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CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE GUILT IN THE HAPPINESS
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SLEEPING WELL WAS a rare occasion for Aurora Crane these days, but it had happened the previous night. She was almost well rested as she stepped into the auditorium, heading to her seat in the mentor's row.

Last night had been a mix of a nightmare and a daydream and she would've thought that it had been all in her imagination, if it weren't for her damaged school uniform.

She didn't really remember sliding over the dirty ground and ruining the red skirt in the process, she only remembered how his lips had felt on hers.

But the carefree happiness made quickly room for the all consuming guilt. How could she sit there on her seat, smiling like an idiot, when Sol was still in the arena trying to stay alive? How could she feel even the tiniest bit of happiness when her family (including her) was still grieving?

"What happened to your face, Coryo?" Festus shouted and everyone turned around to look at the blonde.

He had certainly looked better. The boy looked like he had been dragged several feet on the ground. Some of the abrasions were full of dried blood.

"Biking accident," he gave back and Festus nodded at that. It was a plausible answer.

Only Aurora knew the truth. She had completely ignored her friend the previous night, although he had saved Sejanus's life. She had to thank him later when no one else was around.

Lucky stepped in front of the camera and put a wide smile on his face.
"Welcome to day two of the Tenth annual Hunger Games!"

"Look, you're not the only one who's in a good mood," Dennis whispered to her to which she only raised her eyebrows.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, but the boy didn't reply. His eyes were glued to the screen.

The camera had zoomed in on a figure laying on the ground. It was hard to make out who it was, considering the state the body was in. Someone had clearly beaten them to death.

One hand pressed to her mouth, but not being able to stop the gasp, she knew that either Coryo or Sejanus must have done this the previous night. Of course out of self defense.

Lucky confirmed the figure as Bobbin from District Eight and speculated on who might have killed him.

"One thing we do know is that we've got something to celebrate!" The weatherman blowed on a plastic horn.

Tone deaf, Aurora thought, her hand slowly taking away from her mouth.

"Because we've just reached the halfway mark! That's right, twelve tributes down, and only twelve to go!" He kept on cheering, which the girl found almost ridiculous. So much for being in a good mood.

Nothing really happened after that, there was still no sight of Sol, not even the tunnel cameras spotted her. And the other missing person was Sejanus.

Where is he? Aurora looked down the mentor's row, but his seat was empty. And she couldn't spot him amongst the regular student body either.

"And now, what do you suppose? We've got an extra-big surprise — especially if you're one of the twelve remaining mentors!" Lucky suddenly screamed into his mic.

A man with a stern expression, dressed in an expensive suit, entered the auditorium and alongside him was no other than Sejanus Plinth.

Thinking about it now, Aurora hadn't seen Mr. Plinth around during her visits.

As happy as she was to see the boy again, she also furrowed her brows at the sight of his damaged face. Just like Coryo, he had all these abrasions and he had trouble walking normally.

"Sejanus, I'm sorry we didn't get a moment with you yesterday to let you comment on the demise of your tribute, Marcus," Lucky said after the three sat down in his little interview corner.

Sejanus stared at the weatherman, not commenting on that.

"What's going on here? You look like you've been mixing it up yourself," Lucky tried to diffuse the tension with a point to the boy's face.

"I fell off my bike," Sejanus replied with a hoarse voice, avoiding to look at Lucky and the camera.

The man turned around to the camera, making a grimace.

"Ouch. Well, I guess you have some pretty big news to share with us!" He nodded encouragingly.

"Yes," Sejanus gave back after a short pause, "we, the Plinth family, would like to announce that we will be giving a price for a full ride to the University to the mentor whose tribute wins the Hunger Games."

A few oohs sounded through the mentor's row. They probably didn't need someone else to pay for their education, but it was nice regardless.

Aurora on the other hand stared at Sejanus, waiting for him to finally acknowledge her in any way. But even after Lucky started commenting on the boringness of these year's Games and the boy had already taken his normal seat, he still didn't look at her.

She was confused, so confused. Had she imagined the kiss? Was he now regretting kissing her? What was going on? Hello?

Lunch came around and Aurora took her opportunity. She put her platter down on the table across from Sejanus and sat down a little more hesitantly than she had planned to.

"Hi," she greeted him, her voice an octave higher than usual, which caused her to cringe internally.

