Skimming Stars (Hunger Games fan fic)

Chapter two- Carpets and Picture frames

Prologue- Dear reader thank you for reading this far. Vote. Comment. Eat cake.

Emily xxx  

Who? Who did she say? Everyone’s staring at me. It’s ok. Someone will volunteer. When people think they can win they volunteered. It’ll be ok. Someone will volunteer. I gulped. “Annie, Annie Cresta?” Flis called out. As if I hadn’t heard. I ball my hands in to fists so my nails dig in to the palm of my hands. The girls around me back away from me as if I had some sort of disease. A clear path divides so I can walk to the stage. I look up. Finnick’s face is slightly pale but still otherwise emotionless but Mags looks sad. I think she recognises me. The girl who walks with Finnick back up the victors’ village. The girl who Finnick stood with at her parents’ funeral. Fliss put out her hand, grabs my fist and basically drags me up to her left. I can’t hear anything. I focus on the sea. I glare at it until the reflection of the sun hurts my eyes. Someone grabs my hand and shakes it roughly. Then I am jostled inside and the doors close between me and the sea.

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I sit on a plush sofa in the justice building. This is the hour allotted to say goodbye to your family and friends. I have only been in the justice building once when I came to say goodbye to Finnick. Now our roles are reversed and I am the one going to almost certain death. The difference is that when I came to say goodbye to Finnick there was his family, his friends and about ten girls from our school who had come to confess their love for him.

There’s no one for me to say goodbye to. Both my parents are dead; I have no siblings and the only friend I want to talk to will be sitting on the train by now. I have never felt more alone. I curl up on the velvet sofa and bury my face in my hair blocking out the world, waiting to wake up. It’s useless. The peacekeepers enter and escort me to the car which in turn takes me to the train. Fliss babbles the whole time. She leads us through to a train car that contains a large mahogany table filled with food. Mags is sitting in a chair reading a book. Finnick is missing. Fliss looks around.

“Why aren’t we moving? We have to go. We can’t keep the capitol waiting now, can we?” she asks. The annoyance in her voice sounds unnatural and out of place when said in her chirpy, upbeat tone.

Mags just smiles down at the book in her lap “I don’t think the capitol will care if he keeps them waiting as long as he comes.”  The door in the side of the carriage is pulled open and Finnick jumps in panting slightly. He turns to the cameras on the platform grinning and winks before slamming the door. Immediately the train lurches in to action.

He slumps into a chair and everyone else follows to sit down at the table. I go to sit down next to Finnick but Fliss rushes in front of me and claims the chair. I have to settle for sitting opposite him instead. Fliss completely ignores Mags who is sitting on the other side of her and turns her chair so she is practically facing him. Mags and I exchange smirks.

“Where were you darrrrling?” she purrs to Finnick. He shoves his hand in his pocket and holds out a small silver box to me. It has the pattern of ivy on and the initials C.J.C and L.A.C engraved on it. I open it to find the silhouettes of my parents framed inside facing each other. He must have run to my house and got it for me. I smiled looking at it.

“It was for their wedding. Thank you.” I gulped “Sorry about what I said earlier.”

“You tempted fait and look where it got you.” He said jokingly.

“Ye, in a train full of food. I’m so annoyed about that” I said sarcastically, grinning.

“I know. Who would ever want to be in a train full of food? Anyway” he licked his lips “I overreacted, sorry.”

I shrug. At that moment Fliss decides that Finnick is paying too much attention to me and tries to steer the conversation back to her. “Oh you got her a picture frame. That’s so sweet of you” she places her hand on his knee and leans closer to him. “I like picture frames. There soooo…urm… useful… for holding pictures, I mean.”

“That’s because that is what they are designed for.” Reply’s Finnick. Fliss giggles.

“You’re so funny Finnick” by this point she’s basically drooling.

“So, let’s talk strategy.” Say the boy tribute. I realise I haven’t even looked at him properly. He has dark blond hair, blue eyes and a tan. I don’t know him. He must be from some other part of the district. Then again our district is pretty big. He must be 18. He is large and looks quite strong. He must have trained like lots of the people in our district do. I wonder if he volunteered. I don’t know. I don’t even know his name. I don’t particularly want to know. I don’t want to get to know him in case I have to kill him later. Not like Finnick and Donner. They didn’t know each other very well but he still knew her. He murdered her.

“Annie? Annie?” Finnick is calling my name. Mags looks concerned.

“Hu? What?” I look up.

“You sort of went blank.” Says Finnick.

“Blank?”

“Yeh. Like you zoned out. Just staring at the wall.” Finnick explains.

“I’m fine. Just thinking and stuff. I didn’t mean to-” but I am interrupted by the food.  People come in carrying a large bowl of creamy liquid and fresh roles. Then an entire roast bird filled with orange sauce served with roast potatoes then crackers and a million different cheeses. Then after that I am shocked when even more food comes. A large chocolate cake with chocolate custard and strawberries. When I am sure we must be finally finished steaming pots of coffee, tea and what I assume must be hot chocolate, which I have only heard about and never tried, are put on the tables.

The coffee smells strong and I don’t like it. The tea is nice and not at all the gritty watery stuff I had this morning. But I leave them all for the hot chocolate. It is sweet and creamy and makes me feel warm inside. I take a role that is somewhere in between a cake and bread and contains chocolate chips and dip it in to the hot chocolate.

After some talking about everything except the games Fliss shows me and the boy who everyone keeps calling Cyan to our bedrooms. She tells us to freshen up for dinner. Is all these capitol people do is eat, watch the games, party and dress scarily?

Even though I washed this morning I try out the showers. There are about 100 different options of shower gels, shampoos and soaps. Half way through my shower I stumble out and throw up in the toilet. Well there goes lunch. It must be all the rich food.

Once I am dry I dress in soft green trousers and a white blouse. Apart from my impending doom I feel pretty good. Even though the draws must contain hundreds of pairs of shoes and socks I wander around the train in bare feet enjoying the carpets. At the back of the train I find there is a sitting room with a large glass window that extends in to the ceiling. I watch hills and forests rush past. I wish I was a bird. Then I could just fly away. No one could catch me or put me in a cadge. I would be free.