I don't know why I add an extra A to Breccan, but I think it might be since I'm staring at the screen and literally looks like an extra A.

Train Rides 4: Passing Dreams

~We were the song in the silence

But time catches up

Just say the word, and I'll be yours~

Joette Tauruaia (12), District 6

Joette looked at the escort, Celeste Marrow. There was something about her that made Joette feel inspired, especially since Celeste had… muscles. Granted, most people who worked out in a gym had them. There was something different since Celeste was slim, probably a little bit on a skinny side, but her muscles were the exact same way that Joette was, just a little bit differently.

Even the way she ate reminded Joette about herself. Eating a balanced meal, making sure to have plenty of carbohydrates, protein, fruits and vegetables on her white, china plate that had blue patterns on it. It almost reminded her of her own plate that had similar food, just the fact that she had more low fats on her plate like a thing of grilled salmon, and steamed, cut avocados on her plate.

"Why are you staring at me?" Celeste asked bluntly. "Honestly you're freaking me out."

Joette diverged her attention to somewhere else, focusing on the metal fork in her hand, and a knife in the other.

"Sorry… It's just the fact that I'm debating whether or not you're in a sport," Joette finally responded, after taking a bite of her avocado.

"Oh…" Celeste trailed off. Taking a forkful of mixed fruits like strawberry, and blueberries that were crushed. "Well… I do, in fact."

"Really?" Joette perked up after this. Her suspicions were right as Joette knew there weren't many people who would try to eat a well balanced meal unless they were in a demanding sport, like she was in. "What kind of sport?"

"I'm in gymnastics, hoping to try out for the olympics."

"Oh…" Joette trailed off, unsure where to go from there. It was still really neat that the escort was in some sort of demanding sport, but deep down, she hoped that she was a fellow boxer like she was. "That's cool… I'm a boxer."

"Really? How did you get into it?" Celeste inquired, "For me, we had it at school and fell in love with it."

"My dad is a fitness trainer and one day, I came to see what he was up to.. He was training another boxer and I knew I wanted to be like that other boxer."

"That's impressive… I wished we kinda met in different circumstances rather than the one that we are in, currently…" Celeste told her, "I know the Capitol has some good boxing coaches, and have some popular matches including junior leagues where the winners would get like a five-hundred dollar check, trophy and recognition- depending on the competition. It would be cool if I was able to show you in and help you… You'll get much better training than back at home."

"Maybe one day…"

~That woman made brazen overtures with a gilt-edged guarantee

She had a golden glint in her eye

And a silver voice with a counterfeit ring~

Dorothea Winifred (17), District 8

Dorothea flipped through a magazine that was laying on a white coffee table. She wasn't focusing on the words, merely looking at the pictures- in hopes of finding a stoy that could possibly into her, as her heart thumped loudly in her chest.

Now that the adrenaline wore off, her heartbeat was now racing along with her thoughts. God, she couldn't believe that she volunteered like that. What was she thinking?

Dorothea had no idea what she was thinking in that spur of the moment. For a moment, she thought there might have been a chance in winning the games, but now she wasn't so sured. She was going to die...

Every passing second, every passing minute meant that she was getting closer and closer to death.

She thought back what to told Leroy earlier in the morning,

Dorothea and Leroy sat on a greenhill, watching the passbrys going on idly, factories in the distance shooting out dark gray smoke that practically looked black into the light blue sky, with a brown haze around the town center of the town. Dorothea crossed her ankles underneath her long black skirt and a loose long-sleeved, white shirt that her grandmother picked out for her, that looked modest and would possibly win Leroy's heart, but Dorothea digressed on that.

"Do you ever just wish you could get out of this district?" She inquired.

"What do you mean?" Leroy asked, picking at a blade of grass right next to him. "Life is pretty great in the district, and I'm quite content about it… I wouldn't wish for anything else."

