The /Simple\ Things {OPEN}

Chase Pack

Today was Chase's average Tuesday. He had gotten up and dragged himself to school. As much as he despised school he excelled in it. He had always been that way. Always thought school a waste of time, yet sometimes always shined in it. Because of this everyone thought he loved it. He wished he could fail, but for Chase it was hard to fail. He was a thinker. Ever since he was a young boy he had thought. In thought was freedom. Thought was one of the few things the Capitol couldn't outlaw.

After school he'd stopped by the lab to help his dad, but for once there was nothing to do. Usually he would at least get some small task to do. These tasks kept him from getting bored. Chase got bored very easily, so sitting in the lab and waiting on something to happen wasn't an option. He thought about things to do, but everything seemed boring. Usually he would go in the woods and just walk, but somehow this wasn't a good day to do this. Today was just going to be one of those days.

Chase refused to be bored, so he went outside to take a walk and see if he could find any of his friends. He walked out of the building and then he saw someone. There was a girl sitting alone on a bench. She was beautiful and looked to be about his age. His heart raced. He knew he would have to talk to her. He started to walk toward her and stopped in his tracks. She looked asleep. Could he really go over there and wake her up. Then he saw her face change like she was thinking about something, and this gave him the courage to keep walking.

As he walked he tried to clear his face of his thoughts, especially his eyes. His eyes usually betrayed his thoughts. He hated people knowing his thoughts. Then he remembered his scar and checked to make sure his hair was covering his scar. Was it? He couldn't tell, and time was up. He sat down on the bench and said, "Hi, I'm Chase. What's your name?"

As soon as he said it he regretted it. What if she was actually asleep. Oh well, he was there and he couldn't take the words back now, and besides if she was asleep she definitely wasn't anymore.

He accepted the handshake. He was glad for the friendly gesture because he'd kind of expected her to get mad at him for surprising her like that. This girl seemed nice enough, or at least as nice as a person who you've only known for five minutes can seem. He thought he could definitely be her friend eventually.

Then he thought back to school and tried to remember her. The one who answered all the questions. That could be any number of people. It seemed like everyone in District 6 was a scientist. There were lots of kids at school who answered what seemed to be every question. In fact, it would be much easier to remember someone who didn't answer all the questions. Then he remembered her. He did have at least one class with her. Maybe he had more, but he couldn't remember because usually at school he was to focused on finishing his work so he wouldn't have homework, and not focusing on the people. He payed attention to his friends, but other than that he in his own little world. "Yeah," He replied, "I have seen you at school. We have a class together, I think. Sorry I've never talked to you. I guess at school I'm so focused on work that everyone except my friends might as well not exist."

Chase knew he hadn't been sitting there long, but he was getting bored. Chase hated sitting still. It was one of the reasons he hated school. He hasted having to sit inside for hours when he could be outside enjoying the weather. Now that he thought about it, it was a nice day for March. The sun was out and it wasn't cold. He didn't want to leave Dellie, but he didn't want to sit here on this bench and let such a beautiful day slip by. He had to think of something to do or it was going to drive him crazy.

Then he knew exactly what to do. He should go for a walk. Even though he did this all the time it was never boring. You could always find something to do if you went for a walk. Plus, he knew how to get to almost anywhere in the district. He didn't know why exactly it was an advantage, but he didn't see how it could hurt. "So want to go on a walk?" he said standing up and extending a hand to her to help her up. "I just can't waste such a beautiful day sitting on this bench."

She had gotten up and started walking before Chase had time to react. She was already a few yards in front of him before he had caught up to her. He was blushing slightly from embarrassment, but he tried to hide it and act normal. This however is hard to do when you feel terrible inside. He knew she thought he was the weirdest person in the world. The sad thing was that she was probably right.

He noticed that he wasn't the only one nervous. He saw her tapping her fingers against her leg. His mother had always done that when she was nervous. No, not now. Now wasn't the time to think about that. He needed to keep his head clear and enjoy the day. He couldn't help it though. The image kept coming to him. It crept into his mind even as he tried to block it out.

Almost out of sheer desperation to block it out he answered her, "Yes and I've finished my lab work." He got the idea that she wasn't used to being in social situations, and this was only strengthened when she almost walked into a pole. He tried to contain his laughter, but some still escaped. "Sorry, you should watch where you walk. So tell me a little about yourself Dellie. You seem like a pretty cool girl."

