Deleted Scene: Steady

Pre-Party

-Camellia Gallen, 18, District 7-

Camellia’s heart was pounding as she pressed the elevator button. She didn’t know how she was feeling. She had been avoiding going here for a while now. As much as she knew that Riggs was a good friend of Syca’s, she just couldn’t stand to see him. He made her think of her brother far too much. And even though she knew that Riggs wanted to look out for her, she just didn’t want to talk to him here. Maybe it was to keep all of this a little less… Real.


But she had no choice now. Well, okay, she did have a choice, considering Elliot wasn’t the only musician that was reaped. Perhaps there was a reason she was coming up here, deep in her subconscious. Perhaps she had to face this before she went to the Games to avoid regretting her life before the Arena. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t have much time to think it over before the doors opened.


Gian was sitting at the table, sipping coffee and running his hands through his hair, looking distraught. When he looked over, his eyes widened.


“I’d like to talk to Elliot,” she said. 


Gian rubbed his eyes and got up out of the table before disappearing into the hallway. It was going to be a long night that hadn’t even started yet, and Gian already looked like he was about to crash. Riggs and Elliot came out together, probably somewhere talking.


“Is this a bad time?” she asked, at the surprised reaction of the boys.


“N-not at all!” Riggs said. Elliot stayed back a little bit. His face looked different than it had when she had briefly seen him in training.


Camellia glanced past Riggs, where Elliot was standing. His body was in a defensive position as he glanced at Camellia with wary eyes.


“Hi Elliot,” she said. “I need your help.”


He glanced at Riggs, who stepped aside a little bit, exposing the boy more to Camellia.


“What do you possibly need from me?” he finally asked her.


Camellia felt embarrassed. She knew enough about music to know that keeping a beat was fundamental. And she could sing and dance and jam out to Upward Voyager, but when it came to translating the beat to her fingers, it felt like her fingers were covered in cement.


“I need help keeping a beat.” It sounded so stupid coming out of her mouth.


Elliot’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh…”


Camellia continued. “Ceru can’t hear, but Ben taught him the steps based on a tactile beat he can feel. And, well… Somehow when I try to do it, it doesn’t work.” Camellia frowned, feeling annoyed at herself.


“Well, um… I don’t know how much I could help but-” He glanced at Riggs, who gave him a hard look that Camellia couldn’t read. Elliot took a breath for a moment. “Yes, I can help.”


Camellia smiled a little bit. “Thanks Elliot.” They took a seat at the table, which Gian got up from. He and Riggs excused themselves, back to Riggs’s bedroom. Riggs put a hand on her shoulder for a moment on his way out. Camellia could feel her eyes tear up, but she had to focus on the task at hand. She didn’t want to make Cerulean look silly. From knowing Jace even for a little while, she knows how frustrated he got with his disability, and didn’t want to make Ceru look or feel weak. She felt like she at least owed her District partner that much, both for the sake of her home and for the sake of her ally.


“So, um... let’s just see what you have,” he said, seeming awkward and sitting back away from Camellia.


“Oh, okay…” Camellia listened carefully as Elliot tapped the beat on the table and Camellia reached over to tap him on his shoulder. Elliot was tense at her touch, but didn’t flinch away. Elliot closed his eyes to focus on the feeling, and Camellia just kept it up as best as she could.


Elliot stopped and his eyebrows creased as he thought through it.


“Let’s just clap the beat first. I’ll tap it and you’ll clap.”


“Okay,” Camellia said, focusing on the sound. Once she thought she could keep the beat, she clapped along. After she started clapping, she could hear when she wasn’t on. It was crazy that something as simple as keeping a steady beat took so much focus. 


After a while of Camellia clapping, Elliot started tapping out other rhythms that weren’t the beat. Camellia just tried to keep her beat from speeding up. She clapped and soon Elliot was pseudo-beat boxing along with her beat. Camellia actually started to find it easier to keep the beat when he was ad-libbing rhythms. Before long, Elliot was stomping his feet and hitting the table, and Camellia was swaying from side to side slightly while keeping the pulse. Soon, she wasn’t even thinking about it. When he stopped, she stopped too.


“You got it,” he said, giving her a smile. It was the first time he looked her in the eyes.


Camellia smiled at him. “That was really cool,” she said. “You are a really natural musician.”


“Ah, nothing is natural,” he said, waving her off. “It’s just because I put in a lot of work.”


Camellia smiled, but she felt her heart explode in her chest, thinking about those late nights when she couldn’t sleep that she would sit on Malloy’s bed while he was practicing his guitar for long hours. “You still shouldn’t discount your talent,” she said quietly. “Why do musicians always do that?” she asked, with a small and painful laugh.


“I don’t know…” Elliot said quietly with a frown. “So-” he was about to apologize, but stopped himself. “Thanks.”


“You’re welcome.”


“Now let’s try tapping out the beat. If you can think about some of the rhythms I kept repeating, it’ll help you keep the beat easier. It’s kind of hard to jam out to a waltz,” he said. “Boom chuck chuck is not so easy.”


Camellia gave a small nod. “I’ll try to think about it.” Elliot kept the beat and Camellia tapped on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and tried to get back to the jamming, when it was easy. Elliot stopped suddenly.


“I think you have it,” he said. “That didn’t take you too long.” He gave her a real smile and a small laugh.


“Your advice really helped,” she said. “I wish I could have you in my ear all the time.”


“Well…” When she looked over at him, he was back to his tense, nervous self. “You could…”


Camellia could feel her face soften. “You’re proposing an alliance?”


Elliot’s face flushed, but he sat up taller. “I have skills to offer. Besides just playing music. I have the crowds on my side, after all. And you know that Jace’s interview wasn’t really…”


Camellia knew exactly what he was talking about. Jace didn’t even try to be likable. And Camellia’s high score made the two of them even more of a target. She only hoped the crowd liked her story enough to send her something, but now that Elliot said so…


“I was really lost when I got here,” he continued. “But I am determined to not give up on finding myself. I won’t let you down. I can help you keep watch for threats. I have really good ears as well, I can help Jace focus his ears like I helped you do it just now.”


Camellia hesitated. She didn’t want to add another person to her alliance that she could possibly get attached to here… That just never ended well. But… He wasn’t wrong. She would need sponsor gifts, considering she wasn’t about to go to the Bloodbath by herself and leave Jace alone. Maybe, even if only for the short run, Elliot would fit in with them.


“Let me talk to him about it,” Camellia said finally. Her mind was spinning with how she was going to dance with Ceru and how she was going to pull her alliance out of the ashes.


But now, because of Elliot, she might not have to worry about either.