Here's chapter 9, we hope you like it! (:
The next chapter won't be up for a couple of days because we need to get caught up on writing, sorry guys! We'll try to be as fast as we can.
Maysilee
I've been lying in bed for an hour and a half from a result of not being able to stop thinking. Thinking about my family and how I miss them terribly, about weather or not I have a shot at becoming victor, what becoming the victor means will happen, like Haymitch's death, and about Haymitch himself.
There's no way I could kill Haymitch, even if that would guarantee me being victor. Putting aside my feelings towards him, he's a friend and I just couldn't do that. I know he's missing his family just as much as I am missing mine. The part of me that wants to win so I can see them again also wants him to win so that we can go back to his family. I'm dreading the Games. When I was reaped I was dreading them because I might die, but now I'm doing so because I don't know if I can live through what must happen if I do become the victor.
Then there's how I feel about Haymitch. As I looked into his eyes earlier I wanted to grab hold of him and tell him how I feel and never let go. But I can't do that; I can't risk losing my friendship with him. I value it too much. Plus, if I'm going to die soon wouldn't it just be better if I kept my feelings to myself? Or is the fact that I could die soon, be the very reason I shouldn't hold back from telling him?
All if this is too overwhelming so I decide to leave my room and go see if I can find something to distract me.
As I silently open my door I peer down the hall and spot Haymitch at the end of it looking out a window. So I close the door and head towards him.
"Couldn't sleep either?" I ask.
He turns around to answer me, "Too much on my mind." He responds.
"Me too. Would it help you if we talked about it?" I ask.
"Not really." He replies.
"Hmm, maybe what will help us both is to do a little exploring?"
"Okay." He agrees.
As we make our way down the hall I notice a door on the left that depicts a picture of a person going up some stairs. "Where do you think this leads to? The rooftop?" I don't wait for a response. "Let's go check it out!" I grab Haymitch's hand and drag him after me as I open the door and head up the stairs. As we reach the top there's another door and I push that one open as well. I feel a burst of cold air, it did indeed lead us to the rooftop. All that comes out of my mouth is, "Wow."
There's a garden complete with wind chimes, a birdbath, benches, and a water fountain situated in the middle of the roof and I make my way over to it.
"This is amazing!" I say incredibly as I go to sit down on one of the benches near the water fountain.
"Yes, it is." He says as he walks over towards the benches.
I look over at Haymitch and see that he is still standing. "Come, sit down." I grab his hand and pull him onto the bench next to me. While he might not feel the same way I do, friends can sit together on the same bench, right? I feel like I have butterflies in my stomach as we sit together. Neither of us is saying anything, letting our minds wander as we appreciate the view of the garden.
"So, it's way different here in the Capitol than District Twelve." Haymitch says after a while of silence.
"Yeah, back home we don't have bathrooms the size of living rooms and people dyed all the colors of the rainbow." I say, which makes him laugh.
"Yeah, your right! And our families would be horrified at all of the money and food that they waste here!" He tells me.
I quickly reply, "I think any family in any district would be disgusted." I pause and in a more somber voice I add, "How are our families going to watch us compete and possibly die, Haymitch? It's dreadful to think of them watching…" When I say this Haymitch pulls me into his arms.
After awhile I look up at him, and his eyes show such kindness that I blurt out, "It's the moments like these where without the hustle and bustle of training and focusing on the Games, that I start to think of how much I miss home… though I do feel like I have a little bit of home in you. I'm glad we are friends, Haymitch."
"Same here, Maysilee. Me too." He whispers.
As I sit there with Haymitch I lay my head on his shoulder. I find that I am really comfortable around him, just another thing that deepens my attraction towards him. It doesn't take long for me to start shivering though since we are up so high and the wind is starting to pick up. Haymitch notices and suggests we go back down and head to our rooms. I reluctantly agree, after all, I do need to get some sleep if I'm going to go through another day of training tomorrow. So he leads me back to my room and hugs me goodnight.
"Thanks for being there for me." I whisper, somewhat echoing his words to me the night before.
"I always will be." He whispers back and I swear my heart does a flip in my chest. Then he adds, "Goodnight, sleep tight."
When I slip into my room I marvel at how much better he made me feel about everything. I wish we could both make it out of the Games alive...but we can't. So I don't dwell on that for the moment as I hop into bed and drift off to sleep.
Haymitch
I've been lying on the bed for a good hour before I decide that sleep is a lost cause. My mind has no intentions of sleep and my body just doesn't want to lie still.
I get up. What am I going to do? I don't know. And what is the question implied to? What am I going to do about what? Getting to sleep? Jarod? Or what am I going to do about the whole Maysilee thing? That question could be about a lot of things, and in all honesty, I don't have a clue what to do.
I don't know what the right thing to do is about any of them. There are several things I could do. I could go and find some alcohol or some sleep medicine to solve the sleeping dilemma. I could go and kick Jarod's butt and see if I could get away with it. I'm still stumped with the Maysilee thing though. I've admitted how I feel about her. Not to her. But I have admitted it to myself. I care for her and I really like her. I could tell her. But would that ruin our friendship? And what's the point anyway. One of us is going to die soon, if not the both of us, and odds are that both of us will. Will I regret it if I don't? I don't know that either. Jeez, what do I know?
