"You're doing it again, Burrich," Officer Heath complained. "You're not keeping your shoulders in place."
Eliza tried one more time.
"Now you're pointing too low. Lance, show it to her from the beginning, we can't be stuck in this all day. Everyone, let's head to the next one."
Eliza exhaled loudly, thinking to herself she would be much more talented if her superiors would stop scolding her in front of everyone.
"Hey," Lance smiled, as he got closer to her. "You're having trouble with that."
"I'm having trouble with everything in this stupid compound." She wanted to kick the training
gun to the ground and stomp on it.
"Let me see it." He said, laying out his hand in her direction. She observed as he swiftly reset the model and tested it out for himself. "This is too heavy for you. It's usually a male model."
"What?"
He took one of the other training guns on the gear shelf and showed it to her, "Look, the one's marked with the X are usually used by women. It's the same principle, but they're lighter and a bit smaller. You can eventually move up to the others, but did no one tell you to start out with these?"
Eliza wanted to say no one had told her anything other than how incompetent she was, but she kept her mouth shut, and simply nodded.
"Well, let's try it then." He said. "I'll show you once again."
Lance showed her every step from start to finish, and instructed her to give it a try, while gently correcting her posture. Eliza struggled to hold the trigger in place, as she had all the other times she tried it. Even with the lighter gun, with her finger not bending in the correct way to fit it, it took much more effort.
"What happened to your hand?" Lance asked, with a slight nudge to her crooked fingers.
"Oh...I fell on it, a few years ago. I had to wear a cast and all." Embarrassment crept up her body again, but she tried to focus, shooting a few times to test the new gear.
Her attempts were still completely off. Had those been real, they would have hit the ground a few feet in front of them, missing the dummy by a lot.
"You're too tense in your posture, and not focusing on the aim." Lance said, getting closer.
It was fine. She was fine up until that point. But he came from behind her. She started to feel his breath near the back of her bare neck and both of his hands touching her arms to adjust their position.
Before she could stop herself, Eliza jumped out of his reach, turning to face him.
"I—ah...I'm sorry, I..."
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
Lance held his hands up, with a mocking smile on his face. "People always say I have warm hands."
Eliza smiled in discomfort, her eyes on the ground. "Sorry, I just was not expecting it."
"Noted. Let's try again."
She tried to focus, and thought about what he'd just taught her. That time, he stood in front of her, adjusting the position of her arms again, as well as her fingers near the trigger. The first few shots weren't great, but they were an improvement. And after a few more, they were closer to decent.
Eliza's brows raised in disbelief, and Lance smiled at her. "You're not that helpless after all."
"Apparently not. But we'll see if I can do it again tomorrow."
She had been so distracted with what they were doing that did not even notice there were a few people from in between drills staring, making her suddenly well aware of how close she and Lance had been standing.
"That was much better, Burrich." Even Officer Heath had been paying attention. "Everyone, let's wrap it up with a run, and then you're free to go."
"Thanks again," she said, laying down her gun.
Lance mimicked her gesture and then asked, grabbing her right hand, "Why don't you ask to get it checked out in the hospital?"
"What?"
"Maybe there's some surgery they could do to make it normal again."
"Well, I—I don't… I never thought about that." Eliza said, taking her hand from his and hiding it away behind her. "It's not a big deal. It doesn't even hurt that much anymore."
"Yeah, but if it keeps you from basic things like this, maybe it's worth checking out."
"Maybe. Anyway, I think we should get going."
"You're right. I'll see you around."
She nodded, retributing his smile even though the last bit of conversation had made her uncomfortable.
Half an hour later, after suffering through one last run, Eliza was leaving the shower room and heading for dinner, when Mindy caught up to her.
"Miss Eliza!"
"Hey!" She smiled, genuinely happy to see her. They had been spending a lot of time together, especially in the last few days. Mindy was nice to hang around with, and had been much more helpful with answering Eliza's questions about 13 than her roommate Sabrina ever seemed willing to be. "I didn't see you on the compound. I thought you'd be somewhere else."
"Oh, but I saw you," she said, starting to walk alongside her. "How are you stealing one of 13's handsome studs with only a month's time here?"
"Oh please, he is not interested in me." Eliza muttered firmly.
"I guarantee you he is." Mindy said with a cheeky smile, though her tone was different when she said, "But he is also interested in half the girls our age, so don't take him for a prince charming, alright?"
Eliza's heartbeat fizzled at her words.
"Who's not a prince charming?"
"You certainly are, Hawthorne." Mindy exclaimed loudly, as she liked to do. Gale joined the two of them, walking in the same direction, "Eliza here told me all about how you carried her out of the forest with your big and strong arms."
Eliza would have dug a hole all by herself right there in the concrete, if it meant she could hide in there forever and pretend Mindy had not just said that.
Gale, on the other hand, actually smiled at her comment.
"You love to exaggerate."
"Oh, don't be modest, that'll just make you more charming." Mindy said as she pinched his cheek.
And he laughed.
Gale laughed at it.
