Reservations will have to wait; JB Angevin's

[*]

I've been here before, several times actually. Each time, I found my stay quite comfortable. Never really a reason to alarm others. I am under the age of accountability for my actions, but it's my mother that is going to get the punishment or my father will have to answer to them instead. He's more absent in my life and I hate it. I prefer him more than my own mother, but it's her that comes to bail me out more often then not.

Today, is different.

Today, this will be my last time sitting in this chair awaiting my fate. "Can we hurry this up?" I yell out, putting my feet upon the desk in front of me. It's unlikely I'll get a visitor, hell, my own parents never go to these reapings anyways. The likihood that my own siblings come is going to be a miracle.

Silence screams though the more I stare at the door and wait. Waiting never did anyone any good and action was the only thing that moved the world forward. My head tilts back, expecting this little charade to be over soon but it doesn't. Not until a knock at the door erupts my thoughts and racing mind.

"Like I got a choice in letting you in?" I barely move from the desk, unwilling to drop my feet. Ripred forbid someone punish me. The face that enters isn't anyone I've met before and for a moment, I'm stunned.

"Can I help you? I think that Silas guy is in the next room down, sweetheart." Arms fold up in front of me, expecting her to walk out but she doesn't budge. "What? Do I owe ya some money or something before I'm carted off to the capitol? I ain't got any."

In my pocket, I feel her picture sitting near my heart. She's the only one I feel that really would understand me; what i'm going through. What it felt like when the world was against you and the odds were stacked against you. She was a rebel. I am a menace. We are basically one in the same.

[fireflyz]

fennec angevin

Her siblings had warned her against entering the Justice Building as if they were afraid she wouldn't come back, but Fennec's curiosity had gotten the best of her as it always did. She was still a year away from eligibility, so she didn't have much to worry about now that her brothers and sisters were home safe. Yet, something stirred within her when she heard the name Angevin, and the perturbed look that Wolf, Ma and Pa shared showed that Fennec hadn't been the only one to wonder if it were one of theirs.

But ultimately it wasn't - it was a girl with pale skin and dark hair, with definitely no resemblance to any of the people that Fennec had grown up with. Yet, this girl was familiar. She wasn't one of theirs, but she was definitely one of Fennec's, something she had discovered in the past and ultimately forgotten about once she went home. So she dragged Wolf along with her to the Justice Building, and he hovered outside while she went to face the girl that bore the same surname as her with a completely different history.

It was surprisingly easy to get through security; any other day, the place would be locked up. But soon enough, Fennec found herself in front of the large mahogany door that separated her from Amberly, and she rapped her fist against it.

"Like I got a choice in letting you in," a disgruntled voice called. Fennec hesitated before turning the knob and entering the room, finally coming face to face with this stranger that wasn't.

"Can I help you?" Amberly questioned, crossing her arms. "I think that Silas guy is in the next room down, sweetheart."

"I'm not looking for Silas," Fennec replied, slowly inching into the room and shutting the door behind her.

"What? Do I owe ya money or something before I'm carted off to the Capitol? I ain't got any."

"No, I don't want any money," she said meekly. She could feel the regret sinking in, but she pushed on.

"I think we may have met before," Fennec ventured. "Like when I was younger? I don't really remember what happened, but I never actually learned your last name. Which is also my last name."

She tried to remember what Pa had taught her about introductions, and she stuck out her hand to the older girl.

"I'm Fennec. Fennec Angevin."

392

[*]

This face, this young girl that looks scared and frightened and foreign isn't here for Silas as I previously accused her of. She mentions that she's here to see me which is weird because I have not the slightest clue who she is or why she is here in my holding cell. She states only the obvious after I also accuse her of owing money to her hand. I'm baffled, and all around curious what it is that she truly wants from someone about to become a pig to slaughter.

My arms raise upward, palms facing toward the sky in a questioning manner. "So what d'you want, girl?" This is the first person to come into my room since having my name be called. My sisters or brother haven't come. My cousins have yet to grace me with their presence. If I left today, I would be forgotten and my legacy would be nothing like my great great aunt Avonlea in which I'm told I echo. I really begin to wonder if that hologram was right or if that voice was something they took from her so long ago. My heart pounds more when this girl had something wafting around her essence.

"Met before...?" I question her as she continues. This is the moment that I drop my legs from the desk's top in order to lean forward and inspect her face. I begin to notice her. Her plump lips and curious eyes. Her gorgeous complexion is the polar opposite of my own. It hits me when I recall her voice in my head even though it sounds just a tad bit more mature.

"Little Fox, well, I am surprised to see you here." It happened years ago that I remember. Some school yard scrap that I happened to walk in on. One thing I can't stand is to watch someone harm another but most of the time, that's their own business but this little girl, at least at the time, was so fearful. "You don't remember that Grady girl picking on you? Lucky you. I guess I really took care of her then if she never bothered ya again."

The memory serves me right as flashbacks of this kid come back to view. Her tiny frame hunkered down, but I can't remember if there were tears or not. I only asked her name to make sure she was good and her last name was never uttered. I didn't even offer a hand to her but instead told her to toughen up and muttered my name before disappearing. "Angevin? Curious."

The chair scratches against the floor as I stand in front of her and notice my height a few inches higher than her. She was still so tiny, barely even bigger than she was a few years ago when the incident occured. "You know, I got three lashes from my pa that night for fighting that Grady girl."

It was quick as I lifted my shirt and turned slightly to show her the faint lines on my hip. "He believed in punishments like the peacekeepers did, but each mark I have, more than this fyi, it shows what I did to prove myself. Well worth it, if you ask me."

I pause for a moment, wondering. "Avonlea Angevin, ring a bell, Little Fox?"