Away from it All {Open}

Lilia was happy at last. As much as she enjoyed spending time with her dad, weaving ropes was tedious work. And after you weaved them you had to coil them, and then you had to do a load of other stuff that didn't interest anyone, particularly not Lilia. Normally, when she helped her dad, it was to calm her down, because making ropes could be therapeutic sometimes. But she hadn't gone swimming at all the day before, and she was itching to get that permanently salty smell back. She'd been ready to race out of the door and straight to the beach, when her father asked that if she was going out, would she not mind please dropping of some rope at the net-makers and boat-makers and various other makers. Oh, and the owner of tiny craft shop only the school ordered from.

So after dumping her bike back at her own house (which was on the edge of the town center) she half walked, half ran to the beach. Her last stop was the pier, because her father could often earn a small bonus from the richer boat-owners of District Four if he kept the piers constantly supplied with rope. It wasn't a difficult job, given that a single coil of rope could last for months, and because he never had to make the trip himself. Because Lilia was happy when on the beach.

But when Lilia got to the pier, it was to find another girl there, younger than her, listening to the sounds of the beach. Lilia had this often enough to know what it looked like. As the girl turned around, she smiled awkwardly. "Sorry. Just dropping something off." She pulled the coil of rope out of her bag and set it down next to the fraying rope that still had some wear in it. She tied the two together, placed the new coil over the old and stood up. Well. This is awkward. Making an attempt at conversation (she was awkward at the best of times, let alone talking to someone not her age,) she said, "Nice boat. D'you sail a lot?"

Lilia smiled when the girl mentioned how often she sailed. It was comforting to know there was someone else who felt that way about the sea. "I do the same thing with swimming. Every chance I get."

But she was was surprised when the girl pointed out Lilia's name and her fathers profession. Not many people recognised her without a mention of where she lived or who her father was, since she was too quiet for people to bring up most of the time. But then she recognised the name Piper had put forward. Kiehl. The was a boy in her class with that name, Triton. Not the smartest guy ever, but he was a career, so he knew enough. There were dumber guys. But Lilia was smarter.

"Yeah, I am." She paused for a moment, locating the family in her mind. Three over-achieving boys (in the physical sense), two of which were still in the Reaping, and a girl. Piper. Thinking about it, she could remember rope orders from a family that had supplied Lilia and her father for food for a good couple weeks. Probably for a course of some kind. She was pretty sure it was the Kiehls.

"Triton's sister... Your mother's the ambitious one, right?" Honestly, Lilia didn't know too much about the personalities of the family, only that by a fishing family's standards, they were rich. Evidently quite rich, because there was a clear difference between sailboats and fishing boats. She knew gossip, but if families weren't troubled then they weren't gossip. But she'd seen the mother around, and she was a very... domineering woman. No, wrong word. Proud. To be fair, she was proud of her brother and sons, not of herself, but it was irritating and slightly sad hearing about a dead tribute when she was near.

But Lilia found it easier to talk to this girl than others, even though she was still worried she would speak too bluntly. But Not at all like her mother, Piper seemed so innocent, all blonde hair and freckles, not yet in the Reaping, and strong, but not aggressively so.

Piper's laugh made Lilia relax. This conversation wasn't as awkward as she'd thought it would be. She was also relieved that she hadn't offended her too badly; the statement had been rather blunt. But Piper replied in a good natured way; it was good that she knew her family's flaws. People who defended everyone really got on Lilia's nerves sometimes. She was taking a liking to Piper.

"No, nothing horrible. A bit repetitive maybe. Loud spoken." She smiled at the memory of the woman having a loud conversation with Triton's PE teacher. But then Piper's expression changed. She looked serious, almost like she was trembling. Lilia was scared, for a moment, she'd said something offensive. But there was something else in Piper's stormy eyes as they looked at each other. Fear. Regret. And... trust.

Lilia wasn't prepared for that. Her eyes hardened. Trust wasn't something she believed in. She didn't even let herself trust her father completely, even though the most danger he was in was choking on hemp. She wouldn't let herself. Trust got you hurt. Trusting someone would be there for you, that they'd always be there. Until one day when you convince them to come with you to the beach, and then-

"How many times have you been in the Reaping?"

Piper's next words caught Lilia off guard and cut off her chain of thought. It wasn't just the question, it was the tone. Most people, when they asked it, asked almost competitively, arrogantly. There were enough people who didn't need tessarae, who took it out and sold it just to have their name in there. Lilia didn't feel like that. Because for every tribute that dies, there's a friend left without a lab partner. A parent left with one less child. In most cases, a boy or girlfriend left alone. Even among the careers, whose families support them win or lose, there's always at least one person who lays a lily on their grave. It's not just the 23 teenagers who are affected. It's so much more than that.

"Three times. No more than I have to be." Lilia's voice was hollow, her eyes empty. While rope making was dull, Lilia was grateful for her father's profession every time Reaping Day came around. They didn't need any extra food. They didn't need anymore grief. And Lilia couldn't leave her father alone.

Lilia saw Piper's face fall. She didn't blame her. She remembered how unreal the Reaping had seemed until she had been entered in it. And it was a fact of life that everyone in the Districts had to learn to deal with. But she knew her father couldn't lose anyone else, and that was why she was so determined to stay alive. It didn't matter where she was or who she was with as long as she was alive.

Piper carried on talking, and Lilia would have been relieved if it weren't for the very obvious tension hanging in the air between them, to heavy to be moved by sea breezes.

"My mother will make me take tessarae. I don't know how, I've always been determined not to do it. But Pontus, my oldest brother, says he was determined not to do it eiter. But she figured out a way to make him."

And like it or not, Lilia felt sorry for the family. The teens anyway. Parents did have a way of manipulating their children, especially if the relationship wasn't a great one. With her dad, she had a fighting chance in any argument. Actually, she had a good chance in any argument merely because she got really fired up, but that wasn't the point. Pushy parents were hell on earth. But she didn't have the words (or guts) to say it, so she justnodded.

Then something snapped, and Piper start apologising with an awkward smile. Well, half apologising. She was too shaky to get the words out. Lilia just returned the smile and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I get it. It's life."

"Don't explain. I'd rather you wouldn't," continued Piper. Good. Cause you seem nice but I am not gonna pour my heart and soul out to you. She watched the girl, who was glancing between the boat and Lilia, and then: "Have you ever been sailing?"

Lilia grinned. Good topic. "Not in ages. Think I've been... once, twice? I don't even know!" Swimming, sailing. She'd helped out enough fishermen to know about boats, but sailboats were different.