Now, I have given myself a headache. Way to much thinking for a guy who acts on impulse. This is the time where I need someone to tell me what to do.
I walk to the door and grab a robe and some slippers. I've never worn either, but if I'm going to die soon, then I'm going to do whatever I want. I leave the room and head down to Maysilee's room. I don't hear anything and I'm not going to wake her up just because I can't sleep. I walk over to the window where I watched the party going on in the Capitol yesterday.
It's dead quiet out there now. I guess the Capitol has nothing to celebrate today. I can actually see the Capitol and all of its fancy decorations. Now that there are no people out there partying, it looks nice and peaceful. I wish I could walk around on the streets. But they won't let me. I'm not allowed to leave the building without an army of peacekeepers, Rosale, and Damon.
I wonder what my family is doing right now. Are they asleep? How are they coping? I really miss Eric. He's always been there for me and I've always been there for him. Even though he is four years younger than me, he is my best friend and I could do anything with him. He's still a kid and not only was he forced through his first reaping this year but now he has to watch his brother fight for his life in the Games. I hope he is doing ok. My mother on the other hand is probably crying. I'll bet she hasn't stopped crying since we said goodbye at the Justice Building. My poor mother. I hate to see her cry, let alone be the cause of the tears, even if it's not my fault.
I hear a door open behind me.
"Couldn't sleep, either?" Maysilee asks.
I turn to her. I really want to tell her about everything. Maybe she can help me figure everything out. But what if I overwhelm her, especially about how I feel about her? Then, I'll lose her as a friend and have nothing left.
"Too much on my mind." I answer. If only she knew how much.
"Me too. Would it help you if we talked about it?" She consoles.
"Not really." I say. I haven't got anything figured out enough for that.
"Hmm, maybe what will help us both is to do a little exploring?" She asks
"Okay." I reply
We start walking down the long hallway. Floor twelve is actually pretty big. There are at least fifteen rooms; storage, empty rooms, bedrooms, the dining room, remake rooms (for our stylists to fix us up), and there is this one door that Maysilee looks excited about.
"Where do you think this leads to? The rooftop?" She asks. She grabs m hand and yanks me through the door. "Let's go check it out!"
We climb up some stairs and make our way to the top of the training center. You can see the entire city from here and it looks incredible! And there is this garden more beautiful than any garden I've ever seen in District Twelve.
"Wow." Maysilee says. She walks over to the garden. "This is amazing!" And she sits on a bench next to the fountain.
"Yeah, it is." I say. Though, I just have a weird feeling about this. It is amazing. And they let us come up here. And I'm here alone, with Maysilee. I feel like this could be our sanctuary from the Games. At least for a few days.
I walk over to her. Where am I supposed to sit? Next to her? What if she doesn't feel the same way? Would me sitting next to her freak her out? Or what if I sat at the other bench? If she does feel that same way and I offend her without meaning to?
I guess she sees my dilemma because she grabs my hand and says, "Come, sit down." She pulls me to the bench and I sit right next to her.
We sit there in silence for a couple of minutes. Neither of us knows what to say.
"So, it's way different here in the Capitol than District Twelve." I break the silence.
"Yeah, back home we don't have bathrooms the size of living rooms and people dyed all the colors of the rainbow." Maysilee says. I laugh.
"Yeah, your right! And our families would be horrified at all of the money and food that they waste here!" I say. It's true. In District Twelve, we don't have much, and there are several nights that we go to bed hungry. In fact, we go to bed hungry more often than not.
"I think any family in any district would be disgusted." She says and then her face looks sad. "How are our families going to watch us compete and possibly die, Haymitch? It's dreadful to think of them watching..." I pull her to my arms to comfort her. We sit there for a little while and I hold her until she looks up and me.
"It's the moments like these were without the hustle and bustle of training and focusing on the Games, that I start to think of how much I miss home… though I do feel like I have a little bit of home in you. I'm glad we are friends, Haymitch." Maysilee tells me. I feel the same way.
"Same here, Maysilee. Me too." I say.
I still don't know if she feels the same way I do, but she does consider me a friend. A piece of home to her. Which I think of her the same way. We don't have anything else to remind us of where we came from, so why not have a good friend.
She leans against me with her head on my shoulder and we just sit there. I wish there was something we could do to make it so both of us could live. That no one has to die in the arena anymore. Another war wouldn't do us any good right now. And even if I did try to start one, how many people would be on my side? People would be too scared to fight and it might possibly be me against the Capitol. I don't know what I'm going to do.
Maysilee shivers and I know that it's time to go back to our rooms. It's getting cold and it's probably really late. And Rosale already told me I can't throw anymore alarm clocks at the door anymore.
"We should go back to our rooms." I say. "It won't do you any good to get hypothermia before you go into the arena."
I can tell she doesn't want to but she agrees to go, I think more on the fact that we'll have to get up early if we want to eat breakfast and get to training on time, than about her getting to cold.
I walk her to her room and hug her goodnight. I think she is still upset about our families watching us die.
"Thanks for being there for me." She says.
I turn and look into her bright blue eyes and say, "I always will be. Goodnight, sleep tight." Just like my mother always said to me when I was a little kid. And I head to my room.