Today was probably the saddest day of my life. Today was the one year anniversary of my mom's death and I was going to spend it with the one friend who actually understands how I feel. Nikki.
We had a whole day planned, which the boys didn't really know about. We were going to a tattoo shop to get a tattoo in loving memory of them.
I put on black overalls and a black and white crop top under it. I put on my short, black, wedged boots. I wore all my necklaces and my charm bracelets and went in the bathroom to do my hair.
I put it in a high pony tail. I went to my dresser to put on a little makeup and then went downstairs and into the kitchen.
"Wow you look colorful", Louie said.
"Thank you. Nikki and I are going out", I replied noting his sarcasm.
"Where to? A funeral?" Zayn asked and we all looked at him. Nikki walked in wearing all the same colors as me. Black and white. She had on a black crop top, a black and white patterned jacket, black skinny jeans, and black combat boots. Her gray hair was curled and her makeup was done boldly but not at the same time. How come I'm like the only one who can't do make up that good.
"You did this to Lillian. You made her.....not colorful!" Niall said.
"I didn't do anything. This is how we agreed to dress today. Black and white. In loving memory of our moms", Nikki said. They said nothing. My phone rang and broke the silence.
It was Katniss. I'm still taking lessons and let me just say, I'm getting really good. I wonder why she was calling me, we don't usually talk unless it's at the actual lesson.
I walked into the living room to answer it.
"Hey Katniss", I said.
"Hey Lillian. We're having a pre-day Christmas party at my house later and I wondering if you wanted to come."
"Um..yeah sure..I would love to. At what time?" I asked.
"Around 7 or 8. You can bring whoever you want", Katniss said.
"Ok well, I'll see you later than", I said.
"Yeah. See you later", she said and hung up. I walked back into the kitchen.
"Who was that?" Asked Liam.
"Don't pretend like you weren't listening. Any of you want to go?" I said smiling.
"I want to. It will be nice to our minds off of our moms for after....shopping", Nikki said.
"I'll go too", Harry said. I looked at the boys.
"Eleanor and I are going out today", Louie said.
"It's my annual deep cleansing of my hair", Zayn said. He had a blond streak in his hair from the prank wars and he kept washing his hair to try and get it out.
"I have to go set up the rooms for our family's tomorrow", Niall said.
"I...um...I have to....you know....yeah I got nothing. I'll go I guess", Liam said.
"Cool. Well Nikki and I really should be going now", I said.
"Why are you guys in such a rush?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"Well I want to be able to park in a good place at the mall", Nikki said and I nodded. I made sure I didn't play with my hair or my necklaces so Harry wouldn't know we weren't going to the mall.
"Ok", he answers looking at us.
"Oh and my brothers at my house, sobbing if you would like to go and try and comfort him. I tried to invite him to come with us but he didn't want to", Nikki said.
We left the house and into Nikki's car. She started driving and I put in the playlist we made for our moms. It included all of our moms favorite songs. We reached the tattoo place and we both got out of the car.
We walked in and there was barely anybody in there. Only a guy and a girl who worked here.
"Sorry but we're about to close", the girl said. I looked at Nikki.
"If you give me your names you can come back another time and get a discount. What are your names?" He asked.
"Well I'm Lillian Galloway."
"And I'm Nikki Crook."
"Are you guys the daughters of those people who died in that car crash?" She asked.
"Yeah. How do you know?" I asked.
"Well they've been broadcasting it all day. It's the one year anniversary....you know what why don't you guys go sit in those chairs over there and we'll be right with you."
"But I thought you were closing?" Nikki asked.
"Well I'm sure we can squeeze you two on before we close", she said smiling. We thanked her and then sat in chairs. The girl came over to me and the guy went over to Nikki. I showed her the ones I wanted and where I wanted them. I wanted lilies for my mother and the words lost but not forgotten over them on my right wrist. For my dad I wanted the SSOP(Secret Service of Panem) sign with a red medical cross behind it on my shoulder where my sleeve could cover it and a tiny old district 12 sign on my ankle. It was going to be almost the same color as my skin so it looked like a scar and nobody could really see it. She started with the most painful one, which was the one on my wrist.
She cleaned the area and then began the outline. She did the words next above it and then colored in the lilies which were pink. It felt like a whole bunch of cats were clawing at my wrist and wouldn't go away. I had to fight the urge to not slap the lady who was doing it. The lily took an hour and a half and when she was done I was happy with it.
She moved on to the one that was on my arm. She said this one would hurt a little less since there was more fat there and it wasn't exactly on my nerves, but it was going to take a little longer since it has a little more details.
