Monotony is the Name of the Game ((OPEN))

"Dad, I'm going!" Pause. "Dad?" It took a few moments for the reassuring grunt to reach Lilia's ears, and she set off out of the front door of her dad's shop, making a point of ignoring the screen in the corner. She was not in the mood to watch people dying. The day was boiling, as the rest of the month had been, and she took care to stay in the shade as much as possible. Her green dress hung halfway down her calves, her hair hung down over her neck. It only took a few minutes for the heat to persuade her to pull it up. Thankfully, the school was air-conditioned, sometimes overly. It had to be, to keep all those fish fresh.

Lilia opened her locker and shoved in her swimming bag. It took up well over half of the tiny space, but she didn't care. She pulled out her books for the day- Ickthyology, English, History, Geography. Sighing, she turned to face the rest of the world. Same old, same old. Leaning against the lockers, she fiddled with her ponytail. She didn't not like school per say; she'd just rather have been swimming than studying fish. What did it matter anyway? She saw fish every day after school, and followed shoals of them on the weekends. She knew where they all lived and what their habits were, and not because her teachers had taught her that. She'd learnt through personal experience and helping out fishermen. Besides, she was never going to be a fisherwoman. It didn't make sense, given that she preferred being in the water to floating above it.

She leaned against the lockers, not disturbed by the loud bangs and the clattering of school equipment. She was skilled enough and fading into the background, but she was almost as good at fading the world out around her. She rolled her head in an arc on the lockers, and found herself looking at the screen. Already there was live footage of the Games up, and a banner was travelling across the bottom of the screen, reminding us of the dead tributes. Both of those from District Four were still alive. In fact, all of the Careers were. Then again, more than half of the tributes were left. There was a lot to go.

She was still looking at the screen when she suddenly felt a huge body slam into her. Her bag went flying, as did she. The next thing she saw was the cold lino floor of the hallway. No one was stopping, and few glanced back to see if she was alright. By the time she was able to sit herself up, whoever had whacked her was already gone. A warm sensation swept through her mouth, and she raised her fingers to her lips. Dammit. Her teeth must have struck her lip, because it was bleeding relatively heavily, dripping blood onto the floor. Covering her mouth, trying to stop the bleeding, she grabbed a piece of cloth that had fallen out of her bag and held it to her lip, wincing as it stung anew. Right. Nurse. She stood up, steadying herself against the lockers, but the floor was slippery with blood. Not much, but enough Ironically, everything on the screen seemed rather peaceful for the Games. People were beginning to notice now- a couple girls were squealing and some the guys were laughing about it. Oh for god's sake. She bent down to pick up her back, her hand still clamped over her mouth with the soaked rag in it's grip- and slipped again, straight into the path of a passing guy in a white shirt and jeans. Sor-" she got out in a muffled voice before the pain cut her off. Well, this is fun.

"It’s alright. Just try not to bleed on my shirt, I think I just ran out of bleach this morning."

"Sorry," Lilia mumbled, though she found it irritating that the guy was being so... arrogant. He was practically laughing at her, as she tried to stem the flow of blood. It had calmed down fairly quickly, but there was still a dribble. Careful to keep the blood from dripping on the floor, she pulled the cloth off and folded it so that the less bloody part was showing and it was only a 2-inch square. The pain had subsided to a gentle but noticeable throb, but Lilia was more bothered with trying to hide it, even though the guy in front of her had sen it anyway. She may have been awkward, but she was still self conscious. Now that she was able to see without the blood blocking her vision, she looked the guy up and down.

He wasn't anything special. Muscular enough, like herself, but very skinny, and around a foot taller than her. His hair was short, brown... in fact, she thought she recognised him. Not through meetings, through gossip. Not even around school, just around town. From what she could remember, and she wasn't even sure if it was accurate, he'd lost his brother around the same time she had her mother. The names had slipped her mind though.

But she was pleasantly surprised when he popped some of the stuff she'd dropped into her bag. She was in no position to do any movements more complicated than walking. In spite of that, she'd still probably end up swimming after school. "Thanks," she said, hoisting the bag more securely onto her shoulder. Her voice was muffled, but clear enough she hoped.

"Ichthyology,” he said, almost curiously. "Can’t stand this class." He smiled at the Lilia. His eyes were very green, very unlike her own deep blackish brown ones.

