NOTE
If Anemone says something that pisses you off (some sort of things like Arachne would say), please understand it. She was taught to act like this since birth.
TO SAY THAT Anemone Crane was fond of the districts was a mistake. She was a Crane, after all. The Cranes taught their children how they were better than the districts. How they were better than the rebels.
Considering Anemone's roots, she could not afford to show the slightest hint of sympathy or bitterness for the people in the districts. She had to hide under the mask of a snob.
As Anemone walked inside the Academy, side by side with her twin, Arachne, a lot of familiar faces greeted them. Their family was known for developing luxury hotels all over the Panem. The girls themselves were quite good students, so their popularity was on a pretty high level.
Right, Arachne Crane. Quite an opposite of her sister. Anemone was the type to check the details, focus on them. She'd do anything to keep her promise, while Arachne used to make them empty.
Anemone, together with the rest of the top twenty-three graduating students, was assigned to be mentors for the Tenth Annual Hunger Games. The only thing she had to do was turn her tribute into a spectacle, not a survivor.
But would Anemone really listen to Dean Highbottom? He seemed to be drunk half of the time. "Well, hello there." Arachne greeted the figure of Coriolanus Snow, who approached the twins.
There was also Coriolanus Snow. Known as Anemone's future husband. Before the war, the Cranes and the Snows decided for them to marry. It would bring only positives for both of the families. With Anemone's money and Coriolanus' honor, they would be one of the most powerful couples in Panem.
"Hello Coryo." Anemone put on a smile, tearing away from Arachne as she looped her arm around Coriolanus'. "Anemone." Coryo lowered his head, which was supposed to be a small bow. Seemed like it didn't work out.
"Let's grab a drink, shall we?" Anemone asked him. As Arachne left to talk with Livia Cardew, another girl assigned to be a mentor, Anemone, and Coriolanus lurched forward, scanning the room for an Avox.
"Stressed?" Coriolanus leaned his head a bit closer to Anemone's ear, so she could hear him through several conversations echoing in the Academy. "Not stressed, just... excited." She declared through gritted teeth.
"Like all of us." Coriolanus grinned. "Except for Sejanus, of course."
Sejanus Plinth - the boy from District Two. Anemone had a specific way to see him. She didn't like him, but she didn't dislike him either. He was just... a normal classmate or so.
"Whatever, Coryo. Your tribute is probably going to be from One or Two. You're on top of the class." Anemone scoffed, a smirk finding its way on her lips as she took a glass of soda in her free hand. "Says Anemone Crane." Coriolanus snorted.
Anemone hummed, taking a sip of her drink as she felt like changing the subject. "Nice shirt." She declared. "Tessera?" She asked, snapping her head at the buttons.
Coriolanus looked a bit embarrassed, before quickly speaking up, "Now I know why they remind me of the maid's bathroom." He chuckled, and so did Anemone.
"Coriolanus!" A voice came from a few feet away. As both Coryo and Anemone turned their heads in the direction of it, they saw Satyria waving towards Snow. "Well, see you at the ceremony." Anemone sighed, before walking off to search for her sister.
Arachne, together with Persephone Price, Festus Creed, and Vipsania Sickle stood in a circle, chattering about something. As soon as she approached them, Vipsania put on a smile.
"Ann! I'm so glad to see you." She exclaimed, making the Crane girl chuckle, and sent polite smiles to all of them.
"Hello, Vipsania. Seph. Festus." Anemone nodded slightly, taking the last sip of her drink. When it came to Persephone Price, Anemone wasn't very fond of her. She was always so precious, such a pretty girl with dimples, who had done nothing wrong. Seemed like a mask.
And what about Festus Creed? Anemone was slightly in love with him for maybe two years. But Festus didn't seem to even notice her. She was just a twin of Arachne.
Well, if you asked anyone who Anemone Crane is, they'd say she's a nicer version of Arachne.
"Anemone, such a nice outfit!" Persephone complimented, smiling brightly. "Thanks. Yours is stunning too." Anemone replied with a bittersweet smile.
"You've been going to the same class for like three years! Keep this officialness for someone else." Arachne rolled her eyes. "Unlike you, I'm just being polite." Anemone bit back with a sarcastic smile on her face.
Anemone heard a bell ringing and saw his fellow students converging at the front of the dais. "I guess it's time!" Festus exclaimed.
Anemone followed Vipsania to where a special section of chairs, six rows by four, had been set up for the mentors. She sat down and squeezed between Arachne and Vipsania. Waiting for the Dean to appear.
"Ho there," Dean Highbottom slurred, waving a crumpled piece of paper over his head. "Reading the things off now."
The students hushed, trying hard to hear him above the din of the hall.
"Read you a name, then you who gets that one. Right? So, fine. District One, boy, goes to..." Highbottom squinted at the paper, trying hard to focus. Glasses, he mumbled. "Forgot them."
Everyone stared at his glasses, already perched on his nose, and waited while his fingers found them. "Ah, here we go. Livia Cardew!"
Livia's pointed little face broke into a grin and she punched the air in victory, shouting Yes! Anemone raised an eyebrow, finding it annoying. Everyone knew that Livia got District One because her mother ran the largest bank in the Capitol. The girl went to Palmyra Monty.
"District Two, boy, Sejanus Plinth!" Highbottom read.
The girl went to Flours Friend. The two from District Three were assigned to Io and Urban.
"District Four, boy, Anemone Crane!"