Once again I felt the clawing sensation on my arm. I got kinda used to it after the first hour. She finished it another hour later and I was pretty pleased with it. It had the letters SSOP and then two guns making and X behind it. But behind the X was a medical sign for the way he died.
My last one was more painful but ended quicker. The tiny district 12 sign rant would look like a scar. That one I wanted to kinda be a secret. It was like I was taking a piece of home with me wherever I go.
I was finally was done and I thanked the lady.
"How much?" I asked. She did a great job.
"No it's fine. You two don't have to pay. It's on us. Enjoy your Christmas", she said and I smiled at her.
I went over to Nikki where a guy was finishing the last minute details on a dream catcher on Nikki's wrist. The guy finished and Nikki thanked him. She showed me all of hers. She had a small elephant on the back of her shoulder, a dream catcher on her wrist that was the size of the lilies on my wrist and a tiny mermaid on her ankle.
"Now should we really go to the mall, for an outfit for the party later?" I asked. She nodded and we went to her car.
On the way to the mall we talked about the tattoos. How it felt and stuff. She pretty much had the same experience as me.
At the mall we hit all of our favorite stores piecing together the perfect Christmas party outfits. I picked out leggings with Santa hats on them, a white shirt and a red jacket and some short black boots with a thick heel.
Nikki got a red t-shirt with reindeers on them, and new black short shorts. She was going to use some of my clothes to finish it.
After the mall we went home. I couldn't believe it when we parked in the driveway and saw that it was 5 o'clock.
"There you guys are. What took you so long?" Harry said.
"Well we made a tiny stop before we went to the mall", I said.
"What'd you do?" Asked Liam.
"Got tattoos", Nikki answered.
"What!? Seriously?" Asked Liam. We both nodded.
"I'm telling Dad", Xander said.
"Go ahead. He has a tattoo, I don't think he's going to care", Nikki said.
"Yeah. But your his only daughter so he's going to be really mad", Xander said. Nikki rolled her eyes.
"Where'd you get them?" Harry asked.
"Well I have one on my wrist, one on my arm, and one on my ankle", I said.
"I got mine in the same places", Nikki added.
"You guys got three each, in one day!" Liam said. We nodded.
"Can we see them?" Harry asked.
I went to go sit next to him on the couch and showed him my tattoos.
"Why'd you get the SSOP one with a medical cross behind it?" Xander asked.
"Well my dad was in the SSOP and he died during a surgery", I answered.
"Oh", was his response.
"Well if your done examining our tattoos, we have to start getting ready", Nikki said and grabbed a few bags. I grabbed mine and followed her upstairs.
"I'm gonna change in the bathroom", coming out of my closet with tights and my black leather jacket. I went into my closet and changed into my outfit.
"Can I do your make up and hair. I've been taking these lessons and I want to see how well I do", she said.
"Fine, but it better not be as bad as you painting my nails", I said with a smile.
"In my defense, I never grew up with a sister or a girlfriend and my mom wasn't about that kind of stuff. I always had some kind of boy around me."
"Uh huh." I smiled and she smiled.
I let her do my make up and my hair the way she wanted. My makeup was done pretty well and my hair hasn't burned off. The final look was. surprisingly really good
"Am I the only one who can't do makeup well?" I asked looking into a mirror.
"Yep, pretty much", she said.
We grabbed our phones and went downstairs.
"You guys ready to go?" Harry asked.
"Yes. Did Xander go home?" Nikki asked with a frown.
"Yeah he just really wanted to be alone. It's affecting him more than you", Liam said.
"Because I have things to distract me", Nikki said.
"What I don't get is how did your mom get affected by the car crash if you were from district 13?" Harry said.
"Well my mom was on a business trip to 12 when it happened. I guess she was on that road, and yeah", Nikki said.
"Oh", Harry said.
"I'm sorry, but can we just go and stop talking about this", I asked. It was painful to think about what happened. I just wanted to push that memory far away from my mind as I could right now and go have fun. Harry nodded and we all left. We went to Liam's car. Harry and I sat in the back and Liam and Nikki sat in the front.
We listened to the radio which we changed at least 5 times since they all talked about the accident and Nikki and I didn't want to here about it. We arrived at Katniss's house about 30
minutes later.
We all got out of the car and walked to the door step. Nikki knocked and the door opened. It was Peeta. He looked at Nikki, Liam and Harry weird and I showed my self from behind Harry.
"Oh hey Lillian", he said.
"Hey Peeta. This is Harry, Liam, and Nikki", I introduced and they all said hi.
"Well you guys can come in", he said stepping aside and we walked into the warm room. Christmas music was playing loudly and everyone was scattered in different places. Some in the living room and some in the kitchen.
