Snev's A/N: I am not writing this chapter at the moment, Subject is doing all the work! I did all the work on the last chapter. Eep! ...I'm actually getting kinda fed up of everyone else writing my A/Ns for me. First Foxx, then Subject... next thing I know I'll actually be writing my A/Ns! *cue face of mock horror*!
Foxx's A/N: I am currently on a 10 day hiatus. Please tell Snev and Subject that I miss them! *End pre-recorded message*
Subject's A/N: Chapter eleven! Yay! Maybe, soon, hopefully, the reviews will really start to kick in. Please read, and give Snev and Foxx credit. I've done a third of the plot, so have they. They deserve it.
~SFS~
Chapter 11 - Keeping Score, Derryl's POV
The lamp in Maia's hand flickered off as it was yanked from the power outlet. When it the window it flew into shattered into hundreds of glittering shards, I wasn't surprised when one found its way into the tender flesh of my forearm. When the sound of pounding feet echoed around the corridor leading to the Gamemaker's area, I glanced back at Maia, hoping the tears glistening in my eyes weren't too obvious, but she was already gone. I knew that the Avoxes would pester me incessantly into talking with the Gamemakers, but at least Maia wasn't going to get into trouble.
The scene replayed countless times in my mind as I was questioned by the Gamemakers who had rushed to the disturbance of their feast. They warily eyed the sparkling fragments littering the ground as I leaned against the wall. I answered every single question with a neutral answer, giving no hint that someone else was here, let alone the 'girl from district 7'. The crowd of pests finally vacated the scene after ordering a tall female Avox to clean the mess up and replace the window. I slipped away as silently as I could, knowing that, in their state of sobriety, that the memory of who broke the window would fade away, and I would be forgotten as usual. I hoped.
I didn't find myself running into the 'living tree' as I weaved through the hallways to find the elevators.
Why had I acted like such an ass? If there was a genuine answer, it didn't show itself. I moved on to another question. Did she notice my puffy eyes? Does she know that I wept in that side room? The obvious answer was yes, but I didn't want to even attempt to comprehend that field of emotions yet. But I had to face the facts.
If she had seen the obvious signs, she would already know that I'm emotionally weak, just another one of the flaws that will most likely have me killed in a horrible way. As the elevator hummed upwards, my thoughts continued at a vigorous pace. But why was she so angry? I didn't hear any angry yells from her audience.
I stormed out of the elevator, convinced that it had purposely slowed down just to annoy me endlessly. In my own rage, I shot down the requests from Rosalina to calm down and explain what happened with acid in my voice. I slammed the door to my room and collapsed brutally onto the bed, and I finally let the tears flow.
It was far past midnight when I finally woke up, my eyes feeling dry. I could feel the wetness of the bedsheets from my recent breakdown, but I ignored it as a particularly loud rumble ripped through my stomach. I carefully unlocked the door, unnecessarily looking down the hallway both ways before I stepped out of the room. Save the paranoia for the games, Darryl, it'll only help you there. The voice that sounded suspiciously like Maia's rang through my head.
I must be insane, having multiple voices to myself. I chuckled darkly at the thought, carefully closing the door with a sharp click. A dent in the door's smooth, polished wooden surface snatched my attention, and, on further examination, I could see it was clearly the result of hard pounding of a firm hand. I didn't think Bevan cared so much about me.
Somewhere in my head, I knew that I would be able to order food directly to my bedroom, but I needed to find solace in another place, perhaps one that wasn't so tear stained.
I wasn't paying attention to where my legs were taking me, and I soon found myself in the very same niche Maia confronted me in front of. Shrugging, I moved into the room, no bigger than the small space I had to myself in the 'shack'. The room seemed like a room for whispered conversations, as the door leading to it was expertly covered by a large tapestry that illustrated the Districts' demise. It was adorned with simple emerald green furnishings, with two overstuffed chairs situated in the middle, and the only lighting was a single light bulb that flared unsteadily.
I sat down in the one on the left, and turned my thoughts elsewhere, the evidence of tears already wiped from my face.
