The Scent of Roses || Coriolanus Snow

Chapter XIII

Alice ate like a rabbit; how amusing.

She sat across you with a simple bowl of lettuce with maybe two different vegetables dotted on top and a pipette of dressing. You tried not to act embarrassed by her lack of meal and your mass presence of one. Grilled chicken breast and rice was not a meal of champions, but it was certainly more than what was essentially grass.

Alice looked up at you unamused and then glanced down at her dish. "I'm a vegetarian," she remarked as she stabbed her fork into a massive wad of lettuce. "There isn't much for me to eat here."

You looked around the crowded dining hall to see multiple stations covering every food group, but she was right. You saw some meat at every station, even at the salad bar. You looked back at Alice, feeling bad for your judgment when she could not help it. "How long has that been going on?" you asked, gesturing to her assortment of greens.

"About four years," she replied, the life in her eyes dimming further as she took another bite. "It's much better when I eat at home and not in public. People aren't very accommodating."

"I don't understand why," you responded, trying to reassure her. "There's nothing wrong with excluding a certain food group from your diet. At least, I don't think so."

Alice stopped mid-chew, looking up at you like your head was on backward or that you were a complete moron. "Probably the people of the Capital who remember when there was no food, and some had to resort to cannibalism."

Her comment made you spit out your drink, causing it to come out your nose and send you into a coughing fit. You tried to muffle the sounds, but it was to no avail. People around you looked over in disgust as you practically choked to death, and Alice stared smugly and quietly, eating her salad.

The attention had ceased by the time you pulled yourself together, taking another swig of your drink to soothe your now dry throat. "You make a good point," you coughed, the sting from your beverage still vibrant in your nostrils.

You both sat silently for a moment, giving you enough time to begin overanalyzing the situation. Alice, only around twenty minutes ago, was practically shaking on the bathroom floor because a man had burst in. Though you couldn't blame her for that, she also was in near tears at your conversation about the mentorship program. Now, she sat in front of you, quite pompously, like the world around didn't affect her.

Maybe she had a bad relationship with men in her life. That would explain the fear in her eyes when she saw a man yelling and acting out violently against a bathroom stall door. Or maybe she tried to pretend she wasn't scared of anything, but she lived her life in fear, only showing it in the most vulnerable moments.

"Hey, Alice?" you asked, one of her eyebrows slightly arching as if that movement allowed you to continue talking. "Can I ask you something?"

She nodded, continuing to eat her lunch, keeping her gaze solely on the food in front of her. You hated asking people questions, as you knew how it made you feel when someone pried at you like an interrogation. Still, you needed to learn more about this girl and form some bit of her to make sense. "Why did you ask me about the mentorship program?"

Alice stopped eating for a moment. You could see the gears in her brain begin to move as calculated a response. She began chewing again before she swallowed, at least showing the courtesy of not chewing with her mouth open. "I was envious of you when it was announced that you'd have the privilege of mentoring the tributes. I remember thinking, "What a high honor to serve the Capitol that way." But then, the games began. I saw the way people our age killed each other and how some did it with no regret. I watched as innocent people lost their lives over a cause they didn't stand for and a war they didn't start. Then, I wasn't envious... I was just sorry that happened to you."