smoke circles // kaplan

The reaping had come and gone and winter had truly begun to grow more harsh. The Games would be beginning soon, and I almost regretted not volunteering. I almost regretted it, but not quite. If I had went into the Games when I was not at my peak fitness point, I knew it wouldn't go over nearly as well as it could. I was well aware that I needed to be absolutely positive that I was prepared before I put himself forward to go in.

Any thoughts of the reaping were pushed from my mind, however, when I heard about a particular party that would be taking place. I didn't know the person throwing the party, but when it came to being social with a bunch of other people and having the chance to chug down a beer or two, I was all for it. I got himself ready to leave for the party, which included getting dressed into clothes that I didn't care if they got ruined, and picking up a case of beer from my father's stash that he thought was a lot more well hidden than it actually was.

My parents weren't home, but I didn't bother leaving a note. They were rarely ever in our humble abode, after all, which made it so that I pretty much made every decision in my life on my own. It was a nice thing, most of the time, being able to make my own choices and never have to have input from other people. That was also a difficult thing sometimes, though, as it meant that I would have no help making the more difficult decisions in life, when I needed help. Luckily, that didn't come up all too often.

On my way to the party, it was rather dark and cold outside, but I didn't bother donning a jacket other than my thin, leather one that I wore regularly anyway. I hated the bulk of winter coats, and they certainly wouldn't look good worn to a party. Making my way down the street, I kept one hand in my pocket and used the other to carry the case of beer. It was frigid outside and my face felt frozen, but I ignored it the best I could, knowing that, between the body heat of the people at the party and the likelihood that there would be some sort of indoor heating in the building, I'd be fine by the time I got inside.

Upon entering the party, I had to meander my way through the crowd past a variety of people. A lot of people had their own drinks in hand or were using some sort of illegal drug. I, however, chose to ignore the rule breakers. It wasn't like I wasn't one myself. I'd always been called a trouble-maker and sick-minded. I'd never been someone who was too keen on following the rules or showing common courtesy, anyway, so I certainly wasn't going to turn anyone.

When I got out of the main crowd, I moved off to the side of the room and set down my case of beer on the floor by my feet. I removed one of the bottles and used the bottle opener that was in my pocket to pop off the cap. Taking a few swigs of the drink as I stood there, I decided I'd rather have someone approach me than me approach them. It was quite a bit of waiting, but eventually, a rather attractive girl about my age, smoking marijuana, approached me. By this time, I'd already downed half of my third beer. The girl then began to speak to me.

"Shitty party, huh?" the girl said with a smile. "Haven't seen you around here that often, are you new?" I laughed at this. New? I certainly wasn't new to the party scene, but perhaps she'd just never really seen me before. My guess was that the reason we didn't recognize one another was either that we'd actually never met, or we'd each been too drunk or high to remember any encounters we may have had in the past.

"New? Not at all. Maybe you just haven't been to the right parties until now," I laughed. A grin crossed my face, and I looked at the girl a bit more attentively as I took another swig of my beer. This girl was quite attractive, but I'd already realized that when she approached. What I didn't realize until then was that she did look at least vaguely familiar. Was she... a Lumiere? I decided to ask, as I truly felt that I recognized her from somewhere. If she were a Lumiere, I'd definitely at least heard her name or seen a photo of her. The Lumiere family as all over in District One. They were almost like a plague.

"Lumiere, right?" I inquired. The girl's blonde hair and beautiful overall look was quite appealing. How wonderful would it be to hook up with someone from one of the most well-known Career families in the District, if she really was who I thought she was?