drapetomonia - the overwhelming urge to run away.
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When Junia Beaumont, her brother and their classmates get a last assignment before the end of the school year, she doesn't know just how quickly things will change for her.
Who would have thought t...
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07. back at the zoo
By the time it's 8:15 in the evening, both Junia and Cas are walking through the gates of the Capitol Zoo.
They're not grounded so, technically, they're not breaking any rules unless their parents suddenly make something up to spite them. It wouldn't surprise either of them after that unbearably awkward dinner but at the very least, they're out of there for the time being.
Originally, Junia's plan was to sneak out. She cooled off in her room for a while but then realized the best time to act is while her parents are still having dinner. So she snuck into their storage room and crammed whatever she could get her hands on into her bag.
When she saw the door being opened, she almost had a heart attack. Thankfully, it was only her twin brother who excused himself from dinner shortly after she did and noticed her room was empty. Apparently he had already called the family's chauffeur before following her so, in the end, it was all planned.
Sometimes she forgets how lucky she is that they agree on the more complicated matters, too. While wealthy families in the Capitol tend to look like they're close out in public, the reality is often far from that. Junia only needs to act when she's seen with her parents but never with Cas. With Max it truly depends. On some days more, on some days less.
As far as they know, no further footage of the monkey enclosure was broadcasted after the incident in the morning. It's not that they don't want to be seen, it would just be more preferable if their parents didn't find out about them leaving the house at this hour, too.
They made the chauffeur swear he wouldn't tell, after all. They gave him a generous tip for a reason and hope the man won't crumble if questioned.
It's not that the zoo is ever empty. It's just that it's more crowded than usual today.
"I guess Coriolanus had a point," Cas muses, watching the way the crowd thickens the closer they get to the monkey enclosure.
He hasn't seen the footage, not entirely, but he's still finding it hard to believe the tributes are being kept in here. He was inclined to go check it out during their lunch break but decided against it, the hangover still creeping up on him from time to time.
He really needs to go to bed earlier tonight.
Junia seems a little bit more unsettled. "I suppose so."
She raises her eyebrows when she spots a familiar figure walking not too fast ahead of them. She'd recognize him even from the back of his head any day.
