thick skin.

Accidents happen all the time.

Wrinkling his brow, Flax found himself at odds with Evie’s sudden rebellious side.

“Well... good,” Evie lamely responded, the bottle in her hand starting to feel heavier. Knowing he was still looking at her, waiting for her to do something, she took another swig. This one went down easier than the last. 

“I wouldn’t.”  Amity responded immediately, stopping himself when he realized that it might have came out a little more impolite than he had intended for.  “Not in this sort of crowd anyway.  Besides, I’m a master at embarrassing myself without the help of any of that dreadful stuff’s help.”

“Definitely not in this crowd,” she agreed, looking up the boy she was talking to. He seemed nice enough; at least, more than some of the other tributes she had run into during the night. 

Flux wished he could enjoy the party. Everyone was so relaxed, so much of the tension between them all was gone, at least between all of those who were drunk. It wouldn’t take a lot to get information from all either, it would be like taking candy from a baby. After all, a drunk man’s words were a sober’s man’s thought. But he didn’t have in him.

Evie had been fluttering about the party, not drinking, of course, but just watching. The people she was to be thrown into the arena with in a few days were so interesting, especially when intoxicated. However, it did become boring after a while, especially when the people around her fell into patterns. 

If Max hadn’t been in a mood that night, he might feel bad for yelling at Evie like that. He’d never been the nicest person, but he was able to feel compassion–especially for those younger and more helpless than him. Tonight, though, he felt no compassion. “’I…I-I…,” he mocked, “You…forgot how to get the fuck out of people’s way? You…are ready to clean the glass off the ground?”

Sure, a few tributes had scared her, even threatened her life, but none had been like this. Those she could handle; those she had expected. But, someone just being this mean? When he spoke, and when he kept speaking, saying those things - oh what horrible things - she started to see them. Evie started to remember how it felt to be tormented by the brothers. 

Flax glistened, his skin sheer gloss rather than waxy; his health was at its prime, the nap prior temporarily rejuvenating him. His body was prepared to withstand the party—no, soirée, as the escorts exclaimed—but mentally, he felt disconnected. He was the boy that preferred to stay at home, sitting in his room accompanied by numbing silence. Back home, when he had engaged in school events, he was the wallflower that fled the social scene after a hour.

After staring at the bottle of alcohol at length, Evie had decided there was no way she was actually going to drink any. She had now attempted twice, and both times she had nearly spat it out simply out of hatred of the taste. So, she got up to put it back where she found it. If she wasn’t going to drink it, why should she take it away from everyone else? The more drunk they got, the more fun she could have watching them. If she couldn’t participate in the partying, the least she could do was enjoy it from afar. 

It wasn’t that Amity had been speaking to anyone in general, but when the smaller tribute responded he was more than okay with turning his attention to her.  “I’m sure that didn’t make it taste any better.”  He couldn’t help but to laugh, shaking his head in amusement.  “Please, tell me you found a better alternative?”

“I don’t know if I want to be acting like that anyway,” she looked out at the crowd, dancing and screaming wildly. “I found some water, but nothing any tastier. I’m scared to leave to go look. I don’t want my escort to find me- I’ll never escape her again.” 

Within seconds after his first sip, Amity’s face was scrunching up in displeasure– swallowing hard as he forced himself to finish the drink.  

Evie watched the boy from 3 drink, and she couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her throat to his reaction. “I don’t know. I feel the same way,” she leaned back against the wall, smiling but not making eye contact. She had assumed he was speaking to her, but was prepared to run away if he wasn’t. “You should’ve seen me. I think I actually did hurl a little.” 

Evie looked up, surprised that someone had even tried to speak to her. She smiled when she realized it was the girl from District 12 (the girl whom Evie found to be the least scary of all), and shook her head quickly. “Oh, no. You can take it. I tried to drink it, but...” she make a disgusted face. 

Max had been standing in the same corner since the start of the party, finishing off one glass of whisky after another. He would’ve stayed there all night, but he caught a flash of red hair that startled him out of his state of comfort. Instinctively, Max rushed to the opposite side of the car to escape Zoe. He was hardly even on his way when his foot caught on the leg of Evie’s chair, causing him to stumble enough to drop his glass. “Fucking–” He looked back at Evie with a sneer, the sound of shattering glass sounding like a soundtrack.

Evie didn’t notice Max until he was tripping over her chair, his drink falling to the floor and shattering. The noise didn’t seem to phase the rest of the cart (seeing as there had been multiple glasses already dropped), but Evie was wishing it had. Max was staring at her like he was ready to eat her alive, and all she could do was stare back with her eyes wide. “I...” she started, not sure of how to finish. 

“You’re my district partner,” was all he managed to say, as if Evie wasn’t aware of the unfortunate circumstance already.

Was he being serious? Maybe it didn’t matter to him. Maybe he had forgotten everything, or maybe he hadn’t had bothered to remember it in the first place. But, Evie? Evie remembered every second of it. It haunted her; why didn’t it haunt him? He deserved to feel something. 

Elijah went straight for the bar and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He would drink it slowly, considering that this would be one of his last glasses. He also didn’t want to impair himself – he was on a train filled with teenage killers, after all. He stood against the wall, taking small swigs of whiskey, observing everyone in the room. He took notice to weird habits, the way they sat, the way they stood, the way they spoke, the words they chose. However, he saw someone walking towards him and his eyes then trailed to the person walking forward. “You’re a bit ballsy approaching a career like that on the first day, yeah?” he spoke to them, immediately turning to the role he was supposed to play.

When Evie saw the tall boy she recognized as the one from 2 walk into the room, her eyes immediately went wide. Sure, she could take the couple people in the same room as her- most of them were similar to her. But, Evie had heard the rumors about the upper districts. They trained and volunteered for glory, and she wasn’t interested in messing with them. But, as she got up to leave, he happened to block her only exit. When he spoke to her, thinking she was trying to approach him, Evie froze. “No, I... I’m just trying to leave,” she said, looking at the ground. Why was everyone here terrifying? 

This lady just doesn’t quit, does she?

Evie had watched the entire scene in absolutely amusement. Although her own escort seemed to be leaving her alone, she did have to admit that she was purposely avoiding the woman. And after seeing the scene in front of her, she was now sure it was for a good reason. When she realized that the boy was staring at her, though, she froze, mid-smile. 

“Yeah, my daughter,” he confirmed, not for one second thinking her reaction was odd. He usually got something like ‘but you’re -like- twelve years old!’ thrown at his head. He didn’t mind the comments, though this one stung a bit. “And yes, I’m a tribute. It’s kind of a shame, really, got picked in my last year. I get why you’d feel like her mom. If she’s about Ellie’s age, she’s around two, right? Two’s the worst age,” he chuckled. “But Gia? Nice name she’s got there. Names are difficult, really. I come across so many better names than Elise nowadays, I think I should apologise to the kid for naming her that.”

“It’s a shame?” she repeated, wondering how he could seem so calm after all that had happened. Evie felt guilty for leaving behind her sisters; she couldn’t imagine leaving behind her own child. “Yeah, two is definitely the worst. Oh, well I didn’t name her, but thanks. I like Elise. But then again, I guess I just like names that start with E.” Her body started to relax into the chair. “My name is Evie. What’s yours?” Evie couldn’t help but feel like she was being awkward, but it was nice to be around someone who was actually being kind to her.