The Orphan [[Open]]
Aug 25, 2010 14:15:24 GMT -5
Post by chaseee on Aug 25, 2010 14:15:24 GMT -5
I heard a bell ring, from inside. They were calling us to lunch. Well I, for one, refused to go in. I also refused to beleive what they served on those dirty plates was food. Ha! More like nuclear waste. Of course, Jeremy would be in there with the other big boys cleaning his plate. I asked him why he ate the trash, and he repeated to me what my father always told him. "It's ruffage."
I think, the only bright side to this situation, was that Julliane was having an even harder time fitting in than I did. There were no girls here who enjoyed gossiping about the cutest boy in the Seam. Or trading skin-care secrets. Everyone here was lonely and depressed. Well, that is, everyone but me.
I still have my friends.
Lilliana, Dane, and Buck have stuck with me, even through all this. People have teased me about how I still have "imaginary friends," but I don't understand this. My friends are as real to me as any of these low-life humans.
So I'm sitting on the front steps of the orphanage, talking to Dane, when the bell rings. I am telling him how much I want to get out of this place, and he tells me I need to stay.
I sigh, not understanding why he thinks it is best for me to stay in this personal hell for another minute. All the dangers of an ordinary District 12 citizen are still here. I must still participate in the Hunger Games if my name is called, I still get picked on, night and day, and I go to bed with a rumbling stomach every night. And as each day draws to a close, I am always forced to think about how my mother died. Starvation. That possibility seems very real for me.
"Simone, it's not that we want you to stay. You have to stay. For your own safety," Dane says. "You cannot even begin to imagine the dangers out there!"
I shake my head, grimacing. "It cannot be any worse than this place."
I stand, and stretch. I glance around, making sure no one else is here but me and Dane. After checking over three times, I set off, towards the few shops of the Seam. I hear Dane give an exasperated sigh behind me. "Where are you going, Sim?"
I laugh at the nickname. So unimaginative. "Anywhere but here."
And suddenly Lilliana and Buck are there with me. This does not scare me, or even surprise me. They do this all the time. Frankly, right now it's just getting on my nerves.
"Simone you get back there this instant!" Lilliana. In some ways she's like my older sister. Scratch that, my mature, caring older sister, opposed to the lousy, care-free one inside the building.
"Relax guys. It's not like I won't come back. I'm just taking a little walk."
"A little walk? And what happens if Headmistress finds out?"
My lips pull up, into an almost-smile. "Well, she won't."