I slip into the Capitol’s custom made silk green pajamas and plop down on my bed. I suppose they made ours green because we’re the lumber district. I lay down but even after an hour passes, I can’t fall asleep. It’s my second night on the train and I am absolutely sick of all this motion. I tell myself I’ll have to endure worse in the arena, and this is just the beginning. This thought has quite literally the opposite effect than I wanted it to. It does not motivate me, let’s put it that way. Restless and utterly exhausted, I pad into the hallway and go to the back train car. It has glass windows and you can see everything around you. The door slides open, and I expect to find privacy and seclusion. “Arbor!” I exclaim, almost literally slamming against the hard metal wall in surprise. Who knew I wouldn’t be the only one that wasn’t sleeping soundly! ”What are you doing here?” I ask him. “Couldn’t sleep. You?” Arbor asks. “Same. It’s a crazy thing what trains can do to the already ill of spirit.” I say with a small smile. I sit down next to him in the train car. He flashes a smile back at me and I lean my head on his shoulder as we observe the stars twinkling in the ethereal navy blue sky from the other side of the glass. “Do you ever wish we were on the other side of that glass?” I ask him softly. “All the time,” he tells me. “Me too,” I say. “I wish I was never picked for the reaping. How could I have been picked? I didn’t even take out tesserae,” I say to him. “I don’t know. But I wish you would be safe and sound in your house right now. But I’d volunteer a thousand times if it meant saving you,” he tells me. It’s these moments when I know I could trust him with my life. Best friends look out for each other. Best friends risk their lives for each other. Always. “Training starts tomorrow,” I say. “I might go over to the axe throwing station,” he tells me. “Yeah, me too. But can you teach me how to use a bow and arrow? I might sometimes want to be Cupid too, you know,” I tell him with a smile. He gives me a half smile. “I think I can do that, but then you have to give me axe throwing lessons!” he says. “Oh, stop. You chop trees for a living.” I tell him. “Yes… but you have a true natural talent for it,” he tells me. “Okay, well I’ll think about the offer,” I say with a smirk. “Yes,” He exclaims. “Score!”. I laugh. And then yawn. “Now I actually am tired. See you at training tomorrow. And go to sleep soon or you’ll not be on your A-game in training. It’ll be that much harder to prepare for the games,” I say informatively. “Aye aye, captain.” He says and mock-salutes me as I exit the train compartment off to find my room and go to sleep. When I collapse on my bed, it is not a frown I have on my face. It’s a smile.
