Missing a condemned best friend...

The reapings for this year were finally over; Isabelle was relieved. Relieved for one that she didn't get chosen, but for also her brother, Antonio, who didn't get chosen either. It was true they haven't spoken for a while now, but nothing could change the fact that he was her brother. She was scared for him too, and cared for him even if he didn't care for her. It didn't matter, Isabelle thought bitterly, starting to feel angry again, he was her brother and she couldn't change that. She shook her head in frustration, up until now her brother was still a sensitive topic. It's been eight years since she's had a decent conversation with him too; she'd missed him more than anything. But, of course, it didn't look like Antonio missed her. Walking down the open field from outside their home, she kept her gaze on the ground. Her eyes were rimmed red from the crying she'd done the night before the reaping, and still visibly puffy. Her long brown hair was pulled in a sloppy bun, and she wore an old pair of shorts and a shirt. Like usual, her mother didn't say anything to her about the reaping or even ask about her puffy eyes. Five years into the hunger games and her mother had already grown used to it.

Isabelle started deeper into the field. It was very sunny outside, the temperature mild, and if you look up to the sky for too long Isabelle could have sworn you'd go blind. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and walked down the field. She wondered what her family was doing right now, or even how the tributes for this years Hunger Games were. She didn't know any of the tributes this year, she realized to herself. If she remembered correctly, the tributes for their district this was a girl named Estrella and a boy named Nate. She wasn't exactly sure if that fact she didn't know them was a good thing or not, but didn't think more of it. Walking along even more, Isabelle spotted a girl deeper into the field. Weird, she thought. Usually nobody else would be out on this part of the fields - that's why she chose to come here. She needed time to think. Coming closer and closer to the girl, Isabelle began to see her face, "Hey! Are you okay?" She ran over to where the girl collapsed.

Isabelle looked at the girl. Like herself, she had brown hair, but hers was much longer and a few shades darker. Under the beating sun, the girl's freckles stood out on her face. Just by looking at her face, Isabelle was able to tell that she was a couple years younger. She guessed that maybe she was 14, or even 16 tops. The girl spun around when Isabelle called her. "Estrella and Nate?" She repeated after the girl. She had just been thinking about the tributes a few moments ago. "Oh...Oh, I'm sorry." A hint of sympathy was in her voice. She found herself at a loose of words, and kept her gaze on the ground. She couldn't exactly tell her not to worry about it, because if it was her in that position she would probably break down crying. She sighed, and looked up again. Just by the look on the girl's face she could tell that she didn't want to talk about it.

Isabelle tried changing the subject, "I'm Isabelle," She started awkwardly, trying to warm up to a smile. "It's not going to do any good if you sulk over it now. Did you talk to them before they...left?" She struggled to find the right word.

Maya smiled, but her normally bright amber eyes reflected sadness. "I'm Maya. And... well, yeah, I talked to Estrella. Not Nate. He was always really closer to her than to me, but I was really close to her. She was kind of in the middle, but it wasn't a jealousy thing. It was just how the friendship happened to work." She shrugged. "Nice to meet you, I guess. I'm not normally the most polite person on the planet, sorry. There's this new thing called 'manners' I'm trying out. It hasn't been working to well." Maya didn't laugh, but the corners up her mouth twitched upwards for a moment.

The girl- Maya - smiled at her briefly, though not the kind of smile that was infectious enough and made Isabelle wanted to smile back. Isabelle bit her lip; she felt bad. She didn't know what to do to make her feel better - and that was saying something because usually she was quite the social butterfly. But when it came to things related to the Hunger Games, she would much rather stay home and avoid the topic completely. "Oh...It must be nice to have a relationship like that." She didn't really have any close friends around District 10. Isabelle stood their awkwardly for a moment, shuffling uncomfortably. She looked up at the girl, smiling slightly "Trust me, manners are as new to me as they probably are to you." She laughed slightly, noticing the girl's mood was starting to lighten up a bit, "I have a brother who's even worse at them than I am." Isabelle dragged on a bit on the mention of her brother. She didn't really mean to mention him right now, so she tried to change the topic completely. "Do you have any siblings?"She tried.

Isabelle listened to Sarah talk about her brothers. "You beat me by a landslide," She joked, throwing her hands up and looking past her for a second. She had tons, compared to her one brother Antonio. "You have an interesting family...It must be nice." She smiled slightly, feeling slight jealousy starting to come over her. "I have one brother - Antonio - but we don't talk much anymore. It's kind of weird actually." She trailed on awkwardly, rubbing her hands behind her back nervously. She squinted under the beating sun and looked at her again.

"It's alright, don't worry about it."Isabelle smiled. At least she got the girl to stop thinking about her friends in the Hunger Games.

(Short, sorry. Mind blank. :c)

Maya laughed. "Nice? You haven't met my mother. Or, rather, any of my brothers aside from Mallow. Well, Kal's okay, but Chase and Egg are definitely not gifts to the family. Eurrgh. That's really sad about your brother, though. I would think that the fewer family members you have, the closer you are to them individually. I guess it depends on the family."

Maya ran a hand through her wavy reddish-golden-brown hair, which was rather tangled, and slipped a ponytail holder around it, letting some of the shorter pieces in front fall to frame her face. Maya, of course, didn't think about the fashionable details, and simply disliked having all of her hair pulled back, but it had the same effect either way. She looked at Isabelle. "So, what're you doing in the fields? Obviously I came here to be dramatic, but... I suppose some people actually so field work here. You?"

(It's fine. I swear that happens to me every time I finally get a good idea for a story or post or whatever. )

"My family's all about appearance." Isabelle shook her head in shame, "We can seem like the perfect family, but you really have to look in between the lines to see how messed up we are." She continued, "My mother could care less about me, while my dad is always working. And then, there's my brother who I haven't talked to in years." She shrugged it off as if it were nothing, listening to Maya talk about her own. She still believed it sounded fun to have a family like that; exciting. She thought it was sweet, and how a real family should be like. "Sorry, I'm kind of bringing down the mood." She smiled sheepishly, giving her an apologetic look. Maya seemed to have a whole bunch of other things to worry about, with her friends in the games and such.

Isabelle sighed, dropping her hands back on her side of her. "No, I'm not doing any field work anything." She admitted, "It's nice and quiet here; a good place to think. I usually come out here when I need some time alone." She smiled, realizing she was making the air even more depressing. "Sorry," She looked to Maya in embarrassment.

(I'm trying not to make the post all dramatic, but it's failing completely xD Sorry lol)

(It's fine. Your post wasn't too dramatic. I will post for real later, sorry I can't now. I have a lot of homework and I have to go to a staff meeting for the site later so I have to get it done now.)

(It's alright. Spring Break is ending on Monday for me, so I won't be on much either. :V Anyways, take your time)

(Aw, that sucks. I just got off of spring break.)


Maya listened quietly as Isabelle explained her family troubles. She felt bad. At least my family doesn't bother trying to keep up appearances, other than my mom. We know we're flawed. It must be horrible to have to pretend that everything is going well when really, you're alone. "It's fine. We live in a place where the government makes 23 children kill each-other and praises the 1 survivor on a regular basis. The mood was already down," she said, looking off into the distance.

"Yeah, it's really nice out here. I wonder why I don't come out here more often. Too busy talking to Estrella and Nate, I suppose. And don't worry about making the conversation sad. I have contributed equally or possibly more to the sadness, especially with what I just said, because it's impossible for both of them to come home. Wow, I'm going to have a lot of free time. That'll be weird." She turned back to Isabelle after a minute or two. "Sorry for the awkward silence."