The song above is probably more District 4 than District 1, but thought I'd include it anyway! Be warned though, it mentions betrayal and death

Trigger warnings for this chapter: Sexual harassment, Mentioned death of a loved one

"Can I stay tonight?"

Sparkle hovers in the doorway. It's some hours later. I somehow managed to serve the rest of the drinks, with Sapphire staring daggers at me for the rest of the evening. The bar closed at one in the morning, prompting most of the partyers to go home.

I yawn, "Won't your family wonder where you are?

"Mother doesn't care," Sparkle waves a hand, "And Marvel...well, he's kind but he doesn't understand."

No, I suppose he doesn't. He wasn't the one sat next to Sparkle, holding her hand whilst she watched her boyfriend get torn apart on television. Nor was he there to help pick up the pieces when Sparkle was feeling her absolute worst.

I pull out some blankets from under my bed. They're a bit threadbare in places and not the most comfortable but they'll do. I arrange them on the floor, scattering pieces of my paper as I do so, and then curl up onto them. I look up at Sparkle. She's staring at me and hasn't moved.

I tilt my head towards my bed, "Go on."

Her eyes dart to the bed and then back to me, "Glimmer, I couldn't."

"You look like you haven't slept in days." I say, nestling down onto my blankets.

"No," She winces, "It's near...the anniversary."

The anniversary of Shimmer's death, her boyfriend.

I reach over and pat my bed, "Get some sleep."

I don't wait for her to get in, and I roll over on my blankets. I'm asleep within minutes.

Sunlight filters through my blue curtains, causing wavy lines on the floor, hitting my eyes. I blink and turn away from the stream of daylight, glancing around my room. Aside from the ones I'm lying on, all my sheets of paper are in one place. They're designs for pieces of jewellery that I haven't got round to making yet. Or impossible ideas that I know deep down I'll never make but I just thought were cool.

I turn to the bed, and see that Sparkle is lying there spreadeagled. I smile at how peaceful she looks despite her unusual resting position. The wall of sunlight hasn't reached her yet, and she's snoring gently.

I dress quietly and quickly, and make my way downstairs into the kitchen. It's a small space and Ma and my aunt are side by side brewing coffee and slicing warm bread. It's the standard fare for breakfast, but sometimes if things are going really well in the shops, we can afford to buy luxury goods, like fruit.

An empty plate and half-drunk mug tells me that Moonshine has already risen and left to go to training. I grab some bread from my aunt who gives me a chiding look, and I take my place beside my grandmother, who's reading a newspaper. She's still in her flowery nightgown and she lowers her paper to smile at me in greeting and take a sip of herbal tea.

"How much coffee do we have, Ma?" I ask, between mouthfuls of bread and butter.

"Enough for all of us and a bit more," Ma says, "Why?"

"Enough for me to have two?"

Ma frowns but my aunt laughs, "You're that tired are you, Glim?"

I mean I did go to bed after one in the morning, but considering whoever's job it is to work in the bar in the evenings usually does anyway, I can't really comment.

It's strange how similar my Ma and my aunt look in appearance, and yet their personalities are like night and day. Where my aunt is all sunshine and smiles, my Ma exudes a quiet and reserved seriousness. It makes me wonder what their brother was like.

Before I can respond to my aunt, there's a crash from upstairs followed by the sound of a herd of wildebeest hurtling down the stairs. Ma and my aunt look around in alarm, whilst my grandmother lowers her newspaper slightly, her dark eyes peering disapprovingly over the top of it.

Sparkle appears in the kitchen doorway, her hair tangled and her eyes wild, "Glimmer, I have to go. I'm late for training. My mother's- " She pauses for breath and her brain seems to register the extra people in the room, "Uh, hi Citrine, Aurora, and, uh, Glimmer's grandma! Bye!"  

"Bye Sparkle!" My aunt calls jovially as she races out of the doorway. We hear the front door open and slam. There's a pause, and she chuckles, turning to me, "So that's who the extra coffee was for?"

"Sparkle stayed over, huh?" My Ma's eyebrow raises suggestively, somehow simultaneously conveying both humour and disapproval.

"It's not like that!" I protest.

My grandmother lays down her newspaper and takes my hand, "Glimmer, dear. Next time you invite a special friend over, give us more warning. I'm not decent."

                                                                                              ***

Once I escape from my Ma, aunt and grandmother, my day passes peacefully. I head into the craft room, round the back of the jewellery shop. Unfurling my crumpled handkerchief, I set about making the bracelet. Soon, the smell of metal fills the air and I'm able to block out the rest of the world and focus on sawing and soldering.

When it comes to afternoon, I have to leave it unfinished. I quickly change and then head into the bar, where my Ma is busy preparing for tonight's festivities.

