Chapter 24: Jada
I’ve been in the inspection room for what seems like an hour, though I’m almost certain it hasn’t been. The capitol medics are just checking to see that I’m not carrying any diseases. They say it’s better safe than sorry, but I know they think that districts are dirty infectious places. They just want to make sure their precious capitol stays “filth” free.
“Oh, you're a pretty one,” one of the examiners chimes in a squeaky, mouse-like voice, “No doubt you will be able to pull eyes in the capitol.”
“Pull eyes?” I ask. Their words seem foreign to me.
“She means that you'll have no problem at all attracting boys' attentions
“Oh, she just means that you won’t have any trouble attracting the eyes off all of the capitol boys,” another examiner explains.
I’m contained on the table for a couple more minutes before I’m finally cleared and released. The first thought that comes to my mind is to find Xain, but then I decide to explore the ship. It’s not every day a district warrior gets to enjoy the luxuries of the Capitol.
The hovercraft is huge. Every turn seems to reveal something new. There are a lot of different screens broadcasting different capitol media and fights. I turn my attention from the fights and look at one screen in particular. I’ve seen a game like this. It has men using sticks with nets on the end to toss around a ball. I can’t remember the name of the game though.
“Lacrosse,” I hear a voice and turn to see Kandi approaching me. She is now wearing a white blouse and skirt with a thick red belt around her waist.
“What?” I answer.
“The game is called lacrosse,” Kandi smiles and repeats, “It’s very famous in the capitol and many different districts alike.”
“I’ve heard of it,” I say as I turn back to the screen, “I just have never seen it before.”
“Well it’s very fun,” Kandi smiles widely, “it’s supposed to be a male and female sport.”
“Have you ever tried it,” I ask.
“Yes,” she smiles and looks at me from the side, “but when my family found out, they nearly locked me in my room for intermingling with the players. Capitol girls aren’t really supposed to play sports.”
She seems saddened when she says the words. I decide to try and change the subject. “Did you always want to be a designer?”
Kandi smiles again. “Since I was a little girl. I told my family that I wanted to do it because I wanted to be like Honey, but really it was so that I could meet people all around the world.”
“How old is Honey?” I mistakenly slip out.
“Just thirty-three,” Kandi doesn’t seem to mind the question. She shrugs as she answers it, which relieves me. “She was almost eighteen when I was born.”
“Oh,” I say, “I thought you were fourteen.”
“Nope,” Kandi gives me her full attention now and has a full smile. “I’m sixteen.”
“Do you enjoy it?” I ask, “Being a designer?”
“Only down side would be that Honey has to come everywhere I go,” Kandi sighs, but still smiles, “My whole family says it’s for my own protection against the ‘dangers’ that lie ahead, but I know that they mean that they think that the districts are close to dirt. But you know what?”
Kandi is looking at me with an intense look. Even though her make-up isn’t threatening, it seems to intensify her looks. “What?” I get out hoarsely.
Kandi looks down, and then away, and then sighs, “I would rather live in the districts than the Capitol sometimes.”
There’s a complete silence between us now. It’s not until a goal is scored on the screen that Kandi speaks again.
“Did you see that?” Kandi nearly exclaims, “That goal was amazing.”
I look at the screen and see a bunch of players in pads and helmets surrounding one teammate and cheering. A replay comes up showing that player running down the field, spinning around one defender, tossing the ball in the air, and spinning and outrunning two more defenders before catching the ball and scoring a blindingly fast goal past the goalie. The announcers and crowds are going hysterical.
“That’s one of my favorite players, Prosper Odilatu,” Kandi says as the game winds down the last few seconds, “I invited him to the banquet tonight, so you’ll get to meet him.”
As the game ends, I catch one final glimpse of Prosper with his helmet off. He’s dark-skinned like me and Xain with black hair that fades at the bottom and is nearly flat at the top. He’s sort of handsome and girls are shouting his name as he exits the field. The announcers make an announcement of his coming to the special banquet and shows a quick slideshow of pictures of us, from C-5. I smile as I follow Kandi out of the room.
