"So, then you wrap this piece under the first one..." Evelina felt Jodi's fingers weaving meticulously around her hair, the pieces folding over one another in a pattern. "And there!"
"Wow." Evelina admired herself in the mirror. She ran her hand over the pleated braid, feeling the thickness of her hair. Jodi had suggested braiding it before the games as a way to get to know each other. Evelina wondered if it was just an excuse for Jodi to spy on her, or figure out her weaknesses. She hated herself for becoming so untrustworthy of people, but how could anyone blame her? Tomorrow, they would either kill each other, or watch as the others get murdered before them. Either way, both people in the room cannot make it.
"Maybe you can win by stunning everyone with your looks," Nadine suggested. She grinned, plopping herself onto Evelina's bed.
"I doubt it," Evelina scoffed. Then, she decided to change the subject. "This has been an excruciating week."
"I guess so," Jodi answered.
"Hasn't it bothered you?" Evelina questioned. "The waiting, I mean."
Nadine shrugged. "Maybe."
Evelina couldn't understand how Jodi was so careless. She felt her bones chill as she realized it may be confidence. Nadine was from District 2, well known as masonry. Evelina likes to refer to it as District 2, the winners. Well, she thought, I can be confident too.
"I know what you did," she stated. Deja vu.
Nadine didn't seem to be paying attention. She was fiddling with a candlestick by the bedside table. "What?" She hummed.
"I know what you did," Evelina repeated, standing and folding her arms. "You painted that message on the wall." She leaned on her back leg and furrowed her brows.
Nadine froze, her hand midair, reaching to place the candlestick back onto the table. "It wasn't just me."
"It doesn't matter! If they catch you, you're dead." Evelina added the last part with a bit of annunciation, hoping to emphasize her point.
"Don't you understand?" Jodi sneered. "I'm dead anyway."
Evelina's expression dulled, pity stabbing her in the heart. Nadine got up and brushed past her, her hand gripping the door knob.
"I thought you would understand," she adds, before flinging the door open and disappearing down the hallway. Evelina sighed, her shoulders slumping over as she walked to the window. She watched the people of the Capitol walk by. Families, couples, business people hustling by with their ties still undone. What was it all for? What could it possibly be for? These people got to live their lives, but did they really? Evelina looked a little closer. Somewhere behind a group of trees there was a man being beaten by a group of Peacekeepers. Was this life in the Capitol? Was it any different than the districts? The question would ponder her until there was another knock on her door.
Slowly, she made her way to the wooden opening, afraid of facing Nadine again. She opened the door, and she immediately relaxed. There stood Coryo, a single white rose in his hand. Just a token, but it meant so much. His face softened at the sight of her, and he smiled.
Suddenly she understood.
With shaking hands she grabbed the flower, and before either person could speak, she leaned forward and collided her lips with his.
This is what it's for.
"you're in the wind, i'm in the water
nobody's son, nobody's daughter"
YOU ARE READING
Panem Forever
Fanfiction"hope. it is the only thing stronger than fear." Anyone would tell you that Evelina Sanders was not a "go getter". She was a gatherer, not a hunter. She wasn't particularly good at anything, though she could fancy herself a painter if she were aske...
