"Hurry up, or we'll all be late!"
I rolled my eyes as Belladonna's shrill voice came ringing through the door, her fist also rapping on the wood. "Just a second." I shouted in reply, slipping my silky black shirt on over my head, careful not to mess up the delicate plait Nyall had done just moments ago.
I slipped out into the hallway, careful not to trip in my black flats, the white dress pants on my legs so much more comfortable then the dresses I had been forced into lately. "Finally." Belladonna huffed, grabbing my wrist and practically yanking me down the hallway towards the train exit.
We were in District Four today, and had already done our speeches this morning. Or rather, should I say, Cato did his speech this morning.
I stood quietly at his side and pretended not to feel the blood circulation stopping in my hand from how harshly he was squeezing it.
He was mad at me, obviously.
It's for the best.
Nyall's voice rang through my thoughts as the slight bit of sadness rose up again in my gut, quickly pushing it back down. I was getting better, or so he said. I guess that means he was right about what he said.
No Cato.
Normal Aria.
I was brought back to reality as the overwhelming smell of salt hit me, a small smile crossing my lips at the distant sound of water. District Four was so beautiful, it was no wonder everyone here was stunning.
After all, Finnick Odair is from this District.
And no one in Panem would deny his attractiveness.
" Honestly, the girl doesn't know how to tell time." Belladonna huffed, releasing my wrist. I rubbed the sore skin, sending a slight glare in her direction, before smiling softly at Nyall. He nodded his head in my direction, directing me into the car, waiting for us.
I slowly climbed inside, my stomach churning as I was forced to practically sit in Cato's lap. To everyone else, we were still a happy couple, well everyone other than Nyall, anyway.
I glanced up at Cato; his eyes trained out the window, staring at nothing in particular, his arms folded across his broad chest. He didn't even look at me when I smashed against his side, Belladonna insisting she needed more room.
It hurt a bit, quite a bit honestly, but I shoved it away.
He doesn't love you Aria.
And you don't love him.
You don't like Cato, Aria.
Cato hurt you.
Cato continues to try and hurt you.
You don't need him to be happy.
You don't need him at all.
I chanted those thoughts to myself as the car pulled away from the train station, driving us towards the mayor's house for a dinner party. To say I was excited was perhaps the biggest lie in the history of all of Panem.
In fact, the only person in the car who actually seemed excited was Belladonna, who was all dolled up in a blue ensemble, Bertlynn's suit and tie matching hers to boot.
Nyall was being dragged along as well. He was much more subtle in the wardrobe department, wearing a black simple suit and a navy blue tie.
Cato and I were both in simple black and white, Cato's black dress shirt and pants matching the white blazer overtop perfectly. His hair was well groomed, his face free of any hint of imperfection.
Cato looks good enough to come from District Four.
I shook my head a bit at the thought, the car coming to a stop and everyone climbing out. Cato's hand found its way to mine, practically breaking my wrist as he yanked me from the car.
"Ouch." I yelped at him, snatching my hand away and holding it tenderly. He glared down at me, refolding his arms across his chest as he spoke. "Opps. Sorry."
I narrowed my eyes at him, opening my mouth to bite back a smart remark, only to have Belladonna silence me by speaking first. "Now listen you two. I don't know what your angry at each other for, but you've barely spoken the entire last week we've been on this train. Now I want you two to at least act like your happy together. Just for the evening, got it?"
She said it as more of a demand than a question, not bothering to say anything else as she headed up into the open door of the house, a plump man with red hair smiling and welcoming her in with a hug.
"Come on then." Cato grumbled, grabbing my hand, somewhat less forcefully, and pulling me up the walk into the house. I gave Nyall a fleeting look, only to see him shrug his shoulders and proceed in behind us.
Gee, thanks for the help.
" And look who it is! Last year's victors. Wonderful to meet you!" The mayor rambled on, waving his hands about wildly. I nearly got hit in the face when he swung his arm to gesture about the room, my eyes wandering about.
Only a few other people were there, all old men who looked like they would like to be anywhere but here. Then I saw her, the teal and blue fabric of her dress catching in the light of the decorative seashell chandelier.
Her hair was a light red color with hints of blonde highlights, her skin tanned from days out in the sun. Her blue eyes were popping as she looked about the room, appearing to glide from place to place, chatting with a few people.
"Oh and how silly of me! I forgot to introduce my daughter, Coral!"