“What’s it like working with Xain Austin?” Kandi asks me. It's kind of a common question for me.
“It's nice,” I answer, “he's been like a big brother since we've met.”
“He's like a brother?” Kandi asks with a sly smile on her face.
“Yeah,” I smile back, but then I'm suspicious. “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, no reason,” Kandi answers in a sing-songy voice and skips, “I just thought you may have had a little crush on him.”
I snap my head around from a painting so quickly that I hear my neck crack with it. “Crush?”
“Yeah, you know, when a girl sees a cute guy, or a guy sees a cute girl, he or she develops a feeling...”
“I know what a crush is,” I say, “I just don't know where you got the idea.”
“Well he is cute,” Kandi smiles dreamily, “and you did used to always watch him from behind walls and follow him secretly before you met him.”
I look at Kandi with a mixture of shock and confusion on my face. “How’d you know that?”
“Abigail and Melissa told me,” Kandi responds, “They also tell me that you smile every time he’s present, but not much when he’s not.”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” I say sternly, but can tell that I’m probably blushing. “He’s just cool and fun to hang out with. And since you want to ask, what about you?”
“What about me?” Kandi is confused.
“Do you have a crush on Xain?” I ask with a little bit of frustration in my voice, “You nearly tackled him when you got off of the hovercraft, and you haven’t taken your eyes off of him since you got here.”
If she’s blushing, the make-up covers it. “I have a tiny crush on him.”
I didn’t expect that, I was just messing with her.
“You’ll probably hate me for this,” Kandi says as she bites her red lips, “I used to have a huge crush on Brutus Merikh.”
“BRUTE!” I stop in my tracks and nearly gag on the name.
“I don’t like him anymore,” Kandi says as if she hadn’t heard my reaction, “Pretty much no one I know likes or respects him after he tried to kill a little girl, and was almost killed by her.”
I blush and smile at that. Brute was almost brought down by a thirteen year old girl.
Just then, we bump into Xain, who looks as if he’s indifferent of the ship. He smiles when he sees us.
“Hey,” he says, “how’s it going?”
Kandi smiles widely and giggles. “We were just talking about you.”
“Really,” Xain smiles and looks at me, “only good things, I hope.”
“All good things,” I reassure Xain with a smile. “What are you doing?”
“Exploring, killing time, watching television,” Xain sounds bored, “You?”
“Same here,” I respond, and then look at Kandi. “Are we almost there?”
“Actually, yes,” Kandi responds and points towards a window.
I look out the window to see an array of colorful and elegant buildings. There are billboards showing products from make-up to drinks, and I can even see people gathering on the roads pointing up at the hovercraft. It’s a breath-taking view. As we near the landing bay, the shouts of the Capitol citizens can be heard loudly and clearly. They are shouting our names.
“Okay everyone,” Honey’s voice comes over the PA system, “Welcome to the Capitol, the greatest place you could ever hope to be. We hope you enjoy your visit and hope that we will see you again in the future.”
She sounds scripted.
“We have much to do and only a few hours to do them, so let’s get to it, no lazy bums,” Honey continues in a pleasant manner.
The ship lands as everyone gathers together at the door. When the doors open, Honey and Kandi are first to step out, and then they signal for us to follow. Xain begins to walk, but then grabs my hand and leads me down the ramp. There are security officers around to guide us through the crowds of people who are crazily calling our names even with the perimeter around the citizens to keep a clear path, some citizens try and hop the barrier to get to us. More officers have to be used to hold back the crazed people. About a hundred yards later, we’re in the building and in safety. I let out a sigh of relief.
“Well let’s get you to the dressing rooms,” Honey says, “we should get a tour in before it’s dark, that way you’ll be ready in time for the banquet.”