The Shepherd and The Seamstress

Chapter Four: District 8

Chapter 4: Saying Goodbye

Delani Cordei

My mind blacked out from when I got escorted onto stage. I stared off into the distance of my district, until Arula forcefully took my hand, and led me into the Justice Building into a locked room.

I had sat there for a good three (but long) minutes until I heard the door creaking open.

Tetra hugged me first. "It should've been me!" She said as she stroked my back. "I should've volunteered! I should've done something - anything, but I just... Froze!"

She says into my ear. I squeeze her tighter, and say "It wasn't your fault. I'm happier it was me... You have much more to live for. Your friends, your honor roll, your-" she shushes me, and we hug in silence for a minute. When we finally pull away, I see she was crying, I itch my eye and feel that I was crying too.

I then tightly hug my mom. She's already crying loudly, and her eyes are puffy. I lean my head on her shoulder, and close my eyes. More tears drop out of both of us.

It must be really hard for her. Having to deal with Aureus's death last year, and my imminent death this year, she must be dealing with so much depression an anxiety. "I love you, mommy." I say. It might as well be the last time I say it, too.

I pull away, sadly, knowing I have barely any time left with them, and crouch to hug Aurra. She isn't crying, which isn't very strange for her. She's always been so strong.

I stand up to group hug them for the last time. We exchange our 'I love you's' and I kiss them all on the cheek.

"I love you guys more than anything," I say again, my face all blotchy. I bite my lip, straining to hold back the tears that are already falling.

"We love you too," Tetra says sadly.

"But you have to win!" Aurra says from out of the blue.

"What?" I say. She mustn't think I have a chance of winning. My chances are zero out of one hundred, and if she starts having hope, then I die... her heart will be crushed.

"You have to win!" She says again, with a straight face. I crouch next to her.

"Aurra, sweetie..." I start, sniffing. "It's going to be very hard, and I don't know if I have the strength..." I close my eyes as my voice trembles.

I open my eyes again and take her hand softly. "I'll try." I say softly. Great. Now I've given her hope.

"Not for me, Delani. For Aureus." She breaks her hand free from me grasp and wraps her arms around my neck. I feel like crying again, but nothing comes out.

The door opens fast. "Time's up." One of the peacekeepers say, and I scream again. I know I'm being over dramatic... But wouldn't you be? One peacekeeper rips Aurra out of my grasp

"No!" I scream, hot tears running into my mouth.

I try to run at the peacekeeper, but the door is already shut, and I'm surrounded by silence.

I sit down onto a velvet love seat in defeat. I try to make myself hopeful, like I did to Aurra... But a thought keeps popping into my head: "That's the last time I'll talk to them" and I'm getting this pit in my stomach. Like the feeling when you fall off something really tall, how your heart falls into your stomach, except that's only for a few seconds. This feels never-ending.

I thought I was going to be sitting there alone for a long time, so I was startled when the door opens again.

It's the girl who stood to the left of me during the reaping. I didn't get a good look at her then, but I notice everything now. She's wearing a soft yellow floral dress, and has chestnut colored hair. Her eyes are light green, and she has yellow wedges on, with white tights. She also has a half-smile plastered on her face.

"Uh..." I breath. "Hello?" This is really strange. I don't even know this girl's name.

"Hi..." She blinks, then come's to sit down next to me.

"Do I know you?" I ask, awkwardly. I don't want to offend her.

"No, probably not." She smiles at me, she looks almost like she's in pain. "But I know you." She averts my eyes now.

"What?" I say, kind of weirded out, but happy for the company.

She laughs a little, and plays with her hands in her lap. Her voice shakes. "I have a secret." She looks me in the eyes now. The suspense is killing me. "I wasn't ever going to tell you... But..." She scratches her neck, and looks away. She all of a sudden intrigued by the wall paper. She takes a deep breath and mumbles to herself, "It's now or never..." She closes her eyes and takes another big breath, then looks me in the eyes again. My whole body tense. "I love you." She says.

I struggle for words. "What?!" I say, surprised.

"You heard me." She says. "I've sat next to you in almost all your classes for three years. I know a lot about you. For one: I know you and Aureus were really close - I'm sorry about that by the way - and I know that your favorite color is purple, and that you hate dresses, and that you don't-" I put my hand up to stop her, and I close my eyes to think.

"But I haven't had any friends." I say, angrily. "You say you love me, but didn't tell me ever, or even tried to be my friend!" I open my eyes. I'm sure she can see that I'm actually hurt, not mad. "I've needed a friend more than ever lately, and you probably knew that... but why didn't you just talk to me?"

She sighs. "I'm actually really shy. I've tried to say things to you... Like when the bell rings, I'll say something like, "Hi, Delani..." But I was probably too quiet for you to hear. I've been too scared to say anything to you, I even had to convince myself a ton to even say hi... I never thought I would tell you I loved you, and there's many reasons why I do. One:-"

I never got to hear why she think's I'm such a great girl to her, because the peacekeepers opened the door, pulled her out, and shut the door before she could say another word.