Dorothea refrained from sighing out loud, as she didn't want to be disrespectful. She was so bored. She just wanted some sort of excitement, and honestly she just kinda wished life had some excitement in it, or that the district offered something exciting that she could do without her family knowing.

"See that's the problem; the district doesn't offer anything and life is pretty simple… I just want to do something, 'once in a lifetime' experience or something."

"Why don't you volunteer at the reaping? You'll be able to escape the district and offer some sort of excitement," Leroy offered. "And escape your grandmother."

"You're right."

Now, she was wondering if it was best if she followed her grandmother's plan especially since she was practically the only child who 'followed' the rules, and wasn't a family disappointment. Her life would be boring, but she didn't had to worry about the Hunger Games until next year.

~No one knew how low I was feeling

I was scared to reach it all

Knowing I was here for a reason~

Reese Crolique (14), District 10

Reese chalked up the escort, Tobias Ryton, to be an odd one. She expected him to be a flamboyant, loud, cheery, really obsessed with how different the Capitol was and how it's going to change their lives.

No, he didn't do any of those things and that surprised her. He acted like he wanted to know them more, wished that there was something he was able to do, that they were more than sheep walking into a lion's den. Instead, he simply wanted to do a group introduction, and introduced him first.

"I'll go first… I'm Tobias Ryton, what I did back home was look at history books and examine how we got to this point. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again… Reese, you want to go next?"

Right. Yeah. Reese made herself pay attention instead of thinking about how they got a weird escort. They were simple questions and weren't hard to answer. She found the answers spilling right out of her mouth.

"I'm Reese Crolique, and I played the ukulele at my dad's rabbit farm… Besides, my friends and family, of course- I really want to see my best friend, Jasmine."

Jasmine. She really did miss her and wondered what she was up to. They had a really close bond, before her parents sent for her to go back to the district. She wondered if she had a boyfriend, if there was any important news. Though, there was a small part of her wondering if Jasmine had forgotten about her since it's been a good several years since she last saw her. Thoughts rang around her head, until she focused on another thing:

Her district partner.

Her district partner was about the same age as he was. Reese could tell that there was a bit of dirt from underneath his fingernails- something about picking up animal crap. His clothes were slightly too big for him, and his bones were slightly protruding out of him.

""I'm Dov Blair… I mainly worked picking up animal crap… I want to see my best friend again," Dov said.

It was kinda strange that Dov didn't mention his parents, Reese thought to herself. He was only about a year younger and was already working. He looked like he didn't even had that much access to food before, and she really wanted to know why- because he didn't deserve that.

"What about your parents?" Reese found herself asking.

"No… My parents and I went our separate way years ago, and don't want anything to do with me," Dov responded.

Reese didn't bother saying anything especially since she was so confused how that happened. Did his parents die? Did they had a broken relationship? She wanted to know what happened, but she wasn't going to push it- but she hoped that Dov might warm up to her.

~To somehow turn it all around

But then fate knocks me to my knees

And sets new heights beyond my reach~

Grover Woods (17), District 7

"Hi Grover!" His mentor, Bloom, greeted as she walked towards him. "Not sure if you know, but I am Bloom Heavens, who's both you and Finley's mentor! I already asked her this, but what are your plans in going into the arena?"

Grover could kinda tell that her smile that she was currently wearing on her face was false. The smile not quite meet her eyes, but he wasn't going to bother commenting about that. It wasn't his business anyways, and besides, he didn't see a particular good reason in wanting to befriend anyone. Besides, in a week's time, he'll know if he'll live or die- it'll make no sense if he decided to make friends.

"I kinda figure I'll go soo," He told her.

"Great! Of course, I kind of figured you may have said it as acting indifferent about anything and everything right…" Bloom answered, "I still thought I would have to ask… but have you considered the possibilities of having allies?""

"No."

"Well, I should also tell you that if you do change your mind- allies are extremely useful in the games, and I honestly think, you're better off if you have an ally at least for a little bit.. Will you consider that?"

"I guess." Grover shrugged.

