I'm sorry for not updating! I couldn't get on for the longest time because there was some kind of error... Anyway, Happy Late New Year!
"Are you okay?" Castone asked.
"Fine." Joy replied, rubbing her eyes.
"You were just murmuring my name…" Castone shifted uncomfortably.
"You didn't help me when an arrow was shot into my stomach!" Joy snapped.
"Th-That was probably…Um, maybe you have ulcers." Castone suggested carefully.
Joy changed the subject. "I think you didn't help me because in reality, you never talk to me anymore! Do you not want to see me?"
"I'm not doing it on purpose! Why didn't you come to me?" Castone defended himself.
"Maybe because you've hanging around with Topaz, who nearly stripped himself in the shower with me!"
"He did that? He didn't tell me!" Castone was suppressing a smile.
Joy stormed to the janitor's closet. She'd been going there often; the room comforted her. She was numb with emotions. She felt as though she couldn't feel sad or exasperated. All she could feel was utter exhaustion. She was tired of being scared and mad. She wanted to be happy. But she knew she wouldn't be happy for a while. She settled for courageous. Bold, capable of anything. Not the small, fragile girl she'd come to know in the past days. She took a deep breath, pondering her resolution. It'd be hard to accomplish, but worth it.
But is this real bravery, or just a mask? How long will this last? Joy hoped it was real, but she wasn't afraid to face her doubts. I'm a new person! She thought, straightening. Hunger Games Reaping? No big deal!
The door creaked open. "Honey? Is that you? I thought you might be here. I got a dress you can wear for the Reaping." Joy's mother said tentatively.
Joy smiled. "Thanks, Mom. Where'd you get it?" Joy took the dress from her, pretending to study the fabric.
Her mother brightened a little. "Oh! Well, I met someone who had a dress your size. It used to belong to her daughter.
"It's beautiful! But what about her daughter? What's she going to wear?
Her mother hesitated. "Not everyone got to the shelters in time." Her mother said darkly.
Joy sighed.
"I hope it's still okay though, the dress I mean." Her mother smiled hopefully, breaking the silence.
"Yeah." Joy was truthful in saying this. It was a soft sunset orange color with one bejeweled strap.
"I'll wait outside while you change."
Joy found that the bottom half of the dress was ruffled and puffy with layers. Just an orange dress and silver pearl earrings. So simple without skin pigments and wigs. Joy wondered how she looked. She pushed the door open to reveal her eager mother.
"Oh! It's gorgeous! Come on; let's go to the Large Group Instruction room. we're going to meet Castone there."
I used Peeta's favorite color! The pearl earrings had some signifigance too. By the way, I revised all of the chapters because I found out that in Coin's proposal for the Captiol Hunger Games, only kids who were related to important Capitol people were eligible. Bye!