Suddenly the girl's head snapped towards us, a smile spreading on her perfectly red colored lips as she walked over. "Hello." She greeted politely, although her eyes were only trained on one thing:
The handsome blonde boy beside me, who had dropped my hand the second he saw her.
It's going to be a long night.
[-]
"And then the boy threw the sea shell and it broke!" Coral finished her joke, all of the men in the room barking with laughter, well, all of the men other than Nyall, who was sitting beside me on the plush sofa.
Belladonna glanced over at me, completely confused on how the joke was amusing, a glass of a deep red liquid in her hand. I shrugged, to which she pouted and turned back towards the group of people, trying to decipher the humor.
My eyes wandered over to Cato, who was sitting on the arm of the couch a cushion over from me, Coral standing beside him and resting her hand on his broad shoulder, a glass of the liquid also in her hand.
"You okay?" Nyall mumbled in my ear, making me look over at him, his eyes looking down at my hands. I hadn't realized I was clenching my fists so tightly in my lap, them a white color from the lack of blood flow. I quickly relaxed them, nodding a bit.
"I'm fine." I said softly. The look on his face told me he didn't believe me, but I ignored it, standing walking over to Coral and Cato.
Cato didn't even look at me, but Coral did, her eyes narrowing slightly in obvious dislike. "Yes?" She asked, slipping her hand a bit lower on Cato's bicep, perhaps to bother me. Cato finally snapped his eyes up in my direction, realizing I was standing there.
This time, I didn't look at him.
"Sorry to interrupt, but where is the bathroom?" I said in the friendliest manner I could, folding my arms loosely across my stomach. She pointed towards the staircase, saying, " First door on the left, think you can find it?"
I resisted the urge to say something smart, simply walking around her and towards the stairs, feeling Cato's eyes burning holes into my back the entire way. Finally, I was out of view, slipping into the decorated bathroom.
It was blue, of course. It seemed to be the color scheme for the home. I leaned against the sink for a moment, before washing my hands and drying them off. I glanced in the mirror, examining my reflection.
I smiled, it looking a bit foreign on my face. How long had it been since I had actually smiled? The only person who could make me smile anymore was Zander, and he was hours away in District Three, probably eating all the food left in my fridge.
A small real smile crossed my lips as I thought of him, reaching for the doorknob.
"Hurry up." A hushed voice whispered, a small giggle following it. I recognized the voice as Coral's. For a moment, I thought she was talking to me, only until I heard the much deeper voice reply seconds after. "I'm coming."
My hand froze hovering above the doorknob, my mouth parting slightly. It was Cato, and by the sound of it he was getting closer to the door. The sound of feet hitting carpet met my ears as they slowly walked pass the bathroom door, their voices still slightly hushed as they both laughed at something.
I took a risk, cracking the door open and peeking out at them, my heart pounding hard in my chest. They were just standing at the end of the hall in front of a door, Coral's arms snacking around Cato's neck as he dipped his head down and whispered something to her.
She giggled, the noise making my stomach churn in distaste.
He was such a horrible flirt.
What kind of guy leads girls on like that?
Not to mention he knows he is supposed to be known as my boyf-
My thoughts abruptly stopped as Cato's lips pressed into hers, him backing her into the wall as they began to kiss. I bit my bottom lip hard, my mind shouting for me to look away, although I simply didn't listen.
They stayed like that, simply kissing for who knows how long. I could only really see flashes of it in the dimly lit hallway: Coral's hands pushing through his short hair. Cato's hands on her waist, his lips moving down her neck.
Get out of here, Aria.
I willed myself to quietly open the door, slipping out and towards the staircase without them hearing me. I was about to step onto the stairs, very slowly as to not be heard, when the floor creaked behind me.
I quickly hurried down the stairs, hoping they hadn't heard me, although I knew they had.
"There you are, I was beginning to get worr-" Belladonna began to say, her eyes softening a bit when she saw my face. " Are you alright dear? You look a bit pale."
"I, I um." I stuttered out, not really sure how I felt. I swallowed hard, looking over towards Nyall, who was already coming in my direction. "I don't feel well. Could Nyall take me back to the train please?"
Belladonna exchanged a look with Nyall, who wrapped his arm around my waist, guiding me towards the door, not waiting for an answer. " I suppose that would be alright. Perhaps we should all be going now anyway. I'll just fetch Cato-"
"No!" I said, far too quickly, my palms sweating a bit. "I just, um." I stuttered out, Belladonna raising an eyebrow at me. " I don't want to ruin your fun. Besides, I'll just be going back and laying down anyway."
