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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29. closer
Somehow, June pulls herself together and ends up writing a few sentences for their assignment after all.
It takes her a good while since she doesn’t want to make herself too vulnerable in front of her classmates or Dr. Gaul but in the end, she finds a way to phrase things in a way she feels comfortable with sharing. The idea of writing about everything they loved about the war, however, is still beyond ridiculous in her eyes.
What good was there except for suffering and destruction? So many of them have lost someone — in fact, she’s sure all of her friends did. She lost her grandparents, Coriolanus both of his parents and Sejanus lost his home. The Capitol might have been able to claim victory but the long-term effects are undeniable.
The Hunger Games are the worst thing that has come out of the war, though. There’s nothing good about it and in June’s eyes, it does nothing but reveal the Capitol’s true colors as a sadistic and inhumane regime. And she feels a certain kind of satisfaction in knowing that she’s cheating even though she’s still slightly nervous about getting caught. It’s a middle finger to the country she lives in, her family, friends and her upbringing. It’s perfect.
Truthfully, she doesn’t care as much as she used to. What good is living if it means Treech has to die? It’s alarming in a way, how quickly and how much she got attached to him. They haven’t even known each other for two weeks but the very thought of spending another day without hearing from or seeing him makes her feel sick.
She almost feels like a lovesick little girl. The feelings she has developed for Treech go far beyond anything she has ever felt. It’s warm and comforting and yet it always manages to keep her on her toes. She feels at peace when she’s with him and when he’s not around, her mind keeps on wandering anyway.
Is this love? It might be too soon to call it that. But if there’s one thing she knows it’s that if they had more time, she’d fall head over heels — or perhaps it has even started already. She knows it should scare her but it doesn’t.
Not after they almost kissed the previous evening. That thought helps lull her to sleep and when she dreams, his smiling face is all she sees.
Right after she wakes up, she realizes the neckerchief Treech gave her is missing. It’s a surprise considering the fact that she slept with it right next to her face and immediately alarms her.
When she scrambles to find it, she bumps into Cas and her mother who are both already on their way to head out. She catches a glimpse of the blue fabric wrapped around his wrist but before she can run after him, they’re already gone. She could have chased after him and embarrassed herself by stepping onto the street in her pajamas but ended up not doing that.