It's quiet aside from some Peacekeepers but I ignore them and head to the front of the bar, where I start cleaning some glasses. They're preoccupied anyway with their drinks, food and the card game in front of them. As I watch, one of them tries to sneak a card up his sleeve but he's caught by the others. There's some yelling followed by laughter.

"Watch it, Sandy! You could put your job on the line with a trick like that!" One hollers. More laughter and some choking on drinks.

"How do you mean?"

"Did ya hear about that Peacekeeper over in Two?"

"Oh Peacekeeper Kentwell?" One replies, smirking, "Yeah, I heard."

"I didn't!" Says a younger-looking man, "What happened?"

The one who started the conversation leans in. If he's trying to whisper, it really doesn't work because he's so loud even I can hear him from the bar.

"Well, son, it's like this. Kentwell's mates went over to his house for a few drinks. Hadn't been before on account of him having young kids so they brought over the special stuff. An hour or so in, he leaves to get more booze and they rummage around the room while the wife and kids are upstairs. And guess what they find?"

The other men shake their heads mystified.

The storyteller smirks, "A pack of playing cards. With," He adds hurriedly as the men groan, "Strange numbers on them. Code." The younger Peacekeeper gasps, "Well one of the lads knew exactly what it was and they ran straight to the boss, and the next thing Kentwell knows, he's being dragged off."

"And then what happened?" The younger Peacekeeper asks eagerly.

The storyteller shrugs and spreads his hands, "No one knows. He's gone. But the whole family's in hot water."

"Actually you're wrong there Jimmy," One of the men grins, leaning forward, "I heard where he went. Apparently his daughter's been going around threatening everyone to tell her information so they had to move some Peacekeepers out of Two."

Jimmy, the original storyteller frowns, scoffing, "She can't be that scary, surely."

The man shrugs, "Scary enough to cause Peacekeepers to move District. Anyway, one of the guys told me that Kentwell's now holed up in the Capitol somewhere, awaiting torture."

The Peacekeepers fall silent at this. Then the younger one says, "What was on those cards?"

"Rebel messages," Says Jimmy grimly, then he grins and points to the one who cheated with the cards, who jerks back in shock, "So you be careful with how you use cards, Sandy!"

All the men guffaw, their humour returning as they pour more drinks. Sandy stares for a moment, and then nervously joins in.

The Peacekeepers' conversation turns to lighter things, and I finish washing the cups and help my Ma with the food. Food is a limited resource everywhere except the Capitol, but with how many victors our District has had, we all have enough to eat, and with my Ma's careful budgeting, we're able to have enough for special occasions like this.

The door to the pub opens just as I'm kneading some dough, and Sparkle slips quickly inside. She's dressed in her usual training gear- jeans and tank top with black armguards to protect her whilst shooting. I wave to her and she heads over.

"You survived your mother then?" I smile, as she reaches me.

"Just about," She grins.

The side door leaning to my aunt's jewellery shop opens, and my Ma appears. She catches sight of Sparkle and smiles, "Ah, Sparkle."

Sparkle flushes, "Sorry for staying over without permission, Citrine."

"Oh nonsense. Any friend of Glimmer's is always welcome."

Sparkle smiles. She rolls up her arms and helps me knead the dough. I'm not the best cook, but usually people come to The Rising Phoenix for good drink not food.

Ma dismisses us to do the final touches, and I end up taking Sparkle into the small room that serves as our living space. There are a few threadbare chairs and sofas pulled up around a wooden table.

"So, how was training?" I ask.

She shrugs, "Fine." She sits on a sofa and I rummage in a drawer and pull out a pack of playing cards, "You should come you know. In case you get Reaped."

I sigh, and focus on shuffling the cards, "I'd just make an idiot of myself."

"Better an alive idiot than dead."

I frown, "You've seen me at training."

"Which is exactly why you should come more."

I glance at her. She's leaning forward, dark eyes staring at me.

"You're serious," I note.

"Of course I am," She says exasperated, "Glimmer, what if you get Reaped?"

"Then someone will volunteer."

"And what if they don't?" She demands, "What then?"

I shrug, "Then I'll accept my fate."

"Glimmer!"

I begin to deal out the cards, "I've tried, Sparkle. Swinging a sword, throwing an axe or a spear. No matter what I do I can't seem to get it right. Shooting an arrow is what I'm best at, and you've seen what that's like."

"But-"

"And," I override her, "I've decided that I want to live the happiest and best life I can, no matter how short it is, instead of being a daily laughing stock. Besides, I have hidden strengths."

"What hidden strengths?" She frowns.

I give her my best, gleaming smile, and raise the cards in my hand, "Play Rummy with me?"

She glares at me for a moment, but then relents, "Fine. How do you play?"

Some rounds later, I plunk my cards on the table with a satisfying thwap.

"I win."

"Again," Sparkle groans, "How? And how do you get the cards so quickly?"

