Pandora's Box || Coriolanus Snow

Chapter 3 - A Pearl and a Dove

Pandora Plinth - Third Person

    "Ow! Clem, what did I say about not yanking?"

    Pandora sat at her vanity impatiently as Clemensia twisted the front strands of her brown curls into two pieces that framed her face. Between that and her lesson on 'the perfect subtle makeup', the two had likely been there for over an hour, and it was only 6:30.

"I'm sorry Annie, I'm just stressed," she sighed as she neared the end of the second braid, "It's my first day too remember."

Of course she remembered. The two had cried in this very room at least five times over break just about the very idea of having to deal with the social aspect of their schooling again. At the Academy, Pandora would surely be harassed by her peers about what had happened to Sejanus, and Clemmie's chances of seeing Dr. Gaul were increased tenfold at University. While Pandora didn't entirely understand her friend's reservations about the woman, she knew that, without fail, she tensed up every time she heard Gaul's name.

    Despite the merciless tugs at her head and the anxiety caused by the inevitable start of their days, Pandora cherished this as one of the few good moments shes had in the last three months. Truthfully, all of those moments had been ones shared with Clemensia. That's why this year was bound to be hard for the both of them. It was bad enough being separated, but they were being separated during what felt like the worst times of their lives.

A soft smile crept onto Clemensia's face as she finished off both of the braids with thin ribbons at the ends, "Look at you," she said with her hands lightly placed on Pandora's shoulders, "Pandora Plinth, you are the image of elegance."

Pandora looked at her reflection and struggled not to find pieces of Sejanus in every aspect of it. She never understood when people told her that they resembled one another, but now he was all she could see when she looked at herself. Her eyes, her smile, the curl of her hair, they all reminded her of him. It made it hard to be insecure when she resembled someone who she loved so dearly.

    "That's quite the compliment coming from the Clemensia Dovecote," said Pandora with a grin. Truly, she felt like those words were a high honor coming from the mouth of the girl who she'd admired since the first day they had met.

The both of them were already in their outfits for the day, making it so that all that was left to do was grab something to eat downstairs. Of course, they stalled. For another 10 minutes they did 'touch ups' that changed absolutely nothing before heading out of Pandora's bedroom. Even then, they walked as if they had nowhere to be.

"What are you two doing? You're going to be late," said Ma as she forced a danish into each of their hands. Pandora could see her friend thanking her through her peripheral as she went to go grab her bag. She knew that neither of them could stomach breakfast in their current states, but she also knew that kids her age in the districts would have killed for even a bite of Ma's baking, so she sucked it up.

On their walk to the car, Clemensia went on and on about how she wished her mother was like that. It was only fitting seeing as Pandora wished that she had Clem's father. She wondered if any family out there had the perfect mix. A family where both parents actually cared. Maybe the two of them could marry into one. Although, that'd mean they'd have to find a family with good parents and two children around their age that were decent people, which narrowed their options significantly. Well, a girl could dream.