Corvin is next to me. Alone. Just us. Again.
"Where do you want to go first?" He asks, tracing the outline of my heart-shaped face with his finger. He starts at my forehead, then gently makes his way down to my chin, and continues on to play with my hair, twisting it in his fingers, getting his hand tangled up in it. Once again, I pull away from him. He lets a lock of the silky hair cascade through his fingers like sand, with a smirk on his face.
"Doesn't matter. Anywhere," I say, annoyed. I turned away abruptly; I couldn't stand him looking at me the way he was. We make our way down to the back of the train. As he follows me through the dimly lit hallways, I can't help but wonder about the mystery of it all. The train travels at 200 miles per hour, yet I'm not swaying with the motion of it, nor do I feel the slightest curve or bump. The Capitol has all this technology, and still they refuse to share it with us. It makes me angry and my whole body feels electrified.
Suddenly a door opens and I'm temporarily blinded by the light of the sun streaming in through an open door. We have made it to the back of the train and a small balcony awaits us. I get dizzy at the sight of blurry trees and grass zipping by. I can't even get details of the view because we are going so fast. I step out on the deck, feeling the sting of rushing air. It almost hurts as I'm sliced by the wind, but I like the way it feels. I whirl around, putting my back to the rail and my fists curled around it so that I'm facing Corvin.
"Well?" I snap, glaring at him. "Tell me something about you so that we can get to know each other," I say it in as sarcastic of a tone as I can muster.
"I'm Corvin. I'm from District 12 and I'm an only child. I love the color turquoise and I've always wanted to see the ocean. Now tell me about you, because we both know that is the interesting part of this little trip," he says, still giving me that mischievous smile. Once again, he's advancing on me and we are merely inches apart. Only this time I have nowhere to back off to, unless I prefer jumping off the end of the train, which doesn't seem to be an option. Besides, they probably have force fields to keep us from doing that.
I'm taken by surprise, though. If he is an only child, who were those boys who he was standing with at the Reaping?
"There's nothing to tell," I say, trying to keep a straight face.
"Well, that's not good. After all, it was your idea to have us get to know each other," I'm really starting to hate his constant smirk. He's playing with me. Teasing me. Messing with me. "Hmmm. You know, you really are... beautiful." He says it in a way that sounds almost sarcastic. "And you're right; we should get to know each other better." His voice is low, and before I can respond, I know he's about to kiss me.
I duck around him, spinning back into the hallway. He is shocked, as if he can't believe I would do such a thing. I don't want to see his face anymore.
I don't care who he is, or if he is trying to protect me during the games. Corvin Echo is not my boyfriend, and never will be.
I can't sleep.
It is as simple as that. Everything is spinning around in my head and I've almost fallen out of bed three times tonight.
I can hear the pastel white clock ticking in the corner of my small room on the train. Everything in here is a soft white, from the bed to the ceiling and back to the floor. It's fine; I have nothing against this gentle shade. The walls seem to soak up the sound of busy things, including my mind. When all I have is a thousand thoughts bouncing around in my head, messing with my emotions, all I want to do is scream. But when I'm in this room, I can think.
Even though I can't feel the train moving, I pretend I can because I want it to rock me to sleep. I roll over and look longingly out the small window of my room. Wrapping my arms around the creamy feather pillow I've been given, I feel a few tears roll down my cheeks. I've never wanted someone so desperately. I need my mother here to sing me to sleep. I can hear her heartwarming voice calmly playing out the lullaby that has wrapped me up in a peaceful sleep ever since I was little.
Hush, little angel
your wings are tired
you can float away, far away
to somewhere light and sweet
and listen to a lullaby
while you lay down on a feathery bed
of honeysuckle songs
and forget all your fears
dry your tears
Even though I know I can never recreate my mother's perfect rhythm and relaxed melody, somehow I'm asleep before the song is done playing through my head.
I sit up sleepily, rubbing my eyes and giving a long yawn. Propping myself up on my elbow, the first thing I see is the window. It's still dark out. I recall a strange dream about my mother singing to me, but now I wish I didn't. The twinge in my gut is back and it is tearing me apart from the inside. Before I can lay down and cry, I see him.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, his eyes locked on mine, is Corvin.
"Oh my god!" I scream at him, scrambling up to the corner of the wall, and clutching the pillow to my chest. "What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?"
The sad part is I think he's more shocked than I am.
"I couldn't sleep," he explained, "so I came here. Your door wasn't locked; I guess they forgot to lock it since you went to bed early." All I can do is gape at him in astonishment.
"Get out of here!" I shriek, and throw my pillow at him.
"I'm really sorry," he said. He sounds so sincere, truly sorry that he did it. "You have a beautiful voice. I just wanted to see someone else. I can't stand to be alone in my room... you know we get to the Capitol today, right?"
A flood of guilt washes over me. That's why he's in here. But still, he must be crazy! "Wait- what was that about my voice?"
"I heard you singing. A song about angels. It really captured me. I wish I knew lullabies like that." All I can do is continue to stare at him. He casually hops off the bed, walks over to me and runs his fingers through my hair. "Such beautiful hair," he murmurs, then turns and walks to the door. Before he leaves he turns and gives me a pained look, sighs, and leaves.
I'm left there all morning. Even when Symma calls me in for breakfast, I can only sit there in disbelief. I knew two things: first, Corvin somehow got into my room and heard my mother's lullaby. Second, we arrive at the Capitol today. One day closer to the Games.
Eventually Eila comes in to get me out of bed. I get dressed, take a shower, and dry my hair. As soon as I walk out of my room, I'm greeted by Guess-Who.
"Hi," he says, smiling. "According to Symma, we're almost to the Capitol, where we'll be greeted by our prep teams and stylists. Do you want to go talk to Eila for some advice?"
"Not really," I say flatly. I'm still in disbelief about the whole room thing. Walking past him, I head over to get some food. I'm even more confused now than I was last night when he tried to kiss me.