The Catastrophic Century: a Hunger Games fanfiction

02.

Flint Loggs

I DIDN'T EXPECT anybody to come visit me after Will. But, nevertheless, the door flew open once again. Jane Crawson stood there, her eyes were red and puffy from crying and when she spoke it sounded hoarse, "Flint." She always calles me Flintie or Flinto. My name sounds so different when she says it. I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her. She didn't know what she was picking Tori for, she thought that she was a Tribute herself.

She instantly holds on to my torso like it's her lifeline. I feel her tears stain my shirt. We stand there for about a minute. Then she lets go of me and whispers, "I'm sorry. I know you don't like the whole affection thing when you're not comfortable around them." I frown when she says that, "How do you know that?" I ask. She blushes, "I feel you tense whenever I touch you. I just have to keep my reputation high, so I keep doing it. I'm sorry." I look at her, so vunerable. And she looks back at me, I see something in her eyes, I don't know what it is. Despiration?

"I'll try to take care of Tori, I'll try my hardest to help her train and that stuff," I want to add what Jane already knows. I can't promise her anything at all. Jane's voice is barely a whisper, "Thank you." She huggs me once again and I accept her embrace and wrap my arms around her. We stand there for some time when I let her go. She pulls something out of her pocket. It's a leather bracelet, with a silver anchor in it. "As a token, would you wear it?" She asks and I nod in reply. I hold up my arm, she grabs my hand and she slids the bracelet on my wrist.

She holds my hand longer than nessicairy. We lock eyes and she inches closer. I do too. She then pecks my lips softly and pulls away. But I feel like she thinks I turned her down, so I lay my hand on her waist and pull her closer to me, connecting our lips again. I feel something stir inside me. It feels unfimiliar to me. Her hand goes up to my neck. Then the door bursts open. "Time's up." I let go of her.

She looks as startled as I do. Not knowing what to do, she backs out of the room, leaving me with my thoughts.

--

When we're finally on the train, I've dealt with more press than I've ever seen in my entire life. The CC edition must be the reason. Tori's eyes were puffy from crying, she tried to cover it. It didn't really work out for her. It was heartbreaking to see her like that. Cailo leads us to the main wagon. It looks like a castle inside. Tori and I sit down and Cailo leaves the room.

"So did Will come to say goodbye?" Asks Tori. We've been on this train not longer than five minutes and she's already asking these questions. "Yes. Yes, he did," I state. Her blue eyes look up at me, "I never expected him to pick you. His best friend, out of all people. He could've picked that Justin guy you both hate so much. I mean, sure, that's harsh, but somebody had to go. Did he explain why he chose you?" I nod and answer with a simple 'yes'. She rolls her eyes at me and I chuckle a bit. "Why, you dumbass?" I look away and say, "Because I was the only one worthy of winning that he could think of. Bullcrap ofcourse. Justin is maybe not just as strong as I am, but he has way better looks than me. All Victors are pretty goodlooking to me." She shakes her head, "You're definetely more handsome than Justin. Take that from a fifteen year old teenage girl," She grins and I snicker a bit, "Thanks, Tori."

The door opens and Wick and Mahogany walk in. "Well, let's start with introducing yourselves to us, kay?" Asks Wick, looking expectantly at Tori. Her voice shakes a bit when she starts to speak, clearly intimidated, "I'm Tori. And I'm fifteen," She's unsure of what to say next. Mahogany seems to notice, so she asks, "Any special skills? Or so you want to keep them a secret?" Tori smiles faintly, "I'm alright with a knife and I'm good at weaving baskets and making knots." Wick gives a nod of approval, "And she's pretty and cute, too."