you must be one of the dreamers | tom {blitz}

The Highland games were such a different thing. Joey knew that out of all the districts here, that District seven had the most money and was able to put on these games. There were so many kids from District eight and District twelve. The kids from District twelve and District eight were pretty nice and understood how most people felt in most of the districts, they weren't all so different. Joey was wandering around the Highland Village, aimlessly, looking for something to do.

The sun was out and the day seemed to be perfect to him. Joey loved the smell of District Seven and the calmness of the trees. Joey was just in a relaxed mood and was ready for fall. The leaves would change to a red or yellow color and make the whole place smell of pine. Joey was imagining the fall time already. Joey noticed Jezebel coming closer and he gave a polite smile and then her frail words came out that included a hand, "Um, hi. I'm Jezebel. Are you from District Seven, too? There's so many people . . . they just don't seem to belong here." Joey grabbed her hand and gave her a small shake of the hand.

Jezebel's hair was the first thing that stood out to Joey. The hair had a shine that made it look like it was precious. The locks looked to be smooth to the touch. Jezebel was like a goddess, her skin looked smooth and a pale color. The blue eyes were bright like the sky above and Joey definitely liked them. Joey thought Jezebel was gorgeous. Her looks were great, but she also had strength and brains it seemed. Joey smiled and let the smile lines appear. It had been a long time since Joey smiled even. Everything felt unusual that day. Joey decided to finally answer her, "Hey. I'm Joey. Yes, I am from District Seven also. There are a ton of people here, but... I feel they all belong here like we do. There's not very much different about them and us. If you look close enough, you can see the similarities." Joey looked around at the people and felt relaxed. Joey always loved crowds, after all he was a retired party boy.

All around Joey were people who kept moving on. The village seemed to be keep going. The district seemed to keep going. Everything was busy and there was no stop to that business. The whole world kept moving, even Joey was moving on. The whole district was like a clock. Tick. Tick. Tick. The ticking was just everyone moving forward, but then at midnight, the clock would ding and that'd be the start of something terrible happening, but even the dinging would stop and then the survivors would continue moving. Joey was one of those ticking hands. Joey was moving on like the village.

Her words were harsh and cold. The cold that came out of her mouth seemed to freeze Joey completely to his core. A chill went up his spine from her words. The ice chilled him to the core. Joey was struck in awe at how much cold hit him all at once from her rambling. He kept his composure and stared at her as she was soon finished. The warmth finally returning to his body. The fire inside his stomach came back and Joey was back to normal. Joey and Jezebel were a bit of opposites if Joey had to put words to it. Joey was more positive while Jezebel seemed to be negative so far. Joey was the fire that liked to warm people while Jezebel felt cold. Joey didn't thing anything was wrong of course, but he disagreed with her statement that all the districts were different.

Joey spoke up about his thoughts letting the fire out of him, "I'd like to disagree with your statement about all the children in the three Districts being different. We are all very similar in many ways, sure we all have different jobs and such, but we still face the same problems. Most of us have to work to feed our family or friends or even ourselves. Many of the children all hide in fear of Panem like you said. All of our districts contain the poorest of people. Most of us are starving. We may seem different, but in many ways we are all the same. I went into the Highland Games to prove something to myself. That I wasn't weak. Most of the people in District 7, District 8, and District 12 are stronger than any other district. We have something that no other district has. Hope and suffering. You have to suffer first to understand your strength." Joey shut himself up suddenly feeling bad. He didn't mean to ramble or lecture Jezebel. In a way, she was right. They were all different. Joey had his own reasoning for going into the competition. Jezebel had her own too.

Joey smiled at Jezebel. He spoke up quietly again, "Sorry. I didn't mean to lecture. I usually don't get to talk intellectually and so when I do I tend to ramble... Celebrate? How about we go celebrate for just being alive. Here and now. You never know when your time is up..." Joey felt his gut twist at his last few words. Joey knew the feeling of loss and knew that you could be taken away at anytime. Joey kept his smile on his face trying not to expose the actual Joey to Jezebel. He would rather not scare a new person off with his pain. Joey watched Jezebel, hoping that she wouldn't notice that Joey almost broke his smile.

Joey spoke again, "How about we go celebrate being here? I'll pay?" Joey wanted someone to be around, so he wasn't as lonely as he had been for awhile now. Joey just needed someone to talk to and not actually party with. He was tired of the partying and drama that came with parties. He's been to some of the biggest ones there have been, but parties got old fast. They always did, but now Joey was nervous for no reason at all. He just asked Jezebel to go celebrate, maybe he'd buy drinks or go buy food or something. He had no clue what he meant, but all he knew was that Jezebel interested him as a person, she seemed to pull him out of his rather warm shell. A warm shell that needed a little ice to get him out.

The diner was just down the road from where they were. Joey had his hands in his pocket as he walked next to Jezebel. An awkward silence was settling in like a fog on the land. Everything felt awkward, but Joey ignored it once they got there. He opened the door and said "After you Miss Jezebel." Joey moves in after her and leads them to a table off to the side where there are less people and noise that could interrupt their conversation. Joey's eyes wander around a bit, for some reason he felt like he needed to be cautious. Joey pulled out Jezebel's seat and said, "Here you go."

The waiter came over and asked what they would like to drink. Joey quickly just said, "Water please. I need some water after today." Joey looked up at Jezebel as she ordered. Her hair sliding down the side of her face in such a beautiful way. Her eyes seemed to shine in the light that was around. Joey smiled ahead of him. He was getting used to the feeling of smiling so much, it was kind of relaxing. Joey spoke again, "So, Jezebel. What do you like to do around District 7?" Joey was just trying to start up some small talk to break the silence that was still there. He wanted to break the fog and be able to learn something about Jezebel. Joey was curious about her. She was like a book. He could only see the cover, but he wanted to hear the story on the inside. The words that make Jezebel. The intriguing stories that filled up Jezebel. He wanted to find out what made her so cold that she could make him feel it.

His foot quietly tapped on the floor, a sign that Joey knew to be nervousness himself. Why was he nervous? Was it because he was afraid if they became friends she would leave him like everyone else. He didn't want to lose anyone else. He was taking a chance. Maybe, just maybe she wouldn't be taken away like the other three had been. Maybe she would be the one person to stay in the district. Maybe. Joey had a growing fear in the back of his head that everyone that he's ever met will die in the games. He was the bad luck charm. The bad luck never left him. It would be there forever.