self para // overburned
She was still clenching onto the note from Drake. Unluckily, she did feel unsafe all of the time, but running for twenty-four hours a day was impossible even for someone trained for it, let alone a scared girl who has never burned many calories to begin with, just so she wouldn’t accidentally starve. Running was her signature in the Hunger Games, but it was nothing like her in reality. Juliet never ran, never exercised. But laziness moved slower than fear and these Games proved it.
The deep, dark night didn’t feel as much of a cold burden anymore, but she hadn’t thought of the weather change, rather than assimilated the information subconsciously. And she kept walking in a fast pace, no longer in power enough for a run, but wanting to keep moving. It was what had kept her alive all this time, even if it meant not sleeping.
It took her all night, but there she was now, on the edge of the world, gazing down at waves clashing onto the rocks. The sun was cracking open the sky and all the colors were beautiful again. Then and only then could she catch her breath, lean against a tree, finally sitting, and take a moment for herself after knowing nothing but the sound of her breath after an hour of running. Without as much as acknowledging it, she fell into deep sleep, cover halfway taken.
It was the best sleep she’s had in the past five days, and she was beyond grateful for it until she woke up, soaking wet and panicked. Looking around, it took a while to take in the sudden heat, but she immediately took her jacket off, trying it on again and again in different ways. There was no way she was going to throw it away, but it had to be worn differently. Lastly, she decided on tying the two sleeves together behind her neck. Without a mirror to check with, it looked terrible, but at least she felt better. Then, she climbed down the rocks and jumped into the cold-ish water without the slightest hesitation, after, of course, giving up her clothes. The water touching her skin felt alive on its own, waves pulsating energy onto Juliet as well.
She didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to be sweaty again, even though it did remind her of back in District Eleven. Swimming back and forth without going too far out of fear of marine creatures, she wished she could spend the rest of her time like that, no threat, no danger, no changing weather.