Stay with me, always.

Chapter 16. Let's Get Lucky

If you've never been to a Lucky Flickerman show, count yourself lucky. The past few shows have been rough, to say the least. Of course, there was the time he brought in his bird, and that was a disaster. I think after a few bumps in the road, he finally got the memo to cool it down. I'm nervously sitting in the front row along with my parents, Soarynn's Prep Team and Castor, her Stylist, and Eudora, who finally turned up after a two-day bender.

Soarynn's Stylist has been doing the Lord's work making sure all eyes have been on her since the Reaping. I completely forgot I would see her at the Parade, even if it was for a brief moment. She looked beautiful on that chariot, I mean she's always looked beautiful, but Castor really did his best to make her stand out even more. She was wearing a long coal-black dress that had small glowing embers on the end. She was a sight for sore eyes.

What I didn't appreciate was her counterpart, Jessup, grabbing her hand as they rode down the Avenue. As if he wasn't going to try to kill her the second the gong rang. As they rounded past the podium we always waved from, she looked up, not at me, but at Father. If I didn't kill him, she surely would. But tonight we finally get to hear about how she's been processing these past few days away from me, I mean, her family and friends, of course.

School was out of the question for me at the moment, I refused to go, saying I would only start more fights or try to kill myself. I know that was a little dramatic, but when it comes to Mother, you've gotta sell it. After listing out my reasons, she broke down– for the seventh time in a day –and hugged me so tight she nearly cracked a rib. "Don't worry darling, we'll get through this together, I won't leave your side until this is all over," she said, stroking the back of my head. I wish you would, I thought as she squeezed harder.

Still, it did its job. Sejanus came over on the second day, and my Professors sent all my assignments with him, along with their regards. We didn't really know what to say to each other at first. "I wish it was me," he finally said, tracing the carpet, we were in Soarynn's room, it was almost like she was in there with us. "You know that wouldn't have worked," I said petting Petunia, we've been trauma bonding a lot recently and I think this newfound friendship was showing a lot of promise and growth. "I know," he sighed, "I just felt so helpless." Take a number pal.

The lights begin to dim signaling the show is about to start. The trumpets begin to play, the screen begins to flash and soon enough, the room is filled with, ' LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET'S HEAR A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR YOUR MASTER OF CEREMONIES, LUCKY FLICKERMAN!' The crowd cheers as he takes the stage, with various unflattering closeups of him flashing on the screen behind him. After telling one too many bad jokes, he starts to get the ball rolling.

I can't even see my Father from where I'm sitting, refusing to let him or Mother put me in a bad mood, I had wedged myself in between Lavender and Eudora. Call me childish, I don't care. Every year the male and female Tributes from every District come out on stage and are given a five-minute interview, in hopes to increase their chances of getting sponsors. Just another thing Soarynn has a leg up on, she and Lucky are old pals by this point. Since the girls went first last year, the boys came out first.

Beckett came out hot, talking about how he "can't wait to bring pride to my District," as if anyone cares about his District. Briella is a bit more realistic, talking about her family back home and how she can't wait to see them again. It's hard to focus when her rhinestone dress keeps flashing the audience in the eye though. Finn from District Two comes out ready to stir the pot, giving his opinions on this year's Reaping. "Just because you live in the Capitol doesn't mean you're safe," he said to Lucky, clearly referencing Soarynn. This caused quite a few gasps from the audience. Cleo has a lot more class than her counterpart, telling Lucky about how hard she's been training and how she was and I quote, "born for this".