"Me neither," admitted Lilia, glad that he'd opened a topic of conversation that wasn't too awkward for her- not an easy task. Besides, this had already been about as awkward as it could get anyway."Year ten," she replied to his question. She'd celebrated her fifteenth birthday earlier that month. "You?" Even as she spoke, she couldn't help but notice him glancing around the room. Playing the hero, concerned with self image? Adds up. But she figured that there wasn't much harm in socialising with someone her age who actually had friends.

But that didn't rid her of the fact that she could feel that the cloth she was holding to her mouth was almost saturated. "Erm... if you want to, um, miss it for a bit... it's just, I think I need to get to the nurse." Her words were muffled, and she could feel the tips of her ears burning. It was awkward. She'd made it awkward, for herself at least.

It didn't escape Lilia's notice that the guy hadn't actually answered her question, but it wasn't hard to read the expression that flashed across his face for the short moment after she had spoken. He was in the same class as her. Well, there wasn't much need for him to feel guilty about it, clearly she didn't know that he was in her class either. Unless you were rich enough, all the kids in District Four seemed to get lumped into the same school- the classes could get pretty big. But she could tell that he didn't want her to know, so she let the matter slide. She was too shy anyway. Good to put a face to the rumour I guess.

Her thought was confirmed as he took a step towards the Ichthyology classroom she herself should have been going into. It was, admittedly, slightly disturbing when he started smiling at the blood on the floor. She was getting the feeling that he wasn't the student with perfect attendance.

But she found it more than a bit irritating when he started walking off without waiting for her. Being concerned with self image was understandable, but there was no one around to watch them, so why was he acting like a douche? She caught up with him when he stopped to shove his things back in his locker, and cleared her throat irritatingly loudly. She was good at that. The pair of them carried on to the nurses office in silence, Lilia having to walk slightly faster due to her lack of height. Even as she walked, she couldn't help but examine the way he walked. She'd taken on a new demeanour when he mother died, and it still stayed with her somewhat. But he walked head held high, no shyness or insecurity from what she could tell. “I’m Kyler, by the way."

Lilia smiled as the guy swung his head round for a moment. "Lilia. Brooks." The silence continued for a while on the way to the nurse's office. Kyler- mockingly? she couldn't tell- gestured for her to enter. She flicked her eyes up and down him for a moment- he was wiry, tall, thin. Built for swimming if anyone was. Lilia gave an awkward smile and slipped in. The nurse wasn't there. Sighing, she leaned against the wall. She turned her head alone to turn to face Kyler. And something clicked- his brother... that was later, there'd been more gossip about that. Fewer whispers. No, they'd lost there mothers about the same time.

The words slipped out before Lilia could stop them. She didn't mean to say anything. "You were six, right?"

She pressed harder against her lip; her jaw locked involuntarily. Why, why do I ever say anything? She focused on the edge of the cloth and the pain of her lip. Anything so that she wouldn't have to look at the guy who was probably about to start yelling at her and whacking her. Well. At least she was a fast runner.

Kyler didn't react as badly- no, wrong word- violently, as Lilia had expected. But it hit him hard. It was like she'd punched him in the stomach; he started terrifically, but then focused, hard at the floor. Lilia's breathing slowed as she watched him, becoming shallower and shallower. It was harrowing to watch another person cry, but it was even worse to watch them try not to. She wasn't completely sure what to do- she hovered on the balls of her feet, swaying backwards and forwards trying to make up her mind. But when he actually turned to look at her, she remained rooted to the spot.

He got out something that sounded like Excuse me? Lilia led her hand fall from her mouth started to stutter again.

"I-I'm sorry... I just- it happened- when I was- me too..." she drifted off into a sigh. It was too much to explain when he hadn't actually asked her anything; she'd gotten her answer, but not because he'd answered willingly. She watched him lean back against the wall and she relaxed slightly, looking around to see if anyone was watching them. The last thing she needed was a rumour going round about her. She leaned against the doorframe, trying not to let her thought stray back to her own mother.

There were some days when she could think about her mother and it didn't hurt at all. She could capture those few memories from when she was four and her mother would take her around the merchant part of town. They'd look in the shop windows and then... then the nightmares started. And a wave would come out of no where and her mother would be gone. And she'd be left on her own, surviving and swimming, but alone. Yet I still like the beach. Weird? Ever so slightly.

