summertimes close (c.s x oc)

one

eudaemonia: the state of being lucky
this was something that summer barlowe had lacked, nearly her entire life. this day however, luck had to be on her side. she had laced up her "lucky" boots as she had raced to the center of town, just in time for the reaping.
"kind of you to join us, summer." her mother states. she responded with an eye roll and kept her head forward.
"it is time for us to choose one courageous woman, and one brave man to participate in the 24th annual hunger games."
"ladies first.." her palms start to sweat as the mayor began riffling through the bowl of names.
"summer barlowe." the crowd gasped, and some smiles painted the faces of others. as sick as it was, they were glad it was her and not themselves.
she finally mustered up the courage to walk up there, all eyes on her. the mayors daughter snickered as she spit on the ground in front of her. as she got up there, the mayor began to say the name of the male tribute.
"jessup diggs." a name she'd remembered, but never talked to. before she knew it, she was being thrown into a train car as she awaited potentially, her death. she'd never been stealthy by any means, she'd only played the banjo with the rest of the covey. she couldn't compete and win in the games.
as the train pulled in, a faint outline of a man appeared, wearing what had looked to be- a costume. all of the tributes piled off of the train car and the unknown male figure approached her.
"welcome to the capital." he stated as he offered her a white, delicate rose. she resisted to take it at first, looking him up and down before finally speaking.
"flowers like that don't grow back in district 12." she said in response. she grabbed the flower from him and gently put it into her braid. "my mom used to do this with the daisies that grew in the fields, you don't look like you belong with the rest of them."
"well, i don't, but i'm your mentor." he said, looking almost confused about what she said. she laughed it off.
"i didn't know my mentor was supposed to bring me roses, i would've dressed nicer had i known that was the case." she joked, looking down at her dusty pink dress.
"..i do my best to take care of you." she knew what he meant, his only job was to get her through the games.
"have fun with that, pretty." she said finally before turning on her heel and being pulled away by the guards.
they had kept them in a truck, like farm animals. coriolanus suddenly barged in, seemingly she had underestimated him.
"in the wrong cage, pretty boy?" a man scoffs.
"no, i believe im inn just the right one. this cage is delightful."
"i'll kill you right now," the man huffed. the others responded equally angrily, getting closer to coriolanus. "he'll do it, too," a young girl responded quietly, looking like she may be on her death bed at this very moment, "reaper killed two peacekeepers back in 11."
"shut it, dill," reaper muttered, tightening his grip on coriolanus' collar.
"don't be so stupid. you guys know you'll family will be the one who makes up for the mistake of you killing him." she had finally spoke up.
"how come you get a mender?" a woman, young with a very short, pixie hair cut asked, messing up the pronunciation.
"mentor," coriolanus added, correcting her. "you all get one."
"where's mine, then?" she had asked, worry and hurt spreading across her face. "why didn't they come?"
"must not have wanted to." summer mocked, smirking at coriolanus, which may have given him a laugh, in a different place or time.
without summer's sarcasm, coriolanus knew he'd be off the walls with anxiety. what was he doing here? there was something unique, different even about summer that intrigued him. he wanted more.
the truck came to a stop, throwing those standing around. summer found herself gripping coriolanus' hand, in fear. coriolanus looked around, noticing the trees and sand. he had recognized where they were.
they were in an enclosure, being examined like zoo animals.
panic swept across his face. the cameras could blur his image, making him seem like one of them.
"rock it." summer looked up at him. this gave him the confidence he needed to strive forward, ignoring the spotlight the cameras had held over him.
"how do you do?" he smiled, looking over all of the children. "would you like to meet my friend?" he asked, causing a stir amongst the children. they had nodded in agreement, turning their attention to summer.
"may i present summer barlowe?" he presented her, like a gift. this caused summer to kneel down to their height.
"and what would your name be?" she smiled, looking at a sheepish young boy.
"pontius." he responded, nervously.
"how are you on this fine, summers day, pontius?" she held her hand out for him to shake. this was rare for her, but she knew it'd give her a good look. she turned to an even younger girl with golden hair.
"is this your sister, pontius?"
"mhm," he responded, "that's venus, she's only four."
"well venus, i think four is the best age to be!" she said in enthusiasm, smiling down at her. did coriolanus misjudge her? she gave a good performance for the cameras, that's for sure. she'd always been in the dark, it was surprising how well she spoke.
"i like your dress," venus said, touching the light pink dress. summer took some of her inspiration from lucy gray, but still kept it her own. it wasn't clean, a past light pink becoming a dusty pink, with dirt.
"thank you, venus. i love your ribbons," this compliment made venus shy.
suddenly, summer turned to the cameras. "oh, hi! are we on television?" she waved.
"we sure are," the reported said, "i'm lepidus malmsey with capitol news, and you're summer barlowe, correct?"
"you bet!" she responded with a smile.
"i must say, miss barlowe, you're a lot more cheery than people thought you would be."
summer giggled. "really? well, i dress in pink so people think i'm nicer. maybe that isn't working anymore."
"i think what you're wearing right now is lovely, it's not that. when you were chosen in the reaping, people noticed that you looked a little.. crabby."
"perhaps," summer thought to herself for a second, "but i'm not sure you'd be happy when you're suddenly chosen to fight to the death."
"no, i wouldn't." lepidus let out a chuckle.
"have you met my absolutely lovely mentor, mr. coriolanus snow?" summer squeezed coriolanus' arm.
"ah, a mentor? did your teachers advise you to be here?"
"they didn't tell me not to," coriolanus said sarcastically. "i just used my own initiative and decided to come and greet the lovey summer barlowe in person, before things get a little too daunting for her."
summer smiled are coriolanus and kissed his cheek. "i feel very lucky, considering no other mentors even bothered to come!" she joked.
"well, coriolanus, i hope it was worth it. looks like your academy is after you as we speak." he exclaimed, as peacekeepers stormed over.
coriolanus used to little time he had left to promote his new tribute. "remember, it's summer barlowe, representing district twelve. drop by the zoo and say hello if you've got a minute. i promise, she's worth the effort," he said, smiling at the cameras than at summer. he left a playful wink at her before the peacekeepers whisked her away.