After Treech's interview had wrapped, Vera finally realized that she had to write that terrible essay about the pleasures of war. She stayed up all night trying to find something to say, even attempting to bug her busy parents with the assignment, but of course, she didn't like their answers. In the end, she couldn't seem to come up with anything plausible to say and settled on:

things I liked about the war:

1) my cat

Vers then proceeded to follow up her essay with a list of reasons for why she hated war. The destruction. the creation of the games. The bloodshed.

She didn't care whether or not Dr. Gaul reprimanded her. Dr. Gaul wasn't even one of her professors anyway. All she knew was that there was no way she was going to lie to please that vile woman.

So, when it came time to read their essays, Vera sat proudly, waiting for her turn.

"Did you write your essay?" asked Festus as he took a seat next to her.

"Sure did. But, it's kind of short," Vera replied

"Oh really?" asked Festus with a confused look, "I had plenty of things to say."

"Gross, Festus. Really?" Lysistrata cut in, sitting with the two.

Before Festus could respond though, Dr. Gaul cut in, bringing up their essays. Instead of collecting them like their other professors usually do though, she forced them all to read bits and pieces in front of the entire class.

Most of Vera's classmates touched on their admiration for the 'courage' of the soldiers or the unity they felt when the Capitol held their many victory parades. Even Coryo seemed to struggle with this assignment, telling a story instead of listing reasons.

Everything seemed to go downhill when it was Sejanus's turn though.

"Mr. Plinth," said Dr. Gaul, turning toward Sejanus with a disdained look, "What did you write in your essay."

Sejanus clenched his jaw as he looked from his paper to Dr. Gaul, but then, he pursed his lips and held up his paper.

"The only thing I loved about the war was the fact that I still lived at home," Sejanus admitted, showing no emotion as he spoke. The classroom immediately broke out into chaos.

'He did not just say that!'

'Go back to Two then! We don't want you here!'

'We wouldn't miss you!'

Vera rolled her eyes at her classmates, letting out a scoff loud enough for Dr. Gaul to hear.

"And you, Ms. Whitestone? What did you write?" asked Dr. Gaul, directing everyone's attention toward Vera. Vera looked up with a laugh before looking at her paper.

"I have more reasons for why I didn't like the war," replied Vera, flipping her paper over to show her long list of reasons against war. The classroom once again broke out into scoffs, but Dr. Gaul immediately shut them down, holding her hand up to stop the noise.

"And what are some of those, Ms. Whitestone?" Dr. Gaul asked her, walking closer to her table.

"What's there to like about something that left us all worse off? Sometimes I still feel the terrible rumbling in my stomach from when we all had no food to eat or I freeze at the slightest noise from all the bombs. And we were much better off. Imagine the districts and what they've gone through," Vera explained, standing up from her seat to address the class.

Most of her classmates looked down, remembering the struggles they went through during the war. But Coryo kept his gaze on Vera with an odd look.

"The districts started the war," Coryo argued, causing Vera to turn to him with a look of disgust. Out of all people, Coryo should know what it's like to lose in a war that you weren't fighting. Why is he defending it?

"They started a war because of our mistreatment. I don't think that's surprising. It's the same reason they're still fighting now," Vera responded, narrowing her eyes at her friend.

Again, the class seemed to grow angry at the implication, but Vera didn't back down. Instead, she stood taller, even when Festus grabbed her hand to pull her down.

However, Dean Highbottom seemed to have had enough of this conversation, silencing the class as he dismissed them for lunch.

-

The rest of the day was uneventful for the most part, with Vera sitting quietly with Sejanus and Lysistrata at lunch and then the mentors taking a trip to view the new technology for the games.

Vera remained relatively quiet for the most part, still upset by her classmates' comments. Especially, Coryo's. So, it wasn't much of a shock that she ended up back at the zoo to see Treech.

As Vera approached the fence, she noticed the way Treech's eyes seemed to brighten slightly, making his way over to her.

"Back again, Darling. You really can't get enough of me," Treech greeted with a smile as he approached. Vera let out a smile, feeling her shoulders relax.

"You know me. I always need to come see my favorite lumberjack," Vera replied, sending him a small smile as she pulled some ham and cheese sandwiches out of her bag.

Treexh gratefully took one of the sandwiches as they sat down, examining Vera's face before speaking again.

"Classes boring today?" asked Treech, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"No, it's just this assignment from the head game maker. She's been coming to our meetings lately," Vera mumbled, nervous about bringing up the games. Treech furrowed his brows in confusion, tilting his head as he spoke.

"What assignment was it?"

Vera bit her cheek and turned her head away.

"We have to write on the beauty of war," Vera admitted, avoiding Treech's gaze. Treech kept his eyes on Vera.

"And what did you write?" he asked, growing agitated at the thought of Vera writing a paper in favor of the war.

"I wrote a list of reasons for why I didn't like it instead. But, my classmates didn't like that much," Vera replied, handing Treech the paper that had been folded in her pocket.

Treech looked at the paper in embarrassment before looking back up at Vera.

"What's wrong? Did I write something weird?" Vera asked, taking the paper to see what could've made him look at her like that.

"It's not that," Treech mumbled as he looked down at his hands, "I just can't read it."

Vera's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him before putting the pieces together. Treech has been working since 6. He probably never had time to go to school.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Vera admitted, putting the paper away, "I forgot."

"It's fine," said Treech as he continued to stare at his hands, "There's not much reading necessary to work in the woods."

"It's not important anyways," said Vera, "That just means I can't write letters."

Treech let out a laugh, but still kept his eyes down.

"That's too bad," said Treech, "I'd love to receive a letter from you."

"Well then, maybe one day I could teach you," Vera replied with a smile, as Treech finally met her gaze.

"I'd like that," Treech admitted with a small smile.

"Alright, how about I teach you how to read and you can teach me how to be a lumberjack," Vera said, sticking her hand out for Treech to shake. Treech looked at her hand with a laugh for a moment before shaking his head and connecting their hands.

"Sounds like a deal, Darling."

-

A/N: Hi guys !! welcome to the Monday update !! Happy new year as well !! Sorry this chapter is so short,,, I've been really sick and out of it these last few days,,,

But don't worry !! The next chapter will be a lot better !! Also there's only one more chapter until Act II !! I'm so excited for you guys to read the angst that is the next chapter lol

Anyway, have a good few days !! Thank you guys again for reading !! and I hope you enjoyed !!

love you guys,

Hannah <3