Broken Lace {Solace}

[plantix]

I need to try and forget Dice. No wait. I need to remember him. It's all to confusing for me. He wouldn't want me to become depressed over him, right? He'd want to keep me safe and without worries. Well, I've been worrying about him ever since his name was called and my worries ended with that huge bomb in my life.

I swallow hard to try and relax my mind. This whole thing is making me angry and sad at the same time. What I should do now is go stealing again to get the stress off of me... Me and Dice where partners when stealing... It was our pass-time, our sport, but now he's gone. I still need to steal though, for mom and for dad. Just our first-aid shop alone won't support us. Finally, I have decided that I should just go and steal loot anyways, even though it opens my emotional wounds.

Eventually, I make my way out to the market area of our District, close to Dice's house. I have to stop thinking about him too hard. There are a few handfuls of people here, but one stands out to me. A girl with dark brown hair and jewelry on. She looks like a classy person, and my first target in a while.

When we come close enough to each other's path, I 'accidentally' bump into her, reaching inside any pocket quickly. Score, I feel something like a bracelet or a necklace in her pocket, so I put it with my one hand into my sleeve. "Oww.... Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry..." I say to her, holding my forehead with the hand that stole the accessory so that it would slip further down my sleeve. I stand up and say again, "I'm sorry miss..." playing the believable and innocent card before I turn around to start walking...

[Solace]

The bell to the small jewelry store rang as Ceres Teflin, bright eyed with succession, stepped out. Earlier today, she had walked past this store to end up seeing a small beaded iridescent bracelet. The beads probably weren't even real gems, but Ceres found it to pretty to pass up. She entered the slightly run-down looking store and bought it with the last of her allowance. Her parent, being extremely practical, would probably see it as a waste. It didn't matter to Ceres, she learned to think for herself long ago.

The bracelet has started out on her wrist, but Ceres moved it to her pocket. her didn't give a damn what her parents thought, but it would be nice to avoid their comments all together. She would show Ares though, he would appreciate the beauty of it. Ares so rarely got to go outside, Ceres would show him even if she thought he wouldn't like it. Whenever she brought something in from the outside she showed him, no to make him jealous, but to give him a little bit of an idea of what life was like out their house.

Ceres was so caught up in her thoughts she bumped into someone without realizing it. It was girl that seemed familiar, but Ceres couldn't quite place where she seen her before, though she knew it was in recent times. "Oh no. It's fine, my own fault..." Ceres trailed off absentmindedly. It was until she noticed the lack of weight, the bracelet did weight a fair bit, missing from her pocket. Ceres at first thought she had just dropped it, but when she looked at the girl, she saw some substantial going down her sleeve. Goddamn thief! Ceres grabbed her arm where she saw the object. It was her bracelet! "Of course! Not a big deal. Oh look! Ceres used her other hand to pull up her sleeve and grab the bracelet. "My bracelet must have snagged on your jacket! Oops!" Ceres voice was dripping with poisonous sarcasm, her eyes, gleaming.

[plantix]

Jewelry is a luxury only a few people can afford. My family definitively can't afford this kind of stuff and we really don't need it. If I do happen to steal jewelry, then it's to resell it for the money. To me, buying the kind of stuff is just like saying 'I have lot's of money.' I know it's not fair that I live in poor conditions, and that people can afford to buy expensive necklaces for themselves, but I live with this lack of fairness. To balance it out, I steal things, just so my family can live another day.

Just as she said an apology, I thought I was in the clear, but then she grabbed my arm that held the stolen necklace. "Of course! Not a big deal. Oh look!" That's when I knew she figured out I have her accessory. Poison seems to enter my lips and I can taste it's bitterness. I never get caught when I'm with Dice.

Wait. I can still deny it "Quit it! What are you-" She cuts into my sentence, as if she didn't hear it. I try to struggle, but for some reason I don't budge; her grip seems too tight. With her free hand, she pulled down my sleeve and I knew that I couldn't hide the fact that I took her bracelet.


"My bracelet must have snagged on your jacket! Oops!" The older girl says in a sarcastic voice that pierces right through me. I have no regrets on how she feels about me, because that's how everyone feels after they've been tricked. In this kind of situation, the only thing I can do is run away.

I break free of her grasp and I turn around to start sprinting. Sadly, I seem to trip over a pebble and I try to regain my balance. To my misfortune, I trip and I hear something like a snapping sound, right before pain shoots through my body from my leg. When I look to my foot from on the ground, I noticed that it must be sprint, or some sort of ligament broke. That's not the only thing though, I see small scrapes that look like a freckle pattern go across my shin and cry bloody tears.