"Lillian!" Sofia and Olivia said at the same time and came running towards me and gave me a hug. 6 year old girls are adorable. I said hi to everyone else. I've met Haymitch before (who was already drunk), but not Johanna, Beetee, nor Annie.
Yes it may be a little weird that I know who they are and they don't know who I am, but I'm sure there used to it.
I went over to say hi to Aubrey. We were pretty good friends and it was a little easier to bond and relate with her since she was close to my age.
The girls pulled Harry and I towards the fire place.
"You wanna play Candy Land with us?" I think Olivia asked.
"Sure", I replied.
Harry and I sat down next to the fake fire with the girls. It was funny seeing such a tall guy like Harry sit cris cross on the floor. We played a few rounds with the girls doing our hardest to let them win.
Everything was going great. We all were having fun and making jokes, besides the snide comments from Johanna but I guess she was just like that. We were all eating the best cookies I've ever eaten that Peeta made.
Liam, Nikki, Aubrey and Carson were all talking with each other and laughing. Haymitch was passed out and Beetee, Johanna, Annie, Katniss and Peeta were all talking and laughing. It was nice to everyone having a good time.
It was almost 9 o'clock and the Christmas music was still playing. We were playing pin the nose on the reindeer in curtesy of the girls. I was waiting for my turn, and I looked around the room. I noticed a piece of mistletoe above Liam and Nikki and I smiled.
"Hey you guys mind looking up for me?" I asked them. They did and they noticed the plant. Nikki turned a shade of pink.
"You mind?" Liam asked. Nikki shook her head and they leaned in to kiss each other. They're lips were about to touch when there was this noise from the radio and then an old mans voice. Everyone went silent and turned around to look at the radio.
"Happy Pre-Christmas to Panem. For those of you to young to know who this is or to old to remember, this is President Snow. I would like to announce a few things, but first let me get a few things straight. No, I am not dead and for those of you wondering how, I would like you to read an article in Panem's Weekly that will answer all the questions you have and what will be happening from here on."
"Now I would like to announce the death of President Paylor and how I will be taking her spot in leading Panem. Everything will go back to they way it was and we will have order once more. The districts will be known for what they used to once before and not for stupid things such as famous people. The games will be brought back to remind everyone that no matter how hard they try, you can not take down the capital."
"For my next announcement, I make this out to a very special family in District 13, the Mellark's. You will pay what you did to me, and I will seek revenge. All I have to say for right now is good luck during the reaping."
"That will be all for tonight's announcement. Remember to read Panem's Weekly for more information on my gain back to power and how Panem will be organized once more. Have a Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy the holiday's. Panem Today, Panem Tomorrow, Panem Forever."
The broadcast ended and everyone stood there in silence. I never thought I'd see it but I saw Katniss begin to cry and she went to the bathroom.
Peeta started going crazy.
"No. He won't touch my family. I won't allow it. He won't touch my family." He croaked getting louder with each word. He slid his arm across the counter knocking anything on it, onto the floor. He started going full blown mad. He picked up the chair and started smashing things with it while screaming, yelling and using bad words I've never even heard before.
Everyone else stood there in shock. I made eye contact with Harry and he gave me a shrug. Peeta was destroying the kitchen and Katniss was crying in the bathroom.
There was a small faint voice in the back of my head telling me that there was still kids in the room and I snapped out of whatever gaze I was in.
I found Aubrey and Carson and told them to go to their rooms. They didn't object and went upstairs. I looked around for Olivia and Sophia and found them watching Peeta with tears threatening to spill out of their eyes.
I walked over to them and tried to block the sight of Peeta with my body.
"Why don't you two go upstairs", I said in a kind tone.
"Lillian...I'm scared." One of them said. I really didn't know who was who.
"Me too. Why is Daddy acting like this?" She asked.
"Umm....why don't we go upstairs together and talk about it, ok?" I asked and they nodded.
I pushed them upstairs and they led me to their room. They opened the door and its they most pink in a room I've ever seen.
"Can we talk over tea?" I asked hoping to cheer them up a little.
"Sure", one of them replied and we all walked to a tiny table with a tea set on it. They sat down in chairs. I attempted to sit in one but was to uncomfortable, so I sat on the floor and leaned against the wall. My legs were under this shelf with creepy looking fairies statues made out of cement.
I felt the whole room shake and I swore the shelf moved, but I decided not to move since I had to squeeze to sit here.
"Lillian why is Daddy acting like this? Did we do something wrong?" Asked Olivia I think.
"No. You did nothing wrong."
"Then why is he mad?" Asked Sophia.
"Well...you see...there's this man who...who's trying to take something away from your dad that he loves very much and he's very mad about it."
"What about Mommy?" Asked Olivia.
"Well...that same man is trying to take something away from your mom..that she also loves very much and it's making her sad."
