EVERMORE ⎯⎯⎯⎯ CORIOLANUS SNOW

xiii. eleven o'clock

-ˋˏ [ EVERMORE, ] ˎˊ-
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
❛ ELEVEN O'CLOCK. ❜

     THE FOUR OF THEM STOOD IN FRONT OF THE TV, WATCHING AS A SHAKING LUCY GRAY AND CHARLI WALKED ONTO THE STAGE. Charli's face was bright red, and her hands were fiddling with one another; obvious signs of her nervousness. Lucy Gray had a tight grip on Charli's hand, willing her feet across the stage with her.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, our final two tributes," Lucky Flickerman presented them just as they approached the mic standing in the middle of the stage. "From District 12, Lucy Gray Baird!" The crowd erupted and Coriolanus sucked in a deep breath. "And accompanying her, from District 5, Charli Plimbs!" Selah gulped.

     "Good evening, Capital. Districts," Lucy Gray nodded her head in greeting towards the crowd of people in front of her and at the camera facing her. Charli mustered up a weak smile. "Charli and I wrote this song back in the zoo. I hope you all enjoy it."

     Selah and Coriolanus both turned their heads to each other, eyes locking in utter confusion. Charli could sing, too? Surely not. After all, she had ragged on Lucy Gray for using her voice. Though, as she opened her mouth, providing back up vocals for Lucy Gray, they both realized that she could in fact sing.

     The two of them sang a gorgeous melody, Selah and Coriolanus unmoving as they stood beside each other, eyes trained to the number of tributes steadily going up. It then showed the crowd, women crying and men unable to look away. When it flickered back, both Lucy Grays and Charli's numbers were up to 800.

"Ding, ding, ding!" Lucky yelled into the mic as Lucy Gray and Charli finished their song. Their donations had gotten up to 1500 and had yet to stop ascending. They both took a step back, finding each other's comforting hands again. "Record high for the evening! The Capital was definitely watching."

Selah watched as Lucky continued to talk to Lucy Gray, seeing the way Charli's face broke out in a genuine smile. It made her own lips turn up for a split second before there was another voice in her ear, making her forget all about her tribute on the screen. Coriolanus's breath hit her softly as he spoke quietly.

"We need to go see them."

He was right. She desperately needed to talk to Charli before she was thrown into the arena tomorrow morning. Selah nodded stiffly, "Come to my house later tonight. We'll go from there."

"Won't you be grounded?" He asked, an undertone of humor hidden somewhere behind his words. She looked at him blankly, not cracking a hint of a grin at his joke.

"Just be there at eleven."

     A SOFT TAP AT THE WINDOW CAUGHT SELAH'S ATTENTION. She dropped the pen in her hand, abandoning her journal as she moved quickly to the window. Coriolanus was sat awkwardly on the tree branch he had climbed. Since her room was on the second floor of the house, and he couldn't just enter through the front door, this had been his only option. Selah unlocked the window hatch and slid it upwards, allowing the blonde boy into her room.

     Coriolanus was welcomed by the delicate smell of vanilla and roses. There were pictures of her family hung all around; the same photo frames, different photos. Selah followed his eyesight to the pictures and rolled her eyes.