Under the Moon

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR 

Kaymri gasped and hopped backwards. Shayne blushed bright red. "What were you doing?" I demanded.  

"Why do you care so much?" Kaymri asked. 

"I uh, I don't know, it's just," I stuttered. 

"Ooh! You like him! You like him!" Kaymri crooned. 

"What?" I demanded. 

"That's why you cared so much, right? You like him don't you?" Kaymri asked. 

"No!" I said defensively. Shayne's face dropped. "Wait! I mean yes!" Shayne smiled. "I don't know. He's just my best friend," I said. 

"Oh, there's more. I can see it in both of your eyes," Kaymri said. 

"If you knew this, then why did you just...?" my voice trailed off. 

"To see your reaction, of course. To confirm my guess. And I was right," she giggled. I knew girls like Kaymri. They were obsessed with drama. And if there was nothing dramatic taking place, they would stir some up. And that's what she had done now. There was no doubt that she was going to tell everyone here. Not that that bothered me much. I didn't really care about the people of District Thirteen. I glanced at Shayne, who had bright red cheeks and a giant giddy smile on his face. To satisfy him, I smiled back, which made him just smile wider. Kaymri smiled at the two of us. "Isn't anyone going to thank me?" she demanded.  

"For what?" I wondered as Shayne said, "Thanks Kaymri!"  

"For revealing how you two feel about each other, of course. Apparently, you guys were too scared to do it yourselves," she said. 

"I like Shayne, I do. But if Copper finds out..." I said. 

"Ooh! There's someone else too?! Who's Copper?" Kaymri asked. 

"He's President Snow's son," I said. 

"You mean Copernicus? And you two are together? Gosh, girl I don't know if I should be jealous or call you a traitor," Kaymri said. 

"It's not like that. I'm only alive because he likes me. Snow would have killed both Shayne and I if it wasn't for him. In return, I am forced to publicly play the role of Copper's sweet Athena. If I don't, Snow will kill Shayne," I said. 

"Wait, you're Athena?! Why does everyone have such an interesting life except me? It's no fair!" Kaymri complained. 

"So you want to be torn between two people; one who's the President's son and one who will be killed if you aren't with the President's son?" I demanded. 

"No but my life is so boring. All the kids here are either really smart like you guys, really strong, or really stupid and shallow. The smart kids are in the labs all day, while the strong ones train to be soldiers. I'm the in between one. I am pretty smart but not a genius and I'm a junior soldier but not that good. So they keep grouping me with the shallow kids. All they ever do is wonder about Capitol TV shows like the hunger games or rave over Copper," Kaymri said. 

"Rave over Copper? People rave over Copper?" I wondered. 

"Ever since Athena or should I say you, got kidnapped, that's what the Capitol says, because they can't say you came here, everyone thinks they have a chance. So they watch him on the new show they have, 'Search for Athena', " she said. 

"What? They made a TV show to search for me? But Snow already knows I'm here!" I said. 

"Apparently Copper doesn't. He thinks you've been kidnapped. They're on a search for your kidnappers," said Kaymri. 

"What the heck?! That's so messed up!" I shouted. 

"Tell me about it. Anyways, I thought you would've known," Kaymri said. 

"It's a little hard to know about the latest gossip when you're unconscious and then locked up in an eight foot by eight foot cell," I said. 

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. Aunt Alma thought you were a threat," she said. 

"Aunt Alma?" I asked. 

"Yeah, President Coin is my aunt," Kaymri said.  

"So you're Liz's cousin?" I asked. 

"Uh huh," Kaymri answered.  

"Oh, yes. How is my Eliza anyways?" Coin asked. 

"Well the last I heard, she was mute and depressed. She had just come out of a coma. I don't know much, but Shayne knows more," I said. 

"A coma? Is she alright?" Coin wondered. 

"Um, not really," I said. 

"What happened to her?" Coin asked. 

"The Head Peacekeeper beat her for being friends with Taze kids. He went crazy. She almost died, but she has regained consciousness now. She stopped talking," I said. 

"That brute! How dare he hurt my child. I should have brought her with me, but I was afraid she would die. I mean, even Jenz didn't make it," Alma said. I could see tears glistening in her eyes.