January 23rd

Maybe if I hadn't let my curiosity get the better of me, maybe if I'd kept my mouth shut, maybe if I had just walked away, maybe I wouldn't be in this situation right now.

It all started at that one day at school. It was lunch time, and I had gone to the restroom because I had spilled some milk on shirt and had to go wash it off. While I was in there, I heard yelling coming from the hallway. The main voice sounded like the elementary principal, . I couldn't make out the other one, but it sounded awfully familiar.

When I walked out, I could hear the yelling echo though the halls. I knew I should be getting back to the lunch room, but I couldn't help but be curious as to what was going on. My curiosity got the better of me, and I followed the voices down the hallway.

They led me to right outside the principals office. The office was at the very end of the hall, with the front entrance to the school right beside it. I knew where it was because my classroom was right down the halls a little ways.

Outside the office was , and a tall girl who was looking down on the ground. Her hair was long, the color resembled a snowy white. From what I could tell from the distance I was at, she had bright red eyes, along with ghostly pale skin. Her clothing was way to mature for her age, being a pink and black flannel shirt, black leggings and brown high heel boots (seriously! Who wears high heels in elementary school!?").

Sound familiar?

It was Melanie being yelled at by the principal. As to what, I didn't know. I couldn't hear what they were saying because I was a bit to far away. After a few minutes, slammed his hands to his side, turned around and walked back into his office with a slam of the door.

Melanie sat down on the bench. I pictured her with that smug little look, with her arms crossed and a sly smirk, like she was proud of whatever she did even if it did get her in trouble. But that wasn't the case at all. Instead she was sitting with her hands buried in her hands, with her shoulders shaking like she was crying.

I couldn't help it. I had to know what happened.

Walking out of my corner, I slowly made my way closer to her. She didn't notice me at first, but as I got closer she must have heard me because she peaked her head up from her hands in surprise. Her eyes were red and her face was puffy. She looked so vulnerable, it actually made me feel bad for her.

She sniffed and wiped her damp eyes. "What do you want!"

Her snap was weak and half-hearted, and her voice was catching in her thought.

"What happened?" I asked. "Why was Mr. Kuhonten yelling at you?"

"That's none of your business, now get lost!"

I didn't move. She glared at me with sunken, sad eyes, which didn't terrify me in the least. I stood there looking at her, and after a few minutes her glare softened into a half-hearted stare, which then vanished completely as she looked down at the floor. Sighing, she scooted over on the bench, giving me room to sit down.

"I feel bad for you, Mirra" she said after a few minutes.

I blinked. "Huh? But why?"

"Your older brother looks really strong. Does it hurt?"

I was getting confused. "Does what hurt?"

"Gosh, your so clueless! When he hits you! Does it hurt?"

"Hits me?!" I reported in a loud whisper, trying to be quiet as I knew I'd get in trouble if I saw caught out here. "He doesn't hit me!"

I saw Melanie chuckle a bit. "Of course he does. They all do."

I opened my mouth to reply but Melanie continued. "Mine does, my older sister I mean. She's in tenth grade. She hits me when I do things she doesn't like, like that time she caught me playing with her dolls, or when I tell mommy and daddy something she doesn't want them to know, or when I had been playing with the cat and woke her up from her nap. She says that parents don't discipline the younger siblings like they're supposed to, so it's up to the older one."

Hearing her say this suddenly made my stomach twist in knots. I opened my mouth to say something, but it came out weaker than I wanted it to. "Does your mommy and daddy know about that?"

"Sorta. They caught her doing it once and told her to stop, but she still does it. She warned me that if I told them that she'd hit me even more."

"Melanie..." I said softly. I didn't know how to react to that, because Percy never hits me, and the only time he yells at me is when he's trying to get me to run away from something dangerous. In fact, the only time he ever did yell at me was that one time in the park, and that was so long ago, I barely remember what happened.

Melanie spoke up again. "Sis always denies what she does. It gets on my nerves. I hate when people deny the truth." She sighed, hugging her knees closer to her chest and closing her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again. She said something, in barely even a whisper, but I was able to hear it.

"Why did I get in trouble for putting that little lier in her place..."

That caught my attention. "What?"

"You know Rosie in my class? She was bragging about her mommy expecting a baby and she's going to be a big sister. I heard her saw that she wouldn't hurt her sibling under any circumstance. Well, I told her to stop lying, but she pretened like she didn't know what I was talking about. Whenever I lie about something, sis would slap my head. So I did the same to Rosie. Then she started crying. It annoyed me, so I hit her again to get her to be quiet. Of course, I got in trouble anyway..."