Don't want to ruin Cato's fun.
…
Fun with Coral.
Belladonna mulled this over for a moment, before nodding slowly, allowing us to leave alone. Nyall ushered me towards the door, my walking speeding up when the sounds of feet coming down the stairs echoed into my ears.
"Aria? Where are you-"
I didn't let Cato finish; shutting the door abruptly behind me once we stepped outside. Nyall didn't question my actions, helping me into the car before speaking with the driver.
Within seconds, we were gone.
[-]
"Come on, stupid thing! Work." I begged, shaking the contraption in my hands. It was very thin and flat, a screen lit up with icons on the front. Nyall told me it was some sort of phone, but he didn't explain how it worked.
You're from District Three, Aria.
You're supposed to know this kind of stuff.
I focused on the icons, blowing some of the blonde strands of damp hair from my face as I tapped a few. A series of numbers popped up, leaving me to think for a moment about those numbers listed on my similar contraption back in District Three.
I wanted to talk to Zander.
I needed to talk to him.
It was a long shot that he would be there this late, but I had to try.
After managing to remember the numbers, I hit send, the screen going black and making a ringing noise, a circle glowing in the middle as it waited for the call to be answered.
My heart sunk a bit more with every passing second, my finger hovering over the hang-up button. I was just about to press it, when the screen was filled with a sleepy looking Zander, his dark hair an utter mess atop his head.
A smile broke out wide on my face as he yawned, raising an eyebrow at me. "Aria, why are you calling your own house in the middle of the night?" He said, his voice heavy with sleep.
I shrugged, propping the device up against a box on my vanity, sitting down more comfortably in the chair. "Why are you in my house in the middle of the night?" I asked back, a small smile spreading on his lips.
"Touché." He said, grinning a bit as he too moved to sit down, taking a seat on the couch, the picture shaking a bit as she shifted into a comfortable position. "So, what's got you calling me so late?" He asked, his face focusing on mine.
I studied his face for a moment before responding, seeing the familiar lines and contours, his perfect green eyes a bit closed in his tired state. "I've missed you." I say softly, folding my hands in my lap.
"I've missed you two, but I know that's not what you want to talk about. Now, tell me, Aria. You can trust me." Zander said, his gaze softening and he listened intently, waiting for me to begin.
"It's Cato." I croaked out, not really sure how to word the situation. I couldn't tell Zander about everything that was going on, it would only put him in danger.
"What about Cato? Have you been arguing a lot?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.
"You could say that." I said, biting my bottom lip as I thought of the cold attitude I was receiving from that blonde haired boy.
"Well, you still love him, don't you?" Zander asked, his face watching mine, I look I couldn't decipher in his eye.
Tell him no, Aria.
Because you don't love Cato anymore.
You can not, and will not ever love Cato anymore.
Ever.
I snapped my head towards the door, thinking I heard the floor creaking. "Hello? Aria, do you?" Zander repeated, my head slowly turning back towards the device.
I swallowed hard, a lump forming in my throat as I struggled to get out the words my mind was shouting at me to say. My stomach churned as I forced the words out, it feeling foreign on my tongue.
"No. I don't." I stuttered out, the sudden slamming of a door making me jump. I looked towards the door again, seeing no one. I told myself to relax; convincing myself it was just the wind.
I talked to Zander for a few more moments, promising to call again, before hanging up and slipping into my bed, the light of the moon dimly slipping in through the cracked window of the train.
No. I don't.
My lie rang out in my brain, just the thought of it giving me a pang in my chest. I hated lying, but this lie had to become one that was true, even if it wasn't at the moment.
Because as much as I didn't want to admit it, I still loved Cato.
A lot.
Too bad he doesn't love me.
[-]
Wow! Haha, I pumped this chapter out in only a few hours. Once I started typing it all just flowed out! Sorry for the lack of update last week, I started a few times but scrapped those drafts.
I'm quite happy with this one, so I hope you like it!
Im not gonna write a huge author note, cause Im sleepy and just wanna post this :P
THANKS FOR OVER 100 REVIEWS :D Only on Chapter 6 and were well on our way to 200(:
As always, long reviews will get personal pms from me
Thanks guys!
-Becca(: