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6. good and bad news

Etta woke with a gasp, feeling cold sweat run down her body. Her eyes blinked the sleepiness away, allowing her to notice a figure on the end of the bed she was on, staring up at a television mounted on the wall. Where was she?

Ignoring whoever it was for a split second, she looked around, noticing many other recognizable faces in identical beds evenly separated apart. Her classmates; many had gauze wrapped around limbs, cuts and bruises littering their bodies. What was going on? Is this the hospital? The idea of being in a hospital terrified her. Was she badly injured? Could she still be a mentor? She felt tired, but there were no aches or pains, letting her sit up in the hospital bed.

The figure turned and she immediately recognized her mother. "Odette!" her mother exclaimed, almost falling off the bed as she scrambled to embrace her daughter. She ran her gentle fingers through Etta's messy hair, tears staining the red uniform she still was wearing. "Where's dad?" Etta whispered, her voice hoarse. "Oh, your voice!" her mother fussed. "He's still with Mr. Crane, but he told me he'll be right over soon, sweetheart."

Etta began to cough, sending her mother into a panic. "I'll get a nurse, she'll bring you something to drink as soon as possible." she said, dashing out of the large room to track down that poor nurse who had to listen to her mother's demands.

She pulls her attention away from her mother to the other side of the room, looking to see if anyone was awake yet. Someone was, but to her dismay, the opposite of who she wanted to see, blonde curls giving it away. Coriolanus Snow, a couple feet away from her, just great. He was with two other people, Sejanus she recognized immediately, but a slim, blonde girl she didn't. Maybe his sister? Some relative, definitely. Who'd be willing to date Coriolanus anyways?

She snaps her gaze back to the television, some nature documentary her mother had been watching still going. A grey squirrel leaps through the trees, scurrying away from an odd looking bird. Trees... wait... Treech! Where was he? Is he alive? Safe, at least? Her heart catches in her chest as she remembers the bombs in the arena from a few hours back. That's why everyone's in the hospital! How could she have forgotten?

A new panic settling in, she rises to her feet, ignoring the feeling that she might topple over at any second. She had to find someone who knew the fate of the tributes. Spotting a peacekeeper, she began to limp over, about halfway before her mother barrels back into the room, a nurse at her heels. "Odette, what are you doing!?" her mother shrieks. "Go lay back down!"

"No!" she rapidly shakes her head, trying to find words. "Treech! Where is he?" she asks, her voice high with anxiety. Her mother furrows her brows. "What are you talking about? Are you feeling sick?" she says, placing a hand to Etta's forehead, checking for a fever. Etta pulls her mothers hand down. "My tribute! What happened to him? Is he alive?" she cries, desperate for a good answer.

"Oh, he's alright." a voice murmured. Etta spun around as her father entered the room, still looking angry but less than last night. He strode over to his wife, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her blonde hair. "A couple of tributes have already been killed; they don't want more gone or injured before the Games start."

Etta furrowed her eyebrows. "The Games...? They're still happening? I thought that that bombing would have stopped it, with the arena destroyed and everything?" she questioned.

A slightly sadistic smile curved onto her father's face. "They're saying it was a rebel attack, attempting to stop the games, but that has only made Capitol citizens even more eager for the Games."

A gasp escaped her lips. "But aren't the tributes injured? They can't possibly throw them into that arena with those kind of wounds!" she protested. "There's apparently a veterinarian with them; she'll keep them in good shape for the games." he answered.

Etta narrowed her eyes. A... veterinarian? "That's stupid." she muttered. Her father gave her a seemingly suspicious look. "Hm. Let's go home. Amara, grab your things." he gestured towards his wife's large suitcase, perhaps for just in case of an overnight stay. Her mother shook her head. "No, no, not yet! Odette needs the crackers and her drink." she exclaimed.

A young nurse came over and passed Etta two packs of nutritional crackers and a fizzy, sweet lemon drink. "Thank you." Etta smiled, taking a sip of the drink as it looked tempting, but slipping the cracker packs into her red Academy bag her mother had taken for her. Maybe she could somehow sneak them to Treech.

She watched her classmates starting to stir around her parents packed up her things, talking quietly amongst themselves. "Odette, we're leaving, hurry up!" her father commands, waiting at the door with her mother. Etta begins to walk over, turning her head slightly to notice Coriolanus a couple beds over, staring her down with an odd look on his face. Out of the ordinary, even for him.

They leave the building and the smell of smoke from the bombing earlier that day hits her, scrunching her nose up in disgust. Hopefully Treech didn't breathe too much of it in... she thinks. Shouldn't she be checking up on him? She's his mentor after all. "Dad, can you drop me off at the Capitol Zoo?" she asks, secretly crossing her fingers as she sits down in the back seat of their car. Her father snaps his head back to stare at her as if she'd just asked to move to the districts. "After what happened today? How could you even think I'd say yes!? I'm not putting you in danger again!" he exclaims. Etta lets out an irritated sigh. "Fine. It'll be your fault I won't get the prize then." she retorts.

That seems to make his jaw clench and he stares ahead for a few seconds. "For the record, dear, I don't think it is a terribly bad idea." her mother cuts in. Etta smiles at her mother's words. "What she said." she agrees.

Soren stares at his wife and daughter before shaking his head and bringing a hand up to rub his temples. "You're going to get yourself killed..." he mutters. "If I take you there, you better win that prize." he says sternly, looking her dead in the eye.

She can't hide her smile and nods. "Yep, got it!" she grins, clutching her Academy bag to her chest as her dad sighs and begins the drive to the Capitol Zoo.

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Etta scrambles to get her things, swinging open the car door and racing down the pathways of the zoo to reach the enclosure the tributes were being held, ignoring her father's scolding for almost hitting the car parked next to theirs.

She slows down as she nears the open area where the camera crew and many Capitol citizens stood at the bars, spotting Treech sitting with Coral, Mizzen, and Tanner, while Lamina lingered nearby. The young boy from 4 immediately spots her, his eyes widening as he turns to tug on Treech's jacket, pulling him from his conversation with Tanner. Mizzen turns and points at the girl approaching; Treech looks down at the boy with a confused expression, but it turns to surprise as he sees the familiar face of his mentor.

A relieved grin settles onto Treech's lips as he begins to walk quickly towards the bars. Etta smiles and hurries over, looking him up and down to make sure there were no bandages or obvious wounds. "Capitol, you're alright!" Treech says, doing his best to hide the slightly obvious joy in his voice. "I'm guessing you are as well?" Etta replies, forcing the dumb smile off of her face. Treech nods. "I could be better, but yeah, I'm fine. Thanks to you."

Etta looks down, silently cursing the blush that appeared on her face. "Mhm... um, how's your alliance?" she asks, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction. Before he could reply, Mizzen jumps out from behind him, an eager smile on his face. "I'm great! Coral is fine too, she's just annoyed, but that's all the time. Tanner says he's 'chipper'? I don't know what that means, it's probably some saying from 10." he explains, talking too fast for Etta to hear most of it.

Etta raises her eyebrows and laughs quietly. "That's good to hear." she responds, watching as Treech turns around to try and push Mizzen away. "I know you said you wanted time alone with her, but I wanted to come say hi!" the young boy protests, pushing Treech back even harder. Treech furrows his eyebrows. "You said hi, now get out of here!"

Mizzen shoves past Treech to get to Etta. "He has something for you, so I just wanted to tell you that, okay?" he says quickly before unsuccessfully ducking out of the way from Treech's arms, getting put into a headlock. Etta watches awkwardly as the two boys fight each other for a few long seconds, Coral deciding to put an end to it. "Knock it off, idiots!" she yells, and the two boys immediately separate, glaring daggers at each other.

Treech huffs out a sigh of relief as Mizzen scurries back to Coral. "So, he said something about you having something for me?" Etta asks, tilting her head slightly. Treech raises his eyebrows. "Oh, uh, yeah. It's really nothing, I was just bored so I made it out of some wood I found in the enclosure." he smiles shyly, pulling a wood carving in the shape of a heart out of his pocket. "The shape was Mizzen's idea, not mine, I swear." he informs, his cheeks going a bit red.

Etta's eyes widen and she takes it from his hands, a small smile going on her face. "That's really sweet of you, thank you." she looks up at him, affection unmistakable in her gaze. Treech's face goes more red, and he looks down at the ground. "In 7 wood carvings are really common, we make them for, uh... the, um... the people we love." he mutters, the last part of his sentence trailing off.

Her face begins to mirror the exact blush on his, rubbing her thumb over the smoothed down wood. She's at a loss for words, desperately trying to form a sentence in her head. "Um... are you saying you love me?" she looks back up at him.

Treech's gaze snaps back up to hers. "No! Wait, yes... not in like a romantic way though, I promise." he stutters, a panicked look in his eyes. Etta giggles. "I get it."

The two stand in a comfortable silence for a few moments. "Anyways, the interviews are still on tonight. Are you ready?" she asks, slipping the carving into her Academy bag. Treech looks relieved by the change in topic and he nods. "Yep. Mizzen and I practiced. He's not doing an interview, but he was glad to help with mine and Coral's."

"Perfect. He's a sweet boy, I hope he'll do okay in the games." she mumbles, staring at the boy from 4 playing a game of tag with Tanner while Coral watched them, an amused look on her face. "He'll do good. Coral says he's a big help with work back in their district. Good fisher apparently." Treech reassures, following her gaze to rest on Mizzen.

She smiles, sitting down on her knees to grab some things out of her bag. "My mother, prepared as always, packed food for me to bring to you. I think she assumed I'd beg my father to take me here."

Treech smirks and sits down as well. "That desperate to see me?" he teases. Etta rolls her eyes. "Oh, you wish." she retorts playfully, pulling out a small dish of pasta salad. "I'll bring more before your interview, of course; this is just so you're not starving."

Treech hungrily digs into his food. "Wish I lived in the Capitol, this is amazing." he says between bites. Etta purses her lips. "Maybe if you win you could move here. It's possible!" she suggests. "That's another excuse just to see me everyday, isn't it?" he smirks, finishing up his food. Etta stares blankly at him. "Funny."

All she got in return was a mischievous smile. "If I do win, I'll consider it. What's it even like here anyway?" he asks. Etta frowns. "To be honest, it's a bit boring. It was a lot more fun when I was younger, but now it's pretty much the same thing everyday. School five days a week, sleepovers, shopping, random other little things on the weekends." she explains. Treech nods. "That sounds like 7 in a way; just it's work and school five days a week, and we don't do much shopping." he pauses. "What if when I win, you move to the districts instead?"

Etta laughs. "Now that is an absolute excuse just to see me everyday. Why would I move to 7 anyway?" she says, scrunching up her nose. Treech tilts his head to the side. "For me." he smirks. "Nice try, but that is one thing I will never, ever be doing." she smiles. "It was worth a shot." Treech sighs.

A thought appears in Etta's mind. "Don't you have like a girlfriend back home or something?" she asks, definitely out of pure curiosity, not for her own personal reasons. Treech bites his lower lip. "Um, actually no. There hasn't been a girl that's stood out to me back home." he shrugs. "Don't you have a boyfriend here?"

Etta's face flushes. "I like this one boy, well... not anymore." she sighs. The almost never-leaving smirk appears back on Treech's face. "Why, is it cause I'm here?" he asks, leaning in slightly. Etta stares at him, biting back a giggle. "No, idiot, it's cause I'm almost convinced he likes my best friend."

Treech takes an exaggerated breath in. "He's missing out then. If you lived back in 7, you'd definitely be the girl I'd have a crush on." he grins, a smug expression on his face. At this point, Etta can't tell if he's being serious or joking anymore. "I hope you use some of that charm in your interview." she shakes her head wearily, smiling a bit. "You bet I am." he replies, proud as ever.

"I'm going to head home, it was nice talking with you." she says politely, standing up and brushing her uniform off. "I'll see you at the interview. By the way, go to the faucet in the back and wash off your face! I cannot have you looking like that in front of the whole Capitol!" she calls back as she hurries away, leaving him smiling after her, admiration shining in his eyes.

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HEYYY YALL!!!! I'M BACK AFTER 15 DAYS OF WRITERS BLOCK!! almost 1:00 AM and finally finishing this up, so glad to finally go to sleep! i've been busy, schoolwork and sports, but i watched the tbosas movie another 10 times in a week so that gave me some more inspo to write.

i don't know how to feel about this chapter, i had confidence in it at the beginning, now i don't know how to feel, but it's okay! i'm just happy to publish anything at this point. i literally just got a new dog yesterday, her name is zoe and she's a chihuahua, so that's really exciting!!! i now have four pets; three cats and a dog, and looking to get another cat, because you can never have enough cats.

anywayssss, thank you SOSOSOSOSOOSOSO much for reading, i'm so grateful for all of you!! have an amazing day/night, and i will actually lock in this time and get another chapter out in maybe a bit over a week, maybe less? BYEEEE, LOVE YOU!!

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- julia!! (ettarivers), december 2nd 2024 - december 17th 2024

- published; december 17th 2024