Chase had to think for a second. What exactly did he want to know. To him the answer was simple. He wanted to know everything about her. He couldn't say that though. You can't expect anyone to say everything about themselves. That would take way too long. He knew he would have to gain her trust and be her friend before she would tell him much. She seemed like one of those girls who was always cautious. Maybe something traumatic had happened in her past. That would make them similar.

No. He realized it was starting to creep into his thoughts again. He couldn't go into memories of his mother now. Every time he thought of those memories he was sad at first, but then that sadness turned to anger and rage. It unleashed a monster inside of him that he hated for others to see. A monster that he himself was afraid of.

He couldn't go there now. Not with her here. He, of course would hold it in and bottle it up. Then tonight when he was alone in the solitude of his room he would let it out. This had become habit since he had been doing it for five years. Luckily he had gotten good at hiding his emotions, and the entire time he didn't think he'd lost that happy expression that he'd worn since he had seen her.

He was glad he could hide behind that iron mask now, and that no eyes could see through it. He started to reply to her question, but then he tripped over his own two feet. He caught himself before he hit the ground and started laughing. He couldn't believe he'd just done that. Then he noticed the fall had revealed the scar on the side of his head. He adjusted his hair while saying, "I don't know why I'm so clumsy today. But anyways, I want to know about your past, and what you're like, and what you do in your free time." Hopefully the words had provided just the distraction he needed, but he couldn't really be sure. Dellie was smart and he knew it.

He could tell she didn't enjoy answering his question. She got a weird look in her eyes and for a second the tapping increased, which almost made him feel bad for asking. He could tell she was going to be one of those people who you could never learn everything about, but instead must settle for peeling back layer upon layer of her. Right when you thought you knew everything about her there would be yet another layer to get through. He could tell.

Things started to make more sense once he figured out she had anxiety. That's why she would be so hard to figure out. That and the fact that he didn't think she talked to many people. He noticed some progress though when her fingers stopped tapping. It showed that she was starting to trust him even if it was just a little at a time. Even little bits of trust add up and still can blossom into a beautiful friendship.

Now it was Chase's turn to think about himself and try to answer. Looking into oneself could be hard, and Chase didn't know how to start. Unlike her, Chase trusted everyone way too much, which as you can suspect had gotten him in trouble more than once. Should he tell all now, or keep some back and wait to reveal it. He didn't know where to start with his answer, but he decided his name was a good enough start, for now anyways.

"My name is Chase Pack and I'm 16." He started then it just flowed, "My father works in a lab and my mother was a teacher. My mother was murdered by the Capitol for spreading anti-government ideas when I was 10. After that I started to train myself in case I'm ever i the games. The Capitol will not kill me the way they did her. On a brighter note, I'm very smart, but hate school because it forces me to stay inside on nice days."

There he hadn't quiet revealed all, but he'd revealed a lot. He hoped she was trust worthy, he hoped he hadn't messed up, he hoped she was the kind of girl he thought she was. One who is funny and caring, who is fun to be around, but one who is a little insecure. He would change that.

Though Chase hadn't realized it, they had been walking aimlessly. It took him a second to figure out where he was. He recognized it almost immediately because he came here almost all the time. It was close to a ton of things. If they went left and through the woods they would get to Chase's secret spot. Chase often went there to think, or when he was in a bad mood. He hadn't taken anyone back there before, and today wasn't going to be the first day he did. Not yet at least.

He knew that if they stayed on the road they would get to his house. He didn't know if this was what she wanted though. He tried to think of anywhere else to go, but everything else evaded his mind. His house wouldn't be the worst place to go. After all, it was fairly large and actually very clean considering that two guys lived there. He decided this was where he would take her.

Chase wasn't going to tell her though. First, he was going to have fun with this. He thought about it for a while, and decided that her favorite place in the world was probably school. Could he really make her believe they were going to school? He thought about the road they were on. He had walked it many times and knew it was a circle. This circle led right past the school, but it was a long walk. H decided he could pull it off

"I think we should go to school. I know this is the long way there, but it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that I'm with you." He said and put a sweet look on his face. He knew she was smart, but he was a convincing actor. He thought she'd fall for it.