"What are they trying to take from them?" Sophia asked.
"......I think that's enough questions for right now. Why don't you guys.."
I was mid sentence when the room gave another shake. This one was harder and the statue on the shelf came falling onto my knee. It took all I had not to cry out in pain. I cursed quietly under my breath and tried to take the heavy statue off my knee. The walls gave another shake and the whole shelf fell including another statue, some dolls and a glass plate signed with names.
I made a noise between a scream and a grunt and the door burst open. Aubrey and Carson came in. They rushed over to me.
"Are you ok?" Asked Carson and I held in my sarcastic comment. They got the stuff off my knee and I could tell it was bruised. I could feel my heartbeat in it.
They moved the table and tried to help me up, but my knee failed and I fell down. It was hurting really bad and it looked weird. I was holding in my tears.
"Go get Harry", I said groaning. Carson raced out of the room and Aubrey tried to comfort me.
"No. Take care of your sisters, I'm fine", I replied. I really wasn't. My knee felt like someone just took a sledgehammer and pounded it a whole bunch of times.
Nikki and Harry came in the room and saw me on the floor in pain and came rushing over.
"Are you okay?" Asked Nikki. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I had to do something.
"Does it look like I'm ok?" I asked.
"Calm down. Can you get up?" Harry asked and they both tried helping me up. I cried out in pain from the pains in my knee.
"We should get you to a doctor. Come on I'll carry you", Harry said.
He swept me off my feet and carried me out the door followed by Nikki. I dug my face into Harry's shoulder and let a few tears fall out of my eyes.
We reached the car and Liam was in it. He started the car and started driving to where ever we were going. I had no clue nor did I care. I was just trying to focus on the unbearable pains going on ignore the pains in my knee. I sat on Harry's lap my face still buried in Harry's shoulder and I felt Harry stroke my hair gently in a sort of comforting way, but it didn't really work.
Harry carried me out of the car and inside of the place. I heard Nikki call off this doctor and I was removed from Harry and put onto something. I could still feel my pulse on my knee and it still really hurt. The last thing I remember was coming out of this room and going into another one with a whole bunch of doctors in it.
.....
My eyes started to flutter open slowly and I was faced with five boys looking at me. I opened my eyes completely.
"Hey Lil." Harry said.
I tried to sit up but was faced with this pain in my left knee. I groaned.
"Hey. Take it easy", Harry said with a concerned face.
"Wha-what happened?" I asked.
"You don't remember anything?" Asked Liam.
"No. Not at this moment." I replied.
"You broke your patella in three pieces", Niall said handing me a X-Ray. It was a triangular shaped bone split in two with a little piece chopped off.
"How?" I asked handing it back to him.
"Well you keep insisting that two fairy princesses did it, but we just thought you were delusional in pain", Louie answered and it all came flooding back to me.
Snow announcing he's back. President Paylor dead. Me talking to the girls. The shelf falling on my knee. I tried to sit up again and I groaned in pain again.
"Do you have to do it one more time to stop moving?" Zayn asked.
"What happened after they took X-Ray's?" I asked ignoring his comment.
"They took you into surgery to fix it", Harry said. The doctor walked in and looked at me.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Sore", I answered. This was only one of the many words I was feeling.
"Well that's usual. You may go home late tomorrow morning." He said.
"Can you explain what exactly happened to my knee?" I asked.
"Well when that thing fell on your knee, the weight broke your knee cap also known as your patella. Any way, we fixed it and put you in a cast. You have to keep the cast on for maybe a month and then start some physical training and a brace for two more months, but don't worry you are just fine. I've seen much worse injuries", he said smiling.
"Thanks", I said weakly and he nodded curtly.
"Now I would get some rest and try not to move much. It will help heal if you rest a lot", he said and walked out.
"Do you want me stay with you?" Asked Harry.
"No. You guys have to go get the house ready for your families tomorrow", I said.
"How are you in a cast and still thinking about our families coming tomorrow?" Louie asked. I smiled.
"No clue. But seriously, go home and start setting up all those rooms", I said.
"How about we go home and Harry stays here with you and then in the morning we'll come pick you guys up and head to the air port to pick up Harry's and Louie's family in the afternoon?" Liam suggested.
"I guess that's ok." I replied. Harry smiled and the boys said bye before leaving the room.
"You should get some sleep. You heard the doctor", Harry said.
"Alright, mom", I teased.
Then came the memory of today. I almost forgot. I guess this party was a distraction for not wanting to cry about her all night, but seriously. Why are Pre-Christmas full of bad luck for me? Firsts my mother dies and then the worlds evilest person ever comes back to life. I feel bad for the Mellark's.
