Electric Heart (Coriolanus Snow)

4

Sally sprinted to school exerting so much effort that she was drowning in sweat by the time she got there.

It had been a week since her father had gotten sick, and he hadn't gotten better in the slightest. Sally had been up all night with him, trying to prevent him from choking on the bloom he'd been hacking up.

When Sally had gone to get antibiotics (without his permission) they had refused her, seeing as he needed to sign off on it.

Professor Blackwood was less than pleasant when she barged into his class late again, this time a sweating mess. "That's five tardies Miss Davenport. Now you officially have one demerit."

Sally bit her lip to keep from showing any kind of emotions. Demerits were a big deal at the academy. All you had to do was get three of them before you were expelled.

Sally's mood was lifted when she entered her next class, taught by Belinda Whitman. The science lab that all the students were required to take. It was also the class that Dr.Gaul , the games maker, would tend to pop into from time to time.

It was something Sally excelled at, Chemicals, labs, science. It came easily to her, just like walking or breathing.

Sejanus was always her lab partner, which worked out for him since he was less than talented.

On that particular day, Sally was glad that Dr. Gaul strolled into their room. Sally was far head of everyone else on their chemical experiment, and she was also one of the only students to be doing it correctly.

"What'a your name girl?" Dr Gaul stood in front of her and Sejanus, her wild eyes on Sally. Sally had never spoken to her before.

She tried not to stutter, and failed. "I uh- I"

"Go on, spit it out." She laughed out loud, prompting laughs from the rest of the students in the room.

"Sally. Davenport." Sally finally mustered the words from her throat and Dr. Gaul nodded. "You have skill. Maybe enough to even work beneath me one day."

Laughs rose about the room, but when Sally glanced around she noticed two people weren't laughing. Coriolanus, and Clemensia. Both looked concerned. With no doubt, they were the most competitive classmates of Sally's. She felt pride in knowing that the both of them were probably oozing with jealousy.

Sejanus nudged her proudly as Dr. Gaul turned her back, and he smiled. "Good job, you've made it on her radar."

"She gave me one compliment Sejanus." Sally tried to sound modest, but she was also jittering with excitement on the inside.

Unfortunately, her confidence didn't last much longer when she remembered the inevitable while walking into Professor Demigloss's classroom. The oral presentation was due. She was in no mood to speak, let alone to a class full of pricks who disliked her.

She sat in the back, per usual, and prayed that there wouldn't be enough class time for her presentation to take place that day.

Clemensia volunteered to go first, and effortlessly gave a boring and lengthy presentation on the history of panem.

Arachne went after her, and then Felix. Sally felt sick with boredom by the time Coriolanus Snow was up to present. His skill with public speaking irked her.

His presentation wasn't quite as lengthy and boring as the others. Sally had to give it to him, he was intelligent. He took a different approach to the entire history, and she was surprised at his knowledge on the Districts. Sally was in fact still thinking about it when she heard the sound of her name carry through the room.