Tidal ~ Hunger Games [2]

eleven

+ talisa's +

I sat at Talisa's kitchen table which was a lot more cluttered than mines was, she sat opposite me at the table, her hands wrapped firmly around smug as she just simply stared at me, her gaze so sharp I was scared she's drill a hole through my forehead. The curtains to the windows were all drawn closed, meaning the only light that was shining through the room was what was coming from the chandelier that hung over our heads. Her kitchen wasn't necesarily messy, but from the amount of dishes and glasses that were stacked in the sink I could tell that she wasn't a big fan of washing the dishes.

"Can I get you a drink?" she asked me, her hand reaching forward to the box of tissues that were sitting next to a hoard of empty glass bottles, pushing the box towards me as I let out a small sigh. I plucked a tissue from the box, wiping my nosw with it as catching the tears that were still rolling down my face every once every few moments, my cheeks stinging from the amount of crying I had done. Talisa hadn't over crowded me when I first came into her house, pointing me in the direction of the kitchen as she milled about upstairs for a moment, letting me lean my head against the wall and sob for 10 minutes before she came back down.

She knew exactly what I was going through right now, because ultimately she had been in the exact same position as I had, except she only had Mags to help her through it. I had never seen  the inside of Talisa's house before and honestly I'm not sure many people had. There was a thin layer of dust sitting on top of everything that didn't get used at least once a day and I'd hate to see what the state of the room she didn't use were like. "Water? Coffee?" she asked me, standing up as I looked up at her, the light framing from behind her like she was an angel who just decsended from heaven.

"Erm" I stammered, my throat feeling so dry that I could feel my vocal chords scratching against themshelves as I spoke. "Could I get something a bit stronger?" I asked her quietyl, her eyebrows rasing for a moment as she sighed, walking away from the table as she opened up the cabinet that sat under the sink. She emerged from it with a green bottle, a clear liquid swishing from it as she salvaged the last clean mug that she had, pouring a bit into it as she walked back over to the table. She silently set the mug in front of me, my fingers holding onto it as she sat back down in her chair, gripping her own mug again.

The mug I waas holding was barely even half full, the liquid having a small hint of a cloudiness to it that I didn't want to think about as I lifted it up to my lips, letting a small sip fill my mouth. Even the quickest interaction with my tongue made me wince, causing me to swallow it quickly as it burned all the way down my throat, my nose screwing up at the tatse as Talisa let out a small sigh. "Don't drink it too fast" she told me, motioing towards me with her own cup as I nodded my head, setting it back on the table as I leaned back in the chair.

It had only just occured to me that I was still in my night dress, my feet completley bare as the white chipped nail polish that once coated my toenails looked pathetic against the deep chestnut floors. "That's the onlt glass your getting as well" she added quickly as I continued to stare over at her, my arms feeling exceptonally bare as I ran my hand up and down the smooth skin of my forearm. "You don't follow that rule" I croaked snappily, Talisa replying with a simple tilt of her head, her eyebrow twitching up on her forehead like she was asking if I had geniunely just said that, and honestly I was questioning if I actually did.

"Yeah and you don't exactly want to end up like me, do you?" she replied with a snide look on her face like a mother was scolding her child, making me look away from her out of shame. "You seem to be doing pretty well for yourself" I said to her, motioing my hand at the abundance of empty bottles that sat around the room, and it didn't exactly take a genius to guess what once used to fill them. "Subdued to barely know your surroundings" I added, looking back over at her a she just kept her eye contact with me, taking a small sip from whatever was in her glass, her look still sharp.