the way things go [s. plinth]

i x

"What's that?" asked Ophelia when Sejanus joined her in the chemistry classroom the next day.

Sejanus set the bag and bouquet on the table in front of Ophelia. "Flowers for your hair. I thought you might want to put new ones in for the interview tonight. And there's lunch in the bag."

Ophelia beamed up at him. "Thank you! I love them!"

Sejanus blushed. "I couldn't find any asters, but I hope these will do anyway."

Ophelia stood and threw her arms around the tall boy. "They're perfect, Sej."

Sejanus hugged her around the waist, bending over to adapt to their height difference.

Ophelia pulled away so they were nearly nose to nose. "Hi," she said sweetly.

"Hi," said Sejanus.

His gaze flicked down to her lips, then back up to meet her eyes again. Ophelia felt her pulse flutter, so she pulled away fully, taking a seat in her chair. She didn't know why Sejanus made her feel like that.

"What's the plan for today?" asked Ophelia.

"Vipsania's stopping by to drop something off, but she didn't say what," said Sejanus. "But other than that, just more interview preparations."

"She is? That's sweet," said Ophelia. "Now, what's been going on with you?"

"Phee, I'm supposed to be asking you questions," said Sejanus. "It's your interview."

Ophelia frowned. "But you told me you'd tell me another day. The Games start tomorrow. So today is the only day."

"Are you sure?" asked Sejanus.

Ophelia rested her hand on his knee. "Of course I am. You can tell me anything."

Sejanus took a deep breath. "I won't lie to you when I say this has been difficult. It's been hard to see you like this. I wish there was something more I could do to help you, but there isn't."

"Sej," said Ophelia. "You've done more than enough to help me. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but you've gone above and beyond. I mean, how many mentors are going to be bringing their tributes flowers so they can fix their hair?"

Sejanus laughed. "You've got a point there, Phee."

Ophelia shrugged nonchalantly. "I know. Now what else?"

Sejanus leaned against her shoulder. "This whole assignment just sucks. All of you have been treated horribly. I've heard the way some of the mentors talk about their tributes. They speak about you all like you're animals. And I keep thinking about how that could be me if I hadn't left Two. And to be honest, I wish it were me instead of you. If I could take your place, I would in a heartbeat."

"Don't say that," whispered Ophelia, wrapping her arms around her friend in an attempt to comfort him.

"But it's true," murmured Sejanus. "I would do anything to get you out of that arena."

"I know," said Ophelia, running one of her hands through the soft curls of Sejanus's hair.

Sejanus said something else, but it was too quiet to hear. "What was that?" asked Ophelia.

Sejanus sat up. His brown eyes shone with unshed tears. Ophelia hated seeing him like that. She wished there was something she could do to help him.

"Phee, there's something I need to tell you about," he said. He fiddled nervously with his hands. Ophelia recognized it as one of her nervous habits, but not one of his. "When you first arrived at the Capitol, I tried to swap tributes with one of my classmates. I regret it, I shouldn't have even tried it in the first place."