What kind of alternative reality have I woken up to?
"Since when are you such good friends?" Eliza asked, before she could stop herself. It sounded bitter, but that was how she felt. She spent years sulking quietly over Gale, pathetically feeling thankful that now she could at least call him her friend. And there was Mindy, joking around and looking like she knew him all her life when in reality, they had known each other for a few days.
"Oh, you know, we have a few classes together, and Mr. Big Shot over here has been training in my section lately. You didn't see us back there?" She asked, her thumb pointing behind her back to the revenue.
Eliza nodded negatively, and kept on walking by their side. "I didn't notice."
"Like I said, you had Lance to worry about." Her face blushed for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
"Do you also have dinner now?" Gale asked while checking the schedule on his arm.
"Yes." Both of them spoke in unison. "Let's move, or we'll be stuck with the bad tables." Mindy added, quickening her walk.
Although well intentioned, it made no difference, because the lines were already full once the three of them arrived at the canteen.
"You twelves…" Mindy complained, "Ever since you got here, we've had these never-ending queues."
"Would you rather have us dead?" Gale asked grumpily.
"Of course not. I just love complaining," she shrugged. "Keeps the mind busy."
Gale rolled his eyes, and Eliza said, in her turn, "Have you any idea how many of us are still in the hospital wing?"
"There aren't many left. I heard my superiors complain today that they'll have to assign more training officers because twelves keep coming out of the hospital."
"That is good news, at least." Eliza let out with a sigh. "Erica will most likely be out in a week, according to what they told her. Maybe I can keep dreaming about being laid off from training once they have more people to worry about."
"You're not that bad, from what I saw," Gale retorted. "You just have to stop overthinking everything. You're already doing better than a few days ago."
"Is it possible that not everyone in the District was watching?" She asked, scrubbing her eyes in embarrassment.
"Don't worry. You did pretty good when Lance was coaching you!" Mindy noted, this time looking like she meant it.
"Yes, if you call that coaching," Gale added, as they kept moving with the queue of people.
"He had to teach me everything all over again. But at least it worked."
"Really? Because he also seemed to be enjoying the part where he kept moving your arms around," Mindy said.
"Now who's exaggerating? It was not like that."
"Maybe, but I meant what I said. Lance can be...you know, Lance." She waved her hand as if that explained something. "He is funny and nice looking and all. I just wouldn't pay him too much attention."
As Eliza took a piece of bread and her plate of food, she wondered if she had tried so hard to be coy about whatever feelings she might have for Gale, that inadvertently made it seem like she could be interested in anyone else. Which she wasn't.
She wasn't not interested either, because, thinking about it, maybe a nice guy who seemed to have an interest in her was a better thing to focus on than a nice guy who seemed to have an interest in everything but her.
Once the three of them had food trays in their hands, they followed Mindy to what she deemed was the best table available.
"Your family isn't here?" Eliza asked Gale while they sat.
"No, they've been eating an hour earlier than me lately. Maybe I'll swing by to see them after. Will you be in my room tonight?"
She nodded, "If that's ok with you."
"Sure," he said. Then he took his plate in his hands, and started to pour part of his food onto her tray. Or at least tried to.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Startled, she took her tray, moving it away from him.
"What do you think? Do you see how much more they pour me? It's not fair."
"Of course it is fair! Have you seen yourself?!"
"Don't be stubborn. Give me your plate."
"Me, stubborn?" She actually laughed, and then realized he was not backing down. He looked at her dead serious, but for once, Eliza returned the favor effortlessly.
"No."
That got an eyebrow lift from him.
"No?"
Eliza just shrugged, but said nothing, looking the other way.
"Look, you need to eat. You were basically skin and bones just a few weeks ago."
"Alright, but why would that mean you have to give me your food? You need to eat too, and you're far more useful than me. I'll do fine with what I get."
He did not say anything else, and stopped looking in her direction, finally taking a spoonful of his food into his mouth. Eliza put the tray back on the table, and mimicked him, without another word.
"What?" Gale asked a few seconds later, giving Mindy a deadly stare. She had remained quiet throughout the whole discussion, and continued to stare at both of them.
Then, after swallowing, she finally said, "Nothing."
"If you have something to say, say it." Gale's sharp tone was back, and Eliza thought to herself she hadn't heard it in a while.
"Oh, no. No thoughts to share." Mindy shrugged, shifting her focus to her plate.
They kept on eating without talking for a few minutes. Eliza second guessed her tone and manners countless times. After all, Gale was only being nice, maybe she had been too harsh, even if she really did not want to take his food.
On the other hand, it also angered her. He had that about him, always so quick to decide what was best for others, not caring what other people thought about it. And had no problem jeopardizing himself in the process either.
"So," Mindy started, probably trying to break the ice, "do you guys… have any hobbies?"
Eliza almost laughed at the question, especially when Gale gave no answer.
"His hobby is taking care of other people. And when he can't just do as he pleases, he sits like that, sulking."