So, when is the nurse gonna be back? Kyler's qestion was followed by silence as Lilia glanced around her for a moment, her mouth hanging open, before the nurse herself appeared from around the corner. At the sight of Lilia's bloodied face she started tsking and tutting, but she did the job quickly. Lilia was in and out of the office in around fifteen minutes, no questions asked. The stitches were stinging a bit, but as a Career district, Four had pretty good medical supplies. Besides, Lilia'd had worse; she had a couple nasty scars from getting cuts from rocks.

She came out expecting Kyler to be gone, but he was still sitting there. "Um... do you want to, um... ichthyology or not?" Personally, she wasn't really bothered. Ichthyology was a joke; she wasn't the girl who missed every class, but she wasn't totally against skiving school. She'd done it a couple times before. But things seemed to be a it more awkward than usual given what she'd said, and anyway, they didn't have to do anything together? Why did i ask? She stood still, looking at the clock. The lesson was already about twenty minutes gone.

Lilia couldn't help but laugh when he mentioned how he was 'really gonna try'. She'd gotten the idea a while before that point that he wasn't the best student, but at least he was blatant about it. She'd met quite a few people who tried to worm their way out of admitting it. His dimples also made him seem a lot less threatening, and he'd calmed down enough to let Lilia relax. She wasn't bothered to chase up the subject of dead parents again, so she just let the idea go out of her head and smiled, genuinely and with a lot less awkwardness than usual.

Kyler jumped up, reminding Lilia that he was a fair bit taller than her. He turned to survey her. "You coming, or you gonna sit here and give in to your boring old routine one more time?" Lilia paused for a fraction of a second as Kyler carried on trying to get her to come out. She glanced past him- the day was glorious, and the beach was the coldest place in the district, with the sea breezes. Her smiled lengthened.

"Just- hold on a moment." The teenager ran off away from the entrance to get to her locker. She was a fast enough runner though- her school bag was shoved in her locker and her swimming bag was yanked out, and she was back by the office in under three minutes. It felt so good to get the ichthyology textbook back in the locker, but she took care not to fall into view of the classroom. There was no way that she was gonna get caught now. She knew that she'd regret it the moment the salt water hit her lip, but she didn't care that much.

The beach was like a home to her. Not even a second home, just a home. She spent more waking time there than any other place she'd been to. Just imagining being there, now that it was an actual possibility, was good enough for her. "I, um... I guess I'm coming too then." She swung her bag onto her back, both straps in place, and walked past him out the door. The heat hit her instantly, and she pulled her ponytail higher up on her head to keep her hair off her neck. The beach was a good ten minute walk away, but she was fine with drifting off into her dreams until they got there.

She turned back to look at Kyler. May as well try to make conversation. So, um..." she paused for a moment. "Where do you, erm, live?"

It was slightly irritating when Kyler started laughing at her, but Lilia brushed it off pretty quickly- she was used to it. She lifted her head slightly as they walked, her eyes glancing at the ground. She could see the effects of the light breeze was having on the few dead leaves on the ground that were blowing inland. There were storm clouds far out at sea, far enough out for a good couple hours of warming up before the real swimming could be got to.

"Two blocks off the market square, down by the beach." Lilia drew a mental radius on a map in her head- he wasn't too far from her own house then- but the image was soon washed away by the very idea of swimming in a storm. Ok, it wasn't exactly safe or calming in any way, shape or form, but it was fun and a challenge. She was moving quickly anyway to keep up with her acquaintance's pace, which in all honesty was probably reasonably slow for him. She was suddenly grateful for Kyler's presence earlier in the day; she really needed a break from the Games and school and a routine.

"Is it cool if we swing by my house first. I’m not exactly dressed for day outside, ya know?" The boy's voice snapped her out of her thought, fantasies, relief, any or all of the above. She made a vague nod of agreement; he would probably end up baking if he stayed in long sleeves. "What do you want to do anyway? So I can plan my outfit accordingly." Lilia stared at him in a weird isn't-it-obvious-look, which would have been an awful lot more effective if she didn't have to look up so much that it hurt her neck and she had to squint in the sunlight. But all the same, she answered.

