Light the Way

Chapter Eighteen

Coriolanus made his way to the gamemakers class, a quarter hour early as usual. He was well rested now and confident in his plan for the evening. After his heartfelt chat with his cousin, he thought and thought of ways to make it up to Olivia. How to truly express his affections for her without seeming so pathetic. Festus used to write her these god-awful poems and the second hand embarrassment made him want to hide.

He debated with himself for a bit too. First putting the blame onto her for not expressing this to him in the first place. How was he supposed to know what she wanted? The more he thought about the day at her place and the dinner with her the father, the more the blame shifted to himself. Coriolanus had come across too eager to please her father, and any sane person would interpret that as Coriolanus using their relationship for political gain. As if all of their time spent together thus far had all been part of some plan, and it wasn't.

Realizing an apology of some form was required – or moreso an explanation, he headed to Pluribus' club to inquire about any other art forms he possessed. The music playing that night seemed to be in more supply now, and he figured he could find something that sang all of the words for him. Much better than standing there, expressing his raw feelings with words that would never do them justice.

He listened through dozens of records until he found one that he resonated with. So many of them were ballads written by old lovers, deep with meaning of longing and regret that he felt ill fitted their relationship. He saw her as an equal. And equals deserved honesty. She was someone he hoped to share his true ambitions with, and the song reflected that.

Striding into the classroom, he made eye contact with Olivia, who had looked up briefly when she heard the doors swing open, and then looked back down at her notebook.

Harsh, but she's making me work for it, I guess.

Undeterred and unaffected, he took his seat next to her, his shoulders pushed back and a confident smile radiating from his face. He had a plan after all.

"Lumen, always a pleasure." He said to her, being sure to lean in close. Even though she was angry with him, she couldn't deny the chemistry that bubbled between them. Two could play that game.

"Coriolanus." She said politely, nodding in his general direction but refusing to turn her body closer to him.

He bit back a laugh and instead draped his arm across the back of her chair, seeing just how far he could push her.

"Any plans for tonight, Lumen?" He asked casually, ignoring the permanent straight line her mouth seemed to be making at him. She let out a sigh and rearranged her books, debating on whether she should play along with whatever game he was starting or just ignore him. She was fiddling around with the spine of one of her notebooks and decided to take the bait.

"Likely sleeping. You see, I've just been so exhausted lately, carrying the team and all." She turned to him now, offering a sickly-sweet smile.

Coriolanus laughed aloud at the thought, a full belly laugh that rang out in the almost empty classroom.

"I guess delusion runs in the family, Lumen." He quipped back, looking amused when she scoffed and turned back to focus on her notebooks. Her father was still a sore spot.

Students began to flood in the doors, taking their normal seats. Festus Creed walked in and sat next to where Livia Cardew normally was, opting to avoid his old friends entirely. Nothing shocked Coriolanus about the seating situation, that was an obvious choice. What shocked him were the large purple bruises that spanned across the boy's face. Some stitches in his upper lip that looked just as fresh. Festus must have lost another fight sometime over the past few days.