Portrait of a Spoiled Girl {Galaxy
Jul 12, 2011 15:43:26 GMT -5
Post by Gamemaker Lauren Kinkade on Jul 12, 2011 15:43:26 GMT -5
i want to hold you close, skin pressed against me tight,
lie still, close your eyes girl, so lovely
A debut, full of promise. A gallery show filled with the Capitol's elite. The Jacquez family wouldn't dare miss such a social event, even though it fell at a rather inopportune time. But, well, life had to continue, even with the Games as a distraction. The Capitol found many ways to fill up the time between the Reaping and the official start of the Games. They Sponsored and bet, ate and drank, threw parties and threw up. It was not at all unusual for entertainment to be put on, for reels of the last Games to be played. But this year, there was something else, something new. A rising start, an artist with a gallery opening.
The Jacquezes were in fine form at Galaxy's showing. In recent years it as mostly just July, the baby of the family, and her aging parents. But for such an event, her siblings joined them - Amora and her brood of brats, King and Tungsten as well. All fully related, although July was at least a dozen years younger than her cousins, or they she as they turned from toddlers to pre-adolescents. All of it bothered July, from her parents, now grandparents, to the sticky snot of the children running around an otherwise very classy affair. Not that she was particularly fond of them in any setting. It just seemed especially rude.
She spent most of the evening wandering around the gallery by herself, trying to make sense of the paintings, of her family, of the stirrings deep within. After making several circuits of the floor, July parked herself in front of one particular work, a shaft of light in darkness. With a glass of champagne in hand, she stood mesmerized by the shades, by the movement of the paint. She wanted desperately to touch it, to see if it still moved. What stopped her at last was not propriety, but the fact that she would then be no better than her obnoxious little cousins who couldn't keep their palms to themselves.
July thought about the painting that night, felt it form the frame of her dreams. In the morning she found herself being nagged by both parents, each of which wanting an entirely different thing. Her mother wanted her to settle immediately for whatever best offer she got, and her father wanted her to continue her education and better herself before pursuing a husband.
Somewhere in the midst of the breakfast argument, they turned to one another, and quieted. July looked up from her breakfast of shrimp and eggs. She had generally ignoring them up until that point, but it was so rare that they ever stopped talking. Perhaps they were ready to listen, or maybe they had noticed the change. July's heart seized, dropped into her stomach as she released her hold on her fork.
But of course, it was nothing of the sort. Rather her mother informed her that she had a surprise for that morning, and July had best wear something becoming. It was suspicious, but better than them actually bothering to ask about her life. It took July a good hour to put on something presentable, to twirl curls into her golden locks, but finally she felt ready to meet anyone, even the President himself. Her mother fussed over the chosen frock, added a ribbon to July's hair which only made her look five years younger, and then shooed her out the door. Around her neck July wore one of the family's diamonds, a small but noticeable thing in the bright sunlight.
And though they owned jewels, they could not afford a car. Mrs. Jacquez chattered of nothing as they walked through the sweltering summer day. It was clear that she was being manipulated, distracted, but July wasn't exactly familiar with the residences of the area, other than the houses of her friends. She didn't see why her mother had bothered until they stopped in front of a house, and the put her hands on July's shoulders. "Just smile, baby, and make sure you show your bottom teeth. You look so strange when you don't."
July rolled her eyes, crossed her arms beneath her small chest. "Just, why are we here?"
"You'll see!" Her mother trilled as she walked July up to the door. She cleared her throat and then rang the doorbell. July took the brief pause to wipe the line of her hair, riding herself of the sweat that had formed from the walk and the heat. She could use a mirror and another coat of powder. Maybe she could use the restroom of this house, which she was beginning to think that this was the home of a suitor. Her fingers fluttered down to one of the folds of her summery dress, turning the fabric anxiously around her knuckles.
banner credit: manda-rama!
lyrics:she wants revenge - tear you apart
lyrics:she wants revenge - tear you apart
