Deleted Scene: Waltz of the Flowers//Jukebox Hero

Phase One

-Elliot Russo, 17, District 6-


The ballroom was bustling with people, and it was very overwhelming to Elliot. Normally, he had no problem with big crowds, but this was just so totally out of his element. He was excited for Phase Two, because that was really in his element, but for this part he just felt lost. Usually at parties Lenore told him where to go, who was important to talk to, but here… Well, he just felt lost.


He looked over to Camellia, who was sitting at a table and pushing her dessert around her plate. She still wasn’t really paying attention, probably trying to psych herself up to talk to people. Jace sat beside her. Elliot thought maybe he should go talk to them if she was actually serious about being his ally.


Elliot took a deep breath, but stopped short when he saw a very familiar face walking towards him, a suit like Elliot had just worn the night before, but slightly more minty than lime green.


Elliot didn’t even know what to do. He couldn’t make himself move. He had met his idol once before, but never so close. And Wolf was approaching him! Elliot couldn’t believe what he was seeing.


“Elliot!” Wolf said. Elliot couldn’t believe it. He knows my name!


Wolf closed the distance between them. “Nice to see you again, dude.”


Elliot swallowed a lump in his throat, close to tears. “H-Hi,” he managed to get out, knowing how dumb he sounded but not being able to control it.


“How do you like the party?” he asked.


Suddenly, Elliot snapped into action. “It’s been made totally amazing right now, in this moment, because I get to meet you!” He looked up at his idol with wide eyes. Wolf grinned at him, which made Elliot grin.


“Aw, shucks dude. Thanks for being such an awesome fan.”


Elliot put his hand on his heart, as if that would slow it down. “You deserve it!” he said quickly. “I want to be just like you someday!” he said.


“You said that last time we met too,” Wolf said. “Good to know I haven’t scared you off quite yet.”


Elliot’s eyes widened. “You could never!!!” he said quickly. “You’re the most talented and amazing dude I’ve ever seen!!”


Wolf laughed. “Don’t blow up my ego too much,” he teased.


Elliot nodded quickly. “I won’t!” His heart started to slow, but he was still having trouble convincing himself this moment was real.


“You’re a good man,” Wolf said.


“I want to sing with you guys,” Elliot said quickly. “And play my guitar!”


“I would be disappointed if you didn’t!” Wolf said, grinning. “There will definitely be time for that, we’re excited to have you!”


Elliot could feel the stars in his eyes. “Oooh my God! I can’t even believe it! I want to spend this whole night with you, learning everything I can about how to be more like you!


Wolf laughed a little bit. “That’s touching, dude. And I’ll be happy to show you around.”


Elliot’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. “Cowabunga!” he said, one of Wolf’s favorite outdated catchphrases.


“But first, dude, I have to tell you something kind of important… It’s about my date...” Wolf looked a little nervous.


“You have a date!?” Elliot asked. “No way! Is it a new romantic partner?! Gosh, they’d be the luckiest person in the-”


Elliot’s sentence was cut short by the girl that approached. In that moment, Wolf didn’t even matter to him. He wasn’t sure which thing he was more shooketh about: the fact that she was even here at all, the fact that she was Wolf’s date, or the fact that she was wearing a giant, poofy, mint green ballgown. Whichever it was, Elliot’s jaw was hanging open.


“Hi Elliot,” Jillianne said, taking her place next to Wolf. Seeing the two standing next to each other made Elliot feel like such an idiot for not seeing it earlier. They looked almost exactly alike standing next to each other. Suddenly, everything made sense.


“Jill,” he said, his mouth still gaping in shock that she was there. Was this a dream?!


“I think you owe me one single heed,” she said, referencing all those times that she told him to pay no heed to herself.


Wolf had left, leaving the two alone with each other, but Elliot didn’t even notice that he was gone. She looked so beautiful.


“I…” Elliot let out a nervous laugh. “I guess I do.”


Jillianne gave him a smile, and his nerves melted away. “Yes… Stellan is my brother,” she said.


Elliot blinked at her. “Jillianne Jansing.” Wow, he should have known.


“Yes, that’s my name,” she said. “Now you know.”


Jilianne Russo. Wait, what?! He thought.


“Well, Miss Jillianne Jansing…” she gave him a look when he said her name again. Elliot smiled and held out his hand to her. “Would you do me the insurmountable honor of sharing this dance?”


Jilianne gave him a huge smile and slid her hand into his. “The honor is mine.”


Elliot grinned and put one hand on her back, holding the other gently in his, and she put hers around his neck.


“He’s right though,” she said, as they swept around the dance floor.


“Who’s right?” Elliot asked.


“My brother. You shouldn’t blow up his ego too much.” Jill smirked up at him.


Elliot laughed. “I just want him to know how much he means to me,” he said.


Jillianne let out a small sigh, and Elliot frowned, worried he’d upset her.


“Did I say something wrong?”


“No, you didn’t,” she said. “I guess I was just thinking that I probably don’t do that as much as I should. You know, I’m not very good at being loving and kind.”


“I think you’re great at both,” he said honestly. “Honestly. Better than my own girlfriend.”


Jill looked up at that. “Oh?”


