Silence [The Hunger Games]

Chapter Eighteen

I finally pulled myself together, and headed off to Logan’s room. The events of that hour in my room will always be a strange mess in my memory, and I don’t even know if what I remember is true. All I knew was that I was on the brink of madness. One final push, and I’d have been over the edge.

 I knocked on his door and waited. He came out several seconds later, looking rough. His hair was ruffled, and the shirt he wore was creased.

 “Sorry. I fell asleep,” he admitted sheepishly “I thought it was best to get as much sleep as possible.”

 “Sorry to disturb you.”

 “No worries. I invited you, remember? Come in.”

 I stepped inside and sat down on the bed to make myself comfortable.

 “I see you still haven’t tidied your room.”

 He laughed “Funnily enough, I have things I would rather be doing.”

 I smiled back, but got back to business “So. What’s the plan? Go to the Cornocopia or run?”

 “I think we should go to the Cornocopia. Think about it. We have no idea where we might be put. Our skills will be useless without food to keep us going and weapons for attack. And we have an advantage over most. There are two of us.”

 “But what about the Careers? And Roger…”

 “If we don’t go to the Cornocopia, they’ll hunt us down anyway. We at least need something to fight them with.”

 I considered it quickly, then nodded in agreement “Ok. Sounds good.” I paused “Do you think we have a chance? Really?”

 “I think you need to put it out of your mind and get some sleep. But yes. I think we do. I think you do.”

 I hugged him, and said the words that needed to be said “I love you, you know that?”

 “Of course I know. Who doesn’t?”

 I laughed, a proper laugh. He was the only person able to make me laugh. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

 “Good luck, Logan.”

 “Good luck, Raven. See ya at the Cornocopia, okay?”

 “OK.”

* I headed back to my room and clambered under my duvet, but I knew I wouldn’t sleep. To keep myself occupied, I closed my eyes, stretched my fingers and imagined I had a piano sat in front of me. I bent the index finger on my right hand, and I could hear faintly in my mind the blissful sound of middle C. How I had missed music. I let my fingers soar through the air, hearing each note louder and louder each time. I played all the songs I knew. And then I finally came to the one I wrote myself. Once more, I wiggled my fingers to prepare, and began to play. And in my head, I sang to myself the lyrics