prince for a walk. See you whenever," I say to her. She just nods. I slip on my trainers and clip Prince's leash to his collar. He loves going for walks around the Capitol, even though he's a pussy and gets scared by almost everything. He's a good dog. We turn left at the end of the pathway and start walking. Prince is trying to run ahead of me, but his leash won't let him. We walk past Apollo's house, then Caliban and Priam's until we reach the cul-de-sac. I stretch my back, making it pop, and take a deep breath. I click to Prince as I would click to one of my horses and we both start to run. We run faster and faster until we reach my house again. The air is crisp. Not too summery yet. Perfect spring air. Prince trots happily beside me as we walk past the house and toward the financial district. The financial districts are located in the center of the Capitol, with the residential districts on the outer parts of the financial area. That's where all of the shopping malls, banks, restaurants, hotels- you name it, are located. No one really knows where all of the arenas are located, though. The arenas with the more famous victors seems to be located within a traveling distance, like the one with a giant lake. That's the one with the lake where we took our senior ditch day. I pull Prince back from trying to attack a small branch. Surprisingly, there are a lot of people out and about today. Four days into the Hunger Games and people are already starting to get bored. Seneca Crane, you need to start stepping it up.
"So, almost doctor Vasik, my brother is complaining of a massive headache. What do you recommend?" Caliban says from behind me. I smile and shake my head, turning around to look at him. He and Priam are twins. Shoulder length light brown hair, and the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen. They both have tattoos of their late sister's name and her birthdate on their forearms, which I can see clearly today. I walk over to Caliban and hug him. Prince barks a greeting, too.
"Get him some ibuprofen. Tell him to get his ass of the couch and get some exercise. He's probably burned his corneas from staring at the Games for all this time," I say. He puts his arm around my shoulder, and wrap my arm around his waist. Caliban's the closet thing I've had to a real boyfriend without having romantic interest. I don't know why, but we are very touchy to each other. Not in a perverted way, though. Just like a lot of hugging.
"So what are you doing out on this fine day?" he asks me as we walk toward the drug store.
"I'm just taking Prince out for a walk. Apollo and Aemelia are watching the Hunger Games. Of course, Aemelia should be making lunch by now..." I check my mobile phone for the time. Caliban laughs. Their maid always at the top of her game. But I guess Aemelia is more like family to us. She gets more slack. We enter the store, and I pick out the medicine for Priam for him.
"You want to get some lunch?" Caliban asks me. I nod my head as a reply. There are a lot of nice places to eat in this part of the Capitol, and Aemelia is probably not cooking because she's lazy and wants to watch the Hunger Games. Fine with Apollo, but I need to eat about every three-and-a-half hours, and it's been that long since the last time I've eaten. I'm starving. So, Caliban and I walk to this place called Patchett's. It's a smaller restaurant, but it's still good. The server sits at a table outside so Prince can be in the fresh air. He also hands us two menus. "Are you still not eating meat?" he asks me. I roll my eyes.
"I gave that up a while ago, don't worry," we both smile. Apollo and Caliban are seriously like my two best friends. There is no other people who I feel more comfortable with. I let Caliban order for me. He knows what I like eating. And just as I thought, my lunch is delicious. Baked pheasant over white rice with different sauces. One of my favorites. Caliban ordered lamb stew with the dried plums. It has gotten quite popular since my tribute's interview a few days ago. We sit quietly for the first few minutes, enjoying our meal. "So how will you be spending the first week of summer this year?" I have a feeling I know how his family's going to spend it. Just about everyone in the Capitol uses the first week of summer for traveling and vacation because the weather is so nice. They even make it an event in some parts of it.
"I think Priam and I are going to go visit Sybell," the name he has on his arm, "But my parents are going off to Haymitch Abernathy's arena."
"Well, I'll probably spend it being tortured by Apollo." We both laugh. Let me give you some background of Sybell. Daughter of Peacekeepers Jachimo and Duffy Tennant, and sister of Priam and Caliban Tennant. She was a very nice girl. Beautiful auburn hair, and the same eyes as her brothers. She died from one of the very last cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. I remember that her sickness was one of the hardest times of Priam and Caliban's life. That was when we were in the eighth grade. Sybell was my little cousin Aida's classmate. I believe she was eight when she passed.
"I'll pray for you," He says, taking a drink of water. Prince rubs up against my leg and lays down on my feet. We converse some more before we pay and leave. He takes Priam's bag of medicine and walks me back to my house. I hug him goodbye and walk back into my house, where, of course, Apollo and Aemelia are still sitting with their eyes glued to the television. I let Prince off his leash and he runs up the stairs to probably his usual sleeping spot on my bed.
"Take off your shoes, Hera. I don't want you to get the floors all dirty," Aemelia says without looking at me. That woman...
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is very serious. It is the degeneration of the nervous system. It literally only affects one in a million.
On a brighter note, I'm going to be posting A LOT this week because I want to get to Catching Fire already!
Anyway, being the aspiring novelist I am, Annie and I are starting a new project. Not fanfiction, but like a real book.
Kthnxbai,
Johanna