Drowning in my thoughts, I didn't hear the soft whoosh of the air near the door being displaced. Still immersed in my own musings, I hadn't hurt the light cracking sound of worn leather being sat on. Only when the blurred image of a hand flashed in front of my eyes was I woken from my reverie. Damn it, I forgot to put my contacts back in. I attempted to make out the face of the person who took the seat next to me, but the low lighting held no answers.
"I was wondering when I would see you again." A soft voice whispered softly, the tone oh-so familiar. My face must have been a look of shock, as she sniggered at me.
"What happened this morning?" Maia asked, innocently acting as if she hadn't sliced a minor artery in my arm, albeit unintentionally.
I glanced at her face, and, when the light bulb shimmered brighter for a brief moment, I saw the mask that she adorned in public. I still wasn't able to penetrate her pretense of calm.
"Why do you look as if you're lost?" She interrupted the answer to her first question. Instead of readily giving the answer, I shot back a question.
"Why do you care?" I said simply, loathing and malice gone from my voice, replaced with a weary tiredness. She seemed taken aback by the change of tone from earlier today. Derryl: 1. Maia: 0. I started to keep count.
"Because, if you're going to wear contacts for the duration of the game, I was going to recommend that you don't make it obvious to the Gamemakers." She hissed back. My jaw must have dropped without my knowing, and her real grin shone like a beacon. And it's all tied up, with 1 for all parties.
"Don't act as if it isn't true, your jaw on the floor is proof enough." The thought of pretending she was wrong had barely flitted through my mind before I remembered how to work the muscles connected to my jawbone. And Maia scores again, winning against Derryl by one so far.
"Back to your first question," I glanced back at her, as if she hadn't stumbled upon something I didn't want to reveal. "What do you want to know?" If she was fazed by the change in topic, it didn't show, and she returned to her original query.
"Why were you crying?" Her bluntness surprised me, but I didn't give her the satisfaction of it showing on my face.
"That's for me to know, and you to never find out." I repeated from earlier. She opened her mouth, as if to pepper me with insults, but she quickly shut it again. And Derryl ties it up again, with 2. "I honestly would tell you, but you'd have to tell me why you were stormed out of your session so angrily." Her glare didn't effect me, and I almost laughed at the expression on her face. My scoring was forgotten; I wanted to hear her reply.
"I'm sorry, but that is personal. I don't think I'll share any information until I get the results I want." Her voice was dangerously calm, and it shocked me at how much hate could be shoved in a sentence so calm.
"I'll try not to prod. How 'bout we both go to bed, because I'm sure our mentors would like to tell us the training scores we missed in the morning." My cutting remark wasn't lost on her, and her mouth opened in a silent 'o' as she realized I had known about her fit of rage as well. I was the victim of your lamp, why wouldn't I know?
In a swift move that left me astonished, she had stood up, flicked the light switch off, and shut the door quietly. I made my way to follow her, but as I had finished stumbling around in the dark, she had already disappeared around a corner. Defeated, and with my eyes half open, I stumbled back to the elevators and punched the level four button. When the lift dinged in arrival to the floor I shared with Sasha, I found my way to the door to my bedroom.
When I threw myself onto the bed, I found myself lying awake, hoping for a few hours of fitful sleep that didn't come. Although my body was exhausted, my thoughts were running laps. When the sun shone weakly through the window to my left, I finally caved in to the dark hands of sleep.
My last thought was of the count that I had kept during the entire conversation.
Derryl: 4. Maia: 4.
~SFS~
Snev's A/N: Subject's chapter is awesome! We all praise the place where he steps! Not really... What! That is IT you guys! If you so much as write a single more WORD from me you'll live (or rather die) to regret it! ;)
Foxx's A/N: Hello readers! I'm still not back yet, but I'll go ahead and assume Snev and Sub here got the job done well.
Subject's A/N: *yawn* This chapter was entirely me! I can say that I'm proud of it. Sort of. Almost. Whatever. If you're thinking happy thoughts, hit the review button. If your not, hit the review button. It's a win-win situation for all of us!