Blood and Glory

Chapter 4

   We were led to the tower in the Training Centre designed exclusively for us tributes and our teams. It was going to be our home until the actual Games began, so we were told to make ourselves comfortable.

   The Training Centre was more than impressive, but if the lobby itself was amazing, the rooms were even better.

   There were practically buttons for everything in the room -- the closet, shower, windows, and so on. I could programme the closet for my taste and size, order the window to zoom in and out of the parts of the city I wanted to see, order food by talking into a mouthpiece, step on a mat after showering  and heaters would dry my hair and body. The possibilities were endless. But somehow with all the decor and wonderful facilities, it felt less like home and even made me uncomfortable. I would prefer scruffy mattresses, dirt stained clothes and cold water showers to the Capitol luxury.

   Maybe deep inside, I really did enjoy it, but part of me must have decided not to. Enjoying what the Capitol offered us felt like I was betraying myself.

   "Hey."

   "Hi Coeden." I replied, without even looking at him.

   "Is there anything I can do?" I turned to face him.

   "What?"

   "You look pretty down, so I was thinking that I could do something to cheer you up and make you feel much, much better."

   If it was not for his mischievous, lopsided grin, I would have thought that he was genuinely going to try to cheer me up. "What do you mean by that?" I asked him suspiciously.

   He slid onto my bed, where I was sitting. He inched towards me in a seductive manner. "There are quite a few possibilities. It depends on how you look at it."

   His voice had turned husky and I pushed him away, realising what he meant "Ewww!" He didn't look detoured.

   "You know you want me." 

   "In your dreams, Blanchard." I snapped and he had the audacity to laugh.

   "You should see your face." He chuckled and I turned a little red, in embarrassment and annoyance.

   "Just get out of my room." I huffed.

   "Sure."

   I looked at him in surprise. I expected him to argue with me or annoy me until I had to literally kick him out.

   "But not before I get what I want." Before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I was too shocked to do anything but freeze.

   His lips were rough and dry and strangely pleasant. They moved against mine in a rhythmic motion while I was sitting on the bed, as unresponsive as a wax figure. Then suddenly, they were no longer there.

   It felt like the world was making a three-hundred-and-sixty turn, but not in the way that made me nauseous.

   I almost whined at the sudden feeling of loss when our lips weren't moulded together. And then I mentally beat myself up for that thought.

   Stupid girl! Slap. Idiot! Slap. Coeden kissed you!!!! Slap again.

   I was too busy mentally punishing myself that I didn't notice that he had climbed off the bed and was about to leave.

   "Night, darling!" He called out, sauntering out of the room like nothing had happened at all.

   At the sound of his voice, I snapped back to my senses. "Coeden Blanchard!" I shrieked. Yes, shrieked. I flinched at how my voice had gone an octave higher and he laughed, walking through the door.

   "You - you --" I was in a loss for words. Coeden had kissed me for no reason and had walked out. Damn that guy. He was just messing with me to see my reaction, and like what he had wanted, I sat there, stoned, shocked, and like a lost puppy.

   "You are so dead, Blanchard!" I yelled and his amused laughter wafted through the corridor. He was insufferable, there wasn't much I could do about it. I contemplated getting up and going out to give him a piece of my mind, and maybe fist, but my body wasn't too cooperative that day. Exhaustion was kicking in and I didn't have the will to resist it. I'll just deal with that sneaky bastard tomorrow.

   I cuddled up in the blankets like an infant and tried to ignore the tingling in my lips. I used the back of my hand to wipe and rub my mouth, trying to remove that strange feeling. That kiss was just a joke, though it was my first. It didn't mean anything, I reminded myself. And it couldn't mean anything, not even as good friends, because it'll just make his death in the Games much harder, which was something I didn't need.

Sorry. That was a filler and pretty random. Lol. It's a rough draft cause I didn't have time to edit it. Sorry if you don't like it. But if you do, please comment and maybe even vote. ;). Thanks!