❝𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐀❞ ━ TREECH

06. consequences

"Is there anything you'd like to say before we discuss what happened this morning?" he finally asks.

Junia hesitates for a moment. Then, she nods. "Yes, actually. I do," she says. "May I?"

When her father nods, she clears her throat. How often has she gone over this in her head since this morning? An embarrassingly huge amount of times.

"I'd like to express my... confusion," she finally says, wording it as carefully as possible. "I understand you're disappointed that I lied to you about where I was headed this morning and I apologise for that," she continues, "however, I am confused by the fact that we were supposed to be punished despite, technically, not breaking any rules. No one ever told us we were not allowed to go and see the tributes earlier."

Adeena Beaumont shakes her head. "That's not the point, dear, and you know it. You lied to us, skipped class and to make matters worse, associated yourself with district scum on live TV." Though her voice is calm, Junia knows her mother is barely able to conceal her anger. "What were you thinking?"

Junia blinks. "Honestly?" she questions. "I wasn't thinking. I just... did it."

Alaric Beaumont sighs. He taps his wife's knee under the table, sensing the way her leg is bouncing beneath the heavy wood. "You mean to tell me," he concludes, "you walked into that truck, filled with bloodthirsty tributes, ended up in the money enclosure and didn't think once before you did it?"

"Bloodthirsty?" Junia echoes. For a moment, she remembers the way the tributes discussed killing Coriolanus, and even her. But she shakes her head and decides to keep quiet about it. "They were scared. They didn't hurt us."

Coriolanus would beg to differ, she thinks, but he's not here.

Her mother scoffs, "It was only a short ride. Had it been just a little bit longer, there would have been two dead Capitol students in that truck." Her jaw clenches. "Seriously, Junia, this... When I saw the footage, I couldn't believe my own two eyes. I thought I was seeing things."

"So did I," her father mutters. "Did you know they said your name in the reports? You were in the background the entire time Coriolanus was giving that interview and you were doing... What? Handing out food you said was for your friends?"

"It was just cookies," Junia mumbles. "And we made them ourselves."

Alaric Beaumont pauses, then looks at his oldest son. "That's right. Castiel," he says, tapping the wooden table to catch his son's attention. "Did you give her that idea? Or were you planning on going together before you severely underestimated your alcohol tolerance?"

"Yes."

"No."

The man glances back and forth between the twins who exchange a look. "Which is it?" he asks, shooting his son a pointed look. "Castiel, I'm talking to you."

"Yes," he says, ignoring the way his sister shakes her head. "If I hadn't been hungover, we would have gone together."

While her husband only sighs, Adeena looks at her daughter. "So you went anyway? All by yourself even though you knew it was dangerous?" she questions. "You know, you've got some luck Coriolanus was there. Else all eyes would have been on you."

Junia shakes her head, "I would have been alright, mom. They weren't going to hurt us." Sensing her mother's doubt, she continues, "I'd say Treech was actually... kind of nice? We didn't get to talk for very long but I think—"

"—Of course he was nice to you, you gave him food, Junia," her mother immediately cuts her off. "I rewatched the footage more than once because you were so far in the background. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did he take something of yours? The footage was very blurry but it looked like he did."