Saylor had to sneak out to the beach because the peacekeepers were outside her house. She crawled out her window and climbed down a rope ladder she had made. Once she climbed down she snuck off to the Victor's private beach. The beach is close to her house so she didn't have to walk very far.
She sat on the sand and watched the waves. Saylor loved the beach it always helped her calm down But She was so overwhelmed with emotion from everything that was going on. Her mind was going a mile a minute and she couldn't stop thinking about the Hunger Games, River, her new "job", and her brother.
She felt guilty for so many things. Finnick had to go through so much just to protect her. And she felt guilty for River. it is hard not to blame herself for his death. She also feels awful about Scout. There is no one in the world her convince her that it wasn't her fault. I should have been faster. She thought.
Her thought train was broken when she heard footsteps. She looks around to look at the trees and sees a tall figure. Is it finnick? Maybe he saw I snuck out. "Finn?" She calls out. She knew it was stupid to call out to the person but honestly, she didn't care. The figure started getting closer. Saylor still couldn't see who it was as it was getting pretty dark. The person steps out of the woods and Saylor is a little relieved. It was the peacekeeper. "What are you doing out here? How did you find me?" She asks. "Well, it's my job it follow you. And I saw a glimpse of you while you were leaving. Now I will ask you what are you doing out here?" The peacekeeper asks in return. "It's my favorite place to go when I need a distraction. And I wanted to be alone." She told him.
"Unfortunately I can not let you do that. My job is to guard you, And technically you sneaking out classifieds as trying to escape." Saylor is about to speak when he cuts her off. "Don't worry... I won't say anything to anyone. But for now on just ask if you can go. Or we will both get in trouble." She looks at him surprised. Why would he do that for me? She thinks. "Fine... But you can drop the whole guard act. Your job is to be my babysitter according to the president."
He just ignores her and sits beside her. "What are you doing?"She asks confused why he is sitting with her. "Would you rather me stand in the corner and watch you?" He replies sarcastically while unhooking his helmet. Saylor is surprised to see his hair isn't shaven. I thought all peacekeepers had to shave their heads.She thought but then let it go as it wasn't that big of a deal. And why should she care? Saylor just keeps quiet and goes back to watching the ocean.
"I'm sorry..." he apologizes out of the blue. Saylor looks at him confused. Why is he apologizing to me? "I'm sorry for what the president is making you do. It's not right." She looks over at him and tries to read his face but his face is neutral. "Why are you apologizing? It's not like you are the president." He sighed and started to explain. "I'm apologizing because... uh.. I.. My cousin is in the same situation." He explains. "Oh... I'm sorry" She apologizes not really knowing what to say.
It's silent for a while till she decides to break it. "So how did you become a peacekeeper? You and... Sejanus right? don't seem like typical peacekeepers." She asks wondering why he and Sejanus are actually kind of nice. "Different how?" He asked curious why the girl thought he and Sejanus were different.
"Well, first of all, you talk. Pretty much all the peacekeepers don't talk unless it's a threat. And you apologize. Which is unheard of for peacekeepers. And lastly, any other peacekeeper would've got me in trouble for sneaking off to the beach. And certainly wouldn't have sat beside me and watched the waves with me." She replied. "Sejanus is just a nice guy. He believes in being kind to others. He wasn't supposed to be a peacekeeper. But he became one because I had to." He answered her. "And you?" She asked him.
"I am normally a rule follower. Kinda like when I first became your guard. I don't talk. Or take off my helmet. I don't apologize. I feel bad, but I don't apologize. And I don't sit on the beach with the person I should be guarding. He admitted. This was so out of the Ordinary for him. Usually, he is super strict. And keeps Sejanus in line... or at least he tries to. If he usually is a rule follower. Then why has he broken so many rules? "What changed?"She didn't know where she was getting all this confidence to talk to him. But it felt natural.
"I don't know... I find you easy to talk to." He told her which wasn't a lie. He found her intriguing and wanted to get to know her. He was just as confused as she was. It's almost like when he spoke to her the words came out of his mouth before he could think. Or like they had been friends for years.
" I thought peacekeepers can't talk about their private lives?" She teased him. " on the train I couldn't but here I can. I don't trust the train or anywhere in the capitol. But here it's different." He explained. Saylor took that opportunity to ask him his name. "So can I know your name now?" He thinks about it for a second then nods
"only if you don't use it anywhere near the capitol. It's forbidden to tell anyone our names." Saylor nods. "I promise I won't use your name or tell anyone." She said while sticking her pinky out. He looks at her confused.
"What are you doing?" He stares at her pinky. She gasps "You don't know what a pinky promise is?" He shakes his head. " it's the most powerful promise. You put your pinky out like this and then connect them. " He holds his pinky up and she wraps her pinky around his. . "Then if you really want to lock it in. you connect thumbs." He extends his thumb and she connects them.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"See that was a pinky promise." He doesn't pull away so she pulls her hand away. "Soooo? "
"I don't see the point in a pinky promise. It seems childish." He states. She rolls her eyes. "Whatever, just tell me your name." He chuckles at her. "Coriolanus " Coryo... hm.. interesting, I like it. She thought. "Well Coriolanus, it's getting late I should go back... I enjoyed talking to you." They both stood up. "The feeling is mutual Saylor." He said then put his helmet on.
They both walked back in silence. He walks her to the door and she waves goodbye. She goes upstairs and gets ready for bed. As she was laying there she thought about her time on the beach with Coriolanus. What just happened... was that me? He's nice I like talking to him. And he has nice eyes... and hair... cut it out! You basically just met him. But it's so easy to talk to him. "Get a grip, Saylor." She whispered to herself. Then drifted off to sleep.
It was Sejanus's night to stay up and keep watch so Coriolanus was lying in his bed staring up at the ceiling rethinking his encounter with Saylor. Why do I feel so comfortable around her? I'm supposed to be her guard, not her friend... Why do I like talking to her?
——————————————————————————— Just to explain some stuff! The capitol in the book doesn't know President Snow's first name. So that's why she doesn't recognize Coriolanus's name. Also, I thought it would be interesting if he had his curly hair while being a peacekeeper.
I don't think I will be writing a lot of his POV or inter-dialogue. Since Saylor is my character I want to focus on her POV
but anyway Thank you so much for reading! And Thank y'all so much for the votes!!! This book is #16 on the Tag Hunger Games and I am honestly so shocked. Also Thank you for all your guy's feedback and comments. Have a good day or night! <3