Clearly, now I'm trapped. That other girl will probably call a peacekeeper on me. I shed one tear, and look up to that girl with unholy, yet innocent indignation. "What? Are you going to call a peacekeeper now?..Just-...-do it."[/i] I squint my eyes from both the pain and the embarrassment of being caught. I put my hands to the bleeding area; by this point, red beads seem to form a dome on my shin. [/color]

[Solace]

After seeing tears welling up in the girl's eyes, Ceres immediately regretted her attitude towards her. She night have been poor, just trying to make a dollar. Ceres was out of line with her sarcasm. Her eyes soften at the other girl. "Hey, listen. I'm sor- Ceres was cut off by the girl turning away and running off. She, Ceres assumed accidentally, kicked a pebble at her. Ceres winced at the rebound from the pebble and at the fact she upset this girl. Out of guilt and ultimate concern. she ran after this girl. She had to ignore stares from passer-bys. Like with her parents, she didn't give a damn what they thought of her either. What mattered now was straightening the whole thing out with the girl.

Neither of them got very far. The girl tripped after going only about ten feet and Ceres caught up, but nearly tripped over her.
"Damn!" Ceres muttered, regaining her balance after only a brief moment. The girl had hurt herself somehow. That was the only thing that could have this whole thing worse, and it just had to happen. "Let me see." Ceres said gently. Despite her preference for animals, Ceres didn't know a bit about medical science. Ceres gently gripped her ankle. "This might hurt, but it's the only way we have to tell if it's broken." Ceres squeezed the girls ankle, exerting as little force as possible. Yeah, it was definitely broken.

Ceres gave the girl the news. Can you put your arms around my neck? If so, I can carry you back to my house and take car- Ceres was cut off once again by the girl, though this time she actually spoke to her. "What? Are you going to call a peacekeeper now?..Just-...-do it." Ceres turned away with shame at the girl's words but, after a few moments, turned back. "Look,i'm sorry I was bitch earlier. I was out of line. But now, I only want to help. Besides-" Ceres tried to smile timidly at the girl. She pulled the bracelet back from her pocket. and gently put it in the other's hand. "You can have it if you want it. No big deal."

[plantix]

That other girl responded to my barking saying "Look,i'm sorry I was bitch earlier. I was out of line. But now, I only want to help. Besides-"She put a smile on that came out as fake to me. I know it's real, but I feel as if it's fake... No. It's from sympathy. She pulled the bracelet that she reclaimed out of her pocket and said "You can have it if you want it. No big deal."

How stupid. I didn't want the bracelet and I don't need it. That's what I despise about fashion and jewelry; no one needs it, they only want it. People who live in the wealthier areas of District 6 want to eat to be satisfied. Us who live in the boondocks need to eat just to sustain ourselves for another day of life.

For a moment, I'm about to deny her help completely, but I'm smarter then that. "I... don't need your pathetic sympathy... But... I know when I need help... Come on sis, let's go home" That last sentence must have confused her, but one of the bystanders is a market vendor that I tricked some time ago. He managed to get a glimpse of my face when me and Dice took an item from him, and now I think he recognizes me. When we made eye contact, I became hasty to leave.

I put both my hand out to reach her like a small child, the bracelet still in my hand. In a whisper I tell her "We have to leave. Now. My house is 10 minutes away if we walk. Just go to where I was running."[/i] Hopefully she heard and understood my whisper. Just 10 minutes away from here is the poorer side of the town and where I live. My house doubles as something like a first-aid station because it's mom's business. She won't charge me for treatments like she does with other patients, but she will question my wound and this girl who's helping me. I have to think up a lie to tell her, but now getting out of here is a priority. [/color]

[Solace]

Despite what the said, Ceres wouldn't take back the bracelet. Ceres wasn't stupid, she figured out the girl was probably from the poorer areas of the District anyway. She left it in her hand. "Well, take it anyway. You can sell it or something." She told the girl kindly. Though she wouldn't say it, this girl obviously needed the money more then Ceres did. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a market vendor looking at them strangely. That's when the comment about Ceres being her sister made sense. This girl probably stole from him before. He surely wasn't glaring at Ceres, who he had been polite too when she came to his market for groceries.

The girl put her arms around Ceres neck as she had ask and Ceres lifted her. Ceres wasn't particularly muscular, but the girl was light so it wasn't hard to lift her. Ceres couldn't help but notice she still had the bracelet in her hand. "We have to leave. Now. My house is ten minutes away if we walk. Just go to where I was running." Ceres listened intently and then said. "Gotcha. But we're going to my house. It literally right there and you have dirt in your wound. If we leave it for even ten minutes, it could get infected." Without waiting for an argument from the girl, Ceres was off.