Chapter 63:

Electro Helle, District Three, Age 18

Victor of the 138th Hunger Games

The incessant chattering of his family echoes in his ears, yet Electro hasn't heard a single thing they've been saying for the last hour. He just can't focus on them and their petty woes – things he used to be so concerned about just a few weeks ago. He doesn't care if the color of the walls is tacky or his furniture doesn't match the carpet. It's all so meaningless, yet his family doesn't seem to grasp that appearances mean nothing to him anymore.

Turns out strangling a person to win the Hunger Games really changes a person, who would have thought?

"Electro? Hello, earth to Electro!"

He blinks a few times, focusing on the hand of his mother waving in front of his face to get his attention. "What?" he asks quietly, not having a single idea what she's going on about now. Has her face always been that plastic looking? Or her makeup that caked on? God, he was so blind before he went into that arena. How he ever was so focused on material things before, he has no fucking clue.

His mother tuts in annoyance and puts her hands on her hips, instantly making him cross her arms. "I said, when are you going to get someone here to properly decorate? You can't be inviting over Three's most affluent people with your house looking like this! They'd be appalled!"

"You know what, Mother?" Electro asks, tilting his head to the side before pointing over at the door. "I think they'd be more appalled by how I strangled someone to death than the colors of the walls. Leave. If you think that's really what I care about anymore, you have not been paying any attention to me."

He doesn't even wait to see if she leaves, just heads out the back door and stands in his yard. He takes a deep breath before he lets out a loud scream of anger at everything that's happened to him lately. He hates what he was put through in that arena, but somehow, being back here and realizing just how much his life has changed has made it worse. He doesn't even know who he is anymore and all it took was a couple weeks to change everything he knew about life. He was so happy before living like his mother, but now he can't imagine a worse life for himself. But he doesn't even know what he wants from his life…

He's unsure how long he even stands out there, staring up at the night sky, before he hears someone clear their throat. He doesn't even look over, not wanting to deal with more of his family's bullshit. That's all he's had to deal with this week and he'd like just five fucking minutes of calm. "I thought I told you to leave. You have a minute before I call the Peacekeepers to escort you out of the village."

"I don't think they're going to be escorting me out when I'm your neighbor."

Electro looks over at Matla's voice, sighing loudly as he hunches over on himself. "Sorry…I thought you were my family."

Matla laughs at that as she approaches him, hands tucked in her pockets casually. "Oh I get it, no need to apologize to me. But Moro stopped me on my way home, said he heard a scream and would have come over himself, but his leg has been bothering him."

"There's no need for that," Electro says quickly and turns away to hide a grimace from her. How dumb to not think about how the others would view him – no, he doesn't have to pretend around these people. These are the only ones who know what he's dealing with right now. He sighs and turns back to her, opening and closing his mouth, unsure of what to say until he finally just shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets. "I don't know."

"Spoiler alert, we never figure it out," Matla says, coming over to pat his back as he rolls his eyes at her. "Come on, we're going for a beer. I think it's safe to say you need one right now. I know a spot where we won't be treated any differently."

"Even me?" Electro asks quietly as he lets her lead him inside to get a hat for him to try and cover his face. That was the worst part of all of this, wanting to just blend away in the crowd and never being able to.

"Even you," Matla repeats as she puts the hat on him, adjusting it a little bit before she slaps his cheek a couple times. "Alright, let's go."

Electro just lets her lead him out of the village, keeping his head down as they get onto busy streets. Every time he passes someone, he tenses as he waits for them to say something to him – either false congratulations or disgust – but…it doesn't happen. Somehow, the people of their District are just ignorning him – sure, there's a few quiet comments, but none directed his way. And it's almost…nice, not being the center of attention.

He finally looks up when Matla stops walking and finds himself in front of a bar not too far from the university. "Are you sure they won't say something to me here?" he asks her quietly as he hesitates to go inside.

"The bartender has worked in my lab, she doesn't give a shit if you're a victor or not," Matla says as she puts a hand on his back, trying to push him towards the door. "She just cares if you start trouble."

"I wouldn't dream of that," Electro replies quickly as they step inside the bar, immediately feeling better with the cozy vibes. It looked more like a coffee shop than a bar, but he didn't mind that. And aside from a couple people just looking up from the door opening, no one stares or points at him.

Except for the bartender who waves in greeting. "Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to actually get a drink?"

"The usual for me," Matla calls over with a laugh as she leads Electro over.

He drags his feet a little bit, hesitant about sitting near someone he doesn't know. But…he trusts Matla. The bartender raises her eyebrows at him as he slides onto a stool. "So? What's it gonna be? You gotta order something, no loiterers allowed."

Electro raises an eyebrow at that, surprised that she would even suggest that she'd kick out a victor, but her expression is completely serious. He starts to relax as he smiles a little bit, glancing around the room and for the first time in weeks, not feeling like he stood out and everyone was watching him. And it was such a good feeling.

"You know what?" he finally says, turning back to the bartender as she leans against the bar, waiting for him to decide. "I'll have your favorite."

"Oh now you've done it," she says with a laugh as she went to start making his drink. "Never give me this much power."

"Nah, I'm good with this," Electro says, the smile staying on his face as he watched her for a few seconds before turning to Matla. "Thanks for this. I really needed this."

Just a little glimpse of normalcy. Sure, it wasn't anything he ever imagined himself doing a month ago, but he doesn't want to be anywhere else right now.


Well when past me said she had no idea when she would update next, didn't think it would be nearly a year later, oops. My bad. But it's time to crank through these last few updates for this story. Have a good stockpile, don't have a good excuse for why I hadn't updated in a year.

Twelve left.

Next up, a boy from Five does whatever it takes to win.