“Jill, you were right,” he said.


“About?”


Elliot bit his lip. “Whippah,” he finally said. He could barely get it out without a laugh. Even though it sucked that it happened to him, the joke made him laugh.


“Ah,” she said, “So you’ve seen the light.”


Elliot frowned. “Yeah,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s right to address it publicly, though,” he said.


“Maybe it wouldn’t be right, if you were home,” she said. “But you are about to go into the Games. Maybe it’s better to make sure she hears how you feel before you go there.”


Elliot frowned, but knew that she was right. He didn’t want to die without getting all of this off his chest, at least breaking up with her. She had to hear it from him.  “Thanks Jill. But I don’t want to think of the Games or Lenore right now. I just want to think about you. Would that work?”


Jillianne blushed, and Elliot grinned. “If that’s what you want.”


The two of them fell into silence Elliot focusing on the music and the feeling of holding her in his arms. She wasn’t such a bad dancer, for someone who swore up and down that she wasn’t a musician. Although with Wolf Jansing in the family, he was sure she was constantly hearing rhythms from him anyways. He wanted to ask her why she’d never told him who she was, but he didn’t want to ruin this moment by hurting her feelings, so he let it slide… For now. The song ended earlier than Elliot would have liked, but he knew that he had plenty of rallying to do.


“I should probably go try and win some sponsors and meet with my possible allies….”


Jillianne gave him a sad smile. “I understand,” she said. “Go get ‘em, Russo.”


He realized that they were still holding hands. He slid his fingers out from hers to bring the back of her hand up to his lips, and kissed it. “I’ll talk to you later Jill.”


Elliot begrudgingly went to talk to Capitolites and sponsors. 
...

Phase 2

This was it. It was almost time for all of Elliot’s dreams to come true. He was going to go out and actually play a set with Upward Voyager! He couldn’t believe it. It was like he would wake up from this dream.

The guitar felt heavy on his shoulders as his heart pounded. He knew what the first song was going to be for him, and as many times as he’d played it, he just didn’t think he could play it right now. He watched as Upward Voyager was finishing up the songs they’d planned for in between those tributes that wanted to perform live. He felt like he was going to throw up. He had never felt quite this awful before a show before… He was starting to think he couldn’t do this.

“Ready for your time Russo?”

He looked up at Jill’s voice. She gave him a small smile and put her hand on his shoulder. “You’re gonna kill it man.”

“I don’t think I can do this Jill,” he said quietly. “I…” he frowned. “Jukebox Hero always makes me think of Lenore, that’s all.” He frowned, annoyed with himself that a song that he loved was now tainted by the memory of her.

“Mm,” she said understandingly. “Well, I don’t think you have to let her ruin this moment for you.”

“I don’t want her to. But I can’t help but feel.... All those feelings coming back to me even when I just think about it.”

“I think what you need is to make a new memory with this song. You love it, right?”

Elliot nodded. “It’s one of the first things I learned.”

“This is your song, Elliot. You don’t have to share it with anyone.”

Elliot was still frowning. It was a nice thought, but he wasn’t sure he was strong enough to believe that was true. “I wish I could believe you,” he said nervously.

He heard Wolf say his name on the stage, and his eyes widened. “Oh God. I can’t… It’s too sad… I can’t…”

“You’re going to do this, Russo,” Jill said. “This is your dream and you can’t bail on it because of her.” She bit her lip, which was colored a dark magenta, a little bit. “If you want to share this song with someone, make a new memory with it.” Jillianne got on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Go ahead,” she said, smiling because she must have noticed Elliot blushing. “It’s your moment.”

Elliot took one more deep breath. “Thanks Jill.” He went on the stage, hearing the applause he had been dying to hear. He plugged in his guitar.

Wolf shut off his mic. “Uh, dude, you got a little something…”

Elliot grinned. Not a smirk, a motherfucking grin. “Yeah, I know. Now let’s do this!”

Wolf tapped his drumsticks, and Elliot suddenly felt the rush of adrenaline that would get him through this. Elliot immediately looked out and noticed Jill in the very front row, and he realized that he wouldn’t want to live his dream any other way. He heard Wolf filling in with harmony, and Elliot felt like he was going to cry and/or piss himself: thankfully, unlike Thack, he didn’t. He was just so damn happy.

He knew the guitar solo was coming up, and though he’d spent plenty of time getting acquainted with this new electric guitar, but he still wasn’t sure he could do it. There was no going back now, the vibrations sent his heart flying, and he let go of everything: Lenore’s abuse, heartbreak, all of it, and he just played. It was flawless, and when he was done the crowd screamed. He could hear Jilianne whistle. He grinned and finished out the song.

As soon as the last note was played, the crowd yelled and screamed. He grinned, breathing heavily from all the adrenaline, and blew the crowd a kiss. “Thank you!” he said.

“This next song is dedicated to my ex-girlfriend Lenore,” he said. “I wish you the best, but it’s time for me to break free, and create myself as the person I want to be!” He took a deep breath and adjusted the mic. He looked at all the band members, grinning at him, and he grinned back. “If it’s not clear, I’m breaking up with you.”

This was his moment, and he wasn’t going to let anyone stand in his way any longer.