So that's why she's down here.

I frowned. Melanie though she was supposed to do that, thought that all siblings are like hers. That wasn't true though.

"Not all siblings are like that" I said, a little louder than I would have liked it, but it got her attention. "Your's is just mean, the way you describe her! That doesn't make it okay for you to hit people!"

Her nose scrunched up in a grimace. "Didn't I just tell you that I hated people who deny the truth?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but she interrupted. "Or maybe you are telling the truth, you've only known your brother for what, like half a year? I'll bet there are things about him you don't know. He probably has a who other side to him that you don't know yet!"

And again, I tried to respond (though how I planned to do so, I hadn't figured that out yet) but Melanie goaned loudly, raising her hand and hitting me hard across the face.

"You don't know anything about your brother, do you? Everyone has secrets, and know one knows everything about somebody. Your just to arrogant to figure that out"

Before I knew what was happening, I had Melanie pinned down on the bench, holding her wrists down while I used my feet to secure her ankles so she wouldn't struggle. I don't know where that sudden burst of strenth came from, or that I had that amount of strenth to begin with, all I knew I was angry at her, and wanted to shut her up.

"Mirra Blofis!"

I perked up, and standing over us was Mr. Kuhonten, arms crossed and frowning.

OoOoOoOo

"Get inside, now" daddy snapped as he shoved me inside the apartment. I winced a bit at his harsh tone of voice, but knew not to talk back as he was angry.

Mommy was in the kitchen when we entered, and Percy was sitting on the couch. He smiled when he saw us, but that quickly faded when he saw my expression. "What happened?"

Mommy walked though the door with a towel in her hands. She frowned when she saw us. "Your home late. Is everything okay?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but daddy beat me to it.

"Mirra tackled another student after she snuck away from the cafeteria"

That wasn't true, but I never had time to say so as Mommy gasped and looked down at me. "Is this true, Mirra?"

Once again, I opened my mouth to respond, but daddy interrupted.

"Yes, it is." Daddy sighed. "You've never done anything like this, Mirra. I'm very disappointed in you..."

Mommy crossed her arms and glared down at me, making me flinch. Daddy still held a firm grip on my arm and it was starting to hurt. He was also glaring. I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes, and I looked over at Percy for some sort of reassurance. He gave me a sympathetic look, and stood up.

"Don't you think we should hear her side of the story?" Percy asked. "There has to be a good reason for all of this." He looked down at me, and smiled just the slightest before looking back up at mommy and daddy. "I know my little sister, and she wouldn't do something like this without a reason."

Mommy and daddy said nothing, but just look at me as if signalling for me to speak. I did.

"She was being mean" I said. "She was saying bad things about people and called me names. What did you expect me to do, just sit there and listen?"

"But that's no reason to tackle somebody" mommy said.

"But-!"

"Mirra! No buts. That's no reason to tackle somebody and you know it" daddy interrupted. I saw Percy frown.

"Mom, Paul, don't you think your being a little unreasonable." He turned to mommy. "Mom, if I can remember correctly, I did the same thing when I was Mirra's age and you didn't get this mad."

Mommy opened her mouth to respond, but closed it as if trying to chose her words correctly.

"Ah, yes but...your a different situation, Percy" she stammered.

I suddenly felt my ears get hot. "But that's not fair!"

"Mirra, don't yell at-"

"No! That's not fair and you know it!" I balled my fist and dug my nails into my skin. Mommy and daddy started at me. Percy had suddenly become really red and was looking at the opened his mouth, but I was so angry, I couldn't hear.

They say you do stupid things when blinded by an intense emotion. Well, that's exactly what I did. I shook myself out of daddy's grip and ran out the opened door of the apartment, then bolted down the hallway to the stairs, and kept running in fury. My eyes were closed, so I couldn't tell where exactly I was going, until the cold air of winter hit my skin.

I was standing outside the apartment, freezing air hitting my arms and small pieces of snow landing on my shoulders. I didn't want to go back to the apartment, so I just started walking, getting father away from the apartment with every step.

Hey, do you want to hear a funny story? Well, you see, I started on this chapter, but then forgot about it, until I was looking though my stories and saw I hadn't updated yet, so...yeah.

Okay, I have a question for any Hunger games fans. Would you be interested about reading a story about a girl who posed as a man and volunteers as tribute in place of the person she loves. I'm thinking of writing that but I don't know if people would like a story like that. Let me know what you think!