drapetomonia - the overwhelming urge to run away.
━
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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ
53. Rachis
She swears he looks like he's about to faint. During the (admittedly little) amount of time they had together so far, June can only recall seeing Treech this nervous twice - before the Games, and before the interview after them.
Every step he takes is calculated, and yet it seems they're all painful to him. But no matter how often she suggests waiting it out, Treech seems to disagree vehemently. He needs to do this; at least that's what he's telling himself, and while she agrees, she doesn't know if it's a good idea to go right now either.
But Treech insists, saying that it's urgent since they don't know how much longer Rachis and his father can keep his and Lamina's grandparents alive with the little income they have. They have bills to pay, and with Lamina not in the picture, the money they have left must all be going towards their medicine. After all, it's the whole reason Lamina dropped out of school about a year ago when she was just fourteen years old - to keep her grandparents alive because her remaining family didn't make enough money.
To June, it's something that feels so far away. Seeing and even meeting people who have to decide between paying for their next meal or keeping a loved one alive hits her hard. Of course, June has some understanding of what it's like to suffer and what it means to feel helpless, but this is new to her. After the war, her parents did everything to shelter her and her brothers the way they did before the war.
And that's exactly why it's hitting her so hard right now. In the Capitol, the landscape still suffers greatly from the war. There is rubble that still has to be cleared off the streets, although not where she lives, and she believes a part of it is done so purposefully, and even the people are still clinging to what happened since their wounds are deep. Here in Seven, nature seems almost untouched, and despite how down-to-earth and kind the people are, the war has caused long-lasting effects here as well.
Above all, the Hunger Games. She doesn't need to be an expert to know that without their existence, people would be more likely to flourish quicker. In a place like this, so lively and raw, she's sure anyone would be able to grow here. And, unfortunately, that's exactly what the Capitol is trying so desperately to prevent. And what better way to keep the Districts in line than with this kind of psychological torture?
She loves Seven already, but she couldn't imagine raising a child here just because the Games exist. It terrifies her to no end, and she wouldn't ever be able to live knowing that one day her child might be ripped away from her to fight other children just to survive. She can't believe her mother is willingly helping improve and work on these Games. The more she thinks about it, the more furious she gets.
Treech's grip around her hand is firm, his palm is damp, and she doesn't need to keep on glancing at his face to know that his jaw is clenched so tightly it might as well snap in half - but she knows it is. Her thumb rubs small circles on the back of his hand as they walk, and she lightly swings their hands back and forth as they walk. His eyebrows are furrowed, and the rest of his body looks more stiff than hers did every single time she had to give a presentation at the Academy.