"Great… I'll follow up with you once we get back to the Capitol, and discuss with you more pre-game things that would possibly save your life," Bloom told him, her black flats made footprints across the white carpet and he watched her as she headed farther away from him, possibly doing her own thing or catching up with his district partner.

Grover sighed. He had no idea why Bloom was being so insistent on him being allies with someone. He'd consider it, but he knew there were several cases of allies betraying one anther, and benefiting from one another's death. The games were sick, but the system there was.

Now that was impressive.

~And pain is all around

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down~

Breccan Herschel (17), District 3

Breccan counted the footsteps to the side table that held tons of food and to the dining table. His white cane rested against the chair while he took a bite out of what someone told him was chicken parmesan, with seasoned chicken, tomato sauce and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. The flavor burst on his tongue, and he chewed carefully, to savor the taste.

He never had anything like this. Back home, while they were okay, there weren't many days where they would have chicken, or when they did have chicken- there wasn't any seasoning to it. He wasn't complaining, especially since chicken was a rarity, and it wasn't his fault there wasn't any spices for the chicken.

He could smell that something was burning. He wrinkled his nose in disgust as smoke wafted towards his face, as he caught a whiff of the sour and sweet aroma from the cigar someone lit.

"Are you two going to be allies or what?" He chalked up the voice to be the mentor. He had no idea who exactly was, but it would seem weird if it was the escort.

"I don't know," Breccan admitted.

"Alright then…Look Breccan, I'm not really going to waste my time on you. I mean Reyna could probably help you with her moodiness. I don't think you'll have the best chance of surviving. Veronica, here does," Celaena admitted.

What? Granted, he knew that there wasn't much of a chance, due to the fact that he was well, in fact, blind, but that didn't mean that couldn't stop him. He wished that the mentor wasn't going to quit on him like that. He did see their point especially because of his blindness. It didn't erase the growing knot in his throat as he tightened his grip around the metal fork, tears threatening to leave his eyes, but wouldn't fall.

~You're digging for gold, you're throwing away

A fortune in feelings, but someday you'll pay~

Demetrius Deck (17), District 11

Demetrius didn't feel a sense of dread on being on the train, headed towards the Capitol. He always wondered what the Capitol had offered, especially since he heard stories about it on the streets. Maybe in some other alternative universe, if there is one, maybe there might have been a chance that he might have been born in another district or even possibly the Capitol, in some weird fate.

"Demetrius, are you okay?" He heard the escort ask, picking up a red strawberry and taking a small bite of it.

Demetrius didn't respond. There was no reason what he could possibly say to anyone, when there was no use in trying. If his good for nothing parents taught him something, it was the fact that they taught him that he was expendable and not exactly worth anyone's time.

"Demetrius?" Kally asked.

He looked at her,

"Did you hear me?"

He nodded once, lowered his head down and watched as he fiddled with his fingers with black jacket that he was wearing over his shoulders with the thick material almost suffocating came, but he didn't dare to take it off even with the air conditioning blowing in the train car.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Kally pestered, "Here are the rest of my strawberries… You look like you need something to comfort you."

She passed the glass bowl that was filled with strawberries, filled to the brim. He looked at it briefly, wondering whether or not he should pick one up.

Eventually, he plucked one out from the bowl and nibbled on it, "I'm doing good."

"Are you sure though? You look like all the others who I see on this train before they get up and die… Done with life… It can't be that bad, right?"

Demetrius merely shrugged, "Depends who you ask."

He didn't really like how much Kally was giving him this much attention. It almost reminded him of his parents and the power control his mother had on his father. He knew there was something about that relationship, and almost felt like he was going to get caught in that type of relationship with how much Kally was asking him questions about back in the district.

Fun fact, I decided to work on this story and not the other. This chapter was supposed to be up two weeks ago, but three days of not sleeping- I'm doing fine now, and no motivation to write until yesterday. The next chapter should be up in a couple of days as it's basically a short chapter and the chariot rides up next. Leave me a review, and tell me what you think!