Aveo Angevin; D10

Day before the eighty-fourth reaping:

“Angevin’s are strong. Angevin’s are courageous. Angevin’s are… blah blah blah.” Aveo had enough of hearing that saying through the years. He mocked his mother’s voice with his hands flapping up and down as she kept talking, lecturing him as he watched her pace the floor across the room. A hand ran through his messy dark locks as he dipped his head down and propped it against his bent wrist. The couch cushioned him into comfort and the pillow that was beside him became his comfort when he held it.

“And another thing, Aveo. Your grades are not improving. I don’t care what you say, you are not applying yourself. You are not getting the help you need and I for one am tired of going to that school to address this issue. You are sixteen years old. You need to speak up for yourself when you are there. Go tell a teacher or the principal for that matter.” He dropped his head completely on his arm as the lecture continued. His mind falling off into the void and even though his mother’s voice kept badgering him as she started to clean the living room where he was located, he stood quietly and slinked off into the hallway and through his bedroom door before seeing his sister at his desk. Her long hair hung straight over her shoulders and her legs swung precariously as she greeted him with a grin.

“Mom on you again? Why don’t you just -” Amberly started to say, but his lips thinned out and his bushy eyebrows furrowed in anger. A smirk appeared on his face, turning his lips into a snarl.

“Why are you in my room... get out, Amberly!” He asked her, already rushing over to lay his hands on her, trying to pull her from his desk and urge her out of his door. No amount of pulling could make her budge. Instead, she planted herself and wrapped a foot around the leg of the desk and dug her nails into the wood grain desk.

With a grin, she refused. “No! Why should I? This used to be my room before you were born… before they moved me out so I could share with our sister. Besides, why are you pouting? You finally get to see what I have to deal with when I get those lectures that you put me through time and time again.”

Aveo’s grip grew tighter around her arm and with a forceful shove, sent her flailing to the ground. “You are a terrible sister. I hope you get reaped and I never have to see your face again…” A forced yelp came out before Aveo reached for her arm again and pulled her to the door before slamming it shut behind him. Amberly’s hand smacked against the door before silence welcomed him to his room. His heart seemed to crumble as his face reddened and his fists clenched.

“I am not a screw up…” He proclaimed to the wall that he was now facing. His heart was stammering beneath his chest. The wall was already dented in several locations before gaining a new permanent mark, this one now the deepest. His eyes didn’t fall upon his fist or the wall but instead the window as he grabbed a bucket that he’d always had and collected a few more different utensils before he found his escape. As he passed through the window frame, he looked quickly to the cocoons that he’d been keeping in the glass aquarium.

“Any day, you’ll become something that everyone will love. One day, you won’t be some ‘worm’ no one wants. Just remember who took care of you first.”

And he slipped off to the ground, and took off running.

That night, darkness fell upon the house before he could return. The later he stayed out, the colder it got, but it didn’t seem to bother him as he found new specimens to keep. The bucket held at least ten new caterpillars and each one of them different. The joy in his heart seemed to melt away all the arguments from later on in the day, though as he slipped through the window to his bedroom, something was off. On his bed was a stuffed animal, one that he had made as a child of a caterpillar with his mother, but as he touched it and brought it up to his chest, the tears fell and he collapsed on the bed.

“It’s okay, momma. I forgive you.” He fell asleep that night to the sound of the cricket’s chirps and the breeze that gently kissed his face.

Day of the reaping:

“Aveo! Come on! Your sisters are already gone. You are going to be late.” Even though he walked out of the room, hair unkempt and his laces untied, he took one last look into his bedroom.

“Mom… make sure the caterpillars are taken care of and once they emerge… please let them go one by one and make a wish, please?” He asked as he looked through the window seeing the backs of his sister’s walking without him. Truth was, he didn’t want to walk with them. Not today of all days and he knew it was going to be the same thing like every year. “Hey, I was going to thank you for finding my caterpillar we made as a kid. It was nice of you.”

“What’s that dear? Your caterpillar? Oh that little stuffed one with the stain on the back from your juice. I thought I threw that thing out years ago when you were still a kid. I guess one of your sister’s must have found it. Do you want me to throw it away? I know how grown up yo-”

With a shake of his head, he put a hand up and touched the doorknob. “Nah, just leave it. I’ll keep it for now. I’ve missed it… bye, mom.”

His gait was slow, lazy almost as he neared the city center and while he only caught a glimpse of his younger sister, his eyes searched for Amberly though she had already taken her place. “I’ll thank her later even if she is a wretched pain in my -”

“Good morning, boys and girls… Welcome to the annual hunger games..” With a sigh, he stood with his arms folded in front of him. A scowl presented on his face as the routine was drawn out and upon the female’s slip of paper was the name he most eagerly wanted to get rid of.

“Amberly Angevin.”

“No…”