"Swimming at the beach I guess, if you like." She fell silent in a less drifting way than she had previously. They were walking in a calm, breezy silence, Lilia herself admiring the sun glinting off the windows in the shops. It was a good day to bunk. Her lip was still gently throbbing, but it was easy enough to ignore. What wasn't so easy to ignore were the white-clothed people walking towards them. Skipping school wasn't a crime, but Lilia had gotten caught doing things she wasn't supposed to be before, and the scar on her back was a reminder of that. She looked around for a quick branch off the street, spotting a narrow street a few meters behind them. She was about to turn and run-

CRASH.

Kyler's arms held her still as he plunged them both into an alleyway next to them. Lilia whacked something in the confusion and her lip began to bleed again, though it was more like a dribble. But that wasn't what bothered her- she was confused and slightly, yes, but it was Kyler's eyes that were scaring her most. She could feel his heavy breathing on her cheek as she held her breath in her lungs. But his pupils were shrinking down to the smallest size, in spite of the fact that they were in darkness. Her own pupils were doing the opposite, growing as her retinas thirsted for light. Even in the darkness she could make out the green colouring in his eyes. Lilia turned her head to look out into the street as the sound of the Peacekeepers' boots faded into the distance, the scar on her back tingling. The hot breath stopped falling on her cheek, and she felt more than saw Kyler move out into the sunlight and turn to her.

She looked at him in shock. He looked like he was submitting to some sort of truth. But what truth? That she'd been right earlier about his mother? She knew she had been anyway. But there were so many thoughts going around in her head that she couldn't actually focus on them, and the words just fell out of her mouth.

"What the hell was that? Did you have to... what the hell?" She raised a hand to her lip, wiping the slow drip of blood from her chin. She tried to remember what she could about his past, but she was too confused.

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"I'll explain later."

Lilia let herself be pulled away in the direction of Kyler's house, but she held her shoulders stiffly. She wasn't going to let the matter drop. The boy had practically thrown her into an alleyway to avoid a telling off- there was something wrong there to say the least. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail- she'd broken out in a cold sweat, and her entire body was covered in goosebumps, in spite of the heat. She watched Kyler out of the corner of her eye as they walked on in silence. They were taking a way out of the market square that Lilia had always avoided, partly because she preferred to stick to the things she knew, and partly because her dad had always told her to avoid that area of the town. Of course, she'd wandered about in parts of it before, but never for very long. 

The road looked run down, but not as bad as many people made it out to be. It was a steep road, heading downhill thankfully, and they turned onto another road. She was suddenly embarrassed by her own house- as a merchant, she and her dad had a reasonably sized house that had only a few things in need of repair. It was awkward, going to someone else's house that was so different from your own in quality and then going back to you own. They hung around outside for maybe a minute, probably less. I don't have to go in, I don't want to go in, please don't invite me in... 

"You're welcome to come in if you want." Great. Kyler had re-adopted his arrogant manner of standing following the lull of their walk. Lilia herself was standing stiffly, her head pointed at an angle to the ground, her jaw locked.

"Sure, thanks," she said quietly, and more out of social compliance than anything else, she mounted the steps and entered the house. 

The first thing that hit her was the smell of alcohol. It wasn't unknown to her that his family had issues, and the fact had become an awful lot more apparent in the last ten minutes. She blinked awkwardly, looking from side to side to side along the floorboards. Kyler rushed up the stairs rather quickly, leaving Lilia standing in the doorway. She closed the door behind her and headed into the kitchen. There were still plates lying on the table from breakfast that morning. Unsure of what to do, she picked up the plates and set them down next to the sink. A drop of red hit the basin- her lip was still bleeding slightly. She picked up a tea towel, wet it, and dabbed her lip as she stared out of the window. She listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, allowing herself to be swept into a dreamworld. Does it really matter? I mean it's his life... She shook herself. It did matter. He'd frightened her half to death and  started her bleeding again. It may not have been much, but it was enough reason for her.

She set down the tea towel, checking that her lip wasn't bleeding anymore, and re-entered the hallway. Kyler hadnt come down yet. She set her bag down next to the door and silently began to climb the stairs, wary of any creaks. When she reached the landing, only one of the doors was shut. She paused outside it, listening for any sounds of movement. She could hear Kyler shuffling around inside, so she waited. Eventually, all movement stopped. She peered through a crack in the door to see Kyler's figure leaning out of the window. Taking a deep breath, she nudged the door open.

"You're not the only one with issues about Peacekeepers," she said quickly. "So what the hell was that?" She didn't want to look him in the eye, so she focused on the expanse of sky behind him instead.


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