"Girl, Festus Creed."
Festus turned his head to glance at Anemone and sent her something similar to a smile, which made her cheeks turn slightly pink.
Vipsania got the boy from District Seven, Persephone the boy from Ten. Clemensia and Felix were assigned the two from Eleven, and Lysistrata got the well-built boy from Twelve.
That meant Coryo's tribute was the girl from Twelve. Probably one of the weakest.
"And last but not least, District Twelve gir... she belongs to Coriolanus Snow." Highbottom declared.
Then, everybody rose to sing the anthem,
Gem of Panem,Mighty city,Through the ages, you shine anew.
The seal dissolved to show President Ravinstill, his hair streaked with silver, dressed in his prewar military uniform as a reminder that he'd been controlling the districts long before the Dark Days of the rebellion.
He recited a brief passage from the Treaty of Treason, which laid out the Hunger Games as a war reparation, young district lives taken for the young Capitol lives that had been lost. The price of the rebels' treachery.
The Gamemakers cut to the bleak square of District Twelve, where a stage lined with Peacekeepers, had been erected before the Justice Building.
Mayor Lipp dug his hand deeply into the bag on his left, pulled out a slip of paper, and barely glanced at it.
"The District Twelve girl tribute is Lucy Gray Baird," He said into a mic. The camera swept over the crowd of gray, hungry faces in gray, shapeless clothing, seeking the tribute.
The audience, including the Crane twins, let out a sigh.
Lucy Gray Baird stood upright in a dress made of a rainbow of ruffles, now raggedy but once fancy. Instead of making it straight to the scene, she began to weave through the girls off to her right.
The wriggle of bright green transported from her pocket and deposited down the collar of a smirking redhead's blouse. Focus stayed on the victim, her smirk changing to an expression of horror, her screams as she fell to the ground, pawing at her clothes, and the shouts of the mayor, probably related to her.
"Did she kill her?" Arachne asked, her jaw almost dropped. "I don't know," Anemone replied in a whisper.
On the screen, Mayor Lipp flew down the steps of the stage, pushing his way through the assembled girls to reach the fallen one on the ground.
"Mayfair? Mayfair?" He cried. "My daughter needs help!" He shouted. The mayor broke into the clearing just as a small, green snake shot out of the folds of her dress and into the crowd, making girls scream and jump back to avoid it.
The departure of the snake calmed Mayfair, but her distress was immediately replaced by embarrassment. She glanced straight into the camera as she realized all the citizens of Panem were watching.
Her father helped her to her feet, it was apparent she had wet herself. He removed his jacket to wrap around her and handed her over to a Peacekeeper to lead away.
Mayor Lipp retook the stage, ignoring the bags of names and heading for the girl tribute, and struck her in the face so powerfully that she was knocked to her knees.
"Is she okay?" Anemone's voice was the only one to echo in the Heavensbee Hall.
Mayor Lipp raised his hand to hit her again, when a couple of the Peacekeepers intervened, grabbing his arms and dragging him back into the Justice Building, bringing the whole proceeding to a standstill.
Lucy Gray raised her hand to touch the mark on her cheek. Her lower lip shook slightly and her eyes shone with tears that begged to spill over.
Right when she was about to let them run down her cheeks, someone sang,
You can't take my past. You can't take my history.
Then, another voice echoed. This time, it was a deep, male tone,
You could take my pa, But his name's a mystery.
A shadow of a smile appeared on Lucy Gray's lips. She rose to her feet, grabbed the microphone, and sang,
You can't take my charm.
You can't take my humor.
You can't take my wealth,
'Cause it's just a rumor.
Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping.
Thinking you're so fine.
Thinking you can have mine.
Thinking you're in control.
Thinking you'll change me, maybe rearrange me. Think again, if that's your goal,
'Cause...
And then she was off, sashaying around the stage, right past the Peacekeepers, some of whom were having trouble suppressing smiles. None of them moved to stop her.
You can't take my sass.
You can't take my talking.
You can kiss my ass
And then keep on walking.
Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping.
She headed to the far end of the stage for the end of her performance.
No, sir,
Nothing you can take from me is worth dirt.
Take it, 'cause I'd give it free. It won't hurt.
Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping!
She managed to blow a kiss before they were on her. "My friends call me Lucy Gray - I hope you will, too!" She shouted. One of the Peacekeepers took the mic from her hand as another picked her up and carried her back to the middle of the stage.
She waved as if to huge applause, not dead silence.
A few other districts appeared on the screen, and then finally District Four. "The female tribute from District Four is... Coral Finley." The Mayor read.
A well-built, redheaded girl stepped on the stage, sending murderous looks to everyone, including the camera.
As she took place beside the Mayor, he dived his hand into another bag, ready to announce the other tribute.
"The male tribute from District Four is Mizzen Ovans."
A boy slowly stepped out of the crowd. He tried to seem strong and brave, but Anemone could see a spark of fear taking a place in his eyes. The thing that caught Anemone's attention was his age. Mizzen was probably one of the youngest tributes.
"He's sturdy." Arachne shrugged. "He's a child." Her sister scoffed.
Like them all.
₊• ↳ a/n
Hi!! Welcome to the first chapter of 'Puberty'! I'm so excited for you to read it<3 As always, feel free to comment and vote. If you're here from my other stories like Raison D'être or Mizpah, then I'm so happy to see you again! If you're not, then I can't wait for our first interaction<3
Lots of love,
May<3