I smile, "I was wondering if you'd notice."

I pull back my sleeves, and the cards I had hidden underneath fall out onto the wooden table.

Sparkle gapes, "You cheated!"

"I call it using my initiative," I grin. She continues to stare and I frown, "Sorry. Was that rude of me? I wanted to see if it would work on someone outside the family."

She purses her lips, "Inviting someone to play a game you know all the rules of is pretty rude but it's fine." She shakes her head, "Making jewellery, baking, cheating at cards. How do you have so many things that you're good at?"

"Because I don't train and have no friends. Other than you," I add quickly as her face falls, "I guess you could say that I'm a Jack of all Trades and Master of None."

I reach out and from behind her ear, pull out the Jack of Hearts.

She stares, and then she giggles as I smile.

"Okay," she says, "You've got to show me how you did that."

"Misdirection," I grin, "Show people one thing when in fact you're doing something else."

Occasionally, I've played cards with my Ma, aunt and grandmother in the evenings, but it's nice showing Sparkle this. Like I'm showing her a part of myself that I've kept hidden away. We keep playing until Sparkle wins, smugly placing her cards down on the table and showing all the ones up her sleeve. I grin. I knew, of course, from the cards that were being revealed that we had both taken some, but I hadn't known which.

                                                                                                   ***

The music is more frantic this evening, and the people dance wildly. The Hunger Games is two days away now, and, for some, they can't ignore it any longer or pretend this is just a festival. One corner of the room are filled with the kind of people who drink t forget. They've been steadily drinking for a couple of hours now. One of the is already collapsed on the table, lying in her own vomit. Her companions don't look much better.

On the other side of the pub, near the bar and separated from the other drinkers by the dancers, are the people placing bets. They're here every year, loudly taking bets on which child is going to be chosen and their chances of survival. They're sitting so close to where I'm serving drinks that it's hard to ignore them.

"Splendour Azle?" A man writing down the numbers on a pad of paper asks.

A woman snorts, "The trainers would be stupid not to put her in. Have you seen her with a sword? She's bound to volunteer. 3-1 at least."

The man nods in agreement, scribbling it down, "I'll put chances of survival as the same. Anyone want to bet?"

Some of the people speak up and coins are moved across the table.

"Marvel Blade?"

"5-1 chances of survival." The woman says.

"8," Another cuts in, "I've seen him miss that centre more times than he's hit it."

The first woman nods, "True. 8-1 then."

I've seen this crowd before, watching the early morning training that most the teens attend. The times that I went I found their fixation unnerving and creepy.

I turn my attention back to the drinks and dancers. Daz is turning around the room, beaming at the woman dancing along with her. The woman raises her arm, and Daz spins before lifting her own arm for the woman to do the same.

A glass lands in front of me, and I'm met with a surly looking man glaring at me. "Rum."

"Pure rum?"

"Yes."

It's not my place to question the wisdom of this and I hurry to make his order.

It's some drinks later that I hear the betting group say, "Glimmer Jewel."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see them looking at me, and I focus on the cocktail that I'm making.

"Her?" A man laughs shrilly, and I try not to flinch as I hand over the glass to the waiting customer, "Have you seen how bad she is with a bow and arrow?"

"Or any weapon," A woman adds, smirking, "She doesn't know what a target is!"

My cheeks warm. I've long accepted that I'm abysmal compared to the other District One teens, but somehow, it still hurts. I don't wait to hear how they rank my chances of survival. I slip past the bar and around the other dancers- Daz has lifted her partner into the air – to the table where now more drinkers have passed out on the table.

I pick up the empty glasses.

"One more bottle," One of them croaks.

I nod and head back over to the bar. As I do so, I feel a hard pinch on my bottom. I freeze and turn. A man sits at the table I just passed, leering at me drunkenly.

Cold fury washes over me. Carefully, I set the empty glasses onto the table. His grins widens and he gets up, reaching for me. I step to the side as he stumbles towards me, and as his hands grab empty air, I twist his right arm and pull him close. Grabbing the back of his head with my other hand and kicking him in his legs, I slam his head down onto the back of his chair. He falls hard and as he does so, his spare hand reaches out for the table, sending the empty bottles crashing to the floor.

There's a screech from the musicians' violins and my Ma races out of the kitchen.

"Glimmer?" She breathes.

I stare down t the man groaning on the chair, blood trickling from his mouth and nose.

"He drank too much and fell," I announce, pushing the shattered glass together gingerly with my boot, "I'm going to take a break. I'll clean this when I get back.

I pass Daz on my way out, who's looking at my proudly, and the gaping betting group, and close the door hard on my way out. 

Hi!

This chapter gives you more of an insight into Glimmer's life before it's time for the Hunger Games- let me know what you thought and anything you liked/disliked :-)

Thoughts on Glimmer and Sparkle?

squirrelmonkey123