Silence [The Hunger Games]

Chapter Sixteen

Pandora was gone when I woke up, and I wondered whether I would see her again. Of course you will I told myself you're going to win. And then you have a promise to keep.

Sunday, I thought. Once my favourite day of the week. That had changed since Jonah died. I closed my eyes and thought back to the best Sunday of all, which in actual fact, I spent with Logan...

Normally, Sundays were a day of relaxation. Father wasn't needed in work on Sundays, and mother put her sewing aside to cook a hearty meal. She often dealt with the butcher, and he would give her a chicken to cook every weekend if she mended his family's clothes. She'd pluck the vegetables we grew in the garden, and serve it at mid-afternoon. It was a day I always enjoyed. But one Sunday, we were invited to a dinner party at the Mayor's house. Only important people were invited, and we were honoured to be amongst them. I was only young then, eight or nine, and I spent the whole day brushing my hair until it was shiny and soft. My mother had cooed and said I looked beautiful. She let me wear my best dress, a knee length grey one with a black ribbon at the waist. I took my father's hand and skipped alongside him all the way to the house.

 

I spotted a few familiar faces at the party. The Grey family attended, as did several of the richer kids at school, but it was a bit of a disappointment to me. None of the other kids liked me, and the adults were discussing uninteresting subjects, so I sat in the corner of the Mayor's dining hall, sipping orange juice moodily. Logan, who would have been nine or ten then, plonked himself in a seat beside me with a roll of his eyes.

 

"This is such a drag. Everyone here is so boring." I nodded in agreement, pulling at a loose stitch in the skirt of my dress. Logan looked at me for a while, smiling.

 

"What?" I snapped.

 

"Wanna dance?" he asked.

 

"No."

 

"Why?"

 

"I hate dancing."

 

"Not if it's with me."

 

"Especially if it's with you."

 

"Oh come on, don't be a bore. You're the only interesting person here!"

 

I rolled my eyes, hiding a smile. It made me feel special. "Fine. I'll dance with you."

 

He smiled, and stood, offering me his hand. I took it and we moved over the centre of the room, where several couples were dancing.

 

"So...do you know how to dance?" I asked.

 

"Not a clue."

 

"Me neither. Should we copy the adults?"

 

We looked to where Logan's parents were dancing. The Mayor's hands rested on Logan's mother's hips, and she had her arms wrapped around their neck. They swayed rhythmically to the music, gazing at one another lovingly. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.