The Hope Collection

A Little Bit of Training and Magic(unedited)

I'm sorry all of you wonderful readers. My computer has been acting up recently so I haven't been able to post at all and I had finals this week and had very little time to write. Sorry if this chapter sucks, it's kind of boring I suppose. Well comment with helpful tips please and enjoy reading.

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"Are you ok? You look a bit out of it," Joy asks me.

I had gotten to my room about ten minutes ago, hadn't even gotten inside my room, and Joy had walked up and smiled, asking if I needed someone to talk to. I had obviously told her yes, for she was now sitting on my bed cross-legged across from myself.

I sigh and slump my shoulders and look around my new room, not wanting to meet Joy's stare. My room is as plain as it gets and there's not much to look at. All it has in it is a small oak desk, a twin matress on a frame with a headboard, and a bookcase that's about four feet long and reaches half way up the wall. The guard that guided me here had told me that I'm allowed to do anything with it that I like, but I think I'm just going to leave it plain while noting else in my life is.

"Hope," Joy groans, drawing out the h in my name and I smile and look at her.

"It's just I have had a tiring day. What with winning the games and being brought over here," I shrug my smile becomes a frown.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Have you always had those powers? It was so cool to see a girl fighting off that jerk. He's always saying how he's the strongest and now he lost and was beaten by you, the underdog of our class," Joy sounds excited and waves her arms in the air like a madwoman.

"Ok, ok, I'll tell you," I giggle at her expression, she looks excited to hear my story as if she's a small child around the fireplace.

I tell her my story, everything from the point of my parents being murdered till the day of the games. Joy looks like she's going to cry and I immediatly want to take back everything I just told her. I've never told anyone my story, and if my parents were still alive I wouldn't have told them I had combat powers when I learned about them when I was twelve. For three years I had to hide my powers from the world, and now everyone in the surrounding area knew about me and my special abilities.

After I finish speaking I'm out of the breath, I sped through my entire life story as if I didn't even want to talk about it, and I didn't want to. Joy sits there in a state of shock. She stares at me and her eyes are wide with shock. I look down at my hands, which are lying in my lap, and a single tear falls onto the palm of my hand.

Joy leans over and hugs me tightly. Her arms wrapped around me makes me feel warm and safe in her arms, maybe she did care about me. Maybe it wasn't just a feeling she portrayed to everyone. I could hear her sniffling in my ear and I can feel tears hitting my shoulder and soaking through my shirt. She was crying for me of all people. She was crying because of my past. I hug her back and we sat there for what seems like hours just clinging to each other.

"I have to go now, ok? I'll see you tomorrow. I promise I'll come by after breakfast," Joy pulls away and smiles through her tear-streaked face.

I nod and I realize my face was wet with tears, too. I smile at her and hug her one more time. I watch her climb off my bed and walk across the room to my bedroom door. She turns and smiles at me nodding reasurringly and I smile back at her. She walks out of my room and shuts the door, the light from the hall was shut out by the closed door. My only light of joy was gone for the long span of the night.