Eliza didn't really know where the courage to say that out loud had come from. Gale kept on chewing, seemingly unbothered, but she could've sworn she saw the glimpse of a smile across his face.
Once he was out of food in his mouth, he looked at Mindy and let out, "Her hobby is freaking out and crying because she physically can't study for more than three hours straight."
Eliza snapped a hand to her face in embarrassment. "That happened once!"
"No it didn't. Stop lying." He said smugly, widening his smile.
"Oh, alright! Maybe once or twice, what does it matter?" She felt her cheeks grow red, but couldn't help smiling as well, giving Mindy the side-eye, "At least I'm not an aircraft thief."
Her friend rolled her eyes, unbothered. "My hobby is meeting weird people, clearly." She observed, pointing her finger at Gale. "You have a prince-charming-complex. And you…How do you even find that kind of time to study?"
"I've been studying at night, after dinner. But only because Gale lets me use the lamp in his room."
Mindy blinked in his direction, her mouth slightly open.
"You have a lamp in your room? Damn, Coin must really love you."
Eliza was surprised to notice that Gale blushed a little.
"I didn't ask for it."
"That's even worse!"
This time he shrugged, trying to belittle the subject, "It's because of the hours I spend off my regular schedule. I guess they just assumed I needed more hours at night, to make up for it."
"Wow, so considerate of your needs."
"It doesn't mean anything." His tone sounded final, and Mindy didn't comment any further, but muttered something under her breath.
"So, what are your hobbies, really?" Eliza asked her, once she noticed the discomfort on Gale's face.
"Oh, me? Well, I'm from here, we don't really have hobbies, if you haven't noticed."
"For real? Here I was thinking you all looked so fun." Gale took the last piece of food on his plate after he said it.
Mindy started to open her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Claudius Templesmith's familiar voice. At first, Eliza thought it was another interview she couldn't stand, but it turned out to be something much different.
"Oh, please no." Gale whimpered, but the girls paid him no attention, completely transfixed with District 8's images. "I didn't know they were gonna play this now." He complained, looking whole canteen had piped down, paying attention to what Katniss was saying and at the images of the bombings.
"They actually took down the whole hospital?" Eliza asked in a murmur.
Gale nodded without a sound.
"You were there too!" Mindy's exclamation was too loud even for her standards. "Look, there you are." She lowered her voice at Gale's armed figure that appeared a few times, shooting at some of the capitol's aircrafts.
Eliza was stunned out of words, and when Katniss said her final phrase directly aimed at Snow, a shiver actually went down her spine. She might not have been the biggest enthusiast of the rebellion, but even someone like her couldn't say she felt indifferent after watching that.
"You have been doing that and you don't want people calling you Mr. Big Shot? Teach me your humble ways."
Eliza would have laughed at the remark, if she wasn't too shocked. Gale had been to a bomb site, and didn't even think to mention it. That was exactly what she asked him about later, when they were alone in his room.
"Don't you think it was too much to have you two fighting there? Half of this District is military personnel, how were you and Katniss better suited to do all that?"
"We weren't supposed to do it. We were hiding first, but then...we couldn't just stay there. Katniss wanted to do something, and I wouldn't let her go into it alone."
Eliza replayed the images of the propo in her mind. The faces of the people when Katniss greeted them, followed by the hospital perishing under the bombings without a chance of rescue.
"She did amazing." Eliza conceded.
"Yeah. I'm still amazed at what she can do after everything..." Gale shuffled behind her, with the familiar sound of changing into his pajamas.
Eliza opened her textbook like she would any other day. The last few weeks, Gale had been out a lot, so it was as if she wasn't even used to having him there while she studied. She was getting used to hearing him talk about Katniss in that way, though.
"I still don't know if you..." She hesitated, gathering he would probably just get mad at her.
"What?"
"Never mind," she found the page they had stopped at in class, and adjusted the lamp to the perfect position.
"Please, just tell me what you think." His plea surprised her, and she turned to him. He had sat on the bed, looking back at her.
"Honestly?" He just nodded in response, and that gave her the courage she was missing, "I think you...that you two... are getting into more than you can manage."
He didn't answer, so Eliza continued, "You're a guy from twelve seeing military strategy for the first time. You're used to hunting animals, not people."
"I've been waiting for this my whole life," he said with his face in a frown.
"That doesn't mean you should be happy to run into battle at every opportunity you get."
He scowled at that, and she turned back to her book, regretting having said anything in the first place. "You said honestly," she mumbled, after a few seconds of him giving no answer.
"Yeah, well, I guess I was expecting your honesty to be something different. I mean, if you don't understand why I want to fight them, with everything that has happened, then there are no words for me to explain it to you either."
Eliza pretended to read, and took a while to respond, while hearing his shuffling to get to bed. A few seconds later, she managed to let out,
"You don't need to explain it. I get the why... But I think it is also obvious that you have people around you scared to lose you. So maybe keep that in mind next time you want to do something like that again."
Thank you for reading this far, I hope someone's enjoying the story. Feedback and comments are always appreciated, especially regarding characterization