Why am I so awkward? She thought.

"Hi," he gave back with a clear of his throat.

And then they stared at each other for a moment, looked away, and then stared at each other again.

"Look," Aurora started, "I know we can't really talk about what happened yesterday, at least not here, but I... if that kiss made you uncomfortable just say so."

She looked at him expectantly, her heart beating fast and it felt like it was stuck in her throat. She really hoped that he wouldn't agree to what she had just said.

Sejanus furrowed his brows and put his fork down on the table. Had she forgotten that he had kissed her back? Had she not seen the way his eyes had lit up the previous night after he had finally found the strength to pull away? Probably not because it had been dark and all.

The truth was that he'd been dreaming about kissing Aurora for the longest time. It was almost too good to be true.

"What? No," he said and leaned forward. "It was just unexpected, but I liked it, really liked it. But what about you, I mean..."

The usual loud babbling of the students in the dining hall concealed their conversation, but Aurora leaned slightly over the table nonetheless and spoke with a quiet voice.

"I thought I lost you and that broke my heart and then I saw you there and something finally clicked in my brain and I was so stupid before..." She breathed in deeply.

"I told you that someone would realize how great of a guy you are. It just took me a while," she added.

"I'm glad that you did realize."

He smiled at her, now knowing that it was all real. And Aurora smiled back at him, glad that they had talked about it.

And when lunch was over, they intertwined their fingers and walked back to the auditorium. That was the closest the both of them had gotten to pure happiness in the last weeks.

"Ugh. We all know what Arachne would say to that." Not even Livia's vicious words could make the smile on Aurora's face disappear.

The mentor's row had been reduced to the seats of those mentors whose tributes were still alive. So the girl took her seat besides Festus, who was glancing at her and then nodded to Sejanus somewhere amongst the student body.

"So, you and him, huh?" Festus was wiggling his eyebrows and Aurora wanted to roll her eyes, but she couldn't help but laugh.

Unlike Livia and Arachne, Festus had never said anything bad about Sejanus. She would even go as far as saying that he was friendly towards him. Sometimes, when Arachne had said something mean about Sejanus and Aurora hadn't been fast enough to scold her for that, Festus had done it.

But he had also made clear that he and Sejanus were not even close to being friends.

"Yeah," Aurora replied with a nod.

Her good mood lasted until the early afternoon. Nothing had happened in the arena, no tribute had made an appearance, until Sol ran out of one of the tunnels.

The sunlight that shined down on the young girl was blinding and it took her a moment to adjust to it. She made her way over to the barricade and Aurora immediately sent her water and food.

She didn't have that much to work with and she intended Sol to live much longer, so she stopped herself from sending more.

Sol couldn't quite manage to get on the barricade and her mentor watched in horror as Coral, her district partner Mizzen, and District Ten's Tanner circled around her.

There was only the barricade that she couldn't climb up on and she hadn't got any weapons.

Sitting on the edge of her seat, Aurora held her breath. It didn't look good for sweet Sol.

It didn't take long for Coral to shot forward and stick her trident into Sol's throat. She pulled it out and the girl choked on her own blood, both hands gripping her throat.

The images were familiar and Aurora had to close her eyes. It was Sol dying in the arena, it was Arachne dying in her arms. She had failed to save both of them.

"Ouch. That was it for Aurora Crane and her tribute," Lucky looked at his notes before he continued, "Sol from District Five. Aurora, a statement?"

Festus gave her a pat on the shoulder. It had been his tribute, who'd ended Sol's life after all. But she had to focus, it wasn't his fault, it wasn't Coral's fault, it was Dr. Gaul's fault for continuing the Games.

Or maybe she could blame Dean Highbottom for creating them in the first place. But considering the state that he was in currently, he was blaming himself enough already.

The way towards Lucky felt like a fever dream, like a trance. She stared into the camera, his microphone too close to her lips.

"Sol was a wonderful little girl, a talented artist with a big heart. It makes me sad to know that her life ended before it could actually begin." She heard the voice, but she didn't feel the words coming from her lips.

Lucky thanked her and Aurora made her way past the mentor's row towards the empty seat next to Sejanus. He didn't say anything as she sat down, he just grabbed her hand.

mickey